The American Delusion (A Poem)
The American Delusion
(A poem of resistance and remembrance)
The American dream is an illusion Land of opportunity? a Trumped up delusion
A legacy of terror we still refuse to see
Land of the free?
Home of the slave and the lynching tree.
Founded on the supremacy of the Anglo race America manifested a destiny of privilege and disgrace But this is not our promised land It was holy native ground stolen by the white man
Until America repents from our original sin we're doomed to repeat it again and again Like Cain, we have skeletons we're not able to hide Like the old deceiver Jacob, we've stolen and lied We deny that America’s first domestic terrorists were white who held onto power as a divine birthright
“Give us your tired, huddled masses longing to be free” and watch the life get choked out Eric Garner still can't breathe
If protest is the language of the unheard then "Black Lives Matter" is the spoken word Don't you know silence is consent? Democracy doesn't work without dissent So speak up for the victims of state sponsored genocide and the Sandra Blands who didn't have to die Say her damn name!
But instead we just pass the blame portraying injustice as a victimless crime letting Zimmerman roam free while Marissa serves time I guess justice is dumb and mute as well as blind
“Hands up, don't shoot!” Dead bodies on the street still not proof? How long will justice delay? For Trayvon, Laquan, Tamir, and Freddie Gray Politicians pandering, it’s all white noise
Whatcha gonna do to end the deaths of black boys?
Talk is cheap don't believe your own chatter You say, “justice for all” but you can't even say “black lives matter!”
"No Justice, No Peace.
No Justice. No Peace."
You'd say the same if it was your child's blood on the streets
"16 shots and a cover up" Rahm the gig's up What’s the matter, cops got your tongue? Just cause McCarthy's gone doesn't mean the people won Power concedes nothing without a fight We maybe tired but we aren’t in no ways done
The rich are getting richer the poor are getting prison The New Jim Crow is an even crueler rendition
Alexander said the War on Drugs was a War on blacks
That's what happens when you only police one side of the tracks
So I know why the caged birds sing
Cause the bell of freedom fails to ring
Maybe the dream died alongside Dr.King
When the levees break we see who gets the tax breaks
we got to get our facts straight Fact is, there's cracks in the country's foundation we’re no “land of liberty,” we’re a prison nation
Bono said “America is an idea” but ideas can destroy, kill, and steal We need a new deal
Another Reconstruction
Where we see anti-blackness deconstructed cause white supremacy is a weapon of mass destruction Whites so charged with vitriol they can't think straight Just shows, you can remove the flag from the state but it's much harder to remove the hate
But we don't want prophets we want parrots We got more sticks than we got carrots We aren’t the United States we’re the divided states Once separated by law now separated by choice Once denied the right to vote now silencing the prophetic voice
What would Jesus say about segregation in his congregation?
Maybe Jeremiah was right God can’t bless this damn-nation.
When will we raise the valleys and bring down the mountains? When will communities like Flint no longer drink from colored fountains?
When will we stop pretending all is well
And see “the whole damn system is guilty as hell”? When will justice roll down like waters and “justice for all” include all America’s sons and daughters?
