i am the unions. <br />miners, teachers, steel workers, <br />nurses, factory workers, <br />standing strong and united, <br />demanding human decency, <br />fair wages and benefits. <br />i am not communism. <br /> <br />i am the common man and woman, <br />saying prayers with their hands <br />as they work; <br />driven by the faith in family, <br />teaching respect, gentleness, <br />and firm convictions <br />to their children. <br />i am not the elite. <br /> <br />i am the bruised, scarred human being. <br />i have fallen time and again. <br />i have built great dreams <br />that time has destroyed. <br />but i know what i believe, <br />and who i am. <br />i am not religious. <br /> <br />i am the multi-colored neighborhood. <br />different faiths, different languages, <br />the same needs and desires. <br />i am open conversation and acceptance. <br />i am not prejudice. <br /> <br />i am the day of revolution. <br />i am oppression cast off, <br />ignorance exposed; <br />i am equality, dignity, <br />and basic human rights. <br />i am not 'i, me, mine'. <br /> <br />i am the human condition... <br />evolving, changing, molded by fire, <br />i am the river that finds <br />it's way home... <br />i am not the end of time!<br /><br />Eric Cockrell<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-am-i-am-not-3/
