Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement

Poems by Tamam Tracy Moncur (Tracy Sims)

Will the Real America Please Stand!
Hey America "Put Some Respect on God's Name!"
This Little Light of Mine

WILL THE REAL AMERICA PLEASE STAND!

Spinning to the beginning...Dreams of wealth, power, and religious freedom disembarked onto luscious green shores in the new world with space galore. Exploration in search of riches travelled to the promise land flying flags of capital gain.
And the seed of greed planted in wild beds of racism sprouted weeds of hatred. Slavery announced its supremacy picking profits in the cotton fields. Trails of blood and tears crisscrossed the fertile terrain...overpowering the humane.
Will the real America please stand!
Insatiability reigned reaching into the new millennium its tentacles of gluttony strangling empathy...disrespecting Lady Liberty's call "give me your poor"...Nay for "I will build a great wall and keep the Mexicans out"...yet the Statue of Liberty beckons for all to enter the golden door.
The Ku Klux Klan...American terrorists...leaving an infamous trail of black bodies hanging from trees...burning crosses...committing religious blasphemy doing dastardly deeds in the name of Christianity...allows indifference to state "not sure of what they do but I will get back to you."
Will the real America please stand!
Driven tyranny espousing repression ignites xenophobic mentalities clothed in a bizarre reality. Despotic rhetoric slaps freedom of religion into a den of intolerance and ignorance...ranting and raving calling for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering this country."...
Truth screams 90% of terrorist attacks in the States are perpetrated by non Muslims embroiled in hate. Is it too late to rectify the lies? Is it too late for unsubstantiated fabrications to cease in the name of peace? Is it too late for the Ku Klux Klan to be repudiated for its long reign of terror?
Will the real America please stand!

Hey America "Put Some Respect on God's Name!"

America has been known as a Christian nation yet from its inception the name of Jesus has been used blasphemously starting with the justification of slavery; the justification of stealing land from Native Americans; the justification of relegating all minorities to a sub human category; burning crosses of hatred...goodness and mercy strangled...hanging from trees swinging in the breeze...the disrespecting of earth in search of the almighty dollar...pollution prevails.
Hey America "Put some respect on God's name!"
Three percent of the population controls the wealth in this great nation...it's all about the money... the bling-bling...capital gain...no shame in the game; prisons for profit making money off of human misery; high cost of medicine...high cost of health care making money off of people's infirmities; high cost of housing making money at the expense of families in homeless shelters living a helter-skelter existence.
Hey America "Put some respect on God's name!"
Racial slurs flying through the air. Build a wall keep the southern neighbors out and without a doubt limit the number of Muslims coming to this country and you will see no more terrorists. Bear arms and sound the alarm...assault weapons are here to stay. Let's take America back...back to the day of reckoning and racist rhetoric. Turn back the clock and stop Obamacare! No profit in universal healthcare... so there! Don't spend the money...don't spend the money...don't spend the money.
Hey America "Put some respect on God's name!"
God's Word says feed the hungry...set the oppressed free...help the homeless; reach out to the hopeless...visit the sick... comfort the afflicted...go to the prisons...show compassion...love ye one another like sisters and brothers. God so loved us that He sent his son Jesus to live the perfect life. The Christian walk is not about talk or hypocrisy. Let empathy rule...love in deeds...sewing good seeds. Live in truth...let God's word take root.
Hey America "Put some respect on God's name!"
Jesus the epitome of spiritual love...sent by God the Father above...set the standard high for you and I. Love God...love your neighbor like you love yourself. Come to know divine wealth. Love your enemies. Turn the other cheek...seek God...pray for those who misuse and abuse you. Jesus sacrificed his life for us...to open our eyes that we might obtain the prize of his Holy Spirit...to abide in us both here on earth and throughout eternity in a city not made with hands.
Hey America "put some respect on God's name!"
[Originally published on The Road of Impossibilities blog]

THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE

The bells for civil rights tolled across the USA
Ringing in the beginning of a brand new day
Dogs attacked the melodious sounds of freedom
Fire hoses attempted to wash away reason
Black bodies hung from southern trees
Children bombed in church early one Sunday
Even the murderous attacks against voter registration
Only ignited the resolve and the determination
The sixties was electrified with indignation
Against unjust laws that promoted racism and discrimination
Looking back through the annals of time
The melodic sounds of This Little light of mine I'm gonna let it shine ...
Could be heard up and down Market Street
Justice for mankind was the new beat of the feet
Songs of freedom resounded through the land day and night
San Francisco was now embroiled in a fight for civil rights
Oh this little light of mine I'm gonna let it shine...
(Tramp tramp to the beat of the feet)
The hiring practices of the Sheraton Palace
Were being challenged by civil rights activists
The Ad Hoc Committee Against Discrimination
Was determined to eradicate job discrimination
Throughout the city in all class A hotels
The fight for fair employment was worth going to jail
Civil disobedience was at a peek
Non-violence taught turn the other cheek.
All over the Sheraton Palace I'm gonna let it shine
(tramp tramp to the beat of the feet)...
Blacks could only be maids back in the day
Push a broom through the rooms
Mop a floor from door to door
Clean the toilets, pick up the trash
Menial labor was the name of the task
For a job at the front desk you better not ask!
Bigotry would smile in your face
But nigga' you'd better stay in your place!
Oh all over the Sheraton Palace I'm gonna let it shine...
(tramp tramp to the beat of the feet)
From all over the Bay Area the people came
Filled with love, guilt and some shame
That the police arrested so many youth...
Young people searching trying to find truth
In a country that always claimed to be
Such a great democracy!
In the holding cells there was great jubilee
Metal doors clanged shut but spirits were free!
All over the Sheraton Palace I'm gonna let it shine
(clang clang the metal doors rang)
Love carried picket signs in multiple demonstrations
Arrests...paddy wagons...continued negotiations
Led to an agreement with the hotel industry
That people regardless of race would have equal opportunity
To be employed in jobs at all levels
And as these positions became available
Affirmative action would be applied to each situation
To achieve equity in minority representation
Let it shine...let it shine...let it shine
(clang clang the metal doors rang)
Hundreds upon hundreds of people were arrested
Taxing San Francisco's halls of justice
Divided up into groups of twelve
Juries acquitted some...others went to jail
Yet there was great rejoicing and jubilation
That a major victory had bee won against job discrimination
For San Francisco the city by the bay
Turbulent times led to a better way.
This Little Light of Mine I'm gonna let it shine...
(tramp tramp to the beat of the feet...
clang clang the metal doors rang)
[This is the poem I wrote describing the San Francisco demonstrations against job discrimination in 1964. These demonstrations were directed at the class-A hotels in San Francisco. The Sheraton Palace hotel is where the demonstrations took place.]