For Sistar Kiilu Nyasha: Freedom Is a Constant Struggle…

by Raymond Nat Turner

Kiilu-Nyasha-hosts-Freedom-Is-a-Constant-Struggle-w-Charlie-Hinton-Fred-Johnson-Solitary-Man-021816-300x225, For Sistar Kiilu Nyasha: Freedom Is a Constant Struggle…, Culture Currents
Kiilu Nyasha hosts Charlie Hinton and Fred Johnson to discuss their play “Solitary Man” on her public access show, Freedom Is a Constant Struggle on Feb. 18, 2016. When they performed the play on April 21, 2018, as a fundraiser for the Bay View, Charlie delivered a tribute to Kiilu.

Never thought I’d see

the day that I’d pray

for: Fake News;

Never thought I’d see

the day that I’d pray

for: Alternative Facts

from Boss Tweet – pray that

scribblers screwed up tenses

scribbling ‘bout a constant struggler –

3-time loser in capitalist Amerikkka:

Disabled, Black and Woman – Panther to the core,

Ida B-child soldier speaking, writing in real time –

Mentoring men and women for battlefront lives

worth living …

Flying warrior woman kites coded in humanity

through concertina censorship; smuggling

Love and hope between bars, amplifying voices …

 

Maybe I’m selfish and don’t wanna let go –

don’t wanna lose the grace, the smile

Sweetly staunch as principles behind it?

 

Maybe I’m lazy and don’t wanna lift her

Load, clicking, guiding, electric silence …

whizzing down steep hills, in swift traffic like

little cablecars that climb halfway to the stars?

 

Maybe her meeting after meeting, march after march,

demonstration after demonstration, decade after decade

Shamed my temporarily-abled body to another level?

 

Or, maybe I’m afraid of losing the constant struggler –

the long distance runner – reminding me: WE WILL WIN?

 

© 2018. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.