IdeaStream Week 25
Fighting for Our Lives
The struggle goes on until racist killings end
Hello, wonderful beings,
This week I watched a video of a ten-year-old boy being manhandled by four adult police officers before a fifth came along and put a mesh bag over his head; a video of a man running away from a police officer, who shot him several times; I read an account of the killing of Rayshard Brooks in the car park of a Wendy’s restaurant and an updated account of the killing of Breonna Taylor. But what PULLED IT ALTOGETHER was watching 13th, the Netflix documentary about the 13th amendment and the prison industrial system it spawned. Everyone needs to watch this. If you don’t have Netflix, I suggest you avail of their free 30-day offer or find a friend who has it and watch it with them. Please note: It is very hard to watch but it is unmissable.
On Saturday I went to a demonstration where we knelt at 3 pm while the MC read a list of names of black people murdered because of the colour of their skins, going back to Stephen Lawrence in 1993. It took ten minutes to read out the names, and it wasn’t even a comprehensive list. For example, my former school mate, Leon Patterson, wasn’t mentioned.
Isn’t that beyond sad? These are human beings whose lives were cut short because of melanin.
Seems crazy, somehow.
We are all doing what we can – we are writers so our task is to write. It may not seem like much, but as Kim McKinney reminded me this week, the pen is mighty.
Writer’s Prompts
Poetry Salvage
Use these ten words to write a poem. Or prose if you prefer.
- life
- history
- oppression
- enslavement
- politics
- change
- ideology
- voting
- choice
- prison system
Last week’s poetry salvage
Marilyn Flower humbles with words for global citizens.
Melissa R. Mendelson rages against a diabolical political machine.
Caroline de Braganza asks the question we all want to know the answer to.
Limerick Corner
Limerick Starter
She was asleep in her bed
Then they came, now she’s dead
Last week’s contender
The extremely talented and prolific Marilyn Flower with a four stanza explanation of British immigration injustice.
100 * 250 * 500 *1000
Write 100 words about the weirdest thing you saw this week.
Write 250 words about why you went (or didn’t) on a protest march.
Write 500 words on what you love most about summer. Or your favourite season.
Write 1000 words, on what you would be doing now if there hadn’t been a pandemic this year.
Offerings from last week
Jimmy Doom shares the thing he misses most about the good old normal days…
…and the craziest thing he did as a kid
As expected, Ena Dahl was a wild child…
Recommend Reads
Nothing above moving you? Sample these stories…
By Chris Hedges
By Marla Bishop
By Oren Cohen
By Lynda Wallis
I’m proud to present this poem by my sisterwoman A-dZiko Simba Gegele.
If for whatever reason you can’t watch 13th on Netflix, then watch any interview with Angela Davis
The Bad Influence and IdeaStream
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©Marla Bishop 2020
Marla Bishop is an editor for The Bad Influence and The Narrative and publisher of Lilith. A writer and relationship coach, she lives in London UK and is working on her first novel. You can support her here.
