Gaining Political Awareness

On November 21, 1967 at O’Hare Airport we landed

Onto a land filled with milk and honey that did flow

To greet us, all our relatives had banded

As little white flakes came down, my first snow

I remember the election of 1968

Death that year was howling like the moon

In April the television showed horses pulling a coffin in a crate

And then I watched as Bobby was shot in June

I wanted to know everything around

I watched the news and acquired knowledge

Seeing MLK and RFK slain did hound

Hound me to absorb compassion’s edge

In school the speech teacher took away my accent

As three beautiful smart girls inspired me

Their presence in my life meant

Meant a turning point you see

By third grade I knew what I wanted to be

A lawyer was going to be my deal

Being aware of my identity

I was beginning to feel

In sixth grade the Jewish teacher wanted me to engage

Dying a t-shirt light blue and wear a pants colored white

To sing Hava Nagela during the Spring Assembly on stage

I refused because I knew this was not right

For music I earned an F grade

Proudest grade I would receive

She knew not what she had made

In me a political activist she did conceive

As hijackings dominated the news

Political awareness came my way

As I was forming my political views

Listening to what my elders had to say

President Carter presented a human rights campaign

This gave me hope that he would correct a wrong

But with each Middle East event frustration turned into pain

And I knew that the days, weeks, months and years would be long

                                                Fadi Zanayed

                                                December 4, 2011

                                                1:35 am

(  © Copyright, Fadi Zanayed.  Publication or distribution of this material is allowed provided its content is not altered and the source and its author are cited.)