To all the storytellers, don't let anyone muzzle your voices by whatever means they seek to use. Those means are many. I wrote this poem for all the storytellers who will not be silenced/muted. No matter what, tell the stories!
STORYTELLERS
(c) 2024 by Wade Hudson
Tell the stories.
About yesteryear and yesterday’s ancestors,
Of a people uprooted and a home left behind,
and turbulent waters crossed to a despicable fate.
Tell the stories.
About the pain, anguish, brutality, separation, and inhumanity,
and enduring too much, too often, too long.
No matter what! Tell the story!
Tell the stories.
About family love and community building,
Of a people making a way out of no way,
Crafting a legacy and charting a course for future generations.
Tell the stories.
About love, hope, faith and courage,
and rising still, so much, so often, so high.
No matter where! Tell the stories!
Tell the stories.
About contributions made and unrewarded,
About a people who helped build a nation,
and shaped a world in unmeasurable, insurmountable ways.
Tell the stories.
About the music, art, inventions, written and spoken word,
That uplift, inspire, encourage and liberate.
No matter when! Tell the stories!
Tell the stories.
About the women, so brave and regal,
without whom there would be no stories to tell,
And the men and the children, theirs must be told, too.
Tell the stories.
About all the heroes, heroines, martyrs, and valiant ones.
The vanguard of the struggle for freedom.
No matter how! Tell the stories.
Tell the stories!
In all their complexities, in all their fullness,
Of a people who defy the unimaginable imagination,
To survive, endure, build, abound and sometimes flourish.
Tell the stories!.
Cast them prominently within the story of all humankind.
Where they should always be and remain.
No matter why. Tell the stories.
Tell the stories!
Because we must tell them. It is our duty.
Can’t let them be hidden. Can’t let them be shuttered away.
Can’t let them get pushed aside & lost among a morass of deniers.
Tell the stories.
If we don’t tell them, defend them, who will?
They are stories that define all of us.
No matter who! Tell the stories!
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