Under conditions of Terror,
Most comply—but some do not.²
We tell ourselves who we are each day—
Or else we’d become what they make us.³
We Resist, knowing that our Fate, regardless of
The consequences, is better than to accept and
Pass on oppression to Future Generations.⁴
I refuse to obey any command
To fight from the ruling class—
But I will not wait to be commanded
To Fight for the Working Class.⁵
If we must die, let it not be like hogs hunted &
Penned in an inglorious spot—oh let us Die Nobly:
Like men we’ll face the murderous cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall, Dying, but Fighting back—⁶
Thick-Lipped from Riot and Rebellious Cries.⁷
In our blood a Million Suns
Defy a multitude of cruelties:⁸
Utopian Dreams stay Alive—in our Veins.⁹
Raise your Fist, Lower your Head—
And pay Homage to the Elemental.¹⁰
¹ Louis Lingg, Trial Speech
² Hannah Arendt tr. original, Eichmann in Jerusalem
³ Gabrielle Otero, Self-Portrait Despite What They Say
⁴ Kuwasi Balagoon, A Soldier’s Story
⁵ Eugene Debs, The Subject Class Always Fights the Battles
⁶ Claude McKay, If We Must Die
⁷ Wallace Stevens, The Men that Are Falling
⁸ Tawfiq Zayyad, A Million Suns in My Blood
⁹ Qasem Waleed El-Farra, A New Day to Die
¹⁰ Mayday Del Valle, It’s Just Begun