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 96th 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 might hurt a little bit, yeah, for us but not for you— your pockets stay fat while our ribs show through, supply chains snap like overworked spines, & we break first.
they tax the sweat off our backs, but your hands stay clean, we turn dollars into dust, you turn dust into gold, we bend, you build, we burn, you bank.
tariffs rise like floodwaters, but only the poor drown. we watch the price of living skyrocket, while you sip champagne & call it strategy, while we clip coupons & call it prayer.
the divide ain’t just wealth— it’s who gets to hurt, who gets to heal, who gets to play chess with our hunger, who gets to count the bodies & call it economics.
this might hurt a little bit— but you don’t feel a damn thing. ©️MustafaSantiagoAli
#poetry #Tariffs2025 #Finance #Workingclass