a state of disillusionment

Inspired by a quote from one of my favorite books, ‘Between the World and Me’ by Ta-Nehisi Coates, written in the form of a letter to his son: “I would not have you descend into your own dream. I would have you be a conscious citizen of this terrible and beautiful world.”

. . .

My America calls itself the land of the free.

It proclaims to be past the violence, terror, and oppression.

It is an echo chamber of Martin Luther King Jr.’s words of hope, used against him to deliberately conceal its history and obscure its transgressions.

It prides itself on its ‘redemption’ —

Burying the cries of Eric Garner, Emmett Till, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Yassin Mohamed, George Floyd...

Until their names are nothing but imprints on the hearts of their loved ones. 

My America claims revolution with the birth of the mixed-race generation and a Black president —

It distances itself from the neo-nazis, claiming they lurk in the shadows, oblivious to their surrounding presence.

It places Clinton on a pedestal, Shirley Chisholm long forgotten.

My America exists in two alternate dimensions:

A veil separates the two, leaving only one side to peer through the looking-glass at the world they deserve, that they built with their own two hands, that the other side claimed as their own.

My America is anchored to the belief that all is well, oblivious to the rope around its own neck.

But America, be warned —

This state of disillusionment is crumbling.

Malcolm told us if you want justice you have to take it — 

So you can masquerade all you want in your shiny badges claiming to care but you fool only yourselves in thinking we can’t see the pile of bodies strewn in your wake.

As God is our witness, the reckoning will come

Because if this world is temporary

Rest assured, so is your reign.