We should be standing with Standing Rock
And kneeling for the anthem.
America was never great
It was all just a dream
A dream chased by immigrants
By our ancestors
Grandparents
Parents
You
Me
America is a country
Built on stolen land
By thieves and slave owners
Murderers and rapists
(Immigrants themselves)
Who then changed their own history
Had holidays in their honor
Convinced generations of children
Of their greatness.
We should be standing with Standing Rock
And kneeling for the anthem.
Native American sacred land is being stolen
All over again
Burial grounds destroyed
The bones of cherished souls
Thrown about
Like so many worthless stones
To advance a pipeline of profits
For the Trumps of the world
A pipeline of environmental destruction
Water destruction
When
Water
is
Life.
Is this our generation’s
Trail of Tears?
Why is no one
Protecting
The Protectors?
We should be standing for Standing Rock
And kneeling for the anthem.
Taking a knee
Is no different than
Taking a seat
Where you’re forbidden to sit;
In the front of the bus,
At a lunch counter,
In the middle of a busy street.
Taking a knee
Isn’t disrespectful,
To be clear.
It’s a call to action.
It’s a call to do better.
It’s a challenge.
We should be standing for Standing Rock
And kneeling for the anthem.
The Standing Rock Sioux
Are standing up for their water
Therefore, their lives.
The Standing Rock Sioux
Are standing up against
Corporate giants
Armed with attack dogs
Militarized police
Bottomless financial prowess
Politicians with overflowing pockets.
We should be standing with Standing Rock
And kneeling for the anthem.
Colin Kapernik
Kneeled for the national anthem,
But really to call out
Racism
Is
Real
And
Black
Lives
Matter
And because the names
Eric Garner
Freddie Gray
Tamir Rice
Margaret LaVerne Mitchell
Kendra James
Need to be known
And not forgotten.
We should be standing with Standing Rock
And kneeling for the anthem.
by Julie Blue 