Last weekend, I watched a few C-SPAN programs focused on two of my favorite wordsmiths, Harlem Renaissance icons Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston. In one segment, one of the experts read his 1949 poem, “Democracy” and I was struck by how powerful and applicable it is today. It touched something deep inside me as does his “I, Too, Sing America.” And Paul Lawrence Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask” is also thought-provoking. What does it means to be black and American? And how one can love their heritage and their country – even die for it, remember Crispus Attucks, the Buffalo Soldiers, Tuskegee Airmen and Iraq War vets?- yet encounter hurdles that challenge their patriotism, intelligence and humanity.
Democracy will not come
Today, this year
Nor ever
Through compromise and fear.
I have as much right
As the other fellow has
To stand
On my two feet
And own the land.
I tire so of hearing people say,
Let things take their course.
Tomorrow is another day.
I do not need my freedom when I’m dead.
I cannot live on tomorrow’s bread.
Freedom
Is a strong seed
Planted
In a great need.
I live here, too.
I want freedom
Just as you.
Made with Wordle based on keywords posted at http://usaservice.org/blog
