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 73rd 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
Take a breath— feel the weight of centuries unravel in your lungs, exhale the names of those who marched before you, their songs still folded in your ribcage, their prayers rising from the marrow of your bones.
Yes, the storm lingers, the sky heavy with its old familiar ache, but we are not strangers to rain. We’ve danced beneath it, planted seeds in the wet earth, and watched fields bloom despite the odds.
Take another breath. This moment is not the mountain’s summit, but neither is it the valley’s depth. We stand in the in-between, a place our ancestors knew well— between freedom and chains, between hope and despair, between a dream deferred and a dream reborn.
Remember, progress is a slow and stubborn river. It carves through stone, not in haste, but with steady persistence. And though some cling to the crumbling edges of their outdated beliefs, we will keep building bridges, even as they try to burn them.
Breathe again. Healing comes in waves— first the grief, then the fire. Let us honor the hands that lifted, the backs that bent, the voices that refused silence. Let us mourn, but let us also prepare for the work ahead.
Justice is not a gift; it’s a battle. And though it may seem distant, though the road is jagged, we’ve never been afraid to climb. So we rise, with fists clenched and hearts tender, with love as our compass and rage as our fuel.
Take one last deep breath, then lace up your boots. The march is long, the night is cold, but together, we will carry this light until the dawn meets us halfway.
©️MustafaSantiagoAli
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