Call off the dogs, the lynched man must speak. He hangs from the highest branch of the brightest tree, so when he speaks the sound of his voice is booming. Once upon a time, on this planet, a man swung back and forth in a pair of soiled underwear. His tongue was long, and he said:
“People are mysterious to each other. I am that mystery. What is uglier than me? I am the martyr for their hatreds, their evils. They want me to be their voice. That is what they want. But I won’t let them take that from me too. I will resist, because I am a superhero. I may have been made into the ugliest thing in the universe but at least I will speak on my own behalf and say: ‘This Happened.’ I, the lynched man, exist and this is true for all time, everywhere. I do not go away because you want me to. Hey, down on the ground, remember my body. See the color of my skin, it screams for you. Touch my hair, my clothes, my stiff hands - they cry out to you. They all ask for your anger. Look closely at my bruised body, because it needs you to remember.”
