“When they said Berkeley was ‘crunchy,’ I didn’t know they meant students’ rib cages.” – Stephen Colbert
Gathered together to protest the injustices of the day, they linked arms and held firm. They linked arms as they crossed a bridge, knowing that police cars, batons, dogs, and fire hoses waited at the other end. They linked arms as they stepped off the bus to receive blows from mobs armed with bricks and clubs who hated their peaceful integration. They linked arms to save their factory from being shutdown because the bank said so, not because of any lack of productivity. They linked arms as they marched to the sea to gather a hand full of salt. They linked arms knowing that resistance was futile and their extermination in the camps with all the other undesirables was inevitable. They linked arms so that they could wait in the cold for hours on end to exercise the right to vote, a right secured for them by the blood of those who had linked arms before them.
And now they are linking arms saying they are sick of the foreclosures. They are linking arms saying they are sick of the take, take, take. They are linking arms saying they don’t need another haircut because their hair is already too short. They are linking arms to say that tuition is too high and education is no longer accessible for too many in the population.
They are linking arms non-violently, quietly, in song, in spirit, and in peace, beckoning all of us to listen.
© 2011, gar. All rights reserved.