Dear Ancestors
By Barbara E. Rumore
I am redundant as I write to you. I want to tell you a little bit about the world I live in.
We STILL continue the struggle. We MUST continue the fight. We CAN’T give up the march forward.
I think of you often, and I am sad to say things have not changed that much since you left this plane of existence. I not only think of you, but I often feel your energy and your anguish.
It distresses me to let you know that the struggle continues, and at times, this struggle is more difficult because we’ve been here, done that time and time again. We have marched for, spilled blood for, and died for many of the rights you fought and died for. Yes, we’ve made strides, but some of those victories have been turned back by the legal system, the Supreme Court—the very Court that ensured our rights as Americans.
Voting rights have been decimated and in some states ELIMINATED. Police still brutalize people of color because of their color. We are accosted because we are LIVING WHILE BLACK.
I am given the “look,” code for you don’t belong here.
I still hear NIGGER and “why don’t you get outta here; go back where you came from.” These threats always screeched full of venom and shouted from slowly moving vehicles that speed away, tires screaming with “the finger” violently waving out the window.
Military segregation has been eliminated. Sexual abuse of women in the military has taken its place.
In general, the display of racism has progressed from overt to covert to overt again.
MAGA is code for Make America WHITE Again.
The nation voted for a black man as president. He served 2 terms and implemented a system whereby those without healthcare were finally able to attain healthcare. Legislators who hated him and this achievement eight years later are still trying to destroy it.
My life is easier than yours, ancestors. I can look white folk in the eyes and not get slapped. I can lead and tell white folk what to do and not be questioned. I can speak my mind and argue with white folk and not get killed.
I have white friends whom I will defend without question or hesitation.
Ancestors, the question that plagued you, which I never thought about, now plagues me.
Will those white friends defend me without question or hesitation?
Barbara E. Rumore retired from public health nursing administration and moved to Vieques, Puerto Rico, where she lived for 13 years. A native of Oil City, Pennsylvania, she settled in Franklin upon her return to northwestern Pennsylvania. Her avocation for fitness became a career teaching fitness, which shifted to work as a swim instructor. The world around her, poetry, and life experiences are her inspiration. She is a member of Poets Against Racism & Hate USA and The Bridge Literary Arts Center. She has had poems published in The Bridge Literary Arts Journal. Watching her parents volunteer has been her guide for volunteering throughout her life.
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