Solidarity
By Remi Kanazi
I.
you can speak
you always do
never minded replacing
indigenous syllables
with Western vernacular
politics on paper
but never in practice
cleansed native tongues
on soapboxes built on
stolen land
we would no longer smile
hold the door, take your coat
get on our knees and praise
this fool's gold
not palatable
not reasonable
never white enough
narratives ghostwritten
poorly and without
our permission
I am not looking for you
academic savior
know-it-all solidarity activist
condescending anti-Zionist
owe you nothing for introspection
will award you no medal as you shout
your own name at the top of your lungs
Palestinian women worked decades in camps
weaving fabric until fingers bled
watched their children die
as they built foundation for return
their names have never been mentioned
faces put on a poster or hailed as heroes
they built classrooms because their hearts
willed it, memory could not erase it
II.
when we make saviors out of movements
organize around egos and forgo campaigns
pedestal and ivory towers must be critiqued
your contribution is just that, a contribution
I wake thankful
for those who speak out
refuse, resist
but solidarity
comes with recognizing
and checking privilege
solidarity comes with knowing
that you are not better than others
simply because you hold a mic
students are not worker bees
wile you take all the credit
Palestinians are not victims
that need to be saved
children that need to be dictated to
solidarity is not a golden pass
to stomp, abuse, and run over
you want to battle oppression?
confront your own complicity
in communities of solidarity
Copyright Credit: Remi Kanazi, "Solidarity" from Before the Next Bomb Drops: Rising Up from Brooklyn to Palestine. Copyright © 2015 by Remi Kanazi. Reprinted by permission of Haymarket Books.
Source: Before the Next Bomb Drops: Rising Up from Brooklyn to Palestine (Haymarket Books, 2015)