POETRY: As Adages Go; Better The Devil We Know

An injustice anywhere...

Let me start again

Phrases and aphorisms, sayings, truisms, axioms, maxims, quotes, and dictums

Aren't just characteristics of the English language 

They are necessary to conjure the spirit of meaning

So they are very helpful when revolting

And to that spirit we supplicate

It is in that spirit that we rally the troops

"Riots are the voice of the unheard." 

This truism has become prominent in the social consciousness of our nation

Especially during the recent protests and riots

It’s being shouted very loudly too

That quote is meant to frame the riots and protests

To connect them to the infallible

Righteous moral signifier that is the Civil Rights Movement

Both movements filled with many riots

Most if not all because of police brutality and corruption

If voting is our true voice

And riots are the voice of the unheard

What does voting mean? We been voting

It's an election year, time to vote again? 

This time we'll be heard?

Vote or die or die anyway 

The foundation of our democracy is death...

The most common signage carried by the protestors is the maxim,

No justice No peace

Has there ever been justice? For some there has

For us, there hasn't; only enduring in an unceasing state of unrest

There is always chaos because there is no order 

No justice, no peace 

Is our perpetual being

No justice, no peace

Is being shouted at what seems to be a reenactment

I've seen this movie before or is this deja vu? 

A protest like an axiom repeated until it becomes apart of everyday life

A riot eternally

No changes, no change

We're used to that, it is expected 

Or should be

It is a brave new world actually it's the end of days

What a revelation! The cure for pestilence is war, what a revelation indeed

Gluttons for harm no more, no longer masochistic wards of the state

Give us justice or feel the unforeseen, unrequited wrath of centuries of pain and anger

Protest the famine of justice 

We want power and we're greedy

Protest it now, sloth!

Give us liberty or we'll give you death! We're taking back our birthright

That is not a threat that is a promise

Now the world sees what we always knew to be

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, amen! 

Were people always this kind and generous, self-aware?

Or have people always been introspective?

Now they critique themselves and their actions

Like they've always told us to do

Now they're taking responsibility for their culpability

Without a mirror or a lens, or a generic, base-level self-centered understanding

Rooted in one to one comparisons 

Oh this clandestine, dormant saintliness that has emerged, how wonderful!

Why has it taken so long?

Is this a farce?

Is this a new challenge? The "I can out woke you!" challenge?

Why is this the revelatory moment to admit that racial divisions were implemented on purpose?

Now you acknowledge the racial hierarchy?

Now you admit your complicity in maintaining that caste system?

Why is it that this lynching is the last straw?

And this is the last straw? 

This is the last straw that broke the White Supremacist camel's back?

I know this may be shocking to the new crop of noble, dutiful, "People of Color" 

Who have always been on the side of the angels, or righteousness

But this isn't the first lynching to make national news or even international news

"We're not ignoring we're ignorant"

This isn't the first lynching on camera

This isn't the first lynching by choking caught on camera

All those other lynchings not to mention the other systemic policies, on the books and off of them

No matter the lynchings coming... 

Now everyone knows and will teach others that they know

That the "Most disproportionately affected by 'X'" 

"Urban/Hip-Hop" "Thugs" known by so many names other than Black

So many euphemisms, Chicago, Detroit, South Central, Black Lives Matter

Not just in the United States

But in different dialects and tongues Blacks from the legacy of American slavery

Are definitely distinguished by the world 

All over the world Black disdain, ire, and antipathy just for existing

Because of the rumors and images perpetrated by a despicable beast

And now that the world has noticed

We are no longer bound to our image

The collective image that justified any injustice perpetrated against us

That justified ignoring the laws

Now it is understood that our socio-economic position in this country and on this planet

Has been largely orchestrated, coordinated

The world will now fight back and do something this time they're going to help now

Now, they're going to join their sickle with our hammer and dismantle the system 

For White Supremacy this is now the end of the line, 

White Supremacy is at the end of its rope
Now White Supremacy is on its last legs, it is hanging on by a thread 

Because the world sees that it must be vanquished and will stop at nothing and endure

To see it through and make its destruction so...

Now this is the moment, Now this is the time 

"Time is up White Supremacy! We have you surrounded! We have allies now, our People of Color Coalition cannot be stopped!"

Now that's funny...

Maybe, I should be more hopeful

Lawlessness is lawlessness

And maybe it was a sight too sore

How can a caring human being not see the gross inhumanity

In that torturous death, the pure evil of choking a man bound

That is murder and murder is against the law

Even if perpetrated, especially if perpetrated by an agent of the state

This murder comes after the state

Forced people into their homes, which is also against the law

The government is now an unaccountable totalitarian state,

Allowed to behave like a controlling psychopathic madman

So people of color and white allies had to join, they had to help, they couldn't help it

This was the ultimate provocation

An act of war on all of our civil liberties and freedoms

When duty calls, you must pick up the phone...

