Heartstrings of Black
By Brenda Bunting
Our sons will not be silenced.
For the voices of the victims will be heard.
Through mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters,
Husbands and wives,
Family and children, lovers and friends,
We will not be quiet.
We will not stop speaking; we will not stop filming,
We will not stop kneeling, nor stop seeking,
Until the change that is necessary,
Happens across every city that makes America,
We mourn but with each new morning,
We are filled with the fighting will,
With the passion and the purpose to pursue all avenues,
That we need to ensure not one more native son is killed!
We join Arm in Arm
To celebrate and lift up the UNARMED.
The thousands of black men
and black women and mentally ill,
Gunned down by persons in uniform
with a license to kill,
These perceived nobodies
are somebody,
In the eyes of god
and the human race—
Terence Crutcher is somebody.
Sandra Bland is somebody.
Nathaniel Harris Pickett II is somebody.
Michael Brown is somebody.
Natasha McKenna is somebody.
Freddie Gray is somebody.
Alton Sterling is somebody.
Philando Castile is somebody.
Tarika Wilson is somebody.
Aiyana Jones is somebody.
For every name that is mentioned here,
Our Mothers cry a thousand tears.
Justice is our mothers
On a mission—unrelenting—asking,
“Why was their child taken away?”
There is no more,
“Hello how are you doing today?”
But you can bring them back.
Bring them back into your arms mother,
And kiss them tenderly;
mend your broken heartstrings,
With the love shared between
you and the memories,
We join Arm in Arm to lift up the UNARMED.
Pinned down by heavy knees,
Rogue enforcer you got to know
these citizens can’t breathe
Why can’t a Minority
question your authority?
Why are you stopping me?
What have I done wrong?
Why are you yelling like that?
Are you telling me that I am gone?
Murdered by a systematic subculture of weak men,
You have two fearful people with one gun.
There is never going to be a good outcome.
Why is deadly force always the first resort?
Why always use a weapon?
(Maybe just trust some divine intervention.)
“Shut up!” They tell us but we will speak louder.
We push play on our phones and show our videos,
Recorded truth takes away all excuse.
Right there in black and white anyone can see,
They did not put up a fight,
unless you change what fighting means.
In the court of public opinion with millions of views,
Victims are now being recognized as actual people.
Not some street corner thug
on his way to a robbery,
But men with degrees
and real responsibilities,
The propaganda and
constructed lies are being destroyed.
No matter how hard
the establishment tries,
Because there is so much
footage there is no way to escape.
The whirlwind of words
the storm of statistics,
The documented evidence
and undisputed facts,
Show people are being killed
just because they are black!
This song of sorrow continues to play.
On the heartstrings of advocates across America,
A swelling symphony of protests resurrects,
It wreaks havoc with peace and normality.
As the inconsolable
out number consolation,
When will there be reconciliation?
We move into these strange days.
With a historical pattern of killing,
Asking, “Who is the good guy
and who is the villain?”
The rock of finality is thrown,
and it hits hard.
Metal shards spray
across concrete yards,
As young black men and
black women die,
We recognize the outrage
is now worldwide,
We unite and organize,
and a movement is born.
The rallying cry
is urgent and historic.
We will never participate
in the conspiracy of silence.
Even under the threat
of harm and violence,
This is not bland rhetoric
for you to wave away.
We are going to deal with this issue
RIGHT NOW as of today.
Author's Note: Nathaniel Harris Pickett II was gunned down on November 19, 2015, in Barstow, CA by a sheriff’s deputy. His mother Dominic Archibald held a memorial service for him on August 27, 2016, at Solomon’s Island, MD where I performed a version of this poem as a poetic eulogy in his honor.
Award-winning Orator, Poet, and Spoken Word Artist, Brenda Bunting is the author of Poems of Love and Violence In Between Life and Death. She has her master’s in teaching from New York University. She is a Literary Leader in Prince George's County, MD, and a life member of the Kentucky State Poetry Society. Brenda has been a panelist and workshop facilitator widely published in print and online in anthologies and other forums. She advocates for racial, social, and environmental justice and for the therapeutic use of writing poetry for mental and emotional wellness and healing from traumatic events. She has been a featured poet in articles on cable television, Blog talk Radio, and internet magazines.