One Woman One Vote

for Congresswoman Barbara Lee

 

and when the planes crashed

the whole nation shook

like a California earthquake

rikter scale rage rippled from coast to coast

and when the smoke cleared

only one tree was left standing

you

rooted in your resolve

not swayed by the blind tide of revenge diatribes

of “somebody must pay”

taped to the back of some mad white man’s Chevy van

 

and when you cast your vote

it was not lost in solitude

but was cast on behalf of we who believe too

and we all win because of you

420 to one

and the balance of justice

fell to your side

under the weight of your conviction

 

conscientious objector

conscious observer

you know that war can never bring the peace we seek

that just as the death penalty does not deter crime

war won’t stop terrorism

you know

that peace without justice is oppression

camouflaged in the fatigues of social control

 

your moral compass

points due North to freedom

like the North Star did for Tubman

your roots planted deep in the river Jordan

she crossed for your namesake

Barbara

 

you say

honor the dead

not by killing more

but by stopping that which causes death

by honoring the sanctity of breath&bone

you defied those who worship gold, steel and stone

they cannot understand your language

for all the words on their tongue

translate to violence

 

but you

in your silence

speak a word understood in every language

down through the ages

 

peace

 

I call you sista and savior

for you have rescued truth, restraint and a people’s dignity

from drowning in the gutter

of spit from the mouths of warmongers

who bask in the blood of humanity

for vanity

 

I see you

as you sing

this lil light a mine

I’m gonna let it shine

one solitary flicker struck

by the match of your conviction

has lit the candle of our confidence

renewed for the millions who call for no more war

holding onto the hands of Hiroshima’s memory

shine on sista

shine on

to light us a pathway 

home.

 

Ewuare Osayande is a poet, political activist and author of several books including Caught at the Crossroads Without a Map. This poem is taken from his recent work, 911: Riots in the Sky (UndaGround RR X-Press 2001). Currently, he is chairperson of the Philadelphia Black Radical Congress.