Pennies  - for MLK 

 

I am a privileged white woman

My wishes dreams efforts

Standing up against racism 

Shouting their names

Lying on the sidewalk with my hands behind my back

Screaming “I can’t breathe” with tears streaming 

Taught my children to stand up for the oppressed

Still just a well intentioned wish

Nothing more

 

Like a penny thrown into a shallow pool

A tiny splash

To rest with thousands of other pennies just like it

In perpetuity

Sitting there

 

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr said “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” 

He had a dream.

I thought about him last night restlessly tossing and turning

Incensed that his dream is so far from coming true 

Finally falling into my own dream

 

Millions of privileged white women threw their pennies all at once

Into the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool 

On the National Mall

Creating a giant wave

RInsing the hate 

The ugly stain of confederate and nazi flags out of the capitol

Suddenly turning into a gentle cycle taking over the entire country

Wringing out hearts and minds

 Dye of love  in the final rinse

 

Mothers, women, children, men, of all colors taking this place and hanging it out to dry in the sun 

Rainbows in the whites of our eyes 

 

So today, take out your pennies

Ready?

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