The system was designed to fail –
it’s all monkey business, minus the spine and tail.
The citizens are blind as hell
reading the Pledge of Allegiance from lines of Braille
so they never realize that they’re confined in jail.
Time will tell, and real fast you’ll learn
that this so-called democracy is led by fascist worms.
Yet, passions yearn to serve these gold calves
who claim to part seas with no staffs.
Powdered wigs and suits made from old flags,
palindromic vocabs and teleprompters for gonads
so of course they have no grasp
on the issues plaguing the low class.
They figure you don’t know math
so they go fast when they show graphs
about deficits in budgets … corporate puppets
enforcing crooked agendas with muskets.
Profiting from the debt,
they’ll have you working in your hundreds!
Standardizing calculators with missing buttons
so when you sit and crunch numbers,
you get lost in algebraic dungeons.
There was never any intention to give you justice.
Killer-cops walking free does not give you justice.
Criminalizing the public does not give you justice.
Media coverage indoctrinates umbrage of Muslims:
a contrived distraction,
with the purpose of fogging up your glasses
and convincing you that the world
turns backwards on its axis
until you run to your pastors,
become pacified and passive.
This option is much more attractive
than The People revolting and ordering.
So you vote these politicians to Washington
where they give your soul to corporations
as a burnt offering.
By Darryl Walker Jr
(c) Copyright 2016
Prompt: Second Thoughts
Zone of Non-being 
November 7, 2016 at 10:01 am
I stand by my men in blue my Uncle is an officer, everytime he puts his uniform on he puts his life on the line and he has a family.
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November 7, 2016 at 10:06 am
Thank you for your commentary, but how does that address the content of this poem? Please re-read before commenting again.
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November 14, 2016 at 8:07 am
Bro, your responses are hilarious. I’m sorry I haven’t visited in a while…personal stuff.
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November 7, 2016 at 10:03 am
I loved it. Its like slam poetry. All facts 🔥🔥🔥🔥👏👏
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November 7, 2016 at 10:07 am
Thanks brothaman! I wrote this for an audience. Even when I try to write free verse it ends up rhyming lol
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November 7, 2016 at 10:10 am
Preach!!!!!! It’s funny that on the TV show “fresh off the boat” even the youngest Asian boy knew that voting was just a voice so slave owners could have their say so. The line “until you run to your pastors,
become pacified and passive”, is power
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November 7, 2016 at 10:16 am
Thanks Tareau. You’re right. Its all a game. Minister Farrakhan, when speaking of Obama in 2008, said “he was SELECTED before he was elected”. Those that put these politicians on the national stage in the public eye to be voted on by everyone have the real power. Our ballots are just a song and dance so we feel included enough to not revolt. Spot on bro
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November 7, 2016 at 10:23 am
Killer-cops walking free does not give you justice.
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November 7, 2016 at 10:25 am
What is the first and key word in that sentence?
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November 7, 2016 at 10:26 am
Killer- are you referring to cops as the killers and walking free?
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November 7, 2016 at 10:28 am
Yes.
There is a difference between “killer-cops” and “cop-killers”. A killer-cop is a police officer who kills a citizen; a cop-killer is a citizen who kills a cop. I am addressing the former.
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November 7, 2016 at 10:35 am
Agreed we’ve to look at it from both sides sadly 😳
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November 7, 2016 at 10:41 am
Problem is: there is only one side – that of rich white men and the police who protect them.
If you are poor, non-white (especially black) and a woman/ or a sexual minority, you have no “side”. It is either conform to the dominant perspective or get thrown in a cage or get shot down. This has been the history of America since 1776, and the history of the West since 1492. Totally one-sided. Ask the tens of millions of Native Americans who suffered genocide if they had a “side”. Ask the tens of millions of Africans who were kidnapped and enslaved if they had a “side”. Ask the immigrants recruited here by corporations to work for less than minimum wage if they have a “side”. This is the problem: we have convinced ourselves that everyone has a say-so, and that all of our voices/votes count. That is part of the reason why I wrote this poem.
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November 7, 2016 at 10:43 am
Agreed totally!
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November 7, 2016 at 11:56 am
You are amazing with the words… to be able to rhyme while still being succinct and accurate #kudos!
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November 7, 2016 at 12:06 pm
I am humbled – thank you so much ! =D
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November 7, 2016 at 12:03 pm
This poem was on point! The lady Shelby Courtland wrote a poem similar that you should resonate with.
shelbycourtland.wordpress.com/2016/10/21/just-like-a-robot/
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November 7, 2016 at 12:09 pm
Thanks bro!
