[Written by Lucy Fitzgerald (she/her)]
[Photo by Brian Wertheim on Unsplash]
Lend an ear, lend a voice.
To those marginalised without choice
Because my autonomy has never been a question,
My agency never debated in a parliamentary session
Accept my abundance of fallibilities, the chain reaction set in motion by my ancestors
My actions must match my rhetoric – I must join the protestors
Systems are in place to facilitate my progress and help me grow,
For so long we have only thought “well if its serving me – surely an impervious M.O?”
Cemented in this poisonous mindset, we have let it become the norm,
So start with yourself and remove the foundations, objectively inform
Let go of ego, humbly learn and take critique,
12 year olds are being brutalised, you should feel piqued
I can trace my roots back a century for generational wealth is not foreign to me,
I have never had to navigate omissions in my family tree
I am responsible for the terror of my bloodline,
From direct and indirect daily doses,
Stripping of identities and areas of redline
We swim in complacency; we ignore the drowning divides
A shameless salute to the flag of ignorance, by bigotry we abide
Lift up our siblings whose talent has been thwarted,
Adore the nuance in the non-monolithic black experience, our white narrative has made it contorted,
I must hold my MP to account, apply pressure until the bleeding stops,
Fine comb analysis even of the good guys,
More than a few bad apples like the cops!
Advocate for change, exclaim the lack of progress and pray,
Active damage from church and the state, exenterate humanity – Theresa disMay
Calling out others and sit in the uncomfortable,
All avenues of education vital because this disease is terminal
Ploughed my own furrow, now it’s time to plant some new seeds,
Silence the extremist whom upon your mission wish to impede,
Moralise the ignorant, be passionate and didactic
This is a marathon not a sprint, don’t be disheartened by the anticlimactic
