Support the book:https://www.byline.com/project/83 'A Virtue of Disobedience' by Suhaiymah Manzoor-KhanWe are the disobedientlook upon us and despairfor we outlast history, time and memorywe are always there.We are the unquenchable thirst for justicethe bodies that do not bendtongues you cannot straightjacketand eyes that will not be turned blind.We are the step you trip on in the nightthe nightmare you wake from but cannot recallthe lump under the rolling hill that reminds you what is buried there.We are the disobedient.We bear witness and we testify.We love despite the lie that we are not worthyWe hold despite being told we should hide.Yes; we are the disobedientwho refuse to die for bodies without eulogieswill never remain in their graves we are the ghosts of the unmournedand the spirit of the never grieved.We are the original traitors to the tireless tyrantWe are MohammedWe are MalcolmWe are Moses and AssataWe are Toussaint and BhashaniWe are Rosa and RabbaniWe are the disobedient.Truth speakers with tongues of fireKnowledge seekers who provoke your ireMouths always moist from sincere prayer.We are hearts beating for the truthnot like fluttering birds in cagesbut like the earth in her final convulsionslike mountains when they scatter to dustWe dismantle, uproot, expose.We are the disobedientand we have come not to claim what is yoursbut what is and always was ours: our humanity.But no – not claimfor it was always with usand our announcement of that is the blasphemy you burn us for.But there’s a reason you mustn’t play with firebecause flames are not bound by only your aimsif you burn our bodies in the morningthe fire will be licking your heels that night.Do you feel secure then?When we are bound not by law but justice?Loyal not to pen marks on paper but truth?We are unconquerable and unmanageablebecause you can take what you wantif all you want is to take.We are your greatest fear: fearlessloyal not even to life.There is no bargain to be made thenfor disruption is our only securityin a world which says that security is ensured only through our repression- what basis has such authority to be obeyed?No; we are the disobedientwho refuse to know our placeundivided, low, and mighty we are a Wea unity, a community, a principle above place.We are the disobedient.We declare the emperor nakedand don’t kneel before the queenwe smash the idolsconfront the Pharaohupend the fabric of the worldwe will not sell our souls for hallowed hallswe cannot be unmoved. We are the disobedientwe exceed the boundariesoverspill and overspeak.We are unboxed, unharnessed, unfathomableunpalatableuncompromising.Oh Ozymandiases of the worlddo you really think yourselves kings of kings?How quickly you forget.Nothing outlasts the fading of the day but the light of truth itself?