A juxtaposing image of
Practice and reality.
What IS the Anti-thesis to freedom?–
Bondage.
A hindrance on what
We consider just,
But viewed as woke
In a system that operates
Brokenly, but is working
As it was designed.
They said Begone
To our centers of culture
To our havens of expression
To our sanctuaries of belonging.
Stripped away rapidly
As the bark of a tree in an unrelenting storm
Of bitter division,
When we the people dare to envision
A place to belong.
That sting, sharper than shards of glass
last like a bitter aftertaste
Nothin’ sweet.
In a heat that broils with
Frustration and discouragement
From a system that represses our cries–
That is met with lies and a facade of maladies vilifying DEI,
Trying to scrub away the marks of dissent
As if it were an unsightly crimson blood stain with malicious intent
Saying our identity is a figment of the mind,
Threatening the nation’s fabric of unity.
But we ask, how are we unified,
If we continue down this path of epistemic and cultural genocide,
Of memory and meaning
Exacerbating a tension that’s justified
influenced by the settler colonialist mind?
Then we wonder why
This “Great Nation” snuffs out our light
As if there’s fear of releasing
The tiger’s neck, and that vicious bite.
So they crush us,
Under this weight,
Of a system.
We fall victim to its gaslighting,
As they claim the minority voices,
Do not matter to the majority,
Tarnishing the intent of democracy.
But we the people have minds
That refuse to assimilate,
To what is adequate and vague
But questions the systems at bay,
Empowering our generation
To unify against these fabricated fallacies,
And make these remarks, actions, and cries
Until our lungs breathe belonging
Into a system that sought to deprive
Us of our life.
May we, as a people, be unbroken and unified,
And fight the good fight
Against this Nation’s lies,
Until Freedom is dignified,
And Justice is satisfied
And Truth cannot be denied.
