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…
She came roaring, the daughter of forgotten truths, Beryl, spun from the womb of Mother Nature's ire, Her breath, a scorching testament, a whispered pyre, Fanning flames of reality denied by too many youth.
She churned in the Atlantic's belly, ancient rage Boiling over, tracing paths of pain, unchained, Ghostly footsteps of those who leapt, unrestrained, From shackles to depths, freedom's final stage.
Oh, how we laughed at the prophets, scorned the seers, Climate crisis a myth, a tale for the weak, But Beryl, fierce child, our silence she seeks, Her winds howling truths we've muffled in our ears.
She remembers, oh yes, the stories told in tears, Of bodies sinking, dreams submerged, waiting to rise, From Africa's shores to the world's apathetic eyes, Her fury a reminder of centuries of fears.
Boiling waters mark her wrath, a trail of ghosts, She dances on waves where souls once screamed, Their echoes now her song, a nightmare dreamed, Beryl, in her tempest, hosts a spectral toast.
We built our towers high, our egos higher still, Yet Mother Nature’s daughter mocks our pride, Her voice a gale, her tears a swelling tide, She roars reality, a force beyond our will.
We denied, we denied, we closed our eyes, But now she forces them open, wide, Her wrath a lesson we cannot hide, Beryl, daughter of truth, our civilization’s demise.
She is the storm of our own making, birthed in lies, A testament to our hubris, our neglect, Her winds are justice, demanding respect, In her chaos, the earth's forgotten cries.
Remember her name, for she is more than a storm, Beryl, daughter of denial, avatar of pain, She is the reckoning, the past's refrain, Calling us to witness, to transform.
She roars not just for today but for ages past, For every soul lost to the ocean's cold embrace, For every truth denied in the race to erase, Beryl, she is the tempest, the die is cast.
In her eye, a calm that speaks of what we've lost, A moment's peace before the fury returns, A chance to heed the lessons the earth yearns, Before the next storm comes, at an even greater cost.
So listen to Beryl, and heed her warning cry, For she is the voice of those who cannot speak, The truth we've buried, now unleashed to seek, A future where we remember, where we no longer deny.
©️MustafaSantoagoAli
#Poetry #HurricaneBeryl #ClimateJustice #Jamaica #Vote #Project2025