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Here I made a video right here to help you understand Well i mean, you technically made the video... I just uh... Borrowed it? I can see that you're...mad But you know now right? Please Sit back down, you can wag your finger after This is important This is a video your child took of you mowing the lawn in 1994 Her big strong  parent, fumbling with this heavy-as-hell-is contraption That sputters, and whirs, and kicks back But like some superhero you...start to shove it along, and conquer the beast And it sprays curiously alluring smog, that like a well behaved child, she knows not to breathe in, Knows not to touch because she's not old enough Or strong enough to pull that chord to trigger the bells and whistles That she, nor i, nor probably you understands. But i digress... So here you are, with your child on the stoop, taking might i add some Fine, stable footage you should really enroll her in some classes, And you traveling around your suburban front yard, chasing away a squirrel with the lawnmower, harmlessly of course And laughing with your daughter Talking to your neighbors over the roaring engine, Emptying the bag of fresh cut grass into the bin... And that's where the battery died No! Don't leave yet I want you to watch again, listen again Here... Listen closely... Did you hear the grass screaming of their judgement day, beneath the lovers kissing each other goodbye, wrapped around each other, as we hold hands, still entangled in  the mass graves you made for them Beneath the ants cowering in their homes, begging their laborers to come back inside before they are noticed, before they are eviscerated and the foreman is forced to pay settlements Beneath the subtle sound of your daughter breathing deeply of the sweet smelling gas that you told her to stay away from, that we learned to be repulsed by, that she has been told to be repulsed by Beneath the... Here, i'll rewind again Here You see the label on the lawnmower? That manufacturer? That bar code? That order number? That factory? That steel purchase? That mine? Did you hear the songs of the forced laborers there, the modern slaves that bear striking resemblance to the songs you learned in high school history class, except softer, pushed under the magazines Beneath the squirrel complaining to the squirrel police about dangerous and disrespectful conduct it's neighbors have been performing when he comes to say hello and finally meet someone in the neighborhood, that he's lived so long in, just to be told it's not "Illegal," Beneath the slightly offensive joke you made towards your black neighbor, who missed the punchline over the roar of the engine, when you asked him why he was so light skinned, and whether that was a "slavery thing," Beneath your child hearing everything You didn't yet... You made that happen, didn't you? This isn't me judging your character I don't blame you "O' causer of destruction" You were not given the tools i was given And similarly i... was not given the tools you were given You were given a lawnmower, and a camera A beautiful daughter, a home, a job Gas! The ability to live where you want! I...well... i was given the opportunity to talk to the grass... And well... In 1994, that same year, in Rwanda an atrocity was committed, a genocide. And the characteristic machetes used to massacre the Tutsi people Contained the same steel blend, from the same producer As the blades in many lawnmowers at the time. This isn't a conviction I did this because i wanted you to know and be okay with being complicit because you exist a certain way Innocent because you never knew, and couldn't have known Because we love you Because we need you Because we need you to know now
0
Dec 23, 2014
Dec 23, 2014 at 4:43 PM UTC
To those who don't believe me when i say you are both complicit and innocent, yet we still love you
Here I made a video right here to help you understand Well i mean, you technically made the video... I just uh... Borrowed it? I can see that you're...mad But you know now right? Please Sit back down, you can wag your finger after This is important This is a video your child took of you mowing the lawn in 1994 Her big strong  parent, fumbling with this heavy-as-hell-is contraption That sputters, and whirs, and kicks back But like some superhero you...start to shove it along, and conquer the beast And it sprays curiously alluring smog, that like a well behaved child, she knows not to breathe in, Knows not to touch because she's not old enough Or strong enough to pull that chord to trigger the bells and whistles That she, nor i, nor probably you understands. But i digress... So here you are, with your child on the stoop, taking might i add some Fine, stable footage you should really enroll her in some classes, And you traveling around your suburban front yard, chasing away a squirrel with the lawnmower, harmlessly of course And laughing with your daughter Talking to your neighbors over the roaring engine, Emptying the bag of fresh cut grass into the bin... And that's where the battery died No! Don't leave yet I want you to watch again, listen again Here... Listen closely... Did you hear the grass screaming of their judgement day, beneath the lovers kissing each other goodbye, wrapped around each other, as we hold hands, still entangled in  the mass graves you made for them Beneath the ants cowering in their homes, begging their laborers to come back inside before they are noticed, before they are eviscerated and the foreman is forced to pay settlements Beneath the subtle sound of your daughter breathing deeply of the sweet smelling gas that you told her to stay away from, that we learned to be repulsed by, that she has been told to be repulsed by Beneath the... Here, i'll rewind again Here You see the label on the lawnmower? That manufacturer? That bar code? That order number? That factory? That steel purchase? That mine? Did you hear the songs of the forced laborers there, the modern slaves that bear striking resemblance to the songs you learned in high school history class, except softer, pushed under the magazines Beneath the squirrel complaining to the squirrel police about dangerous and disrespectful conduct it's neighbors have been performing when he comes to say hello and finally meet someone in the neighborhood, that he's lived so long in, just to be told it's not "Illegal," Beneath the slightly offensive joke you made towards your black neighbor, who missed the punchline over the roar of the engine, when you asked him why he was so light skinned, and whether that was a "slavery thing," Beneath your child hearing everything You didn't yet... You made that happen, didn't you? This isn't me judging your character I don't blame you "O' causer of destruction" You were not given the tools i was given And similarly i... was not given the tools you were given You were given a lawnmower, and a camera A beautiful daughter, a home, a job Gas! The ability to live where you want! I...well... i was given the opportunity to talk to the grass... And well... In 1994, that same year, in Rwanda an atrocity was committed, a genocide. And the characteristic machetes used to massacre the Tutsi people Contained the same steel blend, from the same producer As the blades in many lawnmowers at the time. This isn't a conviction I did this because i wanted you to know and be okay with being complicit because you exist a certain way Innocent because you never knew, and couldn't have known Because we love you Because we need you Because we need you to know now
josh-koepp
Written by
josh-koepp
American
Dec 23, 2014
Dec 23, 2014 at 4:43 PM UTC
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