BATTLE SCARS


what is the meaning of independence day to the more than two-million incarcerated...a day to dance with brutal irony--a day to feel the burn of being isolated...some wounds never fully heal--leaving searing pain waiting in the wings...some scars send their roots deep--welding mind and body into a tortured being...in every jail cell the survivors of criminal injustice make their mark...carving names into wrought iron beds--leaving echoes of jackson pollack on the walls...our current regime aims to amplify this criminalization--to deport thousands of immigrants--to purify the white nation...last fall thousands of prisoners came together to strike...we must build solidarity with this resistance--and build the movement for black lives...battle scars cut deep--for the indigenous--for the brown and black...the scars of never-ending trauma brand like lashes on our backs...but once recognized, scar tissue can be fertile ground for healing--we turn our pain into power, as community fuels our cosmic convening...scar tissue marks our past, but it can also mark our future--we can gather strength from old wounds if we relearn how to love and to nurture
--BYPO PHOENIX c) 2017