Posts Tagged ‘poetry’

In These Waiting Rooms of History – The DREAM of U

// October 24th, 2008 // 2 Comments » // Discourse Studies, Immigration, Racism

Dream Act Now

i wait for you in this caged room
we’ve never met and yet
[you feel familiar
i feel like i've known you before]

shadows mill past me
moving slowly, drudging and digging
futures ploughed within these timeless walls
you see me waiting and yet
[i can’t get to you,
i feel stationary much like before]

what is this feeling
fluid and fragmented
but immobile by design
so close and yet so far
[you slip away again
i feel betrayed, more than before]

i tell myself that i believe in you
i tell others to understand you
[i truly do believe in you,
in the DREAMs of you]

-DreamActivist

October 24, 2007. That is the date of the stamp on our Dreams Deferred.

Categorically denied even before debate, subjected to another indefinite wait, deferred dreams have a crippling effect on morales and ambitions.

20 million — that is the estimated number of us all over the world. Picked and tucked into the battle for our lives–Sorry, you don’t get guns and armor. Thrown into the deep end of the ocean so swim or you will drown–Sorry, no swimming lessons available. Underprivileged and underclass–sorry, no financial aid available. Illegal in our homes, legal away from our land–sorry no relief available.

Like the farmer that waits for the drought to end, like the mother that eagerly waits the birth of her child, like the student that cannot wait to turn 18 and gain ‘freedom,’ like the many American people who can see no further than ‘change’ with a new Administration, we too have been in for a long haul, a long stay in these waiting rooms of history

To DREAMers across America — I know this wait is the hardest time. I know life in limbo is harsh like life in a prison, only you have committed no crime. But remember, we have the power to make this wait productive, to take this time as a test–a character-building exercise– and to end this wait. Take each defeat as a learning lesson, as a challenge to do better and get better till you beat every test.

Do not despair. Do not be afraid. Do not give up. Stay true to your DREAMs.

L is for Liminal – DREAM poem

// August 17th, 2008 // 2 Comments » // Immigration, Racism

Today
I am paperless,
A refugee in my own land, homeless
Freeze-framed and lifeless,
In-limbo, my existence timeless
But never fear, certainly not peerless

In the waiting rooms of history,
A growing community
Sharing and caring,
Joking, laughing, ribbing, riling.
But never despairing
We are strong, kind and capable
Our DREAMs quite inevitable

They want to punish, banish and vanish
guilt us for crimes we have not commited, What rubbish?
their vile hate speech so Outlandish
Try as they might to tarnish and diminish
We shall try harder to establish and accomplish.

Tomorrow,
We shall become doctors and lawyers,
engineers and teachers,
managers and leaders,
movers and shakers.

You STILL say Illegal is illegal?
I say your ignorance is abysmal.

SPEAK out – Immigration Control – Emerging Police State

// May 27th, 2008 // No Comments » // Human Rights, Immigration

The progressive media is finally paying more attention to the emerging police state in light of immigration crackdowns in Postville, Iowa and the Washington Post report on the (mis)treatment of immigrant detainees. Joshua Holland provides a good summation in his article of the actions carried out by the enforcers of immigration law, actions that were in violation of worker’s constitutional rights and due process of law:

Enforcement on Steroids: Homeland Security’s Emerging Immigration Police State (Part I)

Some would call it a victory for law and order. But a closer look at the showy example of “getting tough on illegals” offers some insight into what immigration restrictionists are really asking for when they call for more immigration enforcement…some of the detained workers are victims of crimes by Agriprocessors, Inc., which may entitle them to a visa, and accuses the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of arbitrary and indefinite detention and violating the workers’ constitutional rights…in the overwhelming majority of these raids — 98 percent, according to the Washington Post — the only people to pay any penalty are poor people trying to earn a substandard wage working in America’s growing unregulated economy.

The emerging migrant-military complex overshadowed by rampant human rights abuses and disregard for the law offers us a great offensive argument in the fight for migrant rights. Anyone arguing against the rights of undocumented immigrants or the need to legalize them with the “law, order and sovereignty” spill should surrender and admit their faulty rhetoric. We cannot continue to uphold the law SELECTIVELY for workers and employers, immigrants and elected officials. We cannot restore order by inciting chaos and terror in our migrant communities. And our sovereignty is not threatened by immigration–legal or illegal. It is threatened by cultivating a police state to restore legitimacy for otherwise illegitimate actions, while profiting and strengthening the iron fist in the name of upholding ‘THE LAW’ which we continue to break.

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.

Pastor Martin Niemöller

Awaiting DREAMs – Getting Lyrical

// March 5th, 2008 // No Comments » // Immigration

This is for the DREAMers. Do you have a song, poetry, or piece of art that you relate to your experience as an Undocumented Student? Something along the lines of hiding or living in the shadows or waiting in line and long queues? I would love to get some input and feedback on this from my fellow DREAMers.

I found some relevant songs that do strike a chord with me.

