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 92nd 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
They tried to shackle the thunder in his fists, tried to box his brilliance in chains, but his tongue was a torch cutting through darkness, his words dancing on the ropes of truth, saying no when the world demanded submission.
call me what i name myself, he said, baptizing his spirit anew, not their clay, but a creed—Muhammad. a symphony of syllables unbroken by their lies, every vowel a jab, every consonant a cross.
he was more than a ring, more than gloves soaked in sweat and struggle. he was the roar of a people tired of swallowing silence, his fight spilling over ropes into the streets, his wins etched into the veins of the oppressed.
you see, to float like a butterfly is to defy gravity’s grip, to sting like a bee is to tattoo justice on the fabric of time. he buzzed louder than bombs, fought wars without weapons, sacrificed crowns for crowns unseen— a humanitarian heavyweight in a world of featherweight morals.
he danced in the face of America’s blind fists, pivoting on faith, jabbing at hypocrisy, ducking the draft that would enslave his soul. ain’t no Viet Cong called me n**r, he said, and the truth stung sharper than any uppercut.
but beneath the bravado, a man stood, raw and trembling, his heart beating prayers, his sweat baptizing the earth he fought to save. he carried the weight of his people’s dreams on shoulders carved from struggle, his shadow stretching across history, teaching us all to stand tall in the face of storms.
how do you measure a man? by the gold around his neck or the fire in his chest? by the belts he claimed or the love he left behind?
Ali taught us: to fight without hate, to win without cruelty, to fall without breaking. he made his body a hymn to freedom, his life a poem too powerful to recite in whispers.
©️MustafaSantiagoAli
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