Protestors…on the side of right.
America
by
Claude McKay
Although she feeds me bread of bitterness,
And sinks into my throat her tiger’s tooth,
Stealing my breath of life, I will confess
I love this cultured hell that tests my youth!
Her vigor flows like tides into my blood,
Giving me strength erect against her hate.
Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood.
Yet as a rebel fronts a king in state,
I stand within her walls with not a shred
Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer.
Darkly I gaze into the days ahead,
And see her might and granite wonders there,
Beneath the touch of Time’s unerring hand,
Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand.
***
Can’t you hear the ancestors speaking?
This Independence Day, we are reminded that one is not free unless all are free!
America must repent of its evils, its hypocrisy of projecting peace and welcome
while doling out brutality and hate.
Why comment, everything is not black and white anymore, it’s filled with hate and disrespect to all nationality’s. I owe no one anything, I’ve always treated people with respect, and kindness. At Times not returned…why??? Is it the way I act? the color of my skin? All races have problems, lets stop blaming, and start building a new world, one with out accuations, haterd, and blame!!! the past can’t be changed, but our future could be wonderful…no one is without blame. I refuse to feel guilty for something that happened when I wasn’t even born, and to lose history, because it wasn’t good? It’s still history. The italins disliked the irish, the germans the jews an so on and so on…..where do we stop and start building a positive future?
Even God requires us to repent of our sin. You can’t repent if you don’t acknowledge the sin. You can’t change racism if you don’t acknowledge it exists. You can’t undo systemic racism if you don’t acknowledge it exists. You can’t clean up a police department without acknowledging it has always been infiltrated by the Klan and infested with racism. No one is asking you to feel guilty. But some compassion for the plight of oppressed people might be helpful. One way to show that compassion is to remove symbols of oppression and place them where they belong, in museums. A lot of precious stone has been wasted on individuals who stood for nothing but the oppression of others for the sake of their own benefit. We start building a positive future with acknowledgment.