This one is by Neil Sadaka and called "The Immigrant." It basically alludes to an America that used to welcome everyone, and now it has closed the door.

Harbours open there doors to the young searching foreigner
Come to live in the light of the big L of liberty
Plains and open skies bill boards would advertise
Was it anything like that when you arrived
Dream boats carried the future to the heart of America
People were waiting in line for a place by the river

Chorus
It was time when strangers were welcome here
Music would play they tell me the days were sweet and clear
It was a sweeter tune and there was so much room
That people could come from everywhere

Now he arrvies with hopes and his heart set on miracles
Come to marry his fortune with a hand full of promises
To find they've closed the door they don't want him anymore
There isn't anymore to go around
Turning away he remembers he once heard a legend
That spoke of a mystical magical land called America

It was time when strangers were welcome here
Music would play they tell me the days were sweet and clear
It was a sweeter tune and there was so much room
That people could come from everywhere

It was time when strangers were welcome here
Music would play they tell me the days were sweet and clear
It was a sweeter tune and there was so much room
That people could come from everywhere

 

And this other one is called "Waiting Room" by Fugazi, alluding to our long wait and immobile selves.

I am a patient boy
I wait, I wait, I wait, I wait
My time is like water down a drain
Everybody’s moving,
Everybody’s moving,
Everybody’s moving, moving, moving, moving
Please don’t leave me to remain
In the waiting room
I don’t want the news
I cannot use it
I don’t want the news
I won’t live by it
Sitting outside of town
Everybody’s always down
Tell me why?
Because… they can’t get up
Ahhh… Come on and get up
Come on and get up
But I don’t sit idly by
Ahhh…
I’m planning a big surprise
I’m gonna fight for what I want to be
I won’t make the same mistakes
Because I know
Because I know how much time that wastes
And Function
Function is the key
To the the waiting room
I don’t want the news
I cannot use it
I don’t want the news
I won’t live by it
Sitting outside of town
Everybody’s always down
Tell me why?
Because… they can’t get up
Ahhh… Come on and get up
Up for the waiting room
Sitting in the waiting room
Ahhh…
Tell me why?
Because… they can’t get up

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Appropriate songs-poetry for DREAM Act students?

// March 5th, 2008 // 3 Comments » // Immigration

Ok, so there is a part of me that appreciates some literary genius once in a while. Where are the DREAMers that write poetry, lyrics, sing or just know their music in general?

Are there any particular pre-existing songs or poetry that reminds you of your situation? Of life as an immigrant? An undocumented student?

This could be a fun project. We could use some quotes as slogans and put some on banners.

I found this today (we are on the “waiting” / “stillness” theme for this month I think while I churn out enough material for my papers) :

I’VE BEEN WAITIN’ FOR TOMORROW (ALL OF MY LIFE)

I’m hiding in the corner
Of an overgrown garden
Covering my body in leaves
And trying not to breathe
All my childhood dreams
Are bursting at the seams
And dangling around my knees
I’ve been deformed by emotional scars
And the cancer of love has eaten out my heart
I’ve been stripped bare and nobody cares
And all the people I looked up to are no longer there

All desires have been denied
To put me in this state of mind
Another year over and what have I done
All my aspirations have shriveled in the sun
I’m crippled by guilt, blinded by science
I’ve been waitin’ for tomorrow all of my life

I’ve been filled with useless information
Spewed out by papers and radio stations
I’ve been hounded by fair-weather friends
Sowing the seeds for my discontent
Life is like a sewer and I’m trying to wade thru her
I threw in my money and made my wish
But sleeping boys catch no fish

All desires have been denied
To put me in this state of mind
Another year over and what have I done
All my aspirations have shriveled in the sun
I’m crippled by guilt, blinded by science
I’ve been waitin’ for tomorrow all of my life

All my childhood dreams are dangling around my knees
My mind has been polluted and my energy diluted
My mind has been polluted and my energy diluted
MY MIND HAS BEEN POLLUTED AND MY ENERGY DILUTED

Fugazi Waiting Room

I am a patient boy
I wait, I wait, I wait, I wait
My time is like water down a drain
Everybody’s moving,
Everybody’s moving,
Everybody’s moving, moving, moving, moving
Please don’t leave me to remain
In the waiting room
I don’t want the news
I cannot use it
I don’t want the news
I won’t live by it
Sitting outside of town
Everybody’s always down
Tell me why?
Because… they can’t get up
Ahhh… Come on and get up
Come on and get up
But I don’t sit idly by
Ahhh…
I’m planning a big surprise
I’m gonna fight for what I want to be
I won’t make the same mistakes
Because I know
Because I know how much time that wastes
And Function
Function is the key
To the the waiting room
I don’t want the news
I cannot use it
I don’t want the news
I won’t live by it
Sitting outside of town
Everybody’s always down
Tell me why?
Because… they can’t get up
Ahhh… Come on and get up
Up for the waiting room
Sitting in the waiting room
Ahhh…
Tell me why?
Because… they can’t get up

Heck, even art that reminds you of your experience?

Government Bureau