Hi. This poem was published in 1938 in the midst of our last great
depression, but also at the rise of the labor movement, the WPA and
other hopeful mass movements. These all bear on the poem's tenor,
and different as they are, its relevance to our own time.
Thank you, David. And thanks to Jerry for yesterday's musical gift. -Ed
----- Original Message -----
From: David Fertig
Sent: Saturday, July 04, 2009 10:09 AM
Subject: Let America be America Again
| Langston Hughes' poem is still as relevant as ever (this poem was attached to the end of a personal essay by my brother Jack here: http://www.starjack.com/t/usa.html) Please read this poem today, in honor of those who's lives have been given and taken for the dreams espoused in the founding and maintenance of the United States of America. And for which we "Americans" are responsible: Let America be America again by Langston Hughes Let America be America again. Let it be the dream it used to be. Let it be the pioneer on the plain Seeking a home where he himself is free. (America never was America to me.) Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed-- Let it be that great strong land of love Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme That any man be crushed by one above. (It never was America to me.) O, let my land be a land where Liberty Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath, But opportunity is real, and life is free, Equality is in the air we breathe. (There's never been equality for me, Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.") Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark? And who are you that draws your veil across the stars? I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart, I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars. I am the red man driven from the land, I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek-- And finding only the same old stupid plan Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak. I am the young man, full of strength and hope, Tangled in that ancient endless chain Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land! Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need! Of work the men! Of take the pay! Of owning everything for one's own greed! I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil. I am the worker sold to the machine. I am the Negro, servant to you all. I am the people, humble, hungry, mean-- Hungry yet today despite the dream. Beaten yet today--O, Pioneers! I am the man who never got ahead, The poorest worker bartered through the years. Yet I'm the one who dreamt our basic dream In the Old World while still a serf of kings, Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true, That even yet its mighty daring sings In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned That's made America the land it has become. O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas In search of what I meant to be my home-- For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore, And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea, And torn from Black Africa's strand I came To build a "homeland of the free." The free? Who said the free? Not me? Surely not me? The millions on relief today? The millions shot down when we strike? The millions who have nothing for our pay? For all the dreams we've dreamed And all the songs we've sung And all the hopes we've held And all the flags we've hung, The millions who have nothing for our pay-- Except the dream that's almost dead today. O, let America be America again-- The land that never has been yet-- And yet must be--the land where every man is free. The land that's mine--the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME-- Who made America, Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain, Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain, Must bring back our mighty dream again. Sure, call me any ugly name you choose-- The steel of freedom does not stain. From those who live like leeches on the people's lives, We must take back our land again, America! O, yes, I say it plain, America never was America to me, And yet I swear this oath-- America will be! Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death, The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies, We, the people, must redeem The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers. The mountains and the endless plain-- All, all the stretch of these great green states-- And make America again! ### |
Hi. I post this to help open up an incredibly important area, not to make
judgement. I intend checking with an authority, my 12 yr. old well-read
granddaughter, for comment. Feel free to do the same. -Ed
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/05/opinion/05kristof.html?th&emc=th
The Best Kids' Books Ever
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: July 4, 2009
judgement. I intend checking with an authority, my 12 yr. old well-read
granddaughter, for comment. Feel free to do the same. -Ed
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/05/opinion/05kristof.html?th&emc=th
The Best Kids' Books Ever
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: July 4, 2009
So how will your kids spend this summer? Building sand castles at the beach?
Swimming at summer camp? Shedding I.Q. points?
In educating myself this spring about education, I was aghast to learn that
American children drop in I.Q. each summer vacation - because they aren't in
school or exercising their brains.
This is less true of middle-class students whose parents drag them off to
summer classes or make them read books. But poor kids fall two months behind
in reading level each summer break, and that accounts for much of the
difference in learning trajectory between rich and poor students.
A mountain of research points to a central lesson: Pry your kids away from
the keyboard and the television this summer, and get them reading. Let me
help by offering my list of the Best Children's Books - Ever!
So here they are, in ascending order of difficulty, and I can vouch that
these are also great to read aloud.
1. "Charlotte's Web." The story of the spider who saves her friend, the pig,
is the kindest representation of an arthropod in literary history.
2. The Hardy Boys series. Yes, I hear the snickers. But I devoured them
myself and have known so many kids for whom these were the books that got
them excited about reading. The first in the series is weak, but "House on
the Cliff" is a good opener. (As for Nancy Drew, I yawned over her, but she
seems to turn girls into Supreme Court justices. Among her fans as kids were
Sandra Day O'Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor.)
3. "Wind in the Willows." My mother read this 101-year-old English classic
to me, and I'm still in love with the characters. Most memorable of all is
Toad - rich, vain, childish and prone to wrecking cars.
4. The Freddy the Pig series. Published between 1927 and 1958, these 26
books are funny, beautifully written gems. They concern a talking pig,
Freddy, who is lazy, messy and sometimes fearful, yet a loyal friend, a
first-rate detective and an impressive poet. These were my very favorite
books when I was in elementary school. A good one to start with is "Freddy
the Detective" or "Freddy Plays Football." (Avoid the first and weakest,
"Freddy Goes to Florida.")
5. The Alex Rider series. These are modern British spy thrillers in which
things keep exploding in a very satisfying way. Alex amounts to a teenage
James Bond for the 21st century.
