A poem I delivered at the Fair-Go Forum in June 07

As we confer about the fair go
Facing a barrage of abuse
Minorities blamed for all woes
Global warming, veiled oppression, our colours and hues
Political leaders bullying towards assimilation
Media toeing that racist line
Confused populous, hating, blaming, afraid
As my people face raid after raid
And dungeons, isolation
Intellectual, spiritual, some physical abuse and intimidation
You created the conditions
Causing us to flee from home to here
To man your factories
Your restaurants
And serve your beer
A new untouchable class
A society full of fear
With a limited platform for us to talk and complain
Free only to serve and cheer
A breath out of line from us
Your dogs from every column will jeer
Directed by whistles from politicians
Policies, big business and lobby groups set
How I cry and bemoan a community besieged and beset
2000 years ago you watched and fled
You acquiesced to innocents being persecuted
A society insistent on blood and crucifixion
A reflection of a history stranger than fiction
As it repeats itself today
And you wear your symbolic crucifix
To remember and reflect, but you forget
Oblivious to the persecution of a community
Struggling to gesticulate from its own crucifixion
I will not be silenced
Let your history take note
I will not die quietly
I will not be self-loathing
Nor self-defeating
I will not myself flagellate
I will stand up and speak
My complaints will be heard
Let it disturb your slumber
Awaken you from your deep sleep
I will fight for every right
Until I am victorious
And persecution is no more
Will you not join me?
We can write our history together
A brighter future
Where you and I are one
And only racism and hatred become the Other

Keysar Trad
15 June 2007