Willful Ignorance
The words
of a great man
From a
former generation
Haunt the
white man’s world
With the
weight of eternal history
And the
depth of eternal knowledge
“If you
can overcome the curtain of my color”
Then we
can live in peace
If not we
will be at war perpetually
A war like
most wars that no one can win
“I want
exactly what you want”
I want to
be left alone
I want to
walk the streets of America
Without
fear of never returning
To my home
I want my
children and theirs
To grow up
in safe neighborhoods
Where
kindness and wisdom thrive
Where
hatred and brutality fail
“You
will listen or you will perish”
And we
will perish together
Like pigs
in a pen
Like fools
in a pool of madness
We are
human beings
We are not
bison or beavers
That you
can hunt into extinction
We are not
leaving
This is
our land as much as yours
You
brought us here as slaves
But we are
free
We have
won our freedom
And we
will not yield equality
We are
here to stay
Make peace
with that reality
(respectfully
for James Baldwin)
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