It begins with hope and change
It begins with history
It begins with optimism
But as it moves hope and change
Becomes hatred and stasis
What should be history
Becomes a repeat of the past
What is optimism
Becomes fear of the future
But surely that which is good and decent
Will triumph over the worst impulses of us all
Sadly, trust is misplaced
And we slip into the deep cesspool of negativity
Progress halted by fear of change
A religion based on love is used to inspire hate
People who should be caring for others
Reject those not like them
Privilege and power dominate over hope
Fear of change drives people to vote against themselves
Have we slipped so far that we choose hatred over hope?
Have we slipped so far that we reject the basis of our ideals?
They tell us not to be angry
They tell us that is will be ok
They tell us that we must accept what happened
They refuse to see our anger
They refuse to see our fear
They refuse to see who we are
How can we be one with people who deny who we are?
How can we be one with people who deny our value?
How can we be one with people who clearly hate us?
Yet we must struggle on and not give up
We must persevere in the struggle
We must not give into despair
Knock us down and we will rise stronger
Try and keep us down and we will rise twice as strong
Try and deny us and we will come roaring back
Someday we will
But for now we must come to grips with what has happened
For now we must grapple with the depth of hatred
I look to the future and I weep
I look to the future and also see hope
That is the strange dichotomy of what has happened
It is like a two-edged sword
Which we must swing to cut the oppressors