I just checked out the Courtland piece. It’s really good! Her and I definitely view the electoral process similarly. Thanks for pointing me in her direction!
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November 7, 2016 at 12:10 pm
No problem! We have to build with like-minded individuals if we’re ever going to turn this non-sense around.
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November 7, 2016 at 12:13 pm
For real! You are absolutely correct! Solidarity is the only way to do it
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November 7, 2016 at 1:03 pm
First, I want to thank 25, Black, and Alive for recommending my blog to you and I want to thank you for reading my poem that pales in comparison to this one. You nailed it! Hit it out the ballpark and then some and you have another ‘follower’. I absolutely love this! Standing ovation and all, is what I’d give it.
The robots head dutifully to the polls and have the nerve to think that they participate in a ‘democracy’ when what we have is no ‘democracy’. Hopefully, the brainwashed and the delusional will one day get a clue, but until then, the lines at the polls will continue to form with obedient sheeple. And the moaning and whining will continue because they just cannot understand that all that was promised to them if only they would vote, never materializes.
This is a masterpiece! Thank you for sharing it!
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November 7, 2016 at 1:20 pm
Thanks for the appraisal, Shelby. It means a lot to have a writer and thinker of your caliber say this!
I dream of a day where we can have an informed citizenry – where people are not walking around like, as you said, robots, in a trance-like state regurgitating the lines that are fed to them. I am glad you share my frustration and are trying in earnest to awaken folks!
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November 7, 2016 at 1:26 pm
Reblogged this on shelbycourtland and commented:
I am mad because I didn’t write this! I only wish I could make myself this clear, concise and right on point!
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November 7, 2016 at 2:00 pm
This piece is, of course, very well written. I’ve come to expect no less of you brother Darryl. In your piece, you identified the problem, which is of course, the proverbial “first step” of solving any problem. What, in your esteemed opinion, is the next step, besides achieving ‘solidarity”?
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November 7, 2016 at 2:11 pm
Brother Ron,
Thank you for your kind words and thank you for the question. You are absolutely right, this was a descriptive piece as opposed to a prescriptive one.
I am part of a socialist organization and we are currently putting together a public meeting immediately after the election. We are distributing fliers all around with the main question : “Where Do We Go From Here?”
I wrote up part of the flier, and I said we need at least two things:
1). We need to unlearn our allegiance to a two-party system which has no interest in clothing, feeding, or providing health care to millions of people. We need to learn to imagine a world where the basic needs of everyone are fulfilled.
2). We need to organize a labor party for the benefit of all workers. Through this, we need to demand control of the means of production which are necessary to the survival of all human beings.
Along the way, we need to love each other and build with each other. All we have at the end of the day to bring a new world into being are THESE connections.
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November 7, 2016 at 2:25 pm
Dear Brother, P.S:
One of the most important things we can do is join an organization. We live in an individualist culture that prioritizes people instead of groups. Problem is: individuals do not make changes, the masses do. The individuals in power know this, and that is why our culture focuses on individuals. Whenever Kwame Ture (formerly Stokley Carmichael) would give a speech, he would say “organize, organize, organize”. The police are very organized – they have walkie-talkies, and within minutes of calling for backup, they have all their buddies on the scene. If we organize, we can have folks mobilized very well. We are not outnumbered by our enemy, we are just out-organized!
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November 7, 2016 at 3:16 pm
Thanks Bro. Darryl;
That was, indeed, an excellent response to my question. I’m overjoyed to see that you and your organization actually have proposed answers to the dilemma that we as Black people find ourselves in. So many times, people stand atop their soapboxes and bully pulpits and espouse criticisms of a system of which they, first of all, have little knowledge of and secondly possess no proposal for a replacement of nor ideas for the betterment of. You and your organization, appear to have thought some of this through. Kudos!
But, we must remember that, where one thing is removed, it must also be replaced, for nature abhors a vacuum. If we do not fill the vacuum, it will itself. Look at Iraq!
I agree, wholeheartedly that the current two-party system is abhorrent and aberrant. George Washington himself, in his “Farewell Address”, warned against the development and proliferation of parties yet, despite his stature, his warnings fell onto deaf ears, and here we are.
My prediction is that the Republican party, as we know it, is in its death throes. It is agonal and thereby beyond resuscitation. But when it is gone, something will be waiting to replace it, perhaps it WILL be the Socialist Party, but my hope is that the new system, whatever it is, will not follow the path of the old system. How do we prevent that from happening?
