Poetry and activism are inextricably linked for me, and I want to tell you why.

I remember reading Maya Angelou’s Caged Bird for the first time — a poem I credit with saving my life. It was not until I read that poem as a young girl that I realized I was not alone. And when reflecting on the most challenging chapters of my life as a Black woman in America, I recall her words:

A free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wing
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.

I am forever grateful to my dad, Martin, for nurturing my Black consciousness and informing my love of the written word. By introducing me to authors like Nikki Giovanni, I was able to see the role that literature plays in movement-building and policy-making. How the writings of a generation can fuel Black resistance. And how the written word can help realize our collective liberation. I often revisit her words in Revolutionary Dreams:

i used to dream militant
dreams of taking
over america to show
these white folks how it should be
done
i used to dream radical dreams
of blowing everyone away with my perceptive powers
of correct analysis
i even used to think i’d be the one
to stop the riot and negotiate the peace
then i awoke and dug
that if i dreamed natural
dreams of being a natural
woman doing what a woman
does when she’s natural
i would have a revolution

When I think of a poem that perfectly encapsulates the movement we’re building, I always go back to Marge Piercy’s To Be of Use which reminds me that through hard work, we have what it takes to win tough fights together. Her words stay with me always:

The people I love the best
jump into work head first
without dallying in the shallows
and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight.
They seem to become natives of that element,
the black sleek heads of seals
bouncing like half-submerged balls.

I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart,
who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience,
who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward,
who do what has to be done, again and again.

I want to be with people who submerge
in the task, who go into the fields to harvest
and work in a row and pass the bags along,
who are not parlor generals and field deserters
but move in a common rhythm
when the food must come in or the fire be put out.

The work of the world is common as mud.
Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust.
But the thing worth doing well done
has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident.
Greek amphoras for wine or oil,
Hopi vases that held corn, are put in museums
but you know they were made to be used.
The pitcher cries for water to carry
and a person for work that is real.

There’s a deep connection between these poets and our movement work, and everything we’re fighting for in Congress right now to ensure justice and equity for all. When I reflect on the work we’re doing, all the progress we’ve made, and how far we have to go, I think about these authors and how they resisted through their words and used them to shape their own narratives. And how we’re all tasked with doing the same.

That’s why I’d like to know if there are any authors or pieces of written word that keep you committed in the fight for our collective liberation, the same way these authors have for me? Please share with me here if there’s anything you’re reading for the first time or revisiting that has made a lasting impact in your life.

SHARE YOUR SUBMISSIONS

I look forward to reading your responses.

Yours in service,

Ayanna