America Chained | Teen Ink

America Chained

August 8, 2022
By artistX SILVER, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
artistX SILVER, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
5 articles 17 photos 29 comments

Favorite Quote:
“This is what love does. In the stories, love healed your wounds, fixed what was broken, allowed you to go on. But love wasn’t a spell, some kind of benediction to be whispered, a balm or a cure-all. It was a single, fragile thread, which grew stronger through connection, through shared hardship and trust.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Rule of Wolves


Some say our past is past?
Colonialism, slavery, racism…only relics of history books.
Some say America has moved beyond?
But, the chains of capitalism are crippling.
Some say democracy prevails, that “All men were created equal?”
It’s 2022 and I’m 12.
I see undocumented workers doing back-breaking labor
Did slavery end?
I see pipelines destroying Native American reservations
Did colonialism end?
I see the unending evils of systemic racism in policing
Did racism end?
I call it greed.
I call it evil.
I, call it human exploitation.
America is chained if it refuses to face the past.
America is chained if it repeats its evils.
But, I know this.
History isn’t over.
We’re still making it.
We are changed.
And we will not be chained


The author's comments:

America is freedom, the land of the free, and the home of the brave. The
words print into my soul like a burning stamp pressed into the ink of my heart.
America is a country of freedom and prosperity. Yet the history of untold stories
looms behind America, the monstrous shadow doomed to forever follow her. The
shadow, the story, the brutality… America. The stories that have been erased,
white-washed, and banished from the textbooks, the perpetual oppression that
continues to terrorize all of America. That is the story of America, the story of
twisted freedom and sickened bravery. But to tell that story is to tell the story of us.


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This article has 3 comments.


artistX SILVER said...
on Sep. 5 2022 at 12:20 pm
artistX SILVER, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
5 articles 17 photos 29 comments

Favorite Quote:
“This is what love does. In the stories, love healed your wounds, fixed what was broken, allowed you to go on. But love wasn’t a spell, some kind of benediction to be whispered, a balm or a cure-all. It was a single, fragile thread, which grew stronger through connection, through shared hardship and trust.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Rule of Wolves

@strangerthings & @Sunflowergirl, thank you! I was hesitant to post this (I'm not as confident in my writing skills) but I'm glad you two enjoyed it! ^o^

on Sep. 2 2022 at 9:56 am
Sunflowergirl GOLD, Mansfield, Texas
18 articles 49 photos 67 comments

Favorite Quote:
“This week I've been reading a lot
and doing little work. That's the way
things ought to be. That's surely the
road to success.” -Anne Frank

Wow.. this is so good!

on Aug. 27 2022 at 12:32 pm
strangerthings, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
0 articles 0 photos 8 comments

Favorite Quote:
there's more to life than stupid boys

This is deep. no cap