None of us are free until all of us are free—the national anthem is not only hypocritical, it is a lie!
O say can you see: America,
land of the free
if you have enough money,
and your skin color’s the right shade,
you can pay your way out of prison,
home of the brave.
tell me, was it really that brave,
sending soldiers over
from America to Iraq,
to bleed red, all in the same shade,
or was it just a way
to make money?
either way, both sides are prisoners,
the war on terror
leaves no room for freedom.
the Emancipation Proclamation reads,
“All persons held as slaves [. . .] are and henceforward shall be free.”
but this great nation of America
was a system founded on white supremacy,
holding people of color as prisoners
no matter the shade.
but weren’t we so brave?
to thrive despite
only being seen as a way
to make money.
and immigrants are only acceptable
when they save employers’ money,
doing under-the-table jobs
essentially
for free.
we corrupted
the countries within Latin America,
then threatened to
build a wall
to ensure imprisonment.
so risking everything to cross the border
is the definition of brave,
and yet there’s a constant fear of being detained
if your skin isn’t just the right shade.
under the harsh sun of imperialism, there is no shade—
in North Dakota the need for water
is superseded by the hunger for money, and
Standing Rock protectors continue the fight of generations
before them,
standing fierce and brave.
once upon a time, indigenous people could roam this land freely.
then Columbus Sailed the Ocean Blue, 1492,
discovered America,
and what was once a haven
now serves as a prison.
and in our America,
women’s bodies often serve as their prisons.
because you are a girl, you must never take up the spotlight,
always stay in the shade.
and your body has no value
unless it can be objectified
in the name of making money, so
daring to look in the mirror without flinching
makes you brave.
because haven’t you learned by now?
things such as freedom
aren’t so easily attained
in a society built on oppression.
America: hypocrites proudly wave
gleaming red white and blue shades,
o’er the land of the free
and the home of the brave.