Valedictorian
“Instruction in youth is like engraving in stone”
—Moroccan
“Did you say I’ve got a lot to learn
Well don’t think I’m trying not to learn
Since this is a perfect spot to learn—
TEACH ME TONIGHT”
—“Teach Me Tonight” Sammy Cahn
Can strings push?
Can sticks pull?
Is water wet?
Is fat meat greasy?
Are big lies alternative facts?
Can warmongers win peace prizes?
Are Mothers older than daughters?
If you die, do you come back the next day?
We wake with watch hands
Saying different things—yet
Saying nothing untrue at 9
At 10, 11, ‘Round Midnight
Or, 4 in the morning:
Our Valedictorian checked out,
Crossing crimson curtains,
Slipping through silken membrane
Into sacred Ancestral spaces—
But never quietly into the night!
nickel-slick enemies know it’s
Her they’re hearing in creaking
floorboards, rustling drapes, leaves
Talking back beneath their boots and
Blistering cross-examination of cops
“Finding Paths, Forging Links In
Long ChainsOf Class Struggle
Making Mama Harriet Happy,
Never Bowing Down Or Sucking Up”
stellar seventy-seven page
Commencement Address delivered fortissimo
Amplifying power to the people
Flipping tassel, flinging mortarboard skyward—
signaling us to step up, strap on our balls, take
Mama Harriet hormones, speaking truth to
Class
Entering from Tahrir Square,
Wisconsin’s State Capitol,
Zucotti Park, Oscar Grant Plaza…
colleges of class struggle
Signaling us to become
Distinguished Professors of
Lynne Stewart Studies, “unpacking”
“de-contextualizing” “contextualizing”
“intersectionalities” of class struggle—
Hard-wiring ourselves for happiness, joy, love:
Lives worth living
Signaling us to become
Distinguished Professors of
Lynne Stewart Studies—
Shameless agitators having Yes Men fun,
Dancing in the street to Brass Liberation Orchestras;
Single-payer ju-ju workers hot on socialism’s trail;
Anonymous, Wikileak workers speaking truth to
Class
Lynne Stewart Scholars come matriculate:
Come agitate, come with love trumping hate
Come educate with fierce, scorching debate
Come quickly, blowing whistles on ______ gate
Come shredding scribblers who obfuscate
For we know we can win
With readers like Lynne
With leaders like Lynne
We know we can win
With writers like Lynne
With fighters like Lynne
We know we can win
With lawyers like Lynne
With warriors like Lynne!
Raymond Nat Turner © 2017 All Rights Reserved
Lynne Stewart, Lifelong Fighter and People’s Lawyer, Dies
Lynn Stewart. the People’s Lawyer, died on March 7. She was arrested on April 9, 2002, on charges of helping pass messages from her client, Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, an Egyptian cleric convicted of masterminding the 1993 World Trade Center. She was convicted of conspiracy and providing material support to terrorists. Originally sentenced to 28 months in prison, she was re-sentenced on July 10, 2010, to 10 years, an unprecedented move, for showing “a lack of remorse” after her initial sentencing. She was granted a “compassionate release” from prison three years ago due to Stage-4 breast cancer. She was a fighter to the end.
Many characterized her conviction as an attempt to instill fear in those who seek to legally defend Arabs and Muslims who face government prosecution. This is especially timely today with renewed travel bans and threatened Muslim registries.
After suffering a major stroke on March 1, Lynne Stewart died Tuesday evening at home.
You can donate here to help cover Lynn’s health care costs.
NWU is the sole provider of IFJ Press Passes to freelance journalists in the U.S.