The difference between poetry and rhetoric
is being ready to kill
yourself
instead of your children.
I am trapped on a desert of raw gunshot wounds
and a dead child dragging his shattered black
face off the edge of my sleep
blood from his punctured cheeks and shoulders
is the only liquid for miles
and my stomach
churns at the imagined taste while
my mouth splits into dry lips
without loyalty or reason
thirsting for the wetness of his blood
as it sinks into the whiteness
of the desert where I am lost
without imagery or magic
trying to make power out of hatred and destruction
trying to heal my dying son with kisses
only the sun will bleach his bones quicker.
A policeman who shot down a ten year old in Queens
stood over the boy with his cop shoes in childish blood
and a voice said “Die you little motherfucker” and
there are tapes to prove it. At his trial
this policeman said in his own defense
“I didn’t notice the size nor nothing else
only the color”. And
there are tapes to prove that, too.
Today that 37 year old white man
with 13 years of police forcing
was set free
by eleven white men who said they were satisfied
justice had been done
and one Black Woman who said
“They convinced me” meaning
they had dragged her 4’10” black Woman’s frame
over the hot coals
of four centuries of white male approval
until she let go
the first real power she ever had
and lined her own womb with cement
to make a graveyard for our children.
I have not been able to touch the destruction
within me.
But unless I learn to use
the difference between poetry and rhetoric
my power too will run corrupt as poisonous mold
or lie limp and useless as an unconnected wire
and one day I will take my teenaged plug
and connect it to the nearest socket
raping an 85 year old white woman
who is somebody’s mother
and as I beat her senseless and set a torch to her bed
a greek chorus will be singing in 3/4 time
“Poor thing. She never hurt a soul. What beasts they are.”
Audre Lorde, “Power” from The Collected Poems of Audre Lorde.
a self-described “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet,” audre lorde (1934-1992) spoke clearly and lived passionately. she disavowed all oppressions, and did not shy from contradictions. lorde penned essays, poetry, and a biomythography. we honor her name, her memory, and the life of her works.
Just heard a radio commercial say the fight against childhood obesity is the most important fight in this nation’s history. My black trans queer ass begs to differ.
My fat wasn’t the reason my headstart teacher picked me up by wrapping her hands around my neck when I was 5; it wasn’t the reason a dentist thought he could hold me down in front of others and pinch my cheek until it bled when I was 9; it wasn’t the justification for trying to hold me back and for placing me in special education classes from Kindergarten until someone finally tested me and placed me in advanced classes in 6th grade, and it sure as hell isn’t the reason cops and nurses pinned me down with their knees on my back and neck while shouting, “this is what you wanted, isn’t it?” after my first suicide attempt at 13.
Y’all know why this shit happened, and my gut had nothing to do with it.
Robert Saylor, a 26-year-old man with Down syndrome, sat in a movie theatre after having watched a movie, acting as if he was going to sit through the movie again without buying another ticket.
That prompted three police officers to kill him.
Friday, a grand jury determined that no crime was committed, even though his death was ruled a homicide.He was suffocated as three officers struggled to handcuff him and drag him out of the theater. A movie ticket probably costs $11.
The court system is corrupt.
A war veteran who claims he was falsely arrested, beaten, and almost died due to neglect in an Oakland prison has launched legal action against the jail, claiming his pleas for help were ignored.
Kayvan Sabeghi, 33, was arrested during an Occupy rally in Oakland,California, in November last year. Video footage shows him being beaten with batons and he suffered a lacerated spleen which his attorney Dan Siegel says almost killed him after he was left without treatment for 18 hours in prison.
Siegel estimated damages in the case will be upwards of $1m but said his main aim was to change the practices at the jail. “The greater concern that he has is that there be some changes at the jail. It’s a big problem that the county has privatised health services in a public jail and that the company that’s doing it is more concerned about making money than providing quality care.”
