If the coincidence of what else happened
On any particular calendar date in the past
Determined anything about our lives based on our birth date
Then you might as well believe in astrology.
But the contours of the events that surround us
Growing up in a particular place and time
Do inform our awareness of the world as adults
What we know personally without a doubt.
You living in Detroit in the 1950s automobile prosperity
When almost everything was made in USA
To the summer of 1967 when the rebellion was crushed
Awakening awareness of racism and resistance.
Me witnessing that inner city burning
And the poor whites joining in taking home the goods
And the airborne troops arriving in their convoy
On the anniversary of the Cuban revolution.
Taking our lessons from events
Taking a new look at everything we had been taught
Changing the course of our lives
Like what we see happening today.
More than fifty years later this much has changed
The increasing climate crisis threatening humanity
The Soviet Union dismembered but China ascendant
Cell phones capturing the brutality of racist police.
The utter failure of the decadent capitalist government
To effectively contain the spread of the COVID pandemic
Compelling more and more people to consider alternatives
Including the youth who bring their energy to the struggle.
There's going to be a day like Bastille Day again
With the poor and oppressed jubilantly released from prison
When the entire ruling class is dispossessed
Liberating reparations and the promise of a better future.
What is possible with a government set up for all of us
Especially the essential workers and poorest people
Dismantling the police state and global finance empire
This time for keeps.
