Words: 764

An original poem by: Ishmael Bishop

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that we are all created equal.

Amendment One.

You have the right to remain silent.

Anything you say can and will be used against you

Remain calm, peaceful and courteous

Strong, resilient, and courageous

Keep an open mind, open heart and open hands

Who can be against you,

when what you’re fighting for is freedom?

Amendment Two.  

It will be the right of the people to keep and bare:

picket signs and silver bracelets

petitions and orange jumpsuits

Be prepared to brawl with the system

To be held in a prison cell for days, left to wade in the sewage of solitary confinement

Pray, and get ready to engage in a battle with the people

Start a revolution.

Become a movement.

Amendment Three.  

It will be the right of the people to be secure:

In their homes and in their churches

In their schools, theatres, and railroad cars

It shall be the right of every man, woman, child and baby:

to have and ride a bicycle

to keep a chicken stirring in every pot

To live without trepidation or in hesitation to speak

To walk through a neighborhood armed with skittles and Arizona iced tea

just maybe

To attend Wednesday night bible study without awaiting the virulent explosives of distorted patriotism

Remember:

Addie Mae Collins

Carole Robertson

Cynthia Wesley

and Denise McNair

As fast as you can feel the names of brothers Emmett Till and Jordan Davis

Amendment Four.

We demand an increase in the minimum wage

so that all men may live with dignity

so that every woman is able to escape her patriarchy and birdcage wing flaps  

so that every child may feel secure without fearing the monster of eviction notices and pink slips lurking underneath their beds at night

Let’s reframe our discussion about the socioeconomic disparity of poverty

It’s not about poor women abusing welfare

It’s about the rich staying rich and the poor having to deal with their shit (having to deal with it)   

Amendment Five.

Cruel and unusual punishment shall not be inflicted

We shall march unafraid through the streets of Washington, Chicago, and Mississippi

Bus unafraid through the boulevards of Montgomery and Birmingham,

Attend class in Little Rock, Arkansas

Live in the American South without being attacked for being black

or reminded of the white supremacy that overtly still remains

In the reverend words of A. Philip Randolph,

I pledge that I will not relax until victory is won

I pledge to peacefully assemble

I pledge to carry the message of this march for jobs and freedom to my friends and to my neighbors

I will continue to march and write letters

I will demonstrate and I will vote

I will work to make sure that my voice and those of my brothers ring

clear from every corner of our land

let freedom ring

From every mountainside,

letting freedom sing

Hallelujah, let freedom ring

Amendment Six.

I’ve heard it said,

that we were all created equal

One nation, under God, indivisible

with liberty and Justice for all

My people are still waiting to escape the slave ships

To own the labor off their backs

To stay out the sun

and be black

To engage in our education and be black

To love Beethoven and classical music and be black

To live a life free of track marks and pats on the head and be black

To dream and be black

To dream and be black

A dream

Amendment Seven.

It will be the right of black people to rest.

Come home to the third shift and ascend beyond glass ceilings that were constructed to contain you

Because you are a magnificent jewel of black skin, oily curls, and ashy knees

You speak hymnals and spirituals when you speak of the creation of your progeny  

You cry in the poetic tradition of generations of hair pulling by your mother, grandmother and sisters

You come from the womb of African queens who have struggled and prospered

You are the result of how the best have overcome and will overcome as you too shall overcome and arrive

You are a biblical verse that brings solemnity to hard times and pain

You are the gift of rain that showers upon ripened pears in late July

Never forget this march, this legacy, or this memory

Because you are ready, to step away from the auction block bus stops with pride into the rainshowers shouting freedom

Freedom?

Freedom.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that we are all created equal.

Who will stand at the front lines in solidarity? If not you,

then we will.