The Klan

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS

 

The Klan

 

The Klan is alive and well

And thriving in D.C.

They’re pounding the Liberty Bell

They are soldiers and police

 

The Klan is in the White House

They are on the White House lawn

Feeling eager and aroused

Awaiting a new dawn

 

An age of white supremacy

The whites hold all the power

An old and well-worn legacy

The light in every tower

 

They’re armed and standing ready

Their commander is the president

They’re holding strong and steady

Their leaders are in residence

 

It’s a battle we must fight again

As long as freedom reigns

We don’t know or when

But the threat is more than plain

 

The Klan is a bold atrocity

A stain on our ideals

A deplorable philosophy

And yet it’s very real

 

Two-hundred Fifty Years

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICA

 

Two-hundred Fifty Years

 

Founded on the fundamental right

Of democratic representation

The noble cause was worth the fight

It was the birth of a great nation

 

The best of our founders knew

That our nation would have to evolve

As our land expanded and grew

There were problems we had to solve

 

We enshrined our basic rights

We extended them to all

Our promise became our might

As the people answered our call

 

We stood for common decency

Though atrocities did go down

We acknowledge our tainted history

We’ve improved the founders’ ground

 

We fought a war for freedom

We fought a war to free the slaves

We fought Hitler and we beat him

We built on the founders’ graves

 

We know well the fight goes on

We accept that it will not end

We will fight against all wrong

And our freedoms we’ll defend

 

For America is our nation

It belongs to each and every one

We are built on immigration

Equal rights under the sun

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY USA!

 

The Exclusion Act

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RACISM

 

The Exclusion Act

 

The MAGA movement is nothing new

Its racist roots trace back

To eighteen hundred and eighty-two

The Chinese Exclusion Act

 

The Chinese worked as virtual slaves

On the transcontinental railway

The work was hard, the workers brave

They worked for the right to stay

 

Twelve hundred workers gave their lives

That the railroad might succeed

That America might grow and thrive

The working force would bleed

 

From the Exclusion Act to slavery

In a long continuous line

Acts of defiance and bravery

Freed us from our binds

 

We are a nation of immigration

It is foolish to deny

We rise above our former station

It is the center of our pride

 

All those who wish to push away

The story of our rise

From our birth to this very day

We have overcome the lies

 

The Jim Crow Court

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: SUPREME COURT

 

The Jim Crow Court

 

The Court has nullified democracy

In every way we know

They’ve embraced a white hypocrisy

In the name of old Jim Crow

 

They have decimated voting rights

Now they’ve hit a brand new low

They’ve pushed minorities out of sight

In the name of old Jim Crow

 

From Louisiana to Alabam

They’ve struck a deadly blow

The gerrymander diagram

In the name of old Jim Crow

 

They’re doing what they’re told to do

It’s the court of Donald show

We’ll all be pale before they’re through

In the name of old Jim Crow

 

They’re setting back the racial clock

Our discontent will grow

The Great Society has been blocked

In the name of old Jim Crow

 

Decisive change takes many years

Through sweat and blood and tears

The damage done we’ll never know

In the name of old Jim Crow

 

 

Anti-Semitism

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Anti-Semitism

 

Netanyahu is a jew

But all jews are not Netanyahu

To believe that this is true

Is very old and nothing new

 

To oppose a government is just

When the government is out of line

We have run out of all trust

In a leader who seems blind

 

To the needs of his nation

While he prosecutes his war

He has sacrificed his salvation

To his desire to settle scores

 

Yet the people can’t be blamed

For the crimes of just one man

For that would be a shame

And a failure to understand

 

You can’t blame the entire group

For the sake of Palestine

That would be an endless loop

In the name of the divine

 

Discrimination is wrong

In every form it takes

Recrimination won’t be long

The forsaken will forsake

 

Gutted (Voting Rights Act)

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

Gutted (Voting Rights Act)

 

The age of civil rights is dead

As is the age of civil liberties

The Court Supreme to Trump is wed

We’ll have no more equality

 

We’re moving back in time

We’ve reversed the march of progress

Racial bias is now fine

As long as whites do best

 

We have too many blacks and browns

Enlisted in our government

We have to turn this trend around

This is what the founders meant

 

Of course they had no women

Only rich white men could vote

We’re going back to where we’ve been

Too many blacks will sink the boat

 

You cannot right an age-old wrong

You can pretend it never happened

Minorities never did belong

Make this nation great again

 

Lady Justice should be blind

Democracy should not be

We need to represent all kinds

Not just the white elites

 

 

Olympian Values

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Olympian Values

 

Watching the American Olympic team

I am reminded of our virtue

We are a diverse lot

People of all shapes and sizes

Colors and distinctions

Black, white, yellow and brown

Blend in a tapestry of excellence

We are America!

USA! USA! USA!

What others consider weakness

Has always been our strength

We exemplify the Olympic spirit

We bring it all to life

The Olympics bring together

Athletes from around the globe

Dedicated to the brotherhood of competition

Committed to crowning glory

Without regard to race or culture

We are the world

We are the Olympic spirit

We are its diversity, its excellence and its wonder

USA! USA! USA!

Never lose sight of those values

Hold on to the dream

 

A Woman with a Brain

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

A Woman with a Brain

 

They say she’s not genuine

They say her laugh is like a crane

They say she lacks bravado

They say she’s borderline insane

But the truth is they’re afraid

Of a woman with a brain

 

She is their worst nightmare

Their minds explode in pain

You see it in their expressions

So exhausted and so strained

They’re shaking at the thought

Of a woman with a brain

 

Watch them squirm and wiggle

Like a worm in the rain

They’re pretending to be outraged

When the truth is very plain

They are terrified of facing

A woman with a brain

 

They’ve tried a lot of tactics

Tried them all in vain

They might as well pack them up

And drive them down the lane

The truth is getting nearer

To home but in the main

Kamala has them quaking

A woman with a brain

 

The Way it Was

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: EQUALITY

The Way it Was

 

I remember when there were no gays

High school kids showered together

There was no other way

 

I remember when the minorities

The blacks and browns and Asians

Lived in their own neighborhoods

Went to the same schools

They weren’t the best neighborhoods

They were broken down houses

And secondhand schools

But as far as we knew

(and as far as we know today)

They liked it that way

 

I remember when the boys got all the glory

The girls were their cheerleaders

Boys ran for president

Girls were secretaries

Men got bigger paychecks

Women were their servants

Men did the “hard” jobs

Women ran the home

Men did all the talking

Women didn’t have much to say

For all we knew and know

They liked it that way

 

I remember when it was cool to say

I’m free white and twenty-one

We were the chosen ones

We were the privileged ones

The world revolved around us

And that was okay

As far as we knew and know

We all like it that way

 

The John Lewis Bridge

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: EQUAL RIGHTS

The John Lewis Bridge

 

Edmund Pettus was a leader of the KKK

They named a bridge after him

And on that bridge years later

They beat the hell out of black marchers

Marching for equal rights

Marching for the right to vote

Marching to be recognized

 

In an enlightened age there would be

no Edmund Pettus Bridge

It would be torn down stone by stone

Iron beam by iron beam

Scattered across the nation

Placed in museums and town halls

to remind us of our former ignorance

 

Instead let us remove the name of

Edmund Pettus and replace it with

one of the brave souls beaten on that

fateful day: The John Lewis Bridge

 

Let it be remembered by all who cross

the price that was paid that day

 

Let it serve as a reminder of the triumph

of the human spirit

The power of light over the darkness

Of good over evil