I penned this poem of not so random thoughts, in recognition of the shameless hypocrisy and tragic betrayal of everyday Black, White, Brown, Red, and Yellow people, by so many supposed ‘liberals’ and ‘progressives’ who make claim to being a part of the so-called political ‘left’ in the United States, even as they support this nation’s systemic misleaders who are emaciating the people economically, politically, and constitutionally. These persons are neither ‘progressive’ or of any kind of principled ‘left.’ They merely serve to give political cover to the ongoing atrocities being committed around the world in our name by the current Obama / Biden regime. And in so doing, they perpetuate these internal and external horrors and the fake left/right paradigm, as well as the de facto two-party dictatorship by the corporate Democrat and Republican parties. They are betrayers of humanity. That’s what this poem is all about.

That Left Has Left

Langston spoke of a dream,

Deferred.

John Brown and Harriet Tubman gave their

All,

For that dream’s

Fruition.

Crazy Horse, Tecumseh, and Chief Seattle

Tried to warn us.

Mother Jones, Rosa Parks, and Viola Liuzzo put their

Bodies on the line,

For the poor, the exploited, and

The downtrodden.

Malcolm and Martin were the

Recipients of bullets,

Trying to bring our dreams to

Fruition.

So many unknown and unnamed

From humanity’s vast color

Collage,

Labored and died for us.

Do we not know?

Can we not see, even now?

We have been divided and

Our histories distorted.

The insatiable greed

Of the gluttonous rich,

Is ravaging us and our

Mother Earth.

But Alas! Where is the Left

In our hour of need?

Are we yet blind?

They’re busy,

Keeping the system of the rich

Intact.

Consorting with the

Vipers of the phony left/right

Divide.

Sitting on their pedestals

With airs of

Superiority,

Perpetuating, in the name of progress,

The misery of the

People.

They consort with the

The evil of one or both

Of the lessers,

To keep the realization of

Our dreams in hock.

Oh, but what of the Left?

Surely they will tell us

The truth.

No, my friend.

That Left,

Left the people

Long ago.

It’s up to you and me.

And that is

Exactly as it should be.

BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board Member, Larry Pinkney, is a veteran of the Black Panther Party, the former Minister of Interior of the Republic of New Africa, a former political prisoner and the only American to have successfully self-authored his civil / political rights case to the United Nations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In connection with his political organizing activities in opposition to voter suppression, etc., Pinkney was interviewed in 1988 on the nationally televised PBS News Hour, formerly known as The MacNeil / Lehrer News Hour. For more about Larry Pinkney see the book, Saying No to Power: Autobiography of a 20th Century Activist and Thinker, by William Mandel [Introduction by Howard Zinn]. (Click here to read excerpts from the book.) Click here to contact Mr. Pinkney.