Resilient. Unshakeable. Solid. Timeless.

 We had to be. We always have been. We’ve ran from persecution over and again. We left our homes and ventured to new horizons to escape injustice. And we didn’t run far enough. The new world we so wanted to accept us and hold us close, turned it’s nose up again and tried to shred those dreams. We sought shelter again. In the hollers and ridgelines that reminded us of comfort, safety, and home. We sought refuge from civilization. And it came for us again. It stomped us under it’s feet while promising riches and dreams. And then burnt those promises and our families while we were yoked and brought to our knees. 

Unfaltering. Constant. Staunch. Faithful.

 The wounds we've earned run deep. Wounds that generations have carried heavily alongside their own. The world looks on at the atrocities like they were dark, ancient history. Time viewed through greased glass will always blur. Those horrors are fresh though. Our grandparents and parents lived them. We're on a first name basis with our monsters. We've been introduced and they sit at our family tables with us. 

Strong. Capable. Determined. Steady.

 Through the mocking. Through the ridicule. Listening to the contempt for the lives we’ve worked so hard to create. Scorned for being too simple. Disregarded for being too dumb to know better. Ignored for being unambitious. What choice did we have? We learned that there’s nowhere else to run. So here we stand. Where our families stood. And here we endure. Like the mountains that embrace us as their own.