Write
Write this down
My name is Maya Angelou
Daughter of Africa, Voice of America
The KKKs want to send me back
You may shoot me with your words
You may cut me with your eyes
You may kill me with your hatefulness
But still, like air, I’ll rise
Write
Write this down
My name is Ilhan Omar
Daughter of Somalia, Congresswoman of America
The President wants to send me back
You may shoot me with your chant
You may cut me with your lies
You may kill me with your bigotry
But still, like wind, I rise.
Write
Write this down
My name is Ping Wang
Daughter of China, Conscience of America
The President wants to send me back
You may shoot me with your defamations
You may trap me with your fabricated charges
You may kill me with your money and power
But still, in poetry, I speak
In poetry we speak
In poetry we break the cage and sing
Rise
Carrying our ancestors’ dream
We’re the purple of mountain majesties
We’re the waves of amber grain
We’re the wings of America
As we rise
To the halcyon skies
Wang Ping is a poet, writer, photographer, performance and multimedia artist. Her publications have been translated into multiple languages and include poetry, short stories, novels, cultural studies, and children stories. Her multimedia exhibitions address global themes of industrialization, the environment, interdependency, and the people. She is the recipient of numerous awards and is a professor of English at Macalester College and founder of Kinship of Rivers project. www.wangping.com
