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<b><small><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.facebook.com/mthandabantu.iverson">https://www.facebook.com/mthandabantu.iverson</a></small></small></b><br>
<h5>
<div><span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/mthandabantu.iverson"
target="_blank">From Thandabantu Iverson</a></span></div>
</h5>
now that Madiba is dead...<br>
<br>
beware the icon makers<br>
they will say he was great<br>
they will laud his calls for peace<span><br>
they will wring their hands and cry <br>
speaking only of the man<br>
disregarding the people<br>
explaining away the movement<br>
pretending the revolution was won<br>
they will deny their guilt <br>
denying their privilege <br>
obscuring his birth in the pains and the blood of his people<br>
denying the capital crimes <br>
of neoliberal friends of apartheid still alive<br>
now that Mandela is dead<br>
<br>
they will say no one else will come<br>
they will wink that we still organize<br>
they will pretend that de Klerk was his friend<br>
they will ignore the birth pangs in Jo’burg today<br>
pretending to honor him with deceitful silence<br>
in the face of Capetown shanties and Manenburg misery<br>
and Durban oppression<br>
while former murderers still prey<br>
and bougie negros still play<br>
while lying bishops still pray<br>
and corporations still rape<br>
and the people in South Africa still die<br>
like people across the Global South<br>
as the Revolution dies as Madiba’s children live in squalor<br>
as the wine growers awake in shacks<br>
as the homeless sleep beneath the floors of stores—after hours<br>
when they will not be seen while they are still being sold<br>
<br>
beware the speakers of phrases that lie<br>
they will disremember liberation struggles<br>
that have yet to be won<br>
they will pretend that Mandela belonged to them<br>
denying the people to whom he belonged<br>
<br>
remember to remember Chis Hani<br>
remember to remember Robben Island<br>
remember to remember the South African Charter<br>
remember to remember that icons created by oppressors<br>
will never liberate the people<br>
remember to remember that they are still killing Martin<br>
remember to remember that they are still killing Malcolm<br>
remember to remember their denials of Sister Ella<br>
remember to remember that Assata still lives<br>
remember to remember that our liberation will be sold to us for profits<br>
unless we work for it with our minds and our actions<br>
then we will remember Mandela as he was<br>
for he will live inside us<br>
and the lies will no longer deceive<br>
because the struggle will continue<br>
and the last will be first at last</span>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863.9977
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.freedomarchives.org">www.freedomarchives.org</a>
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