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 34th 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.
this ain’t no simple debate, america
this is a reckoning, a crossroads, a gut check.
this is the sound of history calling your name,
and kamala speaks with a fire you can’t quiet,
her words like braided rivers, truth-stung and urgent,
she stands in the light, hands open,
singing of futures that stretch beyond the hurt,
she says look—look at what we could build
if we choose to remember the power of hope,
if we choose to remember the promise in our bones.
and there’s trump, hunched in the dark like an old regret,
spitting the venom of fears we thought we’d buried,
he is the sin we won’t confess, the wound unwashed,
a man made of smoke and spite, a beast of burdened dreams.
he drags the past behind him like a chain,
heavy with every lie we’ve swallowed, every hate we’ve fed,
he whispers that the best is behind us,
that the darkness is all there ever was.
kamala stands tall, feet planted in the soil
of every ancestor who crossed oceans for the light,
she is the good we forgot to believe in,
the promise we almost lost, the map home,
she says: “i will not let you forget
that we are still the builders, the dreamers,
we are still the hands that can heal this land.”
her voice is the prayer our grandmothers muttered
through clenched teeth, the hymns hummed low
when there was no freedom song left to sing.
this ain’t no simple debate, america—
this is the mirror you’ve been avoiding,
this is the night asking if you will bring the dawn,
this is the future leaning in, waiting on your answer.
trump is the anchor, rusted and sharp,
dragging you back into the belly of the beast,
his words the weight that drowns hope,
the shadows that say stay low, stay small,
but kamala’s got the light, the keys, the road,
she’s the call to rise, to reach, to reclaim.
america, what will you choose?
the light that breaks chains or the dark that binds you?
the voice that lifts or the hand that shoves?
this is not just about kamala or trump—
this is about every child with a dream in their mouth,
every parent praying for a brighter sky,
this is about the country you shape with your breath,
the legacy you leave behind your steps.
the light is there, america—waiting, wanting,
it is the torch kamala holds high,
a promise stitched in the fabric of our fight,
the good we can still be if we reach, if we try.
choose wisely, america, the future is listening.
choose wisely, america, the light is watching.
choose wisely, america, and rise.
and rise.
and rise.
©️MustafaSantiagoAli
#Poetry #ProudBlue #DemVoice1 #PresidentialDebate #debate #Debatenight #KamalaHarris #WeAreNotGoingBack #WhenWeVoteWeWin @harris_wins
#JohnLegend #GabrielleUnion #Resister