None of what is happening now is new in America. It’s just new to us - we who have been privileged to stand on the outside looking in and feeling safe. Black people have been on the receiving end of the kind of brutality we are witnessing for centuries.
to all the melanated
that I have failed to be outraged enough
every time one of you
has been unjustly targeted
and too often killed -
the consequence
of fear amplified,
of Christianity perverted,
of arrogance celebrated,
not truth
and definitely not love.
No one deserves to die
for the color of their skin,
or the circumstances
of their birth.
It is like the line from that poem,
the one that lists the targeted ones -
“and then they came for me.”
Now we are the me,
and I feel the anger,
the righteous anger
that springs from the unjustifiable.
Still, I will never,
can never, fully understand
centuries of fear,
pain, and courage sustained
by those who have been pushed down,
yet still pushed forward.
Such resilience,
magnified through generations,
deserves recognition.
This is the battle before us now,
not just for some,
but for us all: for justice
that does not rank suffering,
that does not ask whose turn it is
to matter.
Black lives matter.
Immigrant lives matter.
Women’s lives matter.
LGBTQIA+ lives matter.
All lives matter
but only when “all”
truly means everyone.
I acknowledge my limited understanding.
I acknowledge that my words,
written to convey truth,
cannot erase the lies
that have been spoken
for generations to diminish you.
I can, however,
model your courage,
perseverance, and commitment
in the face of unjustifiable
intolerance and persecution.
I stand for truth.
I stand for justice.
After 250 years,
it is time
we all did.
Poetry by Melinda K Zarate
Written on 2026-01-28 at 15:40
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On Responsibility
I want to acknowledgeto all the melanated
that I have failed to be outraged enough
every time one of you
has been unjustly targeted
and too often killed -
the consequence
of fear amplified,
of Christianity perverted,
of arrogance celebrated,
not truth
and definitely not love.
No one deserves to die
for the color of their skin,
or the circumstances
of their birth.
It is like the line from that poem,
the one that lists the targeted ones -
“and then they came for me.”
Now we are the me,
and I feel the anger,
the righteous anger
that springs from the unjustifiable.
Still, I will never,
can never, fully understand
centuries of fear,
pain, and courage sustained
by those who have been pushed down,
yet still pushed forward.
Such resilience,
magnified through generations,
deserves recognition.
This is the battle before us now,
not just for some,
but for us all: for justice
that does not rank suffering,
that does not ask whose turn it is
to matter.
Black lives matter.
Immigrant lives matter.
Women’s lives matter.
LGBTQIA+ lives matter.
All lives matter
but only when “all”
truly means everyone.
I acknowledge my limited understanding.
I acknowledge that my words,
written to convey truth,
cannot erase the lies
that have been spoken
for generations to diminish you.
I can, however,
model your courage,
perseverance, and commitment
in the face of unjustifiable
intolerance and persecution.
I stand for truth.
I stand for justice.
After 250 years,
it is time
we all did.
Poetry by Melinda K Zarate
Written on 2026-01-28 at 15:40
Save as a bookmark (requires login) Write a comment (requires login) Send as email (requires login) Print text
