Survivor Literacy

We Have To Rise by Protyus A. Gendher

In PRIDES of the past, I have spoken of celebration 
Of identities beyond regulation 
Not left to speculation  
Or hegemonic education 
Needing only relation to the self. 
 
I have talked about community 
How we can gather in the streets 
Not hidden between the sheets 
Or reduced to clandestine meets 
 
I have called upon our shared history 
Revealed the mystery  
Of misdirected personhood 
Suspended and held for ransom 
While the truth is abandoned 
 
I’ve talked about change 
And the power of a name 
And the process of becoming  
Because we weren’t meant to stay the same 
And all of this is misunderstood 
For the sake of casting blame 
 
I’ve begged for our removal from the big game list 
We may be endangered but at least for now we still exist 
And we never wanted to use our fists 
But we’re getting pissed 
 
The paradox of tolerance 
Is a reality most preposterous 
Because in our fight for autonomy 
Lady justice gets a lobotomy 
Because only one side will let the other side be 
So, it’s open season all of the time on blokes like you and me 

 

We keep disappearing  
Jax should be here and  
How many Club Q shootings 
Sparked by incel broodings 
And a national reconstituting 
 
It is NOT ENOUGH to have a day of remembrance 
Where all the privileged turn their heads 
Then ask if we feel better yet 
Can we pull ourselves together yet? 
When do we stand up? Why do we sit? 
Oh yeah, they just get acquitted. 
 
They act with impunity 
hunting down those who disagree 
Screaming it’s for their safety 
And we keep begging “Why can’t I be me?” 
 
In the land of the free. 
 
Freedom to those who built this country 
Only meant that the wealthy here didn’t answer to a king 
The founders never meant for this to be the land of the free 
Unless that’s code for making them more money 
 
American freedom isn’t about the power of personal choice 
Or the ability to lift up a voice 
That was never the point 
How can 3/5 of a person exist? 
Can we finally admit that it was twisted? 
They said, “We the people” 
But they failed to define a “we” 
So, we’ve still had to fight for everything 
In the land of the free 
Trading humans as a commodity 
In the global economy 
And they were like “That’s just the way it is you see.” 
There’s no indemnity for folks on the street 
Just the ruling elite 
And the cogs in their machine 
Spoiler alert: That’s you and me 
“That’s just the way it is you see” 
We belong up here and you belong on your feet 
Working overtime hours in a body worn and beat 

“It’s just the natural order of things,”  
And then they point to the American Dream 
And say “Here you can be ANYTHING...” 
Except a minority, a queer, or transperson like me. 
Except anyone carrying truth in their identity 
Knowing better than the menu they allow 
Is the thing that could bring the whole house of cards down 
Because no category “belongs” at the bottom 
No matter who they say is built to pick cotton 
Or who should be locked in a prison rotting 
Or in a concentration camp forgotten 
All because we tolerate intolerance 
Begging hasn’t worked yet 
How many more need to die before we get it. 
If we stand in the shadows in times of oppression 
We are not absolved of our connection 
To the aggression 
And transgression 
They can do it to anybody if they can do it to one. 
 
We have to Rise Up, and get our butts out to vote 
Until we change the things they wrote that unmake us. 
We have to Rise Up, and speak loudly for the voices being silenced  
By this never-ending violence. 
We have to Rise Up, united, in a mighty roar,  
Refusing to return to where we were before. 
We have to Rise Up, and educate 
Knowledge IS power and it’s not too late 
We have to Rise Up, and join forces with all classes of the oppressed 
No matter how they dress, who they pray to, or their address 
We have to Rise Up, and love fiercely with all of our hearts, 
Healing our wounds and beginning new starts 
We have to Rise Up, and demand a new script 
Where “We the people,” doesn’t have an “Except.” 
We have to Rise Up, because there’s no promise of tomorrow 
Our time is always borrowed 
We have to Rise Up, because our dead deserved better 
And politicians don’t give a damn about our letters 
We have to Rise Up, because at the end of our lives,  
When the generations that follow shouldn’t have to rise 

Then 

That will be pride 
 
You might be wondering “Protyus, do you mean to incite a riot.” 
and I’d say “Dang. That sounds bad. Is there anything we haven’t tried yet?” 
 
Rising isn’t an event, it’s an evolution 
Beyond the prescribed blueprint 
Rising is the reason and the why 
Knowing full well that we’re running out of time 
Rising is refusing to play along with their scripts 
Leave no table unflipped 
Rising is refusing to ask permission 
From laws that say we’re forbidden 
Rising isn’t the fight for what we deserve 
It’s to ensure future generations are heard 
None of us, make it through this with clean hands 
If we stand aside and permit their demands 
We’re their friends enabling them to achieve their ends. 
 
I dream that our kids might have a PRIDE  
Where they don’t even have to remember the fight 
Until then, We Have to Rise. 

 

 
 
 
 
 

Feel like you don’t have a voice?