Police kneeling with protesters in Miami-Dade County (photo by Miami- Dade Corrections)
In the course of the protests sweeping our nation, police in many cities transformed potentially incendiary standoffs into powerful visions of unity and hope by kneeling, marching, and mourning with the protesters they swear to serve and protect. Not all of them maintained that stance, but many did. I've written this anthem to celebrate the moments they created. It can be sung to the tune of our national anthem.
What so boldly we dreamed in the precincts of our plight:
That the power might take knee with their kin in the streets
To mourn the lives lost and the wrongs that we repeat,
And to pray for the day when our hate will give way
To Peace that through Justice alone shall hold sway?
O say does that banner yet wave in hope of what might be,
In the hearts of the brave, o'er a land of the free?
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Thanks!
And many thanks also to the friends who helped me shape this in the course of a frenetic burst of writing.