IDEASTREAM

Beyond the Pandemic

The struggle continues

Hello beautiful people,

Imagine this: In broad daylight, a man tailgates a woman, forces her to pull over, and drags her from her car to the side of the road where he assaults her, including kneeling on her spine and tying her hands together. He then puts her in his car before driving her off to a building into which ordinary civilians are not allowed. No-one knows what’s happening to her in the building but two days later she’s found dead from hanging. The people who incarcerated her claim she hung herself.

Scenario two: In the dead of night, a group of men break down the door of an apartment where a woman is asleep in her bed and shoot her dead.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock you probably recognise the stories as the last moments of Sandra Bland and Breonna Taylor.

Female citizens of the USA murdered by that country’s police force.

Were those men not in uniform, they would definitely have been charged with murder. As it stands, Sandra Bland’s killer/s are yet to be identified although the arresting officer has been fired from the police force.

Only one of the three police officers responsible for Breonna Taylor’s killing was indicted, and he has been dismissed. The other two remain in the police force.

The wanton murder of people of African-American heritage must end.

So far the petition calling for justice for George Floyd has surpassed 19 million which makes it the largest petition in the history of the organisation change.org

If you haven’t already you can add your name here:

You can also join the Black Lives Matter or The Breath Act Org.

Racism and discrimination take many forms. Here in Britain, the Halo Collective Hair Code launched this week, calling on every school and workplace in the UK to defend the rights of Black students and staff to wear their natural hair as they wish, which the organisation also hopes will be written into equality law.

We all have a personal responsibility to fight racism as we see fit. As writers, we are free to show that the pen is mightier than the sword. Let’s do this.

Writer’s Prompts

Poetry Salvage

Use these ten words to write a poem. Or prose if you prefer.

• attic salt: refined, incisive wit
• argute: shrewd
• argie-bargie: copious but meaningless talk or writing
• apoptosis: the death of cells that occurs as a normal part of an organism’s growth or development
• apple-knocker: (US informal) an ignorant or unsophisticated person
• concession: something granted, especially in response to demands
• coronapocalypse: the current pandemic
• covidiots: people who say there’s no pandemic
• coronaporn: umm, not sure. Make something up
• loser: a person or thing that loses or has lost something, especially a game or contest.

Poetry prompt

Cinquain

Inspired by Christine Graves, write a cinquain; a 5-lined poem in 2, 4, 6, 8, and 2 syllables. Here’s an example:

Given (2)

To us today (4)

A veritable truth (6)

This planet belongs to earthlings (8)

Grateful (2)

Need inspiration? Think freedom and new beginnings.

Concession Speeches

Quite clearly, incumbent #45 has no intention of writing or delivering a concession speech. Help him out! Write his concession speech in 500 words or less. In case you need inspiration, here’s Hilary Clinton’s 2016 concession speech.

Finish The Story…

…in a new way. Take this well-known short story introduction and give it a brand-new ending! (750 words or less)

Enthralled, Pandora lifted the lid of the box she’d been forbidden to open…

If you’re looking for a home for your writing with people that like to read and support other writers then we’d love to take a look at what you’ve got.

This is THE BAD INFLUENCE. – “Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safes, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.” — Sir Cecil Beaton

Remember, to be anti-racist, we need to stay educated. Check out what these great thinkers (and talkers) have to say on the matter.

Look forward to seeing your responses. Please tag me or include the link for this IdeaStream. Happy writing!

(And look out for the next Ideastream coming courtesy of Marilyn Flower)

Please include #Idea Stream as one of your hashtags, and add a box link of this prompt at the end of your submission. (In case you need it, a box link is created by posting this link and clicking return so it looks like the link below.) Thank you!

Join us as writer? If you like our style and think we’ll like yours, this is how you can be added as a new writer, send an email to: [email protected] and be sure to write ‘ADD ME AS A WRITER’ in the subject line. Make sure to include your MEDIUM PROFILE or we may never find you!