Love Letter to Lani (Guinier)

Dear Lani,

You believed in me way back

Back when I didn’t see
Myself the way you did
Sure I knew I wasn’t stupid
But I didn’t see what you did

I mean who did?
Mama and next of kin
But to you I was the new kid
The future was far from lucid

You helped me find my way
How was you the same age
When we met back in the day
as I am today?

No clue how you
Would show and prove
Lame zero sum games
Played just for us to lose

Didn’t know the half
Hadn’t done the math
You gave me the game
From your magical laugh

To critical race gender class
Between Hauser Hall and
Temple Bar, nobody was
more beloved on the yard

Than Lani
Namesake of royalty
Champion of democracy
Radical as we need to be

Taking on the old boys
Fearlessly so peerlessly
Born with an extra eye open
Informing us of what you see

Imagining possibilities
Beyond the fall of tyranny
Laws that won’t set us free
You even gave Theater to me

I represent Brooklyn
You raised hell in Queens
Showed me so many things
Ain’t always what they seem

Helped build a movement
in penitentiaries worldwide
To provide a path to guide
Untold stories of humanity

The one and only LG
Leader and G.O.A.T.
LG – Lover of Growth
LG – Lion of a Generation

Warrior of Hope
Defender of the Vote
Protector of us cuffed in
America’s unjust chokehold

The stories you told
Of canaries in old mines
Helped our minds unfold
To sing your song on and on

Until Mother Earth yawns
Her last dawn and the sun
You made shine brighter
On us all burns cold

Rest in Peace and Power!

-bryonn

#LaniGuinier
#BlackHistoryMatters
#BlackLivesMatter

Written by Bryonn Bain @bryonn_bain