Poetry

Matthew Hall lived like most
Revolutionaries I know, smiling,
He was a true Revolutionary,
romantically in love with his people.
Only Revolutionaries approach
war & chaos,
death & destruction
with laughter & hope
for possibilities of resistance.

Mahmoud Darwish is one of the most important poets of the Palestinian resistance to occupation and war. As a poet, activist and commentator, Darwish has become an international symbol of the Palestinian cause and represents the status of a people without a state, exiled from their homes and histories...

Every night is an opportunity to
break night
to vanquish sleep...

Erase una vez
terminando con un “sweet kiss�
Más nada aprendimos de ellas
Las Evas
Las Malinches
Las Helenas de Troya
Todas seductoras, hechiceras, traidoras
…más que eso no hace falta
…más que ellas no importan
los nombres cambian
los hombres a todo superan
es aquella vieja historia
de la misma excluida

As I enter the sterile confines of work I’m greeted by 90 pre and post pubescent voices chiming endearments, “Mama Chula!� “Aute� “Curly Sue� and variations of my name “Mel� “Missy� “Lissa�.

Shoshanna Johnson is a single, Black mother who was one of the first Prisoners of War in the immoral and illegal invasion of Iraq.

In dim rooms justice is discussed
to the melody of trains
with merried destinations.
Outside poverty plagues the streets
cities crumble
as does the man
sleeping beneath the daily news.

Gang violence is the leading crime in this so-called society.

But if you really think about it
America and her armies is the biggest gang in the world.

Girl, he is good in basketball
Oh yeah, that man is Black.

I am a seventeen year old Black Girl
My skin is brown and smooth
Born in Oakland California
I go to Oakland High
The first high school in Oakland.

In my neighborhood there are people
Of all kinds of races,
All of them passing by with those
Mean looking faces.

They say I can't go forward if I don't know where I been
But folks act like its an evil sin to ask what happened
To all my kin
The ones whose blood sweat and tears built this
Land we find ourselves living in
Every time I ask it seems to get left out
That I come from a proud, long history
Of freedom-fighters and visionaries,
Only they tell me they were
Trouble-makers and big mouths

Take me away to the river
So I can flow with the stream of clarity
I want to fly into the clouds
So I can get lost in the mist of spirituality