Civil Rights Movement Poetry Archive

Poems by Maria Gitin

REFLECTION ON WHITE CIVIL RIGHTS VETERANS

We filed incident reports: #s of youth beaten, #s of workers arrested,
cars chased off the road, windows shot out, firebombs
then repeat: violence, terror, numbing shock
listened over and over to horror stories and typed them up
they had it much worse –
some were there longer – others lived there always
they were braver, better, different from us
Yet 50 years later fear still runs in my veins when I see a cop
I was one of many, no one special
just one of the many, yet few who asked
what can I do?
We helped shine a light on a country we thought we knew
we witnessed a mockery of democracy
shared a fear of men in uniforms
stopped believing jail is for bad guys only
We were changed, never again see ourselves
as only just white
— Maria Gitin, August 2020