Blog Archive

Thursday 8 September 2011

Uprising - A poem by Zita Holbourne - words and video


UPRISING BY ZITA HOLBOURNE, COPYRIGHT AUGUST 11

On the streets of Tottenham flames ignite
Frustrations explode and the press call it ‘riot’
Our lives are cheap in the eyes of the police
Protected by the cover up from the IPCC
Government claim it’s unacceptable
Their condemnation is predictable
The revolution will not be televised
Because the BBC have to take cover and hide
Politicians and pundits demonising our youth
Refusing to acknowledge the plain and simple truth
That poverty, deprivation and injustice are at the root
I hear the cry of anguish of those pursuing loot
They’re not thugs or loutish or driven by greed
When government and police refuse to heed
The pain and anger - signs and words of warning
They should have predicted the days of unrest dawning
When you take away the means to get an education
Destroy the aspirations and hopes of a generation
Take away lives and deny people justice
Impose policies that are unfair and racist
Take away opportunity and bar access to progress
You can't expect silence whilst you oppress
An uprising is a cry for help, for change, for people to listen
The way to respond is not to instigate division
Isolating our young
Labelling them as wrong
If you refuse to acknowledge and do what's right
There'll be no calm on our streets at night
Until you mend what's broken in the system
Address the root not punish the victim
You must eliminate poverty and discrimination
Take responsibility for the devastation
Created not by youth but by bankers and tax dodgers
Target the real economic and social destroyers

(Copyright Zita Holbourne 2011)

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