Listen, Child


Child, there was a time when we did not know that the earth is alive and the sky is inside us.

It is hard to comprehend, child, but once there was a time when men believed that we could own the soil; we had rights to the land and could take from the earth whatever we desired.
Yes, it is hard to imagine, child, but there was a time when pale-skinned men looked down on ebony and mahogany brothers, as if they came from another womb.

There was a time when husbands treated wives as they treated the land, as property; and a time when men who loved men and women who loved women hid their love, fearing exile and murder.

Child, there was a time when we slaughtered each other in the name of freedom; we slaughtered thousands daily and looked the other way, loudly distracting ourselves with games.

It is painful, child, but you must hear: there was a time when a few of us lived in unspeakable luxury, devouring the labor of the poor.

And every night, those few slept soundly, believing themselves to be a higher species of humanity, chosen for wealth by unearthly grace.

I tell the hard truth, child: there was a time when the hungry and the sick of heart wandered dark streets, homeless in a land of plenty, without a breath of welcome.

Listen to your grandfather's tears: there was a time when we did not know that the earth is alive and the sky is inside us.

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