Well thanks to the grace of some seriously strong warriors and a tornado…
I surrender.
This is the only poem I really ever want to read or write anymore.
And it’s more of an anthology and a living work of art that I’ll always been adding to.
So prepare yourself for an anti-oppression lesson in the form of a poem.
Dear white people
We fucked up
And now it’s time
To do what’s right
And write a rhyme
We are all colonized
Our land, our bodies and our minds
The only thing that hasn’t been colonized is this
And our voices
So lets make the right choices
Let me start by saying
If you are perceived and privileged as a white person please try to hear this and feel this to help heal this insidious sickness that seeped inside all of us
And by healing this in ourselves we help heal this in the world
So please see this is an opportunity
And hear this theory
Supremacy is the source of so many problems
And we can help solve them
And while we may not be responsible for it we are responsible to it
Because whether or not we want it
We are still benefiting from it
And for everyone else, if this feels offensive or insensitive please feel free to stop me and I’ll humbly rethink and rewrite this story
This isn’t reverse racism
That doesn’t make sense
Reverse racism is really self defense
And being mean doesn’t mean the same thing when it doesn’t lead to real violence against people who are already oppressed and who the power systems in place are already against
And words mean things like triggers of guns pointed at human beings
And I don’t mean to be mean
I’m just trying to take a wrench to this broken machine
When I say white I’m talking about a culture more than a color
And I don’t mean to put people in boxes that identify and define them and discount their differences
But it’s already being done
I’m just calling it out
And flipping it around
Also just because you got a DNA test
And you’re another race one percent
Doesn’t mean you can claim that identity
And dismiss other people’s reality
We just can’t understand what it’s like be a POC descendant of slavery in the context of this country
But I do encourage all of us to explore our true roots to fill ourselves up so we can be strong enough to know ourselves so we can know another
We say we don’t see color
But that’s because we aren’t forced to face this on a daily basis like everyone else has to
So it’s a privilege and pretentious to pretend to forget this elephant in the room
So we better take off our glasses
We’ve been blind to true beauty
And it’s time to learn to see
So we can be free again
And then we can all be one
One family under one sun
But until that day comes
We better shut the fuck up
We fucked up and now it’s time for us to do what is right
Here’s a history lesson to help us remember
The short story is basically that this country started when some bros and bullies stumbled upon it searching for the freedom to make a big mess without cleaning it up… then they killed and slaved most of the indigenous people… then they stole more slaves… then they stole most of the world’s stuff… and now they are building a big wall to keep people from taking it back
Or even more simply… genocide, genocide, apartheid
And this country continues these cycles of oppression
Hence its obsession with military aggression and repression
So now for the question
Why are rich countries rich
Because poor countries are poor
And because of war
And what are we even fighting for
We celebrate Columbus day
But one day we will pay
Like lost children in never never land
Never never gonna be our land
Even when we think the thanksgiving tables have turned
The sun has a plan
One word… sunburn
To celebrate Columbus Day I like to get lost in a grocery store looking for spices and then take whatever I want without paying for it
Is it looting or is it patriotic
Apparently the answer to this question depends on the color of your skin
We fucked up and now it’s time for us to do what is right
White people
Maybe you manifested it
Maybe it’s white privilege
It’s a privilege to be a winner
In a game that’s rigged
Noone wins
When we’re playing dirty
Like we started monopoly an hour early
And when everyone else comes in it’s half way done
It’s no fair or fun
Just saying by the time someone wins we’re all tired of playing
It’s a privilege to have the illusion of independence
When we’re all interdependent
And connected
There is no separate
There is no other
On the other side of the mirror
It’s a privilege to have a philosophical debate about politics and ethics and to think we’re entitled to our opinion when other people’s lives depend on it
Not to mention the way white people love to be offended and think our defensiveness is making a difference
And there’s one thing that offends us for sure
And that’s poor grammar
We think we should be the authority on how the world should speak
And we think learning English must be easy
Otherwise that would mean that our bilingual nanny was smarter than we are
And that just can’t be
And why does it seem like the more money we have to spare
The less likely we are to share
Like having our family stay at a hotel when they visit
We’re the only ones who do that shit
And even Tracy Chapman must know
That only white people drive fast cars alone
Seriously most of the world stuffs cars full like clowns
Only we’re the fools
Calling two people a legal carpool
And only white people shop at antique stores
Because we can afford to look back at the past
But there’s nothing less funny than a joke book from the 1920s… except maybe a joke book from the 1820s… or 1720s… or 1620s… or 1520s
We fucked up and now it’s time for us to do what is right
White people
We think we’re so cool when we listen to old school black music that black people used to listen to
Like jazz and blues
But isn’t it rude that we have music with African roots that most African Americans don’t even have access to
Like the banjo yo
And we all know Elvis stole the Afro soul
