The attempt to erase
and white-out
the amazing marks on time
continues amidst the invisible mask
covered faces that spins
words and hide behind laws
to protect the behaviour that
some see as acceptable
yet destroying the meaning of humanity.
From the unwritten pages
of the history books
the ancestral voices speak
between the lines
and reminds us of the legacy
they have left behind.
We are here because
they faced the fear
the hands that worked
the fields,
the backs that bled
the streams,
we are here
and written on the walls
are the words
that tell the stories
of those long gone
but not forgotten.
The writing is on the wall,
stone grip as the continued attempts
to break us a part
against each other
we are here because
the fields where kept
our fathers had nothing to offer
other than their fallen dignity
left to be boys
while that their reality
would never be repeated
or lived as our destiny.
Look, the writing on the wall
is beckoning
stand up, rise again
to the call
that we the people of the land
must be strong
listening to the songs sung
the marches long
the missing member gone
the writing on the wall
is our call.
O. Stephen Peart. 2020 © All rights reserved
Motivation behind this Poem
When Martin Luther King Jr. said “I have a dream”, he spoke of a day when we didn’t see each other by the colour of our skin. That dream is still alive and awaits us all to recognize that we are all human beings. The writing on the wall calls us to reflect on the journeys made by our forefathers and how they endured persecution, oppression, humiliation and even emasculation. The real stories are still yet to be told and the memories unfold into the next generation. The writing on the Wall is part of the Speak Life Series. A production of Released Expressions.
Written by : admin
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WARNING: The following might be offensive to some, but the good news is, your feelings will be hurt and not your breathing or your neck. I dare you take 9 minutes and read this. Then the balance of the time, stop and think about what you have inherited from your forefathers and ask if that is something you wish to continue on.
This is a call out to ALL. Many will attempt to change the conversation. Don’t fall into that trap. The real issue is, a public servant MURDERED a man. A public servant, given the responsibility to serve and protect MURDERED a man. Other public servants stood and allowed, stood and watched, stood and gave permission to a public servant. The Public Servant leadership allowed this behaviour to be accepted in the public servant community. Let’s not forget that Ahmaud Arbery was murdered by two men as he was minding his own business and out for a run. I hear calls for guns among whites. They are allowed to carry arms and use them at will if they are “threaten”. Such behaviour has been allowed for years. WELL, it is NO longer acceptable.
If you are ready to talk, then let’s talk but the conversation is about the behaviour that has DESTROYED the lives of many George Floyds. I have no place to talk about what people are doing. Let’s talk about what YOU are doing to stop the inhumane behaviour you have been doing from brutally ripping Africans from their homes and strapping them down in the belly of ships as they defecate and having to live in that state. Let’s talk about how nations of native Indians were ripped of their land while the narrative was changed to call them savages. The conversation is simple.