Now, about your organization; where are the fliers? How are they to be distributed? The knowledge you are spreading needs to go nationwide. What is your plan for nationwide distribution of your message?
How does a person “UNLEARN” something when that is all they know? Can a person unlearn the present conditioning?
There is a saying that, “You can’t teach an old dog, new tricks”. Generations; Baby Boomer and X, are already ensconced in the current system. They won’t unlearn it, to any appreciable degree. Therefore, your focus would have to be the Millennials and subsequent generations.
I believe that this “unlearning” will take a very long time; at least 2-3 generations. And, it has to start with the very young. Those who are open to new ideas and are not jaded by the old ones. Will we institute these new ideas into the school system? The pre-school system?
The task sounds daunting, but I believe it is do-able. However, I don’t think we should deceive the people into thinking that things are going to change any time soon.
It will, of course, have to begin immediately. Maybe your group is one of the keys to that, but to be successful it must be persistent, sustainable and enduring. The race will not be a sprint. It will be a marathon. Is that what we are preparing people for?
Many movements have started and floundered due to the pressures and assumptions that I’ve mentioned and many that I’ve not.
Over the years, Socialists parties have come and gone.
Militant organizations have come and gone.
What makes the one, you are a part of any different?
Just curious.
Our game must be a game of Chess and not Checkers.
One strategy would be, instead of knocking the system, learn how it works and make it work for us. The vote is powerful, if used wisely. We need to choose our own candidates. Those who will work for us.
We must learn the system because, this country IS the system. If we don’t learn the system here and how to manipulate it to our purposes, then we’ll never have what we want HERE. We will have to find a HOME where the system was built for those like us; assuming that such a place exists. If it doesn’t exist, we’d have to create this utopia. We have to live somewhere. Where?
Additionally, we have a major reason to not give up on this country and its system, and that is the BLOOD, SWEAT and TEARS that our ancestors expended in developing this country and its flawed system.
One thing that we must understand is that, we’re not going to destroy and replace the system in THIS country by physical means.
I think you are onto some good ideas, but patience and wisdom, both practiced and preached, is what it’s going to take to change things and that may take some time. Anything worth having is worth taking the time to do it right.
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November 7, 2016 at 4:45 pm
Thank you for the great points and questions. I can offer the following as a response.
I understand your point about nature being abhorrent towards a vacuum and how one system needs to be replaced with another. This is why Marx wrote about revolution unfolding in stages. The goal of revolution is to seize control of the present system, re-organize it, and then the old one can “wither away”. Leon Trotsky wrote extensively about a transitional system which would help workers bridge the “gap” between the need to feed themselves and the need to fight for a new system. The new structure always rises out of the ashes of the old, and bears some of its imprints. For example, America freed itself from England, but even after the revolution, the colonies insisted on naming themselves “New England” and “New York”, “New Hampshire”, “New Jersey” – because all the old versions were back in England. Sounds like a contradiction, right? But the new country was completely incapable of conceiving themselves apart from their colonizers at that time. So it is never a perfectly clean break-away, and we are forced to call a system we do not agree with “home” in the short term.
You make a great point about the Republican party dying. I have a slightly different perspective. Over the past 40 years, the entire ideological spectrum (the way people identify as “Left” for liberal and “Right” for conservative) has shifted entirely to the Right). We live in the era of neoliberalism; whereby corporations send jobs overseas, and governments would rather invest in prison than welfare and other social safety nets. What we call a “liberal/Democrat” today would have been a “conservative/Republican” 40 years ago. Hillary Clinton says that she is a Democrat – but she only favors a slight raise to the minimum wage, to a mere $12/hour. She opposed unions for years, and was in favor of lock ’em positions. Those are very conservative positions.The Democratic Party is slowly morphing into the Republican Party, and the Republican Party is morphing into a bunch of neofascists like Donald Trump (super-Right wing). That stated, the Republican party is not dying, the DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM (a livable wage, social safety nets, pensions, etc) is dying. In a previous post of mine, I characterized this election as a battle between a wild Republican and a mild Republican.
The best way to prevent the new system from following the path of the old system is to create a more wholesome, inclusive society based on an ethic of care. The problem with our entire way of being is that it is structured like a country club: only a few people can join. Everyone else has to wait outside and hope for a token invitation. Once we change the rules of the club membership, everything else will follow.
