Vernā Myers, founder of The Vernā Myers Company in Baltimore, is a Harvard-trained lawyer, activist, author, and cultural innovator committed to making the most difficult conversations accessible. You can follow her at www.vernamyers.com and on Twitter @VernaMyers. All opinions are her own.
It’s a knee.
It’s not a fist,
Nor is it a turned back.
It’s a knee.
It’s not a gun,
Not a Tikki torch nor bat.
It’s a knee,
It’s not a march, not a rally,
Rant or scream.
It’s a knee, not a fire.
No name-calling, no rage, no violent stereotype.
A silent knee.
A solemn gesture,
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A cry, a demand, a 90-degree stake in the ground,
A pre-game reminder that life ain’t always a game.
It’s a knee.
It’s not hate.
It’s love — for a people, for our humanity.
It’s a knee,
It’s not disrespect, but belief in what a flag represents.
A honor to all who have sacrificed and died,
so that a knee could be taken for ALL lives tragically taken.
It’s a knee.
Yes, it’s an indictment,
It’s a call for a justice that has been denied,
But it’s a knee.
It is a right.
And it’s also a chance for us to get it right.
Can’t we tolerate a knee
to save and preserve our democracy?
Are we that frail? That scared?
Are our hearts that closed to the pain of the other?
But it’s a knee
And this is America.
Remember, we are the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Where is our courage?
It’s a knee.
On a field of fans cheering the beautiful idea of a country,
But when and where do WE get to
stand, sit, sing, pledge, and kneel,
Till our ideal of freedom is real?
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