A private company, Corizon, is hired by the prison authorities to take care of the medical needs of prisoners at Glenn Dyer. Corizon is named as one of the defendants in the suit, along with the county of Alameda, Sheriff Gregory Ahern and an officer at the county sheriff’s office.
On arrival at the prison Sabeghi told medical officers that he had been beaten by police and he offered to show them his injuries.
Corizon staff are accused of refusing to look at Sabeghi’s injuries.
The suit claims that his condition deteriorated and that despite showing severe distress and vomiting, Sabeghi did not receive treatment for 18 hours and was mocked by prison guards who dismissed his suffering as heroin withdrawal symptoms. It further claims that one officer filmed Sabeghi as he lay on the floor in agony and vomiting.
By the time his friends posted his bail, at 2pm the following day, he was so ill he could not lift himself from the concrete floor of his cell. Four hours later his friends came to the prison to get him out and an ambulance was called.
“There are a lot of people taken to jail who have substantial medical problems,” said Siegel. “There are a lot of people with drug and alcohol problems and they need to be adequately cared for … When you have guards who ridicule people with health problems, that’s a setup for failure. Maybe there are some who exaggerate their symptoms but I think they should all be checked out and if someone continues to complain, they should be given the benefit of the doubt. At least get a doctor.”
The suit further claims that a medical staffer did take Sabeghi’s blood pressure but reported, wrongly, that he was a diabetic and alcoholic and sought no further treatment for him.
Interviewed by and investigator after the incident, Trooper Cole can be heard trying to explain his decision and his actions.
“Prior to deploying your Taser, did you give a verbal warning that you were going to use it?” he was asked.
“No, I did not,” says Trooper Cole.
The FDLE found Cole’s actions justified, because troopers said Maudsley was running toward traffic along Highway 19, and might have caused an accident.
Link for full story
If you click the link and watch the video you will notice there was no traffic and he was only a step behind her he could have grabbed her himself
AnonymousHi!
This is awkward, because I’m not used to talking to people who have obviously never met a person of color or read a book. You’ve done the best you can up to this point, and I give you credit for that, but you have a lot of work to do.
First, read this.
Also, here are some articles about black children who have been murdered by white men(yes, Zimmerman is white. Hispanic folk can be white)this year because the color of their skin made them suspect. A 13 year old black boy was murdered by police in Atlanta the night we met with Sharon. There are many many more cases of people of color being murdered by white men just this year. Calling black people nigger is only one of the constant acts of aggression that contribute to the kind of atmosphere where black children are routinely murdered by white adults who avoid punishment with claims of self defense.
If you still think that asking a white person not to use that word is the “extremely racist” act that you previously thought, you are irredeemable, and an overall terrible person.
Good luck!
My name is Zachary King Sr I was beat by 4 or more officers Sunday after concert for no reason at all, I was walking to my truck when a officer stewert noticed I had a bulge in my shirt, he asked me what it was I put my hands up and said I have a conceal & carry and it’s my gun he then grabbed me by neck screamed “GUN GUN GUN” slammed me against brickwall then 4 or more officer slammed me on my face including officer Bronson and beat the mess outta me for no reason, I’m legal and they arrested me for obstruction of legal process whatever that is? I did nothing wrong they gave me a brealyzer I blew 0’s I didn’t resist and I was profiled and they did this to me so we’re gonna march on fri to police station downtown over 100 ppl. I have a lot of ppl behind me that are not taking this lightly my mom is reverend and a chemical dependecy counselor and her job and church are furious as we’ll as the whole twin cities hip hop community which I am a high ranking member in so this what the march is about we will have firm time and date for Friday tomorrow…
Happened in Mpls, MN….
Stop-and-Frisk Watch App
“Stop and Frisk Watch” – a free and innovative smart phone application that will empower New Yorkers to monitor police activity and hold the NYPD accountable for unlawful stop-and-frisk encounters and other police misconduct.
this is exactly what i’ve been looking for
