To the Freedom Riders of Palestine
Copyright©2011 by Alice Walker
Black and indigenous people in the American South had suffered humiliation and brutality for hundreds of years (including literal enslavement) before our Freedom Riders (with the support of the Civil Rights Movement) arrived in the 1960s to challenge the status quo. They risked everything: their reputations, their connections to families that didn’t understand the sacred nature of their mission, their bodies, and their lives. They were beaten, fire-bombed, jailed. Misrepresented in the media and misunderstood by some of their dearest friends.
Their hunger for freedom, and justice for all, was strong.
In my own life, I have come to understand, and cherish, the hunger for what is right: it is the absolute certainty that there is no “other” who suffers, leaving me in peace. There is only each and every one of us, together creating a world where justice might bring peace to all.
Board the buses to Everywhere. Sit freely. Go into Jerusalem with my blessing. Like many of my country people, I have witnessed this scenario before and know where it can lead. To a straightening of the back and a full breath taken by the soul.
Some of us have shed blood, others have shed tears. Some have shed both. All sacred to the cause of the dignity we deserve as beautifully fashioned citizens and Beings of this Universe.
Onward through the Myth!
Namaste,
Alice Walker
On November 15th Palestinians will board Settler only buses and attempt to ride on Settler only roads (built on Palestinian land) in the “territories” occupied by Israel.
