"Cream of Wheat" by Lucille Clifton

I take heart from Quaker Oats' announcement, after the police murdered George Floyd, they are going to rebrand their Aunt Jemima pancake products. Owners of Uncle Ben's and Mrs. Butterworth's brands quickly followed, and Cream of Wheat is being reviewed.

When multinational corporations decide it's worth a bucket load of money to rebrand their products, something has changed.

 

“Cream of Wheat” by Lucille Clifton––from Voices (2008)

sometimes at night
we stroll the market aisles
ben and jemima and me     they
walk in front     remembering this and that
i lag behind
trying to remove my chefs cap
wondering about what ever pictured me
then left me personless
Rastus
i read in an old paper
i was called rastus
but no mother ever
gave that to her son     toward dawn
we return to our shelves
our boxes     ben and jemima and me
we pose and smile     i simmer     what
is my name

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