Never the Right Time to be Silent

We were protesting violence 

when violence met us 

Gun in hand, firing 

We were standing up 

for people losing their lives 

when our lives were lost 

We were demanding 

our voices be heard 

when they were 

forever silenced 

We would not accept 

being treated 

as less than human 

when they made us 

less than alive 

We fell at Kent State, 

at Jallianwala Bagh 

Our blood spilled 

onto the streets 

of Orangeburg, 

South Carolina, 

Soweto, 

Tiananmen Square 

We are the casualties 

of nonconformity 

The system wanted 

us to remain dutifully 

quiet and complacent 

But it was never 

the right time 

to be silent 

Written December 10, 2019