At present, the organization I belong to (Socialist Alternative) has branches all over the nation. Fliers are distributed on social media and in person, at rallies, protests, etc. There is a national newspaper that is sold around by comrades for $2 each – as a method of recruitment, and also, as a way of funding ourselves so we do not have to rely on corporate cash. The Black Panthers funded themselves by distributing leaflets as well – but one of their problems was they were focused exclusively on having full time members. My organization allows part time members, that way we can grow. I say that is a difference between us and some others (all of which I cannot speak to).
And also, there have been fights across the nation – successfully – for $15/hr. The Democratic Party tries to take credit for this but, please do not be misled. It was never a discussion until protesters pressured them! Other concrete demands to fight for are single payer health care (ObamaCare is an utter disaster, as I am sure you know living in the South, where the state has opted out of the Medicaid expansion – leaving mostly black folks out to dry). Those are just some of the concrete demands we organize around.
A person can certainly unlearn something. It may be uncomfortable, but it can happen. It is all about meeting people where they are at. If there is a person who is interested in foreign policy, the best way to radicalize them is to talk to them about Israel/Palestine and connect it domestic affairs. If you can find the ONE thing they are interested in and give them an alternative perspective, they are receptive.
You are correct about generations – and for that reason – my comrades and I are beginning to target folks on college campuses.
I understand your point about knocking the system and making it work for us. Thing is: it doesn’t work for us. At all. There are 7 billion people on Earth, and there are 3 billion people living on less than $2 billion a day. The system doesn’t work. It never has. It never will. There is wisdom to the idea that we need to make it work for us: slaves made it work for them by deceiving their masters, women make it work for their abusers by lying a little, and workers make it work by smiling to their boss who exploits them. There are always exceptions for the privileged few. There are always exceptions for the runaway slaves. But this perspective can only be temporary, as every other solution has been. In the final analysis, it is defeatist and masochistic. Jackie Robinson wrote a letter to the president and said we have waited far too long. Whenever it comes to white folks, the solution has to come right now. Whenever it comes to Israel, the solution has to come right now. But whenever it comes to black folks, we are told to sit idly by for our chance. We are the ONLY people who are told that freedom will come … one day.
I hear what you are saying about patience and wisdom. But why can’t freedom come by physical means in this country? Dear Brother, you live in the United States – and you began your message by quoting George Washington. We often forget that he was a revolutionary! This country gained its independence from England not by singing “we shall overcome” and holding hands with one another, or by being patient – but by saying “give me liberty or give me death”. We discourage a violent uprising because we think we know about military strength. But at the time, America was composed of 13 little scrawny states – and the British Empire was so big that people would say “the sun would never set on it”. And just look at what the Vietnamese did to the US! This is the moral of David and Goliath.
The Revolutionary War was bloody. There has never been a bloodless revolution. The Revolutionary War is the only reason America exists today. The Revolutionary War did exactly what I am proposing: seize the means of production (what it did with them afterwards is another story!) Today, we call these men heroes and patriots.
So, as Malcolm X said, “by any means necessary” – not some means, or one means, ANY means – up to and including violence. Those in power will not just hand it over. It will REQUIRE physical means. The Europeans had to kill some Africans to enslave others, and had to rape Native Americans to colonize others, so we should not fool ourselves into thinking we should have a smiley face revolution. I believe violence should always be the last resort, though.
Great questions bro!
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November 7, 2016 at 9:32 pm
Great answers. However, I do remind you of one fact about the early history of this country:
1. The first settlers left the country of their oppressors seeking that elusive utopia.
They THEN staged their Revolution. They did not attempt to stage it in the land of the oppressors.
2. What you propose does not follow this successful model.
You would attempt to wrest the oppressor’ s land from his most formidable grip.
3. A wiser way to loosen a strong grip is a finger at a time.
4. If we intend to take the land from those who control it we must be smarter than they are.
5. We don’t meet force with force, that’s what they expect you to do.
6. You quoted Malcolm, wasn’t he a nationalist at the time of that quote?
But I believe his views on nationalism softened in his later years.
I would like to get one of your fliers. I’m always open to new things.
Meanwhile, I’ll patiently watch your progress, maybe I’m wrong.
Maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks.
Spanish philosopher, George Santanya said, “Those who do not learn from history, are condemned to repeat it”.
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November 7, 2016 at 10:37 pm
Thank you for your wonderful commentary my man!