Lawlessness engenders lawlessness

Chaos sires chaos 

Now the citizens can and should, no we must behave in kind

Despite what most people have discerned before this moment 

As ephemeral as moments and trends could be

Now "silence is complicity" and "silence equals assent" 

Now is the moment of clarity 

Now, this is the spark that ignites the flames of justice 

Into all people all over the world 

Black people are now equal citizens with humans on this planet

And Black people will soon be equal citizens in this nation

And the laws will be enforced for us 

Now it is understood that we do not need new laws or understanding

We do not need history lessons or renditions of Negro Spirituals 

The silence of decades and centuries

The deafening silence, the racist institutions, the racist systems

That have existed unabated, and have actually been embraced, glorified

Worshipped... By our newfound allies 

They have had a change of heart 

They have realized the error of their ways 

My paranoia is unjustified, they're only trying to help

This is the time

For those who shout down White Supremacy when the world isn't watching

Those loud fighting every day all their lives against White Supremacy

Foundational Blacks who always knew what was wrong

And that our plight was orchestrated, 

Those who knew that there is always a nightstick pressed against our larynx 

There is always a knee on our neck

And we keep breathing

That is why I am wary of those who now see the light

Who tells us that a brand new day is dawning

But they've been helping keep us locked in a dark cave

Those who have turned over a new leaf

But have taken their swings of the ax

I'm sorry if I'm cynical but you can't unring a bell

Fool me once, shame on you

Fool me twice shame on me 

Fool me three times, I’m your fool

But here we are on the frontlines 

We all stand together, finally this time

Maybe I should forgive and forget 

Maybe I should look on the bright side

And not be cautious

I should learn to let go

Live and let live 

A Target has been looted so has a barbeque restaurant and a daycare

Justice is on its way, the cavalry has arrived

Those horrible bastions and beacons of capitalist oppression we have put on notice

No more bbq and no more kids

White Supremacy is finally getting its comeuppance  

We're saved Black folks we're saved

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, amen! Our allies are here!

They're fighting even though they don't understand

They see us, they finally see us

Oh, they see us! Isn’t it great to be seen?

They're with us, oh they’re with us

Isn’t it great that they’re with us? 

Pinch me, I must be dreaming

The first step towards justice is here...

This is what we have been fighting for 

We have friends now we have friends!

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, amen! 

Now you know that is not what we can believe 

The world does not see clear

We have no friends!

They're advocating for new laws? 

A lot of money is being donated to "Black" legacy "non-profits"?

The same signs, chants, and symbolic gestures?

Even the destruction of symbols 

Oh isn't that the first step, destroy the symbols of oppression?

What about punishment for what the symbol signifies?

We don't need new laws

We need the laws already on the books enforced 

We need cops, judges, White, Asian, Latino or otherwise punished if they cause Black people harm

Equal protection under the law

All we need are the old laws enforced when we are victims 

Luckily, now the world doesn't see us as fundamentally, no, inherently, no, naturally flawed

Perpetual victimizer and victim at the same time

The victimizer who not only victimizes others we victimizer ourselves 

We are our own worst enemy 

We are just always shooting ourselves in the foot

So we deserve to be choked to death

Why are you blaming White Supremacy when its really fatherlessness?

Choked out like the virus did the economy like the Pigs did another Black man and another

And right now! and soon to be

Loot, rape, pillage, steal, assault and battery, murder

Burn it down!

Just a normal day in the USA

How do you justify the destruction? 

The state has not only bound us to our homes, without the economical

And cultural means to maintain them

They can kill us willingly, submitting, bound, and defenseless

Will the Constitution finally work for us?

(Laughter)

The world has come to Jesus

We're at the end of the tunnel

Shrouded in light 

We're all officially in this fight together...

How I wish for the times far gone

When Black people weren't Pawns

Rooks, nor Bishops 

When the crowds dissipate and things open up 

And we are used to the new normal

Do not be surprised when we are subjected to old tricks

When all the goodwill magically turns into bad faith...

That's why the connection to the Civil Rights Movement

After the riots and all those cities burned 

And progress was on the brain 

And Black folks thought we got what we wanted 

And we thought we had allies so we invited the world 

To our home only for them to use our oppression to gain

By comparing their choices to our reality

All that has to be done is mimick the Civil Rights Movement

The spirit of the 60s 

The spirit of revolution, of hope and change

Just give them something to reach for 

Reach for your goals 

Ignore their continued gains, now "People of Color" have to educate themselves 

And others not only on our history, which I thought they already knew

That's why they connected themselves to it

"Black and Brown” “People of Color” "Minorities"

"It's really all about economic class." "The capitalists have it out for us all." 

“We’re all in the same boat”

"We know that White people really don't like us either."

Now we are truly understood or are wanted to be understood en masse 

All the societal hatred has subsided

Because a lot of people protested and rioted 

I support my people I do

And I know I'm cynical and I'm on the sideline criticizing 

This could be the beginning of a new world

Order of understanding of, a newly found respect for Black lives

But this "movement" seems patronizing, phony

A lot of people are feigning care, following the caring trend 

To pretend that they're not gross, vainglorious, egocentric narcissists

(For some the protests and riots give them a larger platform to be overly inflated dimwits)

We must understand this is our journey 

There weren't any allies here before and there won't be any here again

We take the lead, our agenda must be followed

I hate that I have this reflection

If these protests and riots are the stepping stone to true change

There is no present

We are insane if we think we have allies, friends, or even support

There is no future

Hope only comes from how we measure progress 

The past keeps repeating itself

What is happening now makes it clear

The past keeps repeating itself

Riots and protests don't mean that you're unheard

The past keeps repeating itself

It means there are too many people speaking

The past keeps repeating itself

And that there is no direction...

But again I'm a misanthrope, too battered and bruised and not ready to trust 

And the world and these other groups who have historically maligned Black people

Could be having a true change of heart

They are truly ready to get to work to end White Supremacy...

No more wavering

I won't hold my breath

Now I can breathe easy

This is a warning Black people, do not be surprised

When the new demons' faces show

Always be prepared and do not be shocked 

When they behave exactly like the devil we know