Parable of Man with Gun

Parable of the Man With the Gun in Hand


Once there was a man with a gun in his hand; he came to a land and made the native people slaves. The natives had lived on the land since the world began, but now they were slaves. "And," said the man who came to the land, "they shall be slaves 'til they are in their graves."The land was ripe with everything: diamonds and gold, wealth untold--the land was fit for Kings and Queens.

But the man with the gun in his hand wanted everything.The natives did not know he had no soul, they even called him "brother." Even though the man with the gun in his hand had lynched their fathers and raped their mothers, they still called him "brother.""Do you call a snake your brother?" one native asked another.

"But I have a dream!" said the other, "even this snake is my brother.""You are a fool," said the first, "you see this snake crawling all over the earth!"

So the man with the gun in his hand not only had the natives working for nothing, but he also had them fighting instead of uniting, while he stood in the corner laughing.Time passed. The man who came to the land grew fat.

"Look, he is a pig!" one native said. The next day this native was dead."Look, he is a pig," said another, and the next day they found him dead. No, the man with the gun in his hand didn't like being called a pig. Yes, he knew he was wrong for taking their land and working them down to the bone, but he was a pig doing his gig, so he went right on.

Now out in the bush a native said, "My brothers, the time has come! The time has come to seize our land from the man with the gun in his hand. The time has come. I know you are blind, deaf and dumb, but I have been raised from among you to show you the way. I have studied the nature of the man with the gun in his hand; he has the nature of a devil; his history is full of evil--surely he is a devil!But do not fear, he is not so powerful.

It is we, the people, who are really powerful. We know God helps those who help themselves, so let us rise up and do for self!Unite! Stop fighting each other, stop fighting your friends for your enemy. Brothers, we are all victims of this beast. What can you lose, you are already on the bottom? Wake up! Stand on your feet. The time has come to stop being food for the pig to eat!"

--Marvin X

Parable of the Man with the Gun in His Hand was first published in Black World Magazine, June, 1970. It later appeared in Woman, Man's Best Friend by El Muhajir/Marvin X, Al Kitab Sudan Press, 1973.