Ancestors

Inspired by the song, "Ancestors" by Savage Family

If our ancestors came back and asked who we are, would we be too far gone to recognize them through the stars and the stripes of the flag, living our lives that they saved, if our ancestors came back, would we fight them today?

If our ancestors came back and asked who we are, would we be too far gone to recognize them through the stars and the stripes of the flag, living our lives that they saved, if our ancestors came back, would we spit in their face?

Why is that for many the answer’s yes…for many their quick to turn their backs…erase their memories…and hide in the darkness of forgetful ignorance?

Forgetting who they are, ignorant of their histories and herstories

They are lost

Lost in the destructive sea of ameriKKKan assimilation

That sea which blasts away any trace of tradition and culture

That sea through which the slave ships traverse…the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria…leaving behind a trail of blood so thick, reeking of massacre and genocide

Why is it that for many the ride on those ships is a welcomed journey?

They are eager to bleed away the past…bleed away their memories…bleed away into the darkness of forgetful ignorance…

They slit their own wrists in hopes of salvation…

But their sacrifice is not received by Creator

Grandfather sky is blind to the shedding of their blood

Grandmother earth is deaf to their cries…and as their blood runs down and drips from their fingers it stains our mother and leaves upon her a trail of blood that reeks of betrayal and dishonor.

Disillusioned by the stripes and mesmerized by the stars…whirling in a deceitful wind of red, white, and blue…our people become blissfully catatonic in their ignorance

Their eyes glazed over, their minds controlled, their tongues colonized and detached…

They speak with hatred and intolerance…forgetting that the ancestors are listening…

The ancestors hear the sharpened spears of treachery and feel them as they pierce their hearts

WHY…I ASK…WHY?!?!?!

Why must you forget…forget the struggle…forget the ancestors who died so that we may live on today

Why must you forget…forget the struggle…forget the ancestors who died and left their blood of resistance on the Red Road?

Why must you forget…forget the struggle…forget the ancestors who died…who lived…who live for us today?

You bleed yourselves for a foreign conqueror, and stain your mother earth with your betrayal…

But no matter how much blood you shed…how much you try to forget…you will NEVER kill the spirit of the ancestors!

Resilient in their struggle…they will live on in our hearts…beyond erasure…their existence is eternal

When our ancestors come back and ask us who we are…we will beat the drum, the heart of the people, and sing the songs of survival…