The hole in my heart
Wasn’t always there
I was not born with it
It was burned in
Dug out
By cruelty and hatred
That had been taught to five year old children
Who grew up to be teenagers
Then adults
On land I was told was not mine
And a place I was told I did not belong
My hole kept growing
At the hands of their lies
Until I learned to find my roots
The truth of what came before me
My ancestors
Their history
My history
Truth
The shield against the lies
And the hole in my heart began to, heal
Nourished by truth
It began to fill
As I reclaim my culture
My ancestry
My history
I touch this land with love
And connect with my roots that exist deeply everywhere
Across this land and in it
I know now
That greed, built those lies
To steal
To oppress
To burn holes in hearts
Now my heart keeps filling
As I honor my ancestors
With truth
Art description: Greed hides behind white supremacy ideology . Many do not know true history as atrocities of settler colonialism are kept hidden away. The holes in our hearts are missing truths that were carved out by lies, created to perpetuate hoarding. Hoarders have built systems and myths in order to enable atrocities, injustices and inequity to continue. License numbers are used to control movement and to target certain groups for oppression. It is natural for humans to move, yet unnatural to be forced to move due to forced economic struggle, oppression and the theft of land. Being uprooted, many people struggle to reclaim their culture, ancestry and history. Finding one’s own identity and refusing the identities and narratives forced upon us by oppressive systems is critically important for a just future.
