Cry, Freedom!

-by Nigel Best

“All gonna feel the backlash of puritanical power, kicking us down when we’re on the ground is gonna be their finest hour.” Better Decide Which Side You’re On - Tom Robinson Band, 1978 10 p.m. The late midsummer’s sky is dissolving into the darkness of night. On the shore, the privateers have lit lanterns in the hopes of driving the ship onto the reefs. Once on the rocks, the ship will be plundered by the legally-entitled pirates. Stripped of its cargo, it will be burned, eventually sinking, it’s once grand mission forgotten as the bones of its crew decay on the ocean floor. 10:30 a.m. Everyone is the enemy now. Women, children, men, in this twilight of the United States, you are now at war. The overturning of Roe versus Wade is the tip of the iceberg in the advancement of the attack on civil liberties. Fourteenth Amendment be fucked. If you think the removal of rights will end with overturning abortion, gay marriage, the use of contraceptives, then you’re part of the problem. You think your rights will be protected, straight, white persons? Think again. The powers that be will eventually come for all of you as well. It won’t be pretty. It’ll be the crunch of jack boots, dogs ripping at flesh, guns, and violence. The finger on the trigger has indeed turned its weapons on its own citizens. 3 p.m. My anger remains high. I punched a giant hole in the wall after hearing an argument that the constitution doesn’t confer the right to abortion. Well, the constitution doesn’t confer the right for corporations to be citizens, but that moronic right is still on the books. 8 p.m. Most of the rights now guaranteed through the Fourteenth Amendment weren’t going concerns in the mid 1700s and the post-civil war period. Perhaps it’s not amendments that are needed. Perhaps it’s time to take to the streets and demand something better. How about a brand new constitution that reflects 2022 rather than those of the white, land-owning, slave-owning founding fathers from 300 years ago? Take Chile as an example. Protests led to the government having to rewrite the country’s constitution. The new constitution, still being hammered out, is geared towards making the country more inclusive. Once written and presented, the citizens will vote on accepting this new direction. Welcome to 2022, Chile. In the meantime, as the anger continues to rise in the USA, there is a movement underway that everyone can participate in. That would be the November midterms, Until then, citizens can take action by discovering which corporations feed money to their politicians that have announced support for the draconian measures of removing civil rights. It’s time to boycott the corporate entities that continue to support elected officials, the politicians that speak out of both sides of their mouths. The first corporation that comes to mind is Pepsi. Boycott this company’s products worldwide. This company was one of many that has provided funds to the Texas Republican Party. Everyone knows the TRP’s stance regarding women’s rights when it comes to abortion. 6 a.m. A new day here on the water’s edge. This early, the only sound is the dull lapping of the ocean’s water upon the rocks at the lip of the shore. On the horizon the dark smoke from a burning ship is curling up into the pink of the early morning skies. “That’s that,” I said out loud to the fingers of dawn as they felt their way into the advancing pale-blue morning light. “Cry, freedom.”

Fahamu Pecou