America, Do NOT Despair — The Poem
American Democracy is in danger.
Diversity and Inclusion are at risk.
Equity has been shoved to the kitchen, waiting quietly to be invited
back inside the big White House.
And, the white Conservative lunatics (led by the new 2024!POTUS Trump) — with the aid of Black and Latino (mostly male) Conservatives —
are the inmates running the asylum we call the (once) United States of America.
Without a doubt, this country we call America is now in trouble.
Under the newest leadership, America is vulnerable and in crisis.
But I beg you my sister and brother Americans, do NOT despair!
The excerpt below is from a longer article (published in 2017 and again in 2020 on LinkedIn and my website: https://bit.ly/48Bqgc5 ).
Given the outcome of the 2024 Presidential Election,
it seems timely to remind Americans, especially Black Americans, not to lose HOPE.
Despite what seems to be regression, moving backwards into a past when white supremacy reigned,
when racial hatred was fueled for profit, we must believe America will weather this current reactionary storm with grace,
and ultimately, our democratic principles will prevail — bruised and trampled, yes —
but destined to rise again above this conservative political and fake religious fray.
And, down the road, those (white, Black and Latinos)
who put POTUS Trump and his conservative puppets in power will be called
forward to atone for the major sin they helped to create!
Until then…
America, Do NOT Despair — The Poem
America, do not despair.
We have seen the power of white space and white supremacist thinking before, and overcome them.
Chinese Image for Despair
America, do not despair;
we are braver and more resilient today than in the past.
And of one thing I am certain: the genie of Black genius will not go back
into the night, the bottle, the closet or the box.
America, do not despair
at the rising tide of elitism,
incivility, racial, national and religious intolerance, and good old fashioned racism and white supremacist thinking that has taken hold of our country at this political moment.
We’ve endured worse and still we rose.
America, do not despair;
we will right (and write) the wrongs currently being perpetrated in the name of conservative politics.
We will endure the hyperbolic provocations.
But we will not go quietly into the night.
America, do not despair;
we will lift every voice
and challenge injustice wherever it rears its ugly head.
America, do not despair,
we will live true to the words engraved on the Statute of Liberty:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. …”
America, do not despair,
because when they call for Muslims to register for concentration camps,
we will all appear — Jews,
Gentiles, Baptists, Protestants, Catholics, Seven Day Adventists, Jehovah Witnesses, Atheists, and believers and non-believers-
and sign our names in solidarity.
America, do not despair,
for when they build the wall
or lengthen the immigration fence, which makes us not so nice neighbors to Mexico,
we will stand as united Americans
ready to tear it down
as we demanded be done with the Berlin Wall —
it fell.
America, do not despair,
because… for my 2025 New Year’s Resolution,
I resolve,
and ask every person reading this to do the same,
I resolve,
to be filled with Hope and Optimism and the certainty that we will,
through the Power of the American People,
forge a better, civil and more inclusive America
for ALL of us in the present and in the future.
Democracy will rise again.
She may be bruised and trampled;
she may have enemies in the very government she is duty-bound to protect.
But she will rise again,
once this reign of political and religious arrogance is over;
democracy will rise again,
and when she does,
we will back her fully
to become even better than she once was.
America, I beg you, do NOT despair. This country will be restored to its imperfect, but inclusive and equitable self.
Pray.
Believe.
Fight.
(c) 2024 Irma McClaurin
