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 seventh 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.
How do I pen a letter to the stars? To a soul that danced with justice while the world’s heartbeats skipped and stumbled, John, in these heavy hours, what would you say? Your absence a void in our collective chest, the echoes of your steps still resound, but oh, how we need your words to bridge this rift.
They call it Project 2025, John, a promise wrapped in shadows, whispers of a future draped in the old disguises of fear. What would you say to the specters we face, these phantoms of policies past that threaten to unweave the tapestry of progress?
America stands at a crossroads, the land you bled for, bled on, still grappling with the weight of your march. From Selma to the halls of power, you carved a path, yet here we are, the ink of history smudged, the lessons forgotten, or ignored.
Would you weep, John, at the sight of our disunion? The threads of democracy frayed, unraveling, each strand a symbol of our faltering faith? Your legacy a map, your voice a beacon, yet we wander lost, eyes clouded with apathy and division.
The politicians speak in tongues, John, their promises a bitter melody, a symphony of deceit and greed. They trade in hope, coin it in slogans, but their hands are stained with the ink of lies, the paper thin, the message hollow.
How do we reclaim the dream, John, the vision of an America where equality is not a mirage but a mirror, reflecting every shade of human grace? You taught us to rise, to push against the tide, but the waters are high, the current fierce.
We need your fire, your relentless truth, to scorch the earth of complacency, to burn away the vines of hatred that choke our garden. Your spirit lives in the protests, the cries for justice, but oh, how we need your sign, a celestial nod, to guide our weary souls.
They say Project 2025 will lead us forward, but the path seems littered with the bones of our ideals. The air heavy with the scent of regression, the sky dark with the clouds of ignorance. Would you stand with us, John, fists raised, or would you hang your head, tears mingling with rain?
Give us your sign, mentor of dreams, let your wisdom trickle from the stars, a message in the wind, a whisper in the storm. Tell us how to fight, how to believe, how to hold fast to the promise of a nation reborn.
The children still chant your name, John, their voices small but mighty, a chorus of hope in a cacophony of despair. Teach them your courage, your unyielding faith, for they are the harbingers of a new dawn, the keepers of the flame you ignited.
In the quiet moments, I hear your voice, a soothing balm to the wounds of our time. You remind us that the arc of history bends, but only if we bend it with purpose, with love, with the fierce urgency of now.
So, I write this letter to the stars, hoping your light reaches our eyes, your wisdom our hearts. Guide us, John, through this tempest, for we are lost without your star, adrift in a sea of doubt and fear.
With hope and reverence, A seeker in the shadow of your legacy.
©️MustafaSantiagoAli
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