If you want change that holds fast against reaction
Reform is good but it won’t last for long
As is obvious if you know what I have seen
Witness to all the reversals in just this lifetime.
I do believe the pendulum is going to swing back
To win a greater measure of human rights
But the only way to make those gains permanent
Requires a complete rewrite of the rules.
In my youth there were many advances through struggle
Access to quality education and voting rights
Access to reproductive choice and equal pay
Environmental protection and toxic waste cleanup
Affirmative action against systemic discrimination
Breaking down prejudices around sexual orientation
Access to health care for seniors extending the gains
Of Social security won by our parent’s generation.
All under attack in so many ways direct and indirect
Taken away in whole and by degrees
Gerrymandered districts and reactionary judges
Big money stacks their game against us.
This is the context of gun ownership reform
When so much depends on who has the weapons
While of course assault rifles are not for hunting
And the cult of extreme firepower is sick.
When guns in the hands of the oppressed would be outlawed
overnight
While killer cops claiming self-defense murder unarmed
people of color
These "blue lives matter" terrorists act with impunity
Giving cover to the fascist militias brandishing their
arsenals.
When our culture glorifies young men who volunteer for
combat
Only to be sent on missions that end in atrocities
Haunted by the screams of the people they kill
Those innocent civilians treated as inhuman collateral
damage.
The mass shootings here hit home like an unintended complete
circle
Warped young male killers twisted by a culture that
cultivates hate
While the state makes their weapons readily available
Enabling the carnage while offering sanctimonious thoughts
and prayers.
Enough is enough! The
cry goes out from the youth mobilizing millions
When student leaders emerge eloquently speaking up
We are proud and inspired by the courage of Emma and David
Standing strong against the scurrilous right wing attacks.
Even this one modest reform is treated as a threat
By those who control us through violence and fear
So then we the people must exert our power over them
Transforming our government completely.
