JUNE 2020

A Note From Our Executive Director Today we are witnessing the power the ARTS have to disrupt, to heal, and to transform an unjust society. In this turbulent moment, creativity cannot stoically watch but profoundly ask in the words of internationally acclaimed singer, songwriter, concert pianist and civil rights activist Nina Simone, " How can you be an artist and not reflect the times?" We will dedicate space in our upcoming issues to share your answers to this important question. Creative We Stand, Rhonda Dallas & Son, Terrence Executive Director/Chief Curator Prince George’s Arts and Humanities Council (PGAHC)

Office of Prince George's County Poet Laureate

J. Joy & Sons -- Brian and Ronald

Neither Knees Nor Pandemic J. Joy “Sistah Joy” Matthews Alford © 6/8/2020

Pulling us from the lull of status quo Today’s carnage awakens us, Has shaken the conscience of the world As once again captured digitized images Seen on flat-screens around the world Convey atrocities that Black folk have Endured in America for centuries

Face masks and gloves can’t Protect us from this pandemic More lethal, more deadly than COVID-19 Black America has known this Ravaging disease for far too long No longer will we hide A shame not ours inside Black rage Behind fear or Black tears

America, this cannot continue To be your legacy The confluence of systemic discrimination Racism, police misconduct and brutality, profiling, Inequity in every arena, Indifference, but all too often Disdain for Black life is the reality This is not a flaw in the system It is the system Entrenched injustice simply makes visible Horrid realities that a color-blind society Hides in broad daylight See our color, see the beauty of our rainbow We are beautiful when we are free

Through rage we shout at the sun Pray to the Son Bury far too many young Give our innocent pre-adolescent children “the talk” While wiping away tears, shaking our heads No longer will distraught and bereaved mothers Merely wring hands while tsk, tsk-ing about Corrupt cops and court systems Designed to maintain in lockstep A march as steady and deadly as Auschwitz Too many young Black men and women Succumb as they struggle to breathe Struggle to have their voice heard Struggle to catch hold of a promise That was never intended for them

Are you hearing us America This great experiment Can only succeed if all are free You can only truly be America If the promise is made real for all Stretch it, re-shape it, re-make it Start anew if necessary But this time make it real We have arrived At a pivotal point That won’t let the door swing both ways It calls us all to grow, go forward Acknowledge our flaws Without falling off the ledge Neither we nor the world can un-see What has been revealed Neither knees nor pandemics allow America to breathe amid yesterday’s shallow air She has for far too long, ignored, smiled, even laughed While hiding her heinous secret in broad daylight Everybody knows and has been complicit In silence or acquiescence for fear that The next victim be too close to home Or worse...

It’s no longer the elephant in the room But rather, the entrenched, callous, calculated Counted-on game of ‘you can’t catch-up Because the system is not yours' The legacy of privilege has ensured Your Golden Rule continues

But because of brazen fools who rule Because one too many killings have Been witnessed and cannot be refuted Because fewer white sheets are bought By Americans of conscience Because the beauty of America’s rainbow Shines bright inside enlightened Hearts, souls and minds Because the breath of freedom Now blows down urban and rural streets Because truth can be neither constrained, Contained nor contaminated Corrupted shields of blue will no longer Shield racists and bigots reigning terror Menacing communities of color Those who for far too long ruled With impunity under protection of law

The scourge has contaminated the sacred And now must be purged No longer can corrupt cops operate With immunity under flawed laws Designed to protect, not citizens, But systems built to project fear Provoke hollow-hearted perpetrators who Regale in glorified heinous lynchings Made in the name of the law

Evil consumes merely by existing This choke-hold must be broken To those for whom the Black Lives Matter Battle cry causes discomfort, Rips away the false veneer of status quo It was never intended to soothe you This plea for humanity Rightfully taunts those who yearn For a broken yesterday Today we shout it boldly From lungs that demand breath That demand that the sheets of bigotry Be lifted and set on fire That dead and disingenuous hearts and laws Be revealed as the tortuous truths they are Knees must be lifted before masks can be removed This is how we wipe out, Annihilate the true pandemic That has ravaged America for centuries

Listen America, we no longer sing Our ancestor’s song of freedom You never understood the chorus So today we shout Black Lives Matter This message is our mantra We shout we can’t breathe We now stand and demand That you, America, be greater Than any distorted history you ever proclaimed Name it beauty, name it compassion Name it love, name it life Lived wholly, fully and free But know this America, Neither knee nor pandemic Can block freedom from reigning supreme The heartbeat of humanity demands it Let us each be part of that heartbeat Resilient, vibrant and fierce Guiding, empowering, charging us all To change and save one another This is the true power of freedom and equality The only hope for democracy J. Joy “Sistah Joy” Matthews Alford

PGAHC Thanks Our FUNDERS for Helping Bring the Arts to a Larger Audience!

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