Freedom Truth

I think of poets as outlaw visionaries in a way.
– Jim Jarmusch

Rather than making apocalyptic predictions this week I choose to honor the spirit and dreams of Martin Luther King. Instead of dashing out to buy a pair of Trump pumps for the unfolding of the 45^th inauguration (I prefer the sand between my toes), I press myself to “use time creatively” (MLK). While I while away several hours in a dark theater immersed in the lives of poets – one an anonymous bus driver, one a fugitive Nobel Prize winner – I emerge illuminated by the alchemy of imagination and the power of words. Adam Driver, the bus driver in the Jim Jarmusch film, pens with passion the minutiae of his life before setting off on his daily route through the city of Paterson, New Jersey. His self-expression, a creative fix. Fact and fiction blend in the inventive “Nerudian” film of Chilean politician and poet Pablo Neruda, an exile in his own country (1948) for his leftist leanings. His subversive poetry inspires and gives voice to the powerless. 

America’s greatest contribution to the world is its concept of democracy, its concept of freedom, freedom of action, freedom of speech, and freedom of thought.
– Benazir Bhutto

Educated at Harvard and Oxford, Benazir Bhutto became the 11^th and 13^th Prime Minister of Pakistan. The first woman to head a Muslim majority nation, she promoted democracy and empowered women. Her assassination in 2007 following a political rally serves as a chilling reminder of the hostility and threat to the concept of freedom.

So when you rise this inauguration day, rather than watch the leggy all white Rockettes perform their precision high kicks, choreograph your own dance. Instead of listening to marching bands, try marching for freedom truth with your feet or metaphors. Join the Women’s March on Washington to highlight women’s issues (Jan. 21) or one of 673 Sister Marches around the world, or participate in the protest led by documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, or dozens of other resistance-to-the-new regime rallies across the country. Write narratives or poems about the human condition, about human rights and civil rights. According to Obama, a man who values literature, understands the power of words and has a eclectic reading list of contemporary and classic fiction and non-fiction, “the role of stories to unify as opposed to divide, to engage rather than marginalize is more important than ever.” 

The time is always right to do what is right.
– Martin Luther King, Jr.

Hear the resounding echo of King’s I Have a Dream speech delivered August 28,1963 at a peaceful march for economic and civil rights. Reinstate dignity and integrity through freedom truth. Whether you’re a speechwriter, a poet, or inventor of fiction, a surgeon, a scientist, musician or painter, or simply a citizen who believes in a free press, free speech and uncensored art, use your skills. Make art as self expression, make art to find answers, make art to stay sane, make art to effect change, make art as a tool for activism, make art to be heard, make art because you have something to say, make art for your own sake, make art for the sake of others. Celebrate the creativity of humankind.

We all write poems; it is simply that poets are the ones who write in words.
– John Fowles

 As I pondered ideas for this New Year’s post, I vowed to stay away from politics. I would not discuss the shift of power looming in the shadows. But you and I can vow and plan all we like. We can court reason and logic – try to ignore the primal urge. But when you tap the vein of creativity, the murky liquid crystallizes and you surrender to a more substantial cause – what you really came to say. All masks disappear and the truth reveals itself. So here it is.

The groundswell of fierce opposition to this new regime bodes well for our future. When we absorb the lessons of history, when artists and thinkers and visionaries unite, when courage and calm hold hands and we take action to resist – progress gains momentum. So this weekend and every day and night after, don’t go to ground. Follow the path of Martin Luther King, Gandhi and Mandela. Parse your words and strengthen your voice. Replace apathy with empathy. Engage.

Although I can’t claim to have been born in the USA, I may kick this inauguration day off in bare feet with a marathon of Bruce Springsteen and catch up on some Meryl Streep films. But it won’t be long before I start asking questions. Then I know I’ve hit a vein. And I will march. I will march with my eyes open. I will march with nuanced language and I will march with the metaphor of images and images of metaphor. I will march against intolerance and ignorance. I will march against the bogus and the pompous. I will march against arrogance and greed. I will march against anyone who plays Russian roulette with our lives and those of future generations. I will march for freedom truth. I will march because creativity transcends boundaries. I hope you will join me!

Truth is by nature self-evident. As soon as you remove the cobwebs of ignorance that surround it, it shines clear.
– Mahatma Gandhi