By now, unless you have been hiding under a rock, for which I would definitely not blame you, you have heard about the senseless violence that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia several days ago. There have been all types of backlash when a great deal of rage aimed at President Trump’s failure to respond and denounce the violence in a timely manner. There are many people struggling to find ways to make sense of it to their young children who cannot escape the news of its reality because technology has a chokehold on them.
Well, there always seems to be a bright light shining amidst the darkness that carries with it a form of hope that is inexplicable yet undeniable. This light exposed itself in a magnificent way when poet Riz Ahmed appeared on the tonight show and unleashed a masterpiece that addressed the recent violence and the causality associated with it.
What was amazing to me is the fact that Ahmed wrote this poem over ten years ago and instead of it losing its relevance, it has increased in relevance each year since.
Ahmed starts with, “In these sour times, please allow me to vouch for mine, bitter taste in my mouth — spit it out with a rhyme. Hey yo, I’m losing my religion to tomorrow’s headlines.” He moves on from their addressing specific acts of inhumane violence and the mistreatment of people and the false assessments of the cause at the core of it all.
He did an exceptional job of outlining the disparities that create the type of hopelessness that leads young men to become violently aggressive in response to the collapse of the world around them. With beauty and eloquence, he unveils the reality of failed systems and selfish dictatorships presented under the guise of democratic freedom.
There are definitely sour times, and they seem to be increasingly sour with each passing moment. In less than three minutes, Ahmed successfully breaks down the false postulation of some super villain being the mastermind behind every terrorist action around the world. He speaks about the fact that far too many young men are becoming angry because they have been marginalized and sidelined by economic indifference.
The truth is that each year more and more people lose faith in democratic systems — finding no reason to participate in the democratic process that completely ignores their very existence. The problem is that as people become more and more hopeless and frustrated, they become easy targets for those who will condition their minds to reach a point of physical aggression toward those who innocent.
He went even further to address the idea of bravery being associated with the cowardice act of suicide-based terrorism — illuminating the fact that those who practice this form of protest are never left to deal with the aftermath, making them cowards.
The manner in which Riz Ahmed addresses the senseless nature of the ongoing violence is both in-depth and masterful. He truly moved the audience and it would be my guess that those sitting in their living rooms watching the show were just as moved by this poem that turned out to be so much more.
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