Also just saying
White people music is mostly complaining
While most other music is celebrating
And at concerts we seem to be standing still or swaying
Like seaweed blowing in the breeze
In the cool calm sea
Longing to be free
To flow and let go
But afraid to lose control
Because we only know how to hold ourselves tightly
Until it’s suffocating
And our heart stops beating and here we are swaying to the beat of our own drum
Still praying for the syncopated rhythm of our symbiotic liberation
We fucked up and now it’s time for us to do what is right
Also white people throw the worst parties
Where we all indulge in extremely extravagant shit at the expense of the earth and everything on it
Speaking of which
Why are we so desensitized that everything has to be so extreme
Like at all these parties where good company isn’t enough
We need LSD and lasers and burlesque and buttplugs
And the other day I saw a bag of ‘extreme doritos’ with a flaming dorito on fire
As if doritos aren’t extreme enough
As if nothing is sacred anymore
And we have forgotten that everything is sacred
It’s like the end of the world party
And noones even having fun
We fucked up and now it’s time for us to do what is right
White people
We voted for racism
Well I didn’t, but I was still sorta surprised
I think only white people were surprised when racism won an election
It’s like we just realized racism is still here and it snuck up on us
Very sneaky
And then there’s the hypocrisy of seeing so much beauty in the art, music, and culture of a people but not being able to see the people themselves
That’s right… I used to have dreadlocks… for one day… luckily when I washed them they felted into a hat on my head and I had to cut them off… before I even knew what cultural appropriation was
And how’s this for hypocrisy
In this country for POC agriculture is usually slavery or migrant labor
But for white people fruit picking is a leisurely pastime that we pay for
And we all share the idyllic dream of reconnecting to nature
And farming in the country
Maybe because our memory of history is that supervising other people working hard was easy
Well it’s time to reap what we sow
And then there’s San Francisco
The city where we all act like we care about things like diversity but we don’t dare really deal with the reality in the hood when we could just live in the woods or better yet in the elite blip in the bubble of Marin where no poor person has ever been where their conscience is clean and even their trash trucks are eco and green but this paradise playground would be much more fun if it was accessible to everyone
And besides we only like a city once it’s gentrified
But despite the dispute on gentrification we all enjoy an exotic vacation
Oh the places we’ll go and the people we’ll meet and the turns we’ll take down shakedown street
And oh the hypocrisy we’ll see
We fucked up and now it’s time for us to do what is right
I don’t know where to go
Or what to do
Or who to even apologize to
And ask about redemption
Now for some awkward tension
When people show me my shitty ancestry and history I feel so guilty
Though I know it’s not about pity
And this isn’t about me
Though I must say that the only thing in this world worse than white guilt must be…
Not being white
It’s not time for forgetfulness or forgiveness
Until we fix this
And make it right
We fucked up and now it’s time for us to do what is right
So what can we do
Well unless someone like you cares a whole lot, nothing is gonna get better, it’s not
We can tell a new story
We can work towards a world of love, integrity, dignity and equality
We can be allies acting and speaking in solidarity and seeding sovereignty
We can talk, study, organize, teach… and listen more
We can vote for and support politicians, policies and businesses that are POC friendly
We can fight against systems of oppression, segregation and violence, like the injustice system and police brutality
We can donate land, energy and money
We could actually all legally sign our private land over to indigenous people or the public or whoever we want at the same time any time
Just sayin… if we all woke up at the same time we would win
The possibilities are infinite
We fucked up and now it’s time for us to do what is right
So let’s wake up from our deep sleep
And it will take a lot more than coffee
And I don’t mean to make light of things that are heavy
It’s just that sometimes we have to laugh at ourselves or we’ll cry
Or both at the same time
And I don’t mean to miss or dismiss the ways we fucked up that can’t be described without crying
I’m not trying to deny them
So for those unspeakable things let’s have a moment of silence
We fucked up
And now it’s time
To reunite with the divine inside and above
To speak up
In truth and love
Of peace, liberation and justice for all
So this is a song
For the truth that’s unspoken
But we feel it
So much is broken
How can we heal it
And what does it mean
To be broken pieces of the war machine
Turning in tic toc time
The burning fire rages
But behind the disguise are
Broken birds building broken cages
And dying canaries in the coal mine
But I know why the caged bird sings and cries
Let freedom ring and flags fly
For broken bodies under blood red skies
For broken spirits, hearts and minds
For broken truths lost behind lies
For our true word
In our divine birds
Begging to be free and fly
So rise
Oh phoenixes
From the ashes
Rise
Oh diamond hearts
Till the glass shatters
Rise
Oh humble human
You don’t get to choose whose life matters
Rise
Oh songbirds
Sing your song
Because silence is violence
And it’s gone on for too long
And they say what makes you a human being
Is the willingness to sing another one free
And lastly I truly am so sorry
For all the ways my ignorance has ever made anyone feel anything less
And thank you to those of you who have called me out of the white and into the light
I’ll keep writing rhymes until I get it right
#Thank you