From The Heart : Nelson Mandela
A word from the heart.
I am an American Indian. A Democrat.
I was a soldier in Vietnam.
My father was an Ojibway American Indian.
My mother from Wales. I am a child of
Mixed racial marriage. Every day in America
I paid for their love.
I had to suffer the judgement of American Indians
For my white blood
I had to suffer the judgement of my American
Neighbors
For my “Indian” blood.
As a child I was broken and beaten and cursed
By both sides
At home nowhere
I could pass for “white” and sometimes I did.
But my bones and my breath and my heart
Has always been with the Old Indians.
I aways wondered what could I do
All by myself
To change things, or just to survive
And have a normal life somewhere.
Mandela has shown all of us how to
Change the world
By standing in your skin
Standing in the truth
And never giving up
Even when he was alone for decades
On a dirt floor
One visitor each year
For 30 minutes
He showed all of us the absolute power
Of forgiveness
Absolute forgiveness
Of everyone
For everything
And smile in your heart and soul when you do it
He showed the whole earth Something
About Freedom
About Change
About Peace
About Dignity
About the Power of The One
One Vote
One Life
One Heart
One Sacred Silence
In the heart of madness and rage and hatred
And racist
Politics….Apartness they called it
And today I felt that life
His life
My life
Our life
And I wept for what he did
I wept for what I never did
Not knowing how or where
And I found my heart
Watching South African People
Dancing to the drums
Of South Africa
Dancing to celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela
Dancing to Remember
Where we have all been
And how far we have to go
He showed us how to never stop
Yes. Cry Freedom.
Yes. Cry for what you never did
Even when you could
And you did not
Yes Cry for what is lost
Yes Cry for what has been gained
And believe
Believe we can finish the long journey
Believe we can understand
Believe we can overcome
Believe in yourself
Believe in me
Believe in the future
And believe in our children
And remember
Right now
What time and lies and politics
And spin and special interests
And selfishness have stolen from us all
And measure all our failures against the loss
Of one man,
Nelson Mandela
