What if I Whisper?

Why won't you hear me?

What if I whisper? Will you hear me then?


One hundred years ago I tried wailing and weeping. I wept at the feet of the conquerer. I wailed for the loss of my sons and daughters. I wept for my lost lands and the nations destroyed by the colonizers. I begged and pleaded and my voice rose to the pitch of a shriek in the night as I walked in misery. You took my sadness as a trophy.

What if I whisper? Listen

I ran. I used my feet, and my cunning, and my hope against you. I banded together with others, and we fled from your hands and your eyes and your empty heart. I was not alone. We fought in silence, and our stories and our songs led us to a place of temporary peace. It felt like victory, and for a moment it was. I thought you would see us for who we were. I was wrong.

What if I whisper? Stop

I also tried defiance. I spoke when you wanted me to be quiet. I stood when you told me to sit. I sat when you told me to stand. I was silent when you wanted me to speak. I left the kitchen, and the schoolhouse and the secretarial pool, and I got the right to vote. I went to the places you told me not to go and I dared you to force me to stay where you said I must. I defied you at every turn. I am still fighting for the right to be seen.

What if I whisper? Please

I clawed my way to the light. My mother worked hard. My father worked hard. My children worked hard. We all worked for the things you would not share. We pressed and pressed and worked. We died working. We died trying. We died hoping. We knew that every single one of us was a brick in a long road. We knew that we could not build that road overnight and that it would take untold years to build it sturdy enough so that each new generation would be able to go just a bit further. You cannot crush that road. We have made this land brilliant, interesting, rich, culturally rich, musically rich, and we have built it with our hands, ideas, and work. You can ignore or belittle our legacy, but we know who we are.

What if I whisper? Acknowledge

Sometimes I lose control of my anger. It explodes in fury and hopelessness. I howl for the injustice and I lash out all around me. I demand that you see me and hear me and understand. I need you to know that if I sit too long with my hands folded and my heart torn that I will bleed beyond my body and it will ignite in flame and destruction. I shout so loud I shake the streets and the air blackens with soot as the sirens call out all around me. How can I be making all of this noise and still you cannot hear me?

What if I whisper? Understand

How do I say to you that my sons and daughters are just people?
How do I say to you that my son's lives are as important as your son's?
How do I say to you that my daughters are as worthy as yours?
How do I say to you that my life matters as much as yours does?
How do I make you see that you have no right to torture me?
How do I make you see that you have no right to starve me?
How do I make you see that you have no right to leave me without shelter?
How do I make you see that you have no right to imprison me for money?
How do I make you see that you have no right to force me to work in horrific conditions to put food on your table?
How do I make you see that you have no right to stop me and frisk me because you can?
How do I make you see that if I am driving in a car and I have done nothing, you have no right to stop me?
How do I stop you from calling the authorities when I'm just trying to do normal things?
How do I stop you from shooting me because you feel like it?
How do I get you to take your knee off of my neck?

What if I whisper? Injustice

I have wept!
I have wailed!
I have run!
I have worked!
I have fought!
I have been silent!
I have stood in peace!
I have rioted!
I have protested!
I have died!
I have been murdered!
I have knelt in silence.
I have walked in peace.
I have voted despite how hard you work to stop me.
I have spoken in the face of violence and fear.
I have written the words of protest and anger - love and peace.

Still, You Will Not Hear Me!

What if I whisper -

Your life is built on a foundation of my bones

We cannot go forward until we clear the ground and start again

I will no longer let you keep pretending you don't hear me