10 GROUNDCOVER NEWS POETRY Love in Doublethink LADI DÄ Groundcover contributor Politicians in positions to listen Twist in visions and stonewalling decisions Dean Spade, Marsha P., and Rivers Hold me down ten toes there in the mirror War paint on my face hide tears of terror Olay, Maybelline, and Mascara. Dominated and entangled in violence But they still feel I should suffer in silence Racist and anti-poor sentiment Operate institutional harassment Prisons, foster care, and public benefits Taking lives because they can’t pay rent. And yet that Ol’Sly fox still duping fools Sarcastic politics of hate and half-truths In the land of Lady Liberty Hegemonic Masculinity fears me Because I violate the norms of gender binary But this month they’ll celebrate me Love. I get this glow from that heart with a hollow hole I get this booty with a bump from the beat of a tortured soul There’s just one thing I want you to know They give my Love in Doublethink I can’t let go. About the author: I Am Ladi Dä (they/ them). My survival depends solely upon my Activism. My art is inspired by the daily experiences of the transgender, gender nonconforming, and intersex individuals trapped in the Prison Industrial Complex. It is meant to keep us inspired and remind us that everyone knows: "WE ARE THE STRONGEST INDIVIDUALS IN THE WORLD." Take it from someone who has spent over two decades incarcerated for a crime they did not commit. JUNE 2, 2023 Love by Love: "Superhuman" MARKONA LOVE Groundcover vendor No. 590 As I sat at Blake Transit Center, the #26 bus pulled up. I won't forget that bus #26, even though I don't ride it, because what stepped off that bus completely altered my perceptions of reality … my reality … everybody’s realities: A Caucasian man … maybe 20-30 years old, physically wasted, slight build, maybe 80 pounds, with alabaster skin, whose whole body looked as if it wanted to curl into a tight ball. His chest and lap were strapped into an electric wheelchair, head completely slumped over, chin to chest; right hand curled, awkward fist, left hand curled with left thumb loose to work the joystick controller for the chair. No other movement of his body or any apparent communication abilities. He was the most courageous person I have ever seen … every minute he's a real Superhuman. I saw my own reality and then thought, "I've had a situation of great isolation, but it was merely a sliver of the complete isolation our Superhuman is in himself.” So, in a nutshell, I'm just a big crybaby. How can anyone feel sorry for themself while special human beings like this man can't even complain? People surrounded the bus entrance waiting to board, then stood five feet back, not just to give my new Superhero space to exit, but they almost all purposely looked away, turning completely from him. "WOW!" my mind and soul gasped. All I could think is, "How could anyone possibly be more isolated from, not just human contact, but from the entire functionality of society?” I watched this Superhuman, who must assuredly be going home. Never had I seen anybody near his full level of apparent disability, without an assistant. As I continued watching him, expecting him to go home, he turned the block and headed up and into the Ann Arbor Library. This man had business to get done! Again, I pondered, "This incredible human being is in a world completely of his own making. The sheer power that his mind possesses to construct that world from a position of passivity could teach a lesson that might save humanity." And this is coming from a relatively minorly disabled person who gets it. Myself, I am isolated for different reasons, but worlds apart from his level of isolation. I'm not talking about sympathy, pity or some kind of condescension. This is about the tremendous courage, dexterity, awareness and wisdom to move on like that. This person navigates through maximum adversity, alone and isolated as A column on everyday acts of compassion if in an entirely different world. With intimate conversation, we might glean a better understanding from the residents of his world who might communicate wisdom attributed through the experiences of such a world of isolation. Navigating that complete isolation with absolute singularity is rare at best. No casual conversation here. Stop staring and start opening your hearts and minds. We have so much to learn from this incredibly gifted individual. It might possibly be the lesson that could save humanity; it’s possible that all our problems could be reasoned justly by finding humanity's best side. Personally, I go on getting worse, driving on through every kind of pain all at once. Nobody wants to know it all or go there, be there at that level. I am destined to die in this obscurity with all this hidden/ignored pain. Man, oh man, do I want to ramble on about this, but the truth is he's the one with the knowledge. So let's help him, and others going through that intense reality and awareness, share this knowledge … they could save us! So why don't we start by treating - them like our Superhumans because they are … Make all the concessions we can possibly make and give them the opportunity to teach us. I'll be looking here, there, and everywhere, to meet my/our Superhero. I want to know how the rest of us see him. Sincerely, All the love from MarKona Love (with Kona Love) Author’s Note: We all need to start sacrificing more, to start helping all these special human beings, so they can help us find a way to Peace, Love and Acceptance … FINALLY! The people that are looked down upon in society — the homeless, disabled, low income and our Elders — these are my special human beings, the ones who have felt, witnessed, and shared with others alike all about the disparagement in humanity. That's most likely where they get the empathy that drives them to donate when they have nothing, volunteer when weak, ill, and/or exhausted, be there for a fallen fellow human being and to show them how to become a "Special Human Being." Ken Parks, a mentor to me, made a point after strongly supporting my article “What the Street Took,” and took the position that the article should then be “What the Street gave Us (Special Human Beings) … Empathy and Compassion.” There you are Ken, my close friend, great writer for Groundcover, and a leader in activism for all in despair. Please learn of the many, many years of his dedication to the disenfranchised. He is our Superhuman, and Ann Arbor and Detroit should be raising him up high.
11 Publizr Home