The American Dream
locked-up by a lawless institution,
forced to walk on broken glass,
breathing in the stench of indifference.
I watched in disbelief,
as my rights were systematically taken away,
I begged for justice that was never given fairly,
instead, they took my life,
now I live without a future,
I now see the shadow side of the american dream.
Stuck behind a wall of state-manifested violence,
a crisis which legitimizes the abuse of power and antisense,
it gives birth to torture, isolation and dehumanization,
a violation of human rights is our criminal justice system.
A country where law-makers bash against each other,
in a personal hierarchical battle for dominance,
they choose to compromise their citizens humanity,
and forced to live in a broken, dysfunctional setting.
Too many lives lost,
too much liberty and happiness denied,
they lock us in cages where everything is nothing,
and nothing is everything,
we live to go nowhere.
I don’t think everyone knows unless you experience it yourself,
there is no rehab or reform,
being locked away by injustice.
The everyday happiness is no longer in my grasp,
I am forced to survive adversity,
as my dreams fade away.
As U.S. citizens, we must stand strong and tall,
we must focus on surviving and not dying,
once again we must fight for what our forefathers fought for,
it’s not just about righting the wrongs,
it’s about the accountability of those who oppress too!
As I speak these words everyone stares at me,
but, don’t see me,
the lonely years pass soaking up innocent tears,
thanks to the criminal justice system,
I’m living the American Dream.
Anti-Imperialist Prisoner Support Responds: This comrade’s resilience in the face of the in-justice system is admirable. Rights and well-being of prisoners are completely secondary to the main objective of national oppression. However, we should remember that many prisoners face a choice between attempting to integrate into the imperialist machine and rejecting the U.$. in favor of proletarian internationalism. “U.$. Citizen” is a false identity that on the one hand, seeks to unite the masses of oppressed nations with their oppressors, and on the other hand seeks to draw the lumpenproletariat into closer benefit from the spoils of imperialism via citizenship in the empire. Each of these reasons must be rejected in our work if we wish to fight for a society without oppression, forging a new internationalist identity that fights for national liberation independent from the empire.
