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Saturday, October 5, 2024

REIGN OF THE PEOPLES

You say democracyand we know it is Bolivia’s tinChile’s copperVenezuela’s oilCuba’s sugarraw materials and profitsYou say democracyand it’s the annexation of Texasthe hold up of the Panama Canalthe occupation of Haitithe colonization of Puerto-Ricothe bombing of GuatemalaYou say democracyand it’s America to the Yankeeit’s the rape of nationsit’s Sandino’s bloodand Peralte’s crucifixionYou say democracyand it’s the plunder of our wealthfrom Hiroshima to Indochinayou spread the slaughter everywhereand everywhere ruinYou say democracyand it’s the Ku Klux Klano hidden peopleinside your own citiesan ogre is devouring your childrenUbu from the empire of robotsyou let your ravens flyfrom Harlem to Jerusalemfrom Wounded Knee to Haitifrom Santo Domingo to Sowetothe people will be wavingthe torch of revolutionNight is a tunnel opening on the dawnViet-Nam stands like a tree in the stormthe frontier which marks the place of your defeathistory’s lessons have no recoursea footbridge stretches from Asia to Africathe reign of the white race is ending on earthand the reign of the peoples in the universe is beginning.Paul Laraque(Translation from French by Rosemary Manno)

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