It’s 2019, this is my first post of the year….and this is where we are. The fight for justice continues.
Jakelin Maquin died in the custody of the U.S. Custom and Border Protection in December. She was 7. And again, another child passed away on Christmas eve, 8 year-old Felipe Alonzo-Gomez – in similar circumstances. (Sources: NBC & CBS)
On January 19th #Womenswave is coming- as women will march across cities all over the world. The agenda : Hope and Justice.
One foot in front of the other
as we march for justice
-carpeting the ground with
our pleas
seeding the hard earth
with footsteps of hope
And yet……..
how short the distance from mind
to heart
how instant a transformation
of a renewed mindOne foot in front of the other
as we march for justice
Pray this journey be shorter
as the quickening
of our minds and hearts
©Vivian Zems
Smell The Coffee 
January 10, 2019 at 11:30 pm
That is such a profound truth…..the real journey towards social justice is between mind and heart, how amazing “the transformation of a renewed mind”. We need such transformation now and it is trying to happen. I loved this, Vivian. Thanks for taking part.
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January 10, 2019 at 11:49 pm
You tell it as it should be, except that, for some, between mind and heart is a chasm that begs to be filled.
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January 11, 2019 at 12:16 am
Vivian, I wish that we didn’t have march to achieve real change, in the corridors of powers and the hearts and minds of ordinary people. Sadly, fear and ignorance have unbending hold over people. I speak this, from my own personal experience, with my mom, and her reaction, whenever she’s around me.
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January 11, 2019 at 12:22 am
A great initiative. We need it now!
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January 11, 2019 at 12:55 am
Great poem Vivian. A very sad situation with very few agreeable solutions!
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January 11, 2019 at 1:27 am
March on for justice! Thanks for the reminder of the #womenswave.
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January 11, 2019 at 1:33 am
March on, sister.
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January 11, 2019 at 2:33 am
Bravo! Strong and well expressed, the gulf needs be crossed!
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January 11, 2019 at 9:37 am
A powerful poem, Viv! I love the lines:
‘seeding the hard earth
with footsteps of hope’.
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January 11, 2019 at 2:35 pm
We need change and quick!! Powerful write, Viv ❤
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January 11, 2019 at 3:11 pm
Your narrative voice resounds with the desire for what is right.
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January 11, 2019 at 4:15 pm
Hello Vivian, we are meeting after a long time. Isn’t it?
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January 11, 2019 at 4:46 pm
“One foot in front of the other”…is how we work for justice.
Sometimes demonstrations about issues reported from faraway places can be part of what we do in our own real lives. Sometimes they can be distractions.
I’m one of the few baby boomers who had one elder scold me, “Why aren’t you picketing? Why aren’t your whole class picketing!”–about something people had been emoting about all our lives, without changing anything. Years later, changes were finally reported. Later still, another elder told me, “I was there, and I know: people could have gone on picketing for *another* fifty years, and nothing would have changed, without the MONEY factor.”
Now, sitting in the U.S., having people in other countries post about demonstrations against *our* national policy…Yourall’s hearts are in the right places, but are you reading enough from all sides to understand the whole story? Following the money?
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January 13, 2019 at 10:51 am
kaykuala
One just cannot comprehend the need to cause such misery to toddlers who were apparently separated from their parents in acts of law and order taken to the extreme. Is it to set an example? If so then 2 deaths may not be enough!
Hank
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January 13, 2019 at 7:50 pm
Such a moving poem, Vivian.
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February 4, 2019 at 3:35 pm
That’s a lovely piece.
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February 4, 2019 at 5:44 pm
Thanks Chris!
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