Despite vast conversations of justice and liberation during and well after 2020, liberation is still one high wall away from society. A reflection on the historical events of that time, this poem embodies our emotionally and physically draining experiences that resulted. What will it take to reach liberation—and how far are we from breaking these barriers?
Written by Jahiem Jones
Edited by Amanda Siow
after so much being promised, how can one commit to the broken?
it was expected that after so much darkness, a brighter future would appear
that we can learn to love ourselves again,
that we can finally arise from this depression,
realizing that power has to be grasped by the roots
yet we’ve withstood another year of misplaced aggression,
another year of grieving and sorrow
however in all our hurt and pain we’ve managed to stay hopeful
we’ve only yet to brave the belly of one beast let alone a dozen
but still, in all our back bending and hunger,
only a crack has formed between the walls of liberation
that it would take centuries alone to reverse the damage of only yesterday’s plight
in an era where masks and trending murder became the past of our present
we’ve learned that silence is not a response,
that past events are not just passing events
what we call normalcy was the wake up call to authority
and while we look upon our future,
history is mocking us with shame and bitterness
where we become one and not the sum of
until we can learn to love without the intention to harm,
change stands not between us, but before us
that it can divide us and then conquer within
it was supposed to get brighter ever since that year,
we were promised a land of all greatness
however, we trod along the path to survival
that we can embrace the beauty of revolution
we will rise and rebuild
we will emancipate and establish
we will believe and then be
the change that this year needed.