When the Hand that Beats You Also Feeds You: In Solidarity With Los Angeles Protesters
In response to the militarized reactions to the Los Angeles protests against ICE from the Trump Administration, The Catalyst launched a flash submission campaign to show solidarity. The following poem, "What do you do when the hand that beats you also feeds you?", is from Kal Holder.
What do you do when the hand that beats you also feeds you?
They sow sinister seeds with a savior complex to paint beauty as the beast with seditionist intent
instead of a survivor complex
We will not go silently into the night when the masked men come with their toy bats
We will not sit in the street
We will not take to our beds
Scolded children
After curfew
I’d take a pepper bullet for you
See our reflections in the riot shields
An Abuela gives soldiers flowers
Everybody Clap your Hands
You can feel the charge in the air and smell the sweat
It tastes like lightning bugs and anxiety
Giddy with nervous laughter
Before the tide of black and blue come for me, and then for you
Oh, but the narratives we will weave-
Passed down to our children and theirs
A spoken memory of hidden history
What a beautiful quilt it will be