All Created Equal?

 My dad was watching the news last night when the barrage of political ads began. A few minutes later, I found myself feeling very uneasy, with a furrowed brow.

 

While holding a shotgun, one candidate proudly touted that he was pro-life and supported 2^nd amendment rights. Those were his full qualifications.

 

I don’t know much about politics, but it seems to me that there is a whole lot more to it than that.

 

…

 

I’ve been working on a book called Making Blackout Poetry Activist Edition. All the pages are political documents, broken into sections by theme. For the past week, the theme has been America and Civil Rights.  

 

I’ve read excerpts from Frederick Douglass’s “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro,” “Dred Scott v. Sandford” Supreme Court Hearing from 1857, Andrew Jackson’s First Annual Message to Congress, Chief Joseph’s “An Indian’s View of Indian Affairs,” Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address,” Ida B. Wells’ “Lynch Law In All Its Phases,” Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court Hearing from 1954, Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Special Message to Congress” from 1965, and Barack Obama’s “Remarks by the president on the fiftieth anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery marches.”  

 

I’ve gotten mad.

 

I’ve cried more than once.

 

I’ve wanted to read more.

 

And I’ve blacked out everything but:

 

“Each person is bound to all other persons.”

 

“It is difficult to realize that the negro was bought and sold and treated as an ordinary article of merchandise whenever a profit could be made.”

 

“Indian removal by the white man was savage.”

 

“Provide protection for any child under eighteen years of age.”

 

“There was room for all to live in peace

But the native peoples were forcibly removed from their ancestral lands.

It was harrowing and heartbreaking.”

 

“All are created equal.

We struggle to remember.”

 

“The race problem has never been settled because the right methods have not been employed in the solution.”

 

“Consider children.

To separate them from others solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority that may affect their hearts and minds and motivation to learn.”

 

“To ensure true freedom and equality,

All of us must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice.

It cannot wait.

It is right in the eyes of God.”

 

“Admit reality.

Look at the problem.

Possess moral imagination.

Feel the fierce urgency of now.

Change depends on us.”

 

…

 

So yes. I think politicians have more to be concerned about than the limited view of life that has come to be associated with pro-life and 2^nd amendment rights.

 

…

 

God help us. For the rights of all people—black, white, brown, and all colors in between—women and men and all genders in between—gay, straight, bi, and all sexualities in between—Christian, non-Christian, non-Religious, and all religions in between—children, widows, Veterans, and all the vulnerable in between—rich, poor, middle class, and all socio-economic levels in between—let there be hope. Help there to be voices for us all, not just voices of limited understanding, fear, and bigotry. Oh God, we are a messed-up people who take your name in vain by planting our flags on issues far from your heart. Forgive us, God, and help us to wave our flags, instead, for the freedom found in Love.

 

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”—Micah 6:8

 

Amen.