Two Sections from “Russian Doctor”

Recorded at Word on the Street on September 28, 2008

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The World around Me

The issues of this world baffles me The facts and the statistics that are transparent to all reaffirm the fact that we dwell in a world filled with ignorance It is possible to channel my thoughts to the expertise of a professor that conducts multiple researches about the stunning overrepresentation of minorities in prison Or the fact that the gap between the rich and the poor will no longer shrink to create a sense of unity Politicians and those that hold supervisory positions refuse to allocate the funds to support the children in need Overburdened taxpayers spend less time with their children as they pick up guns of all sizes to make headline news The terrorists of society scramble in rage to victimize those that fit into the description of a nation I call for a solution Children forced to fight a war just to prove that power can dominate the inhabitants of a state Pumped into their system are all types of drugs just to suppress the anguish of killing a mother with the resemblance of their own Freedom of speech and expression is observed through graffiti of hate and intolerance Teens facing the issues of self esteem with the notion that love multiplies with the subtraction of father figures Face with disgust some of them turn to the solutions of suicide to end the child that murdered a child through abortion I call for a solution Tortured soldiers face a war of orders and loyalty to the state Wars that are blown out of proportion to the ends of the earth and still we struggle to find out who started it in the first place Skins ripped apart with blood and anguish about the deplorable conditions of the trenches Poppies grow to the grave yards of armed forces and they weren’t ready to die in the first place We need a solution Issues of success ring down the minds of normal civilians Media propagates the universal goal of success to the billions Negativity is the result of the pessimistic minds of the millions Words of hope refuses to the linger to the minds of those that are without a solution  . . .

Words

Words, words, words are so important, and words are my tool Words are how I express myself Don’t be mistaken by angry words, for anger is a result of oppression Don’t take my words as words of protest, just take them, listen to them, work with them I have a right to use my words, for I live here, grew up here, since the age of 4 No one can understand my pain unless you’ve grown up in my shoes All too often I’ve been hurt by words of ignorance “The N Word”—ignorance You’re not Black you don’t act Black—ignorance I’m not prejudice I have a black friend—ignorance Ignorance all ignorance If there is to be a solution to the problem we must work together, we must use words We can no longer remain oblivious to what surrounds us; racism, the system I work with children and it hurts me when I ask them questions about their identity and they know nothing It hurts me when I say to a child—What does it mean to be Black? Response—to be Black is to be “The N Word” Words, words, words, the wrong words coming from our youth We must take away this negativity and replace it with positivity and the truth We must teach children to use words like Afro Canadian I attend Dalhousie University, I went through the Transition Year Program and I’m proud of it I love myself and my people and it’s evident Every day I look for myself in hospitals, on campus, in books, in the plays we read in class I don’t see myself Every day I hear my white friends talk in a Black lingo and I think that’s not how I talk Don’t they realize they are hurting me? My hurt runs deep, my hurt is my history Words, I will use my words Someday I will direct and write plays and use my words about my people Words, words words are so important and words are my tool Words are how I express myself Don’t mistake my words of anger for anger is a sign of oppression Don’t take my words as words of protest, just take them, listen to them work with them . . .