Written three years ago, but never posted.
Seems like a good time for it.
Seems like a good time for it.
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery,
We're at that point now.
We have been there once or twice before in my lifetime.
We have been there once or twice before in my lifetime.
I know what fresh bread baked from wheat ground by my hands tastes like.
I know what blueberries off an early August bush taste like.
I know what wild dolphins sound like while I loll underwater in the Delaware Bay.
I know the moment of inevitability as I raise a stone above the eyes of a fish writhing under my hands.
I want to share this.
I know death of loved ones.
I know love.
I know fear in the eyes of a parent.
I know the look when a parent first learns her child is dead.
I know redemption.
I want to share this.
Time for us to stop looking at the one next to us, seeing what he will do.Time to stop acting in fear.
We're lost, and knowing this liberates us.
Do what's right by your students, by their parents, by your town.
If we've lost the battle for democracy, and it's possible we may have, live well.
The children are watching us--we can, by our actions, give them faith that things will change.
Redemption.
"Blame" the blueberries I picked just a few moments ago.
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2 comments:
I know you probably know this, but the Marley line was originally written by Marcus Garvey.
Original quote was, "We are going to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery because whilst others might free the body, none but ourselves can free the mind. Mind is your only ruler, sovereign. The man who is not able to develop and use his mind is bound to be the slave of the other man who uses his mind….”
I only bring it up, because I think it's a powerful reminder that those lyrics (and the freedom sung about) were collective from the start.
I did not know this--now I need a way to attribute this correctly. Maybe direct link to Garvey quote?
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