Mustafa Santiago Ali
Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali is the Executive Vice President of Conservation & Justice for the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), former Interim Chief of Programs at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), and Instructor at American University. He is the Founder and CEO of Revitalization Strategies. He also serves as a commissioner for The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS). He is an award-winning writer and poet focused on social justice. Dr. Ali is frequently seen on television, including appearances on MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, VICE, FUSE, BET, National Geographic, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, and Democracy NOW! Mustafa is also a regular guest on Roland Martin Unfiltered, Black News Channel, Tavis Smiley Show, The Dean Obeidallah Show, and many others…
Editor's Note: This poem is the 89th in our Democracy and Hope Series. This series will highlight hopeful aspects about our Democracy using various genres including poems, interviews, short stories, and articles about political events
Lord, the fire spoke our names in tongues, each flame a prophet of what we’d lose. I saw the block baptized in red heat, the trees shedding ash like tired ancestors. what is it about this city that makes the ground so hungry for itself?
Lord, it hurts— the ache of walls turning to whispers, of roofs folding like broken wings. the air is heavy with what we couldn’t save: baby photos, love letters, the laughter of kids chasing sunsets now running from smoke.
but Lord, You built us thick with survival, spines strong enough to carry yesterday’s rubble and still reach for tomorrow. we sing through this pain the way we’ve always done: turning ashes into a song so loud it drowns out despair.
You said let there be light, so we carry it in our hands, our hearts, our hips. we are the children of burnt soil, of hope rooted in cracked concrete, of prayers stitched into the seams of our breath.
this city may burn, but we don’t break. we stack bricks with grief, mix mortar with memory, build altars from what’s left and call it home.
Lord, it hurts— but You are here in the smoke, in the hands that hold mine, in the hymns rising from our tired mouths. we will rebuild, Lord. watch us turn this fire into light.
©️MustafaSantiagoAli
#Poem #LosAngelesFire #ClimateCrisis #Resister #Altadena