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 seventeenth 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 event
Make America happy again, let the joy pour out like honey, let the laughter spill over the edge, dripping down our chins like we don’t care who’s watching. Let our grins be a rebellion, a middle finger to the dark, to the bleak, to those who say joy is a luxury we can’t afford.
Make America joyful again, let the music in our bones shake the silence, let it echo through the valleys, let it dance in the streets, until every footstep is a beat, and every heartbeat is a drum.
Make America smile again, not that tight-lipped, fake thing but the kind of smile that cracks the face wide open, that splits the night, the kind that comes from deep within, from a place that remembers light, even when the dark is winning.
Make America unified again, not just in words but in truth, in the way hands clasp and hold, in the way voices rise together, a choir that drowns out the noise, the lies, the hate, the division.
Make America steady again, like a ship in calm waters, like a heartbeat that never falters, steady in its resolve, steady in its love, steady in the face of storms that rage but cannot last.
Make America feel again, let the numbness thaw like winter into spring, let the tears fall freely, not as a sign of weakness, but as proof that we are still alive, still here, still capable of pain, and therefore, of joy. Let us feel the hurt, the love, the anger, the hope, the full spectrum of what it means to be human. Let us not fear the depths, but dive in, headfirst, knowing that to feel is to live, and to live is to never turn away.
Make America love again, like the first time we realized we’re all in this together, like the last time we held on and didn’t let go. Let love be the law, the song, the way, let love be the thing that makes us great again.
©️MustafaSantiagoAli
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