Politics As Usual, by Marvin Wade
Wow! I'm in the Capitol building. A place where they all speak with a wicked tongue. No cap. All In black and white. Their sins. Their skin. So sad and so easy to see. But without your eyes on the prize, the lies and deceit will Misdirect you from where your vision needs to be. Then they smile in your face and say, " No, not me." "It's those on the Left." "It's the G.O.P."
Got your head on a swivel looking for someone to blame. But it's a party. Your party. Don't wanna fuck up the game. So you just stay in your lane. Feeling the pain of the pump, health care costs, rent hikes, foreclosures, student loans, you are not alone. Let's reject these clones. They are not us. They are one in the same. Separated only by name. I call a spade a spade. They really overturned Roe v Wade. They're all full of shit. Take a whiff when they spit.
No, sir I wasn't invited. I have no pass. Unlike your entitled ass. But I do have this black card, that I can't even use to get me 40 acres and a mule. Card holds no value. Oh that's amusing to you. See you can decline my wealth. But you can't define my worth.
Look, I'm here to witness you at work. Don't mind me. As you were. As you are. As you've always been. You say I'm not welcomed. Thank you. Never said I was a guest. Never asked for a fuckin chair. I'd rather stand up for my people. You'd rather win a seat. Not me. Would never run. Never will. I'm hand to hand with my community. You represent from the hill. Me, from my car, or on the block, or on the train. From dusk til…I'm in the hood. In the park. On the streets. Reading my piece. Speaking my Peace. Speaking bout Peace. Where you be? I be outside. You be in the House holding bullshit hearings about nothing that matters, or that makes any sense, makes me vent! Who the fuck you really represent? The lobby…in which I scream these sentiments echo into the startled ears of many, here for your pandering…their hands out sealing your reelection, Gerrymandering. Yeah the truth’s out. I'm hip to what ya do. But still you have no fear. No care to hear what it is I seek. Your interest I've yet to peak. My pockets farrrrr from deep. So you ask me to leave and to don't forget to vote. And I Quote, "That's when we'll listen to you people. Excuse me your people. I mean the people." Unquote.
Oh, but I'm not done. Go ahead and summon security but I won't run. I yield to no one. No gun. As you see I'm no threat officer. Can you please lower your weapon. This is no insurrection. I'm only one repping many. Just trying to be heard. So my people can be seen. Can you both understand what I mean? Listen, In the hood there are food deserts. 35 bodegas to every Supermarket. How can we slow down and eat right with only fast food joints in our sights. You should see the lines. Being fed as if we were running out of time. Can we live…live just like you. Like most towns in red and blue. Can you feel what I'm saying. Okay I'll leave after this. Let me just say we have guns in abundance. People are dying back home in the masses, from everyday shootings, that some call Genocide…Got us all desensitized… Highly politicized…Inhumanely televised. And seems only with the "Mass Shootings" do you speak of healing. Do you speak of mental health. Do you speak of reform. Why is that? Is black on black your perfect storm? Two birds with one stone. Viewed from this prism of one in the Grave, the other in prison. It's a cycle we all need to be fighting to change. I say as I retreat. Only moving my feet. With the Spirits beneath. No backpedaling. I stand on everything I said. On the shoulders of the dead. My return you will dread…if you don't heed. Don't fret. No threat. Just coming back with more heat. More deep. Cause more peeps…will have died. And in the advent…I'm not alive…our return…I'm adamant…still Eminent…We will rise!
Marvin Wade is a Spiritual Activist and family Man, born and raised In Brooklyn, NY. Marvin joined the Re/Creation Bed-Stuy writing workshop in 2019, after participating in a writing class being held in Queensboro correctional facility by Professor Joni Schwartz and joining the group upon his release after 25 years. While incarcerated, Marvin wrote multiple books’ worth of stories, novels, and personal essays on every bit of paper he could find, combining his gift as a storyteller with the art of writing. As part of the re/creation workshop Marvin has had numerous dispatches that he's written appear on the website. From titles such as, "The conditioned state of America " to "Time and Prison, are they mutually exclusive?" His poem “Where I’m From” is featured in Voices of Fortune 2020 literary magazine. Marvin also took part in the "We choose to bloom" film as part of a joint venture between Fortune Society and MOMA. Look for many great things to come literary and Spiritually from Mr. Marvin Wade.