RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GEORGE FLOYD SERIES
The Streets of Protest
The streets of protest
Are lined with the blood of martyrs
From the slave uprisings of ancient Rome
To the storming of the Bastille
From the modest Boston Tea Party
To the Haymarket Labor Riots
From the Freedom March on Washington
To the suffragettes for women’s rights
From the Free Speech Movement
To the Vietnam sit ins
From the global challenge to the Iraq War
To the George Floyd upheaval
The pages of history are marked
By the rising of the Left
The cause of humankind
Throughout the course of time
Liberty Freedom Justice Equality and Peace
Have always depended on Free Thinkers
From the Left
Never from the Right
The reactionary Right has always
Stood against the march of progress
Always
So when the Right cries Freedom!
We answer: Freedom for who?
For the oppressed white men?
For the overprivileged class?
So when the Right comes to the streets
Of protest with their arms and helmets
Their riot sticks and bullet proof vests
Do not mistake them for liberators
Do not pretend they stand for order
They are the insurgents
They are thugs and bullies
Hungry for power and ways
To wield it
The Proud Boys
The Klan
The Secret Society
By any other name:
They are the enemies of the people
Enemies of America
Enemies of all we hold dear
