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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…
prayers are not enough when the flood eats the ground from under our feet / when the wind’s howl is louder than our hope / & the storm surge swells / like an unrepentant god, pushing us into tomorrow / too fast to hold on.
they say climate change isn’t real— while hurricanes curl their fists / right before our eyes, say our addiction to oil / is a blessing we can’t afford to lose— say drill baby drill / & ignore the smoke that rises from our children’s mouths, the waters that drown / our dreams.
Helene came / with her mouth full of warning, her voice a roar / we couldn’t quiet, she came / with her hands full of proof, tearing the sky open / so we could see how much blood we’ve spilled / in the name of greed. she grows stronger / with every breath we waste feeding the flames / pretending we don’t see the ash / in the air.
& the ones who sin / behind closed doors, the ones who sip safety / in tall towers, they leave us here / in the aftermath of their decisions / leave us drowning in the wreckage of their promises / while they are untouched / by the storm’s rage.
we pay / for the lies they carve into the earth, our lives spent / like loose change in their pockets / & they pretend they can’t hear us / over the sound of breaking.
but I still believe / in what we could be— that we can turn / from this path of destruction / let the oil stay buried / beneath our guilt,
I believe we can learn / to hold each other up before the waters rise too high, that there’s a way / to heal the wounds we’ve made / to build something better from this ruin.
there’s still time / to remember how to love the earth / like it’s sacred, how to love each other / like we mean it,
Helene’s song is not yet / our last breath— there is still tomorrow / if we want it, still tomorrow / if we try.
©️MustafaSantiagoAli
#ClimatePoetry #Flooding #Hurricane #ProudBlue #KamalaHarris #ClimateJustice #ClimateAction #VoteClimate #resister #Project2025