Poems in this category extend support, foster connection, and create solidarity between comrades engaged in shared causes. While speaking to conditions of injustice, these poems insist on the humanity of those who resist and work to build the web of collective liberation.
HOW TO NAVIGATE
- Clicking on the title takes you to a page with the text of the poem (pdf).
- Clicking on the title with a speaker icon
takes you to an audio recording of the poem (mp3).
Title of Poem | Author |
Poem recorded on the episode “Poetry and Music of Resistance 3” as part of the Freedom is a Constant Struggle program, produced by KPFA (1985). | Lincoln Bergman Poet and producer whose work can be heard on many programs in the Freedom Archives, from the late 1960s through the mid-1990s. He was Poet Laureate of Richmond CA from 2014–2016. |
| Reflections on Sunday From the pamphlet of poems “love, power, strength, venceremos!”, written while inside the Niantic Prison (1970). | Erika Huggins An educator, former Black Panther Party member, and political prisoner, human rights activist and poet. |
A Chant for My Sisters From the collection “To Our Comrades Inside: New Year’s 1987 From the Real Dragon Project.” | Marilyn Lowen Fletcher A poet, writer, teacher and lifelong human rights worker. |
Recorded as part of a women’s poetry event commemorating International Women’s Day. Recorded as part of the “Nothing is More Precious Than Program” by Weather Underground Organization (1975). | Kathy Boudin A teacher, organizer, and revolutionary engaged in criminal justice reform and active with the Weather Underground Organization (1943—2022). |
Read from the translated collection “Canción de Gesta / Songs of Protest” by the iconic Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda. Recording produced by Nina Serrano as part of the Comunicación Aztlan Collective (1974). | Pablo Neruda (read by Miguel Algarín) Nobel Prize awarded Chilean poet, diplomat, and politician who served as close advisor to Salvadore Allende and is often referred to as the national poet of Chile (1904—1973). |
Reflection:
How did engaging with these poems impact the ways you hope to show up to your own relationships of solidarity?
Invitation:
Think of an impacted community you feel a sense of shared struggle with. What message would you want to extend to this community? What do you most wish your words could offer (i.e. a sense of support, a feeling of not being alone, an act of love, of hope?) Write this message.
