i am, become... <br />i am the African slave <br />working in the deep Mississippi sun; <br />his eyes, his muscles, his back, his heart, <br />all shouting 'freedom'... <br />i am the college student, <br />hanging from a tree <br />in the sixties south, <br />who died for his conviction... <br />i am the minister <br />who joined the protest for peace, <br />dignity, and equality, <br />his face bashed in by the officer's club, <br />handcuffed in the back of the van... <br /> <br />i am the turning of the seasons <br />through prison bars, <br />the watered down coffee, <br />the tiny cell. <br />i am the one ridiculed and rundown <br />by the conservative righteous right, <br />for standing up for individual rights. <br />i am the young family left stranded <br />on food stamps and unemployment checks, <br />their future teetering... <br /> <br />i am the illegal immigrant beaten <br />in the Arizona desert, <br />left to die by the side of the road.... <br /> <br />i am the working poor, <br />the honest and true, <br />driven to desperation... <br /> <br />i am hard and coiled, <br />i am America crying out for justice, , , <br />i am, become...<br /><br />Eric Cockrell<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-am-justice/
