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They will not be listed as casualties of war Their photos will not appear in the newspapers among the war dead Their names will not be engraved Upon monuments in small towns across America Honoring those who made the supreme sacrifice

They will not be called American Heroes

No, those poor folk lying dead In the polluted waters of New Orleans Will be remembered as those poor folks Maybe even those poor Black folks Or, more likely, those poor victims of a natural disaster

Masters of deceit don't want us to connect the dots or deaths

Isn't it just too bad what happened to them?! How tragic! How awful! But what can you do? How can you help people who won't help themselves? Why didn't they leave Like they were ordered to do Before the hurricane hit? Gotta shoot those looters! Besides, since when do Black citizens have any rights That Government is bound to respect? Gotta kill those terrorists! We need to fight them over there before they hit us over here

Ad nauseum

In New Orleans, it was the old ordeal: Racism was delivered, and racism was denied In Baghdad, it was more body bags: Rich man's war, and a poor man's fight

In both, truth became the first casualty In both, the invisible in life became visible in death: The cannon fodder became heroes And the nobodies became statistics

Now, in death, they count That is at least something But it is not enough, not by a long shot

The count that would really make a difference Between life and death Is yet to be taken

It is that long list of counts on an indictment Against those responsible for this organized murder And those masters of disasters Who left the penniless in New Orleans defenseless And who wage war without end and without truth in Iraq

Your numbers are up -

Counts 1-2000: You lied, and some 2000 Americans in uniforms died in Iraq Counts 2000-4000+: You lied, and some 2000 Americans in rags died in New Orleans

Your time is up -

A storm of righteous anger is brewing in the hearts of Americans And this time those below contempt Not below sea level and the poverty line Will be swept from power