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 74th 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
We all crave a plate of soul food, a dish seasoned in wisdom, marinated in truth— the kind that reminds us we are more than the stretch marks of this life, more than the cracks in our spirits or the tears that stain our nights.
We are stars wrapped in skin, divine light pretending to be human, walking miracles forgetting the sound of our own hallelujahs. But there’s a rhythm in our bones, a hymn in our heartbeat, a resurrection in every sunrise that sings, You are enough.
Some days, we need reminding. A word that tastes like collards and cornbread, a sermon that smells like home, a song that takes us back to when we knew how to dance without shame, to love without fear, to dream beyond the borders of this world.
Let’s feast on hope, sip the sweetness of brighter days, and know that even in the storm, we are the calm, the thunder, the light that follows.
We are more powerful than our wildest dreams, more beautiful than the lies we’ve believed. We are spirit dressed in flesh, learning, unlearning, becoming, always rising, always whole, always worthy of another helping.
©️MustafaSantiagoAli
#Poetry #Healing #Resistance #ProudBlue #SpiritualGrowth