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 101st in our Democracy and Hope Series. This series will highlight hopeful aspects about our Democracy using various genres including poems
the lights in the chamber never blink,
but they dim when truth speaks—
Tonight,
Cory stood
not on ceremony
but on tired feet,
still dreaming with his eyes open
for a nation
that keeps closing its own.
they strip bread from the tables
of janitors
teachers
nurses
and name it “policy.”
turn clean air to profit margins,
healthcare into a privilege
the poor can’t pronounce.
call it “freedom”
when only the rich are free.
a voice rises
not like thunder,
but like a hum
from the back pew
where grandmothers keep America alive
with whispers and warnings,
knowing
God don’t live in gold-plated penthouses
or executive orders.
he speaks:
not for applause,
not for history books
that get rewritten anyway—
but for the woman who lost her home
to a tax code she couldn’t read.
for the man whose insulin
now costs more than rent.
there is a reckoning
written between the lines of his speech—
not just policy,
but prophecy.
a mirror held to a country
that forgets what it looks like
when it smiles with its whole face.
because it’s not just about
what they take—
it’s what they silence.
the hush of dreams deferred,
the echo of empty lunchboxes,
the sound of kids learning
that some lives matter more
in fine print
than in real time.
eyes wide shut,
they sleepwalk through the storm
while he stays up,
praying with his voice,
pleading with his breath—
a marathon of memory,
a sermon stitched in sweat,
saying:
we must not forget
who we are
when no one’s watching.
we must not forget
that justice ain’t justice
if it don’t reach
everybody’s door.
©️MustafaSantiagoAli
#CoryBooker #LongSpeech #Filibuster