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 twenty-sixth 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.
In the curve of her smile, we find our names, braided into the roots of this land, where love isn’t a whisper but a shout, a fist raised in the sky, soft and sharp, like the memory of our grandmothers’ hands.
Kamala, you love us with the fire of the unsaid, the quiet revolutions of kitchen tables and side-eyes, where truth is carved into the bones of history, and the future is a woman, full-hipped and bold, dancing through the halls of power, unafraid.
You love like a mother who knows the world will try, to steal her child’s joy, to dim her light, but you stand, arms wide, holding the sun, a shield, a mirror, reflecting back all we are, all we could be, in the echo of your name.
In your love, we find a country that believes, in the strength of our stories, the depth of our dreams, you love like a revolution dressed in pearls, steady as the heartbeat of this place, where every woman’s voice sings a nation awake.
©️MustafaSantoagoAli
#Poetry #ProudBlue #Resister #KamalaHarris2024