THE EDITOR, Sir,
If We Must Die If we must die, let it not be like hogs,
Haunted and penned in an inglorious spot
While round about us bark the mad and hungry dogs
Making their mock at our accursed lot.
If we must die, Oh let us nobly die
That our precious blood may not be shed in vain
Then even the monsters we defy may be constrained to honour us
Though dead. Oh kinsmen, let us meet the common foe
Though far outnumbered, let us show us brave
And for their thousand blows deal one deathblow
What though before us lies the open grave?
Like men, let us face the murderous, cowardly pack
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!
- Claude McKay
Over the past few days, we have witnessed here on our beloved land some ghastly and cowardly killings. Jamaicans who committed no crime against society were brutally slain, raped and abused by mad and hungry dogs.
How long will we allow ourselves to be victimised by these monsters, how long will we allow the few to oppress the many, when will we find the courage to strike back?
My fellow Jamaicans, if we must die, let us do so nobly, do not give these cursed lot that prey on our women, children and men folk the pleasure of seeing us grovel. If we must die, let it be on our terms, on grounds chosen by us, not in their torture chambers, their pits, their dungeons. "Like men, let us face the murderous, cowardly pack
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back"
I am, etc.,
FITZROY A. GREGORY
PO Box 180
Kingston 5
kidwani@yahoo.com
Via Go-Jamaica
