Sitting Still by Owen Needham

I.

I need to sit still less in life because of Mike Brown, shot dead and left dead in the street for four and a half hours.

Because of Eric Garner, strangled to death while pleading “I can’t breathe.”

Because of Aiyana Stanley Jones, 7 years old, killed in her home.

Because every 28 hours

I need to sit still less because my government continues to kill people around the world, in Pakistan, in Yemen…

I need to sit still less because oil companies plan to extract and burn five times more fossil fuel than the maximum amount possible to avoid catastrophic climate change. Because they are willing to kill countless people for short term profit. Because they must be stopped.

I need to sit still less because of Coca Cola stealing water from poor communities in India.

I need to sit still less because of the TPP. Because they are trying push it through and create an unaccountable international tribunal in which corporations can sue governments for impeding their ability to plunder the resources of other countries and exploit people.

I need to sit still less because fuck capitalism, because fuck patriarchy, because fuck state violence, because fuck oppression, because we don’t need any of it.

I need to sit still less because I believe I can do more, because I believe I can do things that matter.

I need to sit still less because of the Zapatistas, because of the MST in Brazil, because of Noam Chomsky, because of Jose Gomez, because of the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Because of so many brave people who never stop working.

I need to sit still less because more reasons than I can ever say or know.

I need to sit still less because I dream about a river that can flow upwards into the mountains.

II.

I need to sit still more because I need to relight the fire in my chest.