Violence...

 © 8 November 2020, the Griot Poet

We currently worry about violence:

The night riders by Nathan Bedford Forest,

Reimaging as the Ku Klux Klan,

Are to this day STILL not listed as domestic terrorists,

After Union troops removed from the south,

No longer protecting newly freed Africans, newly Americans,

 

We currently worry about violence:

And forget the churches,

That would leave services,

To “picnic”: pick a negro,

Castrate, hang and burn them,

Sell souvenirs and trinkets,

Made from body parts

And postcards with the blessings,

Of their so-called pastor in view.

 

We currently worry about violence:

But we don’t think of counting marbles, bubble and poll taxes,

Meant to disenfranchise the descendants of freed Africans,

From expressing their voice at the ballot box,

And, by extension, access to legitimacy and power.

 

We currently worry about violence:

Snatching children from their families fleeing violence is heinous,

The Coronavirus pandemic is violence,

Homicide by psychotic negligence,

Yet, 70 million voters added to the roles WANT this!

 

We currently worry about violence:

Militias liberating Minnesota and its government of its governor,

AR-15s at voting precincts,

We don’t think about the violence of taking freed prisoners’ rights to vote after serving time spent,

Then the state of Florida slapping poll taxes on them,

Or, closing polls to the right to vote in black, indigenous, people of color precincts,

Or, splitting college campuses to dilute the votes of youth,

 

We currently worry about violence:

We do not see the violence around us.