On Wednesday January 18, 2017 in a windy, cold pouring rain storm San Francisco’s Main Library’s Koret Auditorium under the auspicious of the SFPL and LItquake filled with people listening to writers responding to the looming reality of a Trump presidency. It was an honor for me to be among those who were asked to speak. Each presentation was thoughtful, heartfelt, and deeply meaningful. Below are the (edited) remarks I made as a speech and one of the poems which I read. If you follow this link you can see the entire event in video.
it will take more than words to stem this tide
not enough
to spit on a blazing fire
not enough
to use a teacup to empty water from a sinking craft
true mothers have been able to raise a car
off of their compromised child
true children have walked miles in snow
to save their wounded parent
but this is not a time to plan on miracles
to depend on a messianic savior
to lift us out of the hell we have created
through apathy or inattention
through greed or selfishness
through privilege or ignorance
we need more to not slide further back into voter suppression
to not slide further back into patriarchy and misogyny
to not use silence instead of reason when facing religious bigotry
to not pretend that racial fear is not a major part of this equation
we need to understand it is not chicken little
screaming about falling skies
we must admit that “taking america back” has
more to do with racial fear and animus
and with white frustration and terror
than with going back to a better time
better before unions?
better before osha protections?
better before the environmental agency
saved some wetlands
cleaned some rivers
reduced smog
protected some species from extinction
moved to slow global warming?
better before voting rights?
better before emancipation?
this is a time for ordinary people to do ordinary things
in concert with conviction
to show up, to stand up, to speak out
to demand that we keep moving forward
snap
just like that
cat says it’ll
snap
reminds me how
when we were teens
we were negro
and then
snap
we were black and proud
and moving forward
claiming victories every day
on our streets
in our schools
in our souls
we’ve always been
an elastic people able to
snap ourselves
back to ourselves
time and time again
cat says she can feel it
smells it in the air
sweet and sour like it was then
only with more love this time
and a sharper even more dangerous edge
then like now
things were seething
people were hungry and
unjustly imprisoned
and mis-educated
and drugged
but then as civil rights’ long pull was bearing fruit
we snapped into a revolutionary force
climbed inside our ancestral core
snap
made our music sing change
snap
made our dances say now
snap
locked arms and spirits
snap
became a dark
snap moving
snap
tide of purpose
snap
we sharpening the rhythm again
bringing out the drums
snap
tightening up
even though we been
tossed by storm
and cracked in the wind
we coming back together
snap
we’ve got to
snap
we got to just pull in
and believe it and
snap this mutha’ back
into place
devorah major
Your turn to respond:
Many organizations are asking us to make a pledge to resist falling backwards. What do you commit to do during the coming days, weeks, months, and years to see that freedom in America remains as more than a catchphrase, free speech remains as more than a slogan, freedom of religion remains a pillar of our society and racism is pushed back and destroyed? What do you commit to do to see that wealth is distributed more equally and homelessness becomes a memory, lack of health care a horror story of the past? How do you intend to fight? Letters? Phone calls? Demonstrations? Political organizing? Speaking out when a stranger makes a racist joke, harasses a woman with a hijab, a man with a turban? What should we do? What will you do?