Nakia Wallace, September 2024
In September, members of the Class of 2024/25 came together for a powerful weekend in Nashville, TN at the historic Scarritt College. Grantee, Nakia Wallace wrote the following during the weekend
I
A Poem for My Cohort
The city that made me is a beacon of love,
A story of strength, perseverance, and struggle.
Struggle against racism,
Struggle against segregation,
Struggle against police,
A fight song,
Where all who know it,
sing it.
Where all who know it,
Scream it.
Where all who know it,
Believe it.
Onward we march,
Towards freedom,
Towards liberation,
Towards our enemies,
Towards battle.
The city that made me turned me into a revolutionary,
In name and action,
In spirit and in body.
In study and in thought.
A legacy born of the radical tradition of resistance,
A legacy of strength.
Of rebellion,
Of defending Black life,
Of protecting Black life,
Of losing Black life.
The dance of police murder,
Long live Ayanna-Stanley Jones, 6 years old
Long live Hakim Littleton, 19 years old,
Long live them all.
The city that raised me was,
The first place in the nation to convict a killer cop,
Long live Malice Green
In my city,
I learned of Fannie Lou Hamer
I studied her words,
Envied her strength,
And in my work
I hope to honor her.
But how do you honor a freedom fighter?
I,
went to war with the state,
And lived to tell the story.
I resisted my own death,
I refused to participate in my own erasure,
And always I believe,
Freedom is possible and near.
Embroiled in class struggle,
In Detroit,
We say “What up Doe?”
A question and a statement,
In the Blackest city in the nation,
The longest stronghold of Black power.
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