June 24, 2020
This poem is dedicated to all the young people at FTP who have been organizing to defund the police and fund our communities and to the various coalitions and mutual aid groups supporting our Black and Brown communities in the face of government failure.
Dear Mr. Mayor,
You don’t get to be all up in your feels when people are sick and dying under your watch because you can’t convince business owners to do the right thing.
We know they have the money. We’ve seen their campaign donations.
The time for symbolic inactions is over when people are still sick and dying.
Dear Mr. Mayor,
You don’t get to be offended when children are traumatized under your watch because you can’t stop the police from harassing Black and Brown children in the streets and in the schools.
No it’s not enough that they don’t kill us while they sit protected from imaginary enemies. And, by the way, they do kill us. Ask Ms. Hope and Ms. Rahim.
The time for appeasing warriors who should be guardians is over when children are still being traumatized.
Dear Mr. Mayor,
You don’t get to lead with your fragility when there is unnecessary suffering under your watch because you can’t leverage your privilege and won’t leverage your authority for the rest of us.
Not when people can’t protect themselves from the virus. From the violence. From the daily indignities.
The time for cowardice is over because next year we vote.