??? A song, a page, a painting: Mourning for All by Rachel L. Johnson

​Disgusted; I wrote a poem!
Upset; I wrote a poem!
Depressed; I wrote a poem.
A poem, I took it out:
For poets to think about,
To mourn our nation’s loss;
I belong here;
Race belongs here;
We belong here.

A Song
​
The song, Hell You Talmbout by Janelle Monáe keeps reminding anyone who listens. An audible memorial.

Dear Trayvon Martin,

Do you get treated better up there? Have you met Haywood Patterson?

KKK,

Is there a separate heaven for you?

Elected President,

This Land is your Land but is it really my land?

Woody Guthrie,

What was those Sen. McCarthy years like?

Poe,
​
Are bells made the same? Do all bells look alike? ​

​A Page

I read my poem to a security guard who asked me to read it at Wordism (Buffalo’s non-competitive

poetry slam open mic).  Not yet ready to share it at an open mic but still wanting to go, I came to the

monthly open mic. Many shared poems but I remember a youth shared his piece about the concern

for his race. I took my poem, Mourning for All to the Allentown Poets’ Workshop. The feedback

helped me to put it aside until now and really think about what the questions really mean for the

reader. The questions were really more about mourning.
​

---

 A Painting

Then I met Alice and interviewed her about her new painting that was part of the Anne Frank Project. It highlighted race issues and very difficult times for youth. I thought about a book, Go Ask Alice; a movie, Alice in Wonderland and now Alice’s painting, Nine American Boys. One boy was Haywood Patterson, age 17 who looks at me well dressed as if he graduated from high school instead of a mug shot. He was one of the falsely accused Scottsboro boys from the 1931 case of the rape of two white American women.

Alice’s decision to take out race in the painting’s title, focused on the boys being American and emphasized that America needs to take care of its people, no matter their color but this did not happen in this youth’s case.

Mourning for All
​
In my poem, this encouraged me to take out words like black or white, not because race is not important but the

focus was about grief and empathy. Empathy for the community mourning.    

When Nathan Moore and Woogee Bae organized a memorial reading at Bidwell Park, it was time to share with

​empathetic ears.  

Mourning for All
 
Some folks grieve more quiet
Some folks grieve more loud
 
Here are questions that have no answers.
Can civil servants protect all rights?
Can the legal system heal what’s been done?
Can love find peace after crime?
 
I've seen videos
Ones support some cops
Ones oppose some cops
 
Here are questions that have no answers.
Can civil servants protect all rights?
Can the legal system heal what’s been done?
Can love find peace after crime?
 
I know cops
Witnessed struggles
The bad, good, and ugly
 
Here are questions that have no answers.
Can civil servants protect all rights?
Can the legal system heal what’s been done?
Can love find peace after crime?
 
Some folks grieve more quiet
Some folks grieve more loud
 
All mourning is grief
All mourning is grief
All grief is mourning

​What are literary work with themes relevant to race?
The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee; the novel, Black Girl/White Girl by Joyce Carol Oats; the play, The Mark of Cain by Gary Earl Ross.

Safety, belonging, love are shared human qualities. Remember them, write to them, call out their names, sing for them. Ask questions even when the majority denies, suppresses and does not think it’s ok to ask. Ask. Why not?