Archive for the ‘violence’ Category
we wear red every day
if the humble poems i offer up in your name could bring you back to us
i’d never put my pen down
littering the city with haikus, limericks and love poems
everyone would know your name
everyone would know your name
there would no need for crying over candle flames
or sitting tight-lipped trying to be brave
we’d all be kindred, we’d all be community
community, what a funny word
we live in a place where churches sit planted on every corner
how about we talk agape love
and mean it?
let’s mean it, let’s not get bogged down in bullshit conversations of whether you “deserved it”
don’t you know no one deserves violence?
how come it’s so hard to recognize humanity?
humanity, what a concept
gender non-conforming people of color hunted down so often
angie zapata, duanna johnson, teish cannon are only a few this year
sheer numbers make it impossible for me to have poems for everyone
but everyone deserves respect, life, and their name spoken so i try
slain 5 miles from my house, i’m sorry i can only know you through an obituary
praying peace for your loved ones
justice for you
and quick end to this senseless violence
today i received an email expressing condolences for Jimmy McCollough, a gender non-conforming person who lived in my town and was slain yesterday, in what is looking like a hate crime. you can find out more here and here. didn’t know Jimmy (who identified as Imaje Devera on stage) and am not able to be out in my local community, but this hits so hard.
Children of the Sun (Remix)
by Deep Foundation. Check it out. (captioned!).
[download] mistah f.a.b.’s oscar grant tribute
“it’s an oscar grant that happens every day.”
for teish cannon
last week we mourned the passing of duanna johnson. a few days later, another trans woman of color has been killed. this wednesday thursday is trangender day of remembrance, i hope you will remember our lost and speak out.
even after death
they stuff our bodies into boxes
ironing out the creases of our complexities
they use blades, fists
violence
institutions
and blood-tinged spit
to fold us into the faceless other
the soulless
even after death,
they refuse to recognize our names,
our genders, our loved ones.
even after death.
have you no respect?
no i don’t expect anything from you
i know better than that
but if not for who we are
if not for our communities
if not for the mourning families,
at least for the dead?
at least for the dead?
who, with your mocking
your open hatred
your silence,
have taken part in killing?
have you no damn respect?
