In Crisis Bards Step Up--Poets in Resistance Again at Tree of Life

 

In more than 55 years of justice activism I have endured dozens of political losses and a handful of satisfying wins.  My motto, oft repeated, has been "suffer, grieve, suck it up, look to the long arc of justice, go back to work, and battle again."  But the morning after the election I was stunned and shattered as never before.  I could hardly comprehend the catastrophe that befell us.

I couldn't find that resilience that morning.  Not only did all hope feel lost, but my perhaps naive faith in the essential decency of the American people was crushed.  Those that I love and care for seemed to be in immediate danger, but I was too paralyzed to respond.

But by Wednesday morning I slapped myself silly and told myself to snap out of it and get back to work.  But how can a semi-decrepit old relic really help out?  My marching days are behind me and, as I pointed out in one poem would be useless except a part of the barricade.  Then it hit me I'm going to bring back Poets in Resistance!

 

The Old Man reading at the original Poets in Resistance program at Tree of Life UU Congregation in 2017.

 

Previously I organized and hosted Poets Against the War at the old Congregational Unitarian Church in Woodstock during the run-up to the war in Iraq in 2003 and the original Poets in March 2016 as Donald Trump was rolling-out his disastrous and threatening first term agenda.  It was one of the most successful public programs hosted at Tree of Life UU Congregation in McHenry drawing a packed house.  Poets in Resistance II was scheduled  for March 17, 2020--the day the whole country went into lock down because of the Coronavirus pandemic.

 

I was inspired by a quote from novelist Toni Morison:

This is precisely the time wen artists go to work.  There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear.  We speak, we write, we do language.  That is how civilizations heal.  I know the world is bruised and bleeding, and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence.  Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge--even wisdom.  Like Art.

And I wrote in the call for poets for the original Poets in Resistance:

This was as good a time as any to revive the tradition of poets as prophets of their people, defenders of the oppressed, champions of justice, and fearless voiced ready to speak truth to power.  Such poets and such poetry might just be the voice the now needs to be heard, might be relevant enough to be dangerous.  And dangerous is what he have to be.  Worth a try, anyway.

Some folks might say that a program like this is mere preaching to the choir.  It is far more than that.  It rallies us and brings us together in mutual aid and solidarity.  It builds associations and assures threatened communities that they are not alone, and that they have sanctuary and support of Tree of Life.  And in the Red corner of a Blue State it pits our oppressors that we will not surrender to tyranny.  That's important work.

Poets in Resistance Again will be held just days before the inauguration on Saturday, January 11 from  7-10 pm at the Tree of Life Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 5603 Bull Valley Road in McHenry.  A call for poets will go out soon along with more details.  Spread the word.  

Contact Patrick Murfin at pmurfin@sbcglobal.net or call 815 814-5645 for more information.