Author: She of Letters

Mother, WRITER, artist, dreamer, civil and human rights activist, humanitarian, sentient being. I write to remember; I write to discover; I write to understand.

Playground II

August 16, 2017
Our children play,
A spectral epidermal display
They have no reason to hate,
Play and fun is the objective,
They challenge and boost each other up
They care not of
Color of skin,
country of origin,
Language,
Faith,
Gender
Sexual Orientation

But they will soon learn,
Oh, they will be informed
That this play must have order,
Rules,
Time will teach them
To see difference,
And make labels,
With which to hate one another.
If only one could bottle
These moments
To relieve when older,
Before time and bias
taint our innocence

 

Because of Love

I am angry
Because of love,
I am speechless
Because of love,
I am withered
Because of love,
It is love that fuels my rage,
For others actions and their choice to hate,
It is love that makes me choose
To keep trying to get through,
Hate is such an extreme
When love is a simple solution,
But hate steeps and comes from years
Of misplaced aggression,
And denied fears
Hate is the cut
That relieves some of the pain,
When love seems out of the way,
You hate because you are withered,
Hate because you are speechless,
Hate because you are angry,
Hate because you have not been shown
Any other way,
And because of this I will love

Using Rage Constructively

Shawn Engel

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So, you’ve got fire in your eyes and rage in your belly. What now?

Here’s what you can do to help:

  1. DONATE:
    • You can donate to the victims of the Charlottesville attack via multiple GoFundMe pages. The victims of the car attack can be reached here, to donate to the man beaten by Nazi’s in a parking garage here, and to Natalie Romero, a victim without health insurance, here. You can also donate to the local NAACP chapter here, the Black Lives Matter chapter here,  Charlottesville’s only synagogue here, and the Charlottesville Pride community here.
  2.  Protest:
    • It is terrifying out there right now, and with the recent events in Charlottesville, people are afraid to protest white supremacists. Unfortunately, now more than ever, we need to gather peacefully to show that we are not afraid and will not be intimidated. There is power in numbers…

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All of Our America

August 15, 2017
My great, great grandfather,
was klan
They found from a cloak in the closet,
After his death.
I am not proud.
But this is where I make my stand

I am sure in the family
he was not alone,
–Mine and yours,
It is a brotherhood,
A sisterhood,
Of hooded hoods,
Stirring a vitriole of self esteem,
Comprised of outward hate
Of anything too far out of reach
To understand,

Customized to rally and engage
every man, woman,
and child,
And then we look down
With self shame, guilt,
Letting the hoods parade past
Numbers unscathed,
And so the parade marches longer,

As we are unwilling to face
This all too familiar hate
No longer masked,
And on a familiar face

Boredom
And hard times,
Compounded by
Ignorance,
Fed upon
By serpentine minds,
Harp on the willing,
Eager to place blame
And fabricate lies
Fueling the base
That teaches self love
Through hate,
Claiming epidermal unity,
Adding religious creed,
Wherever it serves the need
Perverting patriotism,
Head shaven, business attire, or white hood,
Ideologies the same,

Do not ignore the difficult topic,
It is cutting too close to home now,
Or become complicit
In the very hate you wish not to condone,
Washing your hands,
In blood of the fallen,
Denial becomes guilt becomes white clothen attire,
Feel the heat
As the crosses burn,
As the rallies chant,
This shame need not last unchallenged
Love conquers hate,
And this is all of our America.

Things Have Changed

Written 2017

2011 – Age
“He’s an old man, ignore him.
Don’t let his talk bother you–he’s stuck in his ways, you can’t change him now…
But things have changed, so you don’t have to worry about it.
It’s not like there will be a cross burning in the front yard tonight. ”

2003 – Waiting
Things have changed

“Things have changed,” I’ve been saying that to myself my entire life. Meanwhile,  at the same time I have felt a great urgency in the need to “save the world” from the unchanged.

But things have changed. I want to believe that, to feel safe; Continue reading “Things Have Changed”