ADVOCATE
A poem/letter to the world, to be posted on my website with links to donate to Students for a Free Tibet and shared to my communities.
The last Tibetan Freedom Concert was held on 4/20/03 in Taipei
In the US-
The children born on this day can vote
The children born on this day can drive
The children born on this day can drink
The children born on this day may have never known a world with the phrase Free Tibet
in every celebrity mouth
The children born on this day have new causes echoing in their minds
(FREE FREE PALESTINE CHINGA LA MIGRA TRANS RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS)
This distance from last popular action doesn’t diminish the need
There are those who carry the gentle words of the Dalai Lama still
We can join them in their work still undone
The peaceful people who refused to bear arms against a dragon
still need a world un-silent about their deep need
still need a world un-afraid to challenge the settled borders
still need a world un-frazed by their distance between the last popular chant of FREE TIBET and today
Look, this topic is complex!
No one is arguing that it a simple fix
But what in this reality isn’t?
What is real and true about Tibet to this day is Conquest-
Conquest and forced compliance
Conquest and shifted narratives
Conquest and bulldozed history
Conquest and exiled leaders
Conquest and control
Conquest and constriction
Conquest and eradication
No one owns the earth
but history and legacy are tied to ancestral land
No one owns the earth
but it is unconscionable to strip connection from a people
No one owns the earth
but to make meaningless the mountains is a crime
A crime that must be shouted against
A crime that must be advocated against
A crime that must not be forgotten
So today, dear friend, consider sending material support to those who have not forgotten what A Tribe Called Quest, Alanis Morissette, Baaba Maal, Beastie Boys, Beck, Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, Biz Markie, Björk, Blur, Bobby Chen, Buffalo Daughter, Chaksam-pa, Cibo Matto, Dadawa, De La Soul, Eddie Vedder, Foo Fighters, Fugees, Garbage, Handsome Boy Modeling School, Herbie Hancock, John Lee Hooker, Kiyoshirou Imawano, Kruder & Dorfmeister, Live, Luscious Jackson, Michael Stipe, Nawang Khechog, No Doubt, Noel Gallagher, Patti Smith, Pavement, Pearl Jam, Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, R.E.M., Run-D.M.C., Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth, The Roots, Thee Michelle Gun Elephant, Thom Yorke, U2, Wyclef Jean, Yoko Ono, Yungchen Lham all sang about.
If not material support- at least do the courtesy to Tibet and remember…..
MERE death 