In the stanza about Emma Goldman the word read is pronounced in the past tense (phonetically red), this is meant to be a play on words but I worry it may not read well.
Red and Black
Red is the color of passion.
The kind of passion that spills onto the streets,
In a paroxysm of rage or a gush of blood,
The parting kiss of a billy club.
Black is no color, it is a shade.
We cloak ourselves in its cool shadows,
Covering swaddled black-blocked masses,
We stand united against the police state.
Read is what we have done to Emma Goldman,
To Marx, Kropotkin, and scores more.
Read is what they did not do to our letters and pamphlets,
Detached in towers of gilded ivory.
Black is what they will do to the images they dislike,
To the actions, thoughts and people too.
Black is what we cannot let happen to our memories,
They must be held for their crimes against life.
Red is the color of love.
The love for all beings united in struggle,
Even those not deserving of love.
We all suffer, we all face hardships.
Black is the refreshing shade of a desert oasis.
Sheltering all those who don its penumbral armor.
Even cops who dispense billy club kisses,
Stand strong in dark sunglasses, in funereal black.
Red and black are the color guard and shaded cloak of our people,
Find them wherever there is tyranny and rally to them.
Well Suited For Life 