Heather Heyer

By KW

Your mother put it best,
“They tried to kill my child to shut her up. Well, guess what?
You just magnified her”
You can rest assured, Heather, I will never forget you
My expression when speaking of you will always show
How much I respect the stance you took against divisiveness
How you truly are a Hero and Champion of the people,
How you are representing real American Values, Morals, and Creed.
Trust me Big Sis, I’ll keep marching on your behalf.
I’ll keep standing against inequality and injustice.
Using whatever tools I have to ensure champions like you?
Will live on
Thank you for your service, courage, and commitment
At ease, Soldier. At ease.

“She was murdered by the BRUTALITY OF EVERY SHERIFF who practiced LAWLESSNESS in the name of the LAW. She was murdered by the IRRESPONSIBILITY of EVERY politician from Governors on down to who FED his constituents the stale BREAD of HATRED and the SPOILED MEAT OF RACISM. She was murdered by the COWARDICE of EVERY NEGRO who passively accepts the EVILS of segregation, and who STAND on the SIDELINES in the struggle for JUSTICE.”
– Dr. Martin Luther King

(Speech originally given March 3, 1965 at Jimmie Lee Jackson’s funeral service. I replaced the “he” with “she” to fulfill my point)

2 Comments

  1. Mary Goldschmidt on August 9, 2018 at 8:29 AM

    KW this is a really powerful poem! Especially effective is the phrase you use telling her to stand at ease, showing that she was a soldier in this battle. The paragraph by MLK with “she” gave me goosebumps. It also made me want to read more about Jimmie Lee Jackson, so thank you very much! I now know more about what sparked the Selma protests, and of course about the tragedy of Jackson’s murder. You are doing very important work with your poetry — keep writing!

  2. Kayelynn on April 21, 2020 at 4:01 PM

    KW,

    A strong poem. Your tribute to Heather Heyer is truly standout through your compassionate language and dedication to continuing what she was preaching before her life was cruelly taken. I also really liked the effect of adding a piece of one of MLK’s speeches at the end — it further solidified how racism has ruined countless lives and that people need to stand up to change these outcomes. You’re a fantastic writer!

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