Karpehs Don't Flinch

The name was our identity for so long We just pronounced it, "Car - Pay" "Kah - Pé!" "Ka - Pay!" ("Car Pay") "Kah - Pè?" "K-A-R-P as in Paul-E-H" "Karpeh" Your grandfather spoke seven languages fluently And was brilliant And yet you had whites and blacks in the United States who did not Understand that just because you came from Africa somehow You weren't as sophisticated as someone Born and raised in this country And he just wasn't willing to wait for people to catch up to that realization