Not in My Name

There's a poet from New York City named Saul Williams who wrote a great piece called Not in My Name. It was written during the second Gulf War, which was quite a while ago. Unfortunately, the poem still carries much relevance today. In the poem, Williams is calling for the US to put an end to war in the name of the American people. If you listen carefully to the poem, you can hear him describing the war as being more for profiteering and less about American freedoms, unless the freedom to take other people’s resources is the freedom the warmongers referred to.

If you haven't guessed already, I am basically a pacifist unless it's absolutely necessary not to be one. Some people might argue that taking other people’s resources helps the country to survive and therefore is necessary. That’s how the Vikings did it. However, it's a ridiculous argument because there are many ways to survive without oil. America was built on ingenuity. If greedy oil barons did not have such a tight grip on the energy industry, I really believe that we could have found a great source of alternative energy long, long ago. Maybe that freedom to innovate and explore might have already gotten us to Mars or to other solar systems. It's hard to say. What we do know is that fossil fuels are running out and global warming is on the rise. Despite the oil barons and their last grab at wealth and power, things have to change. If they don't there will be nothing left of the world to enjoy.

I have no idea how I got on this topic. This blog is about choosing a photo that I've taken and sharing random thoughts related to the photo. I guess Saul Williams reminded me of Not in My Name. If you look closely at the photo you can see him there in the crowd. He's holding a microphone. He started on the stage but eventually he climbed down and moved into the audience to the spot where you see him in the photo. It was a powerful moment. Although he did different poems and songs, I could still hear the imperative of Not in My Name in his voice and his body language.