Political

I am not Emmit Till 
child martyr. 
Not the Scottsboro boys, 
nor Sacco and Vanzetti. 
I am not Mumia, 
"Live from death row." 
or Leonard Peltier 
grown old. 
I am not the ghost 
of Joaquin Murietta- 
not Ruben Salazar. 
I am a woman, 
Caucasian, 
born and raised here, 
in the United States 
to middle-class parents. 
But is this a condition 
equating success? 
Does it guarantee me 
a generous slice 
of the "American Dream?" 
I'll never know, 
for early on I aligned 
myself 
with the other side... 
with the downtrodden 
and maligned. 
And so, 
my name 
can be added to those lists 
of the sung 
and unsung. 
And so, 
despite color, 
class 
and gender 
we, 
they and I 
are siblings all.

Siblings All