Your response about the “successful” model of revolution is outdated and cannot be applied to the modern world. Remember that back in 1776, the land west of the 13 colonies belonged to France and Mexico. World geography has changed entirely since then. Over the past 200+ years, Native Americans have been pushed off the land and Africa has been colonized. You said the settlers left the land of their colonizers and came here in search of a utopia – but my question is: where can we go?! There is nothing comparable to a “New World” on the other side of the ocean that we can organize a mass exodus to. The United States is an empire – with 800 military bases around the world. America is still colonizing Africa through the World Bank and AFRICOM; the Middle East through war and by financing Israel; and Central America through trade deals. We cannot simply hop in the Mayflower and sail to some safe haven away from America – because our enemy is now an economic, military, and cultural superpower. So there is only so far the comparison can stretch between the American revolution and the prospect of one today.sentence, lol)
And remember: the Louisiana Purchase did not happen until 1803. Why? Because in 1801, another French possession -Haiti- was overthrown in a slave revolution. When you look at the geography, Haiti and the former land occupied by France were close proximity-wise, so when Haiti was lost for the French, Napoleon decided to forfeit all of the land (scared black people would ruin his investment, and figured he’d get out while he was ahead!). I offer this to refute your point that a “successful” revolution requires a spatial partition of land whereby we must “leave”. The first black republic in the West is a product of some brave slaves who stood up to their masters WITHIN that country. We can also look at Cuba – which overthrew that American puppet, Batista, within that country.
The idea that “we don’t meet force with force” comes out of the work of Gandhi. When we read him closely, he thinks that non-violence is a way of getting your oppressor to see your struggle and to appeal to his conscience. The problem is: America has no conscience. Non-violence is based on the false premise that America is redeemable. It isn’t. It is indefensible.
There is a relationship between gun control and race. I offer an analysis here: I offer an analysis here: https://zoneofnonbeing.wordpress.com/2016/09/30/hillary-clinton-the-anti-blackness-of-gun-control/
You are right: Malcolm made that statement right after he left the NOI, so he still harbored some nationalist beliefs, but he was moving more towards an internationalist scope. But that statement, in and of itself, does not imply nationalism. The full statement is about ontology/human rights – where he says “we declare our right to be a man, to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, on this earth, on this day, and we intend to bring that into existence by any means necessary”. So I would not say he softened his views, he just began to speak in a different tenor. He definitely abandoned all the white man is the devil talk, and incorporated some class analysis a bit.
I will be sure to send you a link to one of the fliers. It is still under construction, as we are waiting to get the election results and the word from our National Committee so there can be a fair amount of uniformity around the country in the message. Will keep you posted.
I appreciate your spirit and for thoughtfully engaging me. You have challenged me to re-think a few things. I am only 26 and, after being in graduate school for a while, am just getting involved in organizing. There are always blind spots. Thank you for taking the time to spell out some concerns. We are all here to learn from each other. I could always use your critical feedback, Brotha. Hats off to you for your willingness to learn as well!
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November 8, 2016 at 6:56 am
Thank you and kudos to you as well!
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November 8, 2016 at 9:00 am
“teleprompters for gonads” — love that line.
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November 8, 2016 at 9:04 am
Hehe, thanks Sarah!
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November 9, 2016 at 9:07 pm
Ain’t this the truth.
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November 9, 2016 at 9:14 pm
Damn if this didn’t resonate and hit home given last night’s performance. Still stunned.
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November 9, 2016 at 10:18 pm
Yeah man. Its crazy. I always knew America was awful but part of me hoped it wouldn’t get THIS bad. I am glad people are rising up.
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November 9, 2016 at 9:43 pm
I believe I heard your organization’s name mentioned in the news tonight as part of the protests going on across American.
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November 9, 2016 at 10:11 pm
Yes. I heard it too. CNN is giving us free coverage. To millions of people. Their thirst for profit has several benefits. Today was one of our highest days of new member enrollments
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November 9, 2016 at 10:15 pm
Any demonstrations going on near you?
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November 9, 2016 at 10:37 pm
No, not that I’ve heard of… yet.
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November 9, 2016 at 10:39 pm
Something will definitely pop off soon
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November 14, 2016 at 11:52 pm
I read this out-loud, and was like BARS. You are wise beyond your years. GREAT material!!!
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November 16, 2016 at 7:27 am
Lol. I learned to write from battle rapping, so it is funny you say BARS!
Thank you Alia!
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December 5, 2016 at 11:41 am
This is good. Great rhythm. And I love, “algebraic dungeons.” Math used to be this beautiful, abstract language that gave the mind tone and thrill. Then you grow up to learn the main application of this language is to get us all tangled up in money, credit, debt: gods to many people.
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December 5, 2016 at 11:51 am
Thank you! Wow, that is a great point about the beauty of math being corrupted to suit big businesses, etc! I love the certainty that math can provide – but it is often used to the detriment of humans.
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