Editors Note: Jose is one of several power-FUL PNN Plantation prison correspondents who was involved in the Hunger Strike to end all solitary confinement and the in-human treatment of all of our incarcerated brothers and sisters.
27 years imprisoned for one’s thoughts,
ideas so threatening to injustice that repression rises.
Captured like a shu prisoner and confined to Robben Island,
One’s crime but defying apartheid settlers and denying their prizes.
Was he a living example of the most acute contradictions?
A man of peace and struggle in the face of intolerance.
The settler is the same under any moon,
Liberating one’s nations is the motivator for endurance.
Long live Azania the people scream,
Ebony faces holding rifles and fistfuls of okra.
You brought the world to the apartheid front,
People in struggle like a beautiful revolutionary opera.
You missed the children’s laughter the most,
As shu prisoners we grasp all that makes us human.
Times have changed these chambers of repression,
We see no seabirds today but we’ll still ride with you man!
You liked to see apartheid demolished in your nation,
Determination and support forged smiles on faces everywhere.
Resistance continues from bantus to cholos we rise,
Your efforts live on and we struggle because we dare.
By Jose H. Villarreal
December 2013