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The Silencing of Saints
By Hettie V. Williams
This poem is dedicated to the Black victims of the Tops shooting incident in Buffalo New York.
Here be a monster
Who white raged into
A supermarket, with an AR-15,
And silenced Black saints.
This is their poem.
These men and women,
Pillars of the community,
Were grandmothers, deacons in the Church,
Volunteers in charitable organizations,
Fed the needy, were cashiers, respectable human beings
Just going about their day.
What is wrong with you, white people?
Stop killing our grandmothers. Elders. Stop. It.
Most Black people just want to be free,
Some day. But, in the meantime,
We are just living our lives, grocery shopping (or trying).
None of us are sitting in a basement plotting your murder
For what you have done here.
H.E.R. told you in that song:
“We don’t want revenge, we want justice.”