Update:
This is my reading of the poem I Stand wit You at the Light The Hearth Festival on May 10th 2017. It is unedited and I have not watched it yet. I hope it is good enough thank you for your consideration.
This event was made possible by the Right 2 Survive Ambassador Program and emceed by Lisa Fay & Ibrahim Mubarak.
#Right2surviveambassadors, #right2survive, #lightthehearth
This poem was printed in the Street Roots Zine that was published and distributed on 04-28-2017 on page 26. I also participated in a reading at Light the Hearth on 05-10-2017 where I read this poem.
I hope you enjoy it, because I had submitted it to the paper with no intent for it to be in the zine, you may thank Cole Merkel the Vendor manager and editor for slipping it in before the Zine went to press.
I Stand with You By Aileen McPherson
We stand together, is this true?
When Race is the debate of Hate,
History makes the case, our past is a disgrace.
We say, “We Care”, while still we stare at any difference whether plain or rare,
Classes I thought we were past with cultures expansive, spiritualism fantastic,
While the knowledge shared is massive.
Underneath it all we are the same you and I,
Our skeletons strive to help others realize our skins the same,
Merely the pigment of which has a magnificent range.
So plant the seed,
Respect is what we need,
Our lives are intertwined from birth to death,
Journeys filled with compassion and love.
One life can take a stand,
It’s when we go hand in hand that we’ll make the understand,
This division is a scam used to control and command.
I am the Master of my Life,
For this Freedom and Civil Right I fight,
Stand with me make our world see,
Only together will we be whole and Free.
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