6. The Harry Potter series. Look, the chance to read these books aloud is by
itself a great reason to have kids.
7. "Gentle Ben." The coming-of-age story of a sickly, introspective Alaskan
boy who makes friends with an Alaskan brown bear, to the horror of his
tough, domineering father.
8. "Anne of Green Gables." At a time when young ladies were supposed to be
demure and decorative, Anne emerged to become one of the strongest and most
memorable girls in literature.
9. "The Dog Who Wouldn't Be." This is a hilarious, poignant and
exceptionally well-written memoir of childhood on the Canadian prairies.
(Note, if you prefer sweet to funny, try "Rascal" instead.)
10. "Little Lord Fauntleroy." This classic spawned the Fauntleroy suit and
named a duck (Donald Duck's middle name is Fauntleroy). An American boy from
a struggling family turns out to be heir to an irritable and fabulously
wealthy old English lord, whom the boy proceeds to tame and civilize.
11. "On to Oregon." This outdoor saga, written almost 90 years ago, is
loosely based on the true story of the Sager family journeying by covered
wagon in 1848, in the early days of the Oregon Trail. The parents die on
route, and the seven children - the youngest just an infant - continue on
their own. They are led by 13-year-old John: spoiled, surly, often mean, yet
determined and even heroic in keeping his siblings alive.
12. "The Prince and the Pauper." Most kids encounter Mark Twain through "Tom
Sawyer," but this work is at least as funny and offers unforgettable images
of English history.
13. "Lad, a Dog" is simply the best book ever about a pet, a collie. This is
to "Lassie" what Shakespeare is to CliffsNotes. The book was published 90
years ago, and readers are still visiting Lad's real grave in New Jersey -
plus, this is a book so full of SAT words it could put Stanley Kaplan out of
business.
You can post your own suggestions for best children's books on my blog,
www.nytimes.com/ontheground. My own kids have the temerity to think they
know better than I which books they've enjoyed, so I've deigned to post
their recommendations there. But listening to one's children is dangerous: I
advocate reading to them instead.
I invite you to comment on this column on my blog, On the Ground. Please
also join me on Facebook, watch my YouTube videos and follow me on Twitter.
Swimming at summer camp? Shedding I.Q. points?
In educating myself this spring about education, I was aghast to learn that
American children drop in I.Q. each summer vacation - because they aren't in
school or exercising their brains.
This is less true of middle-class students whose parents drag them off to
summer classes or make them read books. But poor kids fall two months behind
in reading level each summer break, and that accounts for much of the
difference in learning trajectory between rich and poor students.
A mountain of research points to a central lesson: Pry your kids away from
the keyboard and the television this summer, and get them reading. Let me
help by offering my list of the Best Children's Books - Ever!
So here they are, in ascending order of difficulty, and I can vouch that
these are also great to read aloud.
1. "Charlotte's Web." The story of the spider who saves her friend, the pig,
is the kindest representation of an arthropod in literary history.
2. The Hardy Boys series. Yes, I hear the snickers. But I devoured them
myself and have known so many kids for whom these were the books that got
them excited about reading. The first in the series is weak, but "House on
the Cliff" is a good opener. (As for Nancy Drew, I yawned over her, but she
seems to turn girls into Supreme Court justices. Among her fans as kids were
Sandra Day O'Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor.)
3. "Wind in the Willows." My mother read this 101-year-old English classic
to me, and I'm still in love with the characters. Most memorable of all is
Toad - rich, vain, childish and prone to wrecking cars.
4. The Freddy the Pig series. Published between 1927 and 1958, these 26
books are funny, beautifully written gems. They concern a talking pig,
Freddy, who is lazy, messy and sometimes fearful, yet a loyal friend, a
first-rate detective and an impressive poet. These were my very favorite
books when I was in elementary school. A good one to start with is "Freddy
the Detective" or "Freddy Plays Football." (Avoid the first and weakest,
"Freddy Goes to Florida.")
5. The Alex Rider series. These are modern British spy thrillers in which
things keep exploding in a very satisfying way. Alex amounts to a teenage
James Bond for the 21st century.
6. The Harry Potter series. Look, the chance to read these books aloud is by
itself a great reason to have kids.
7. "Gentle Ben." The coming-of-age story of a sickly, introspective Alaskan
boy who makes friends with an Alaskan brown bear, to the horror of his
tough, domineering father.
8. "Anne of Green Gables." At a time when young ladies were supposed to be
demure and decorative, Anne emerged to become one of the strongest and most
memorable girls in literature.
9. "The Dog Who Wouldn't Be." This is a hilarious, poignant and
exceptionally well-written memoir of childhood on the Canadian prairies.
(Note, if you prefer sweet to funny, try "Rascal" instead.)
10. "Little Lord Fauntleroy." This classic spawned the Fauntleroy suit and
named a duck (Donald Duck's middle name is Fauntleroy). An American boy from
a struggling family turns out to be heir to an irritable and fabulously
wealthy old English lord, whom the boy proceeds to tame and civilize.
11. "On to Oregon." This outdoor saga, written almost 90 years ago, is
loosely based on the true story of the Sager family journeying by covered
wagon in 1848, in the early days of the Oregon Trail. The parents die on
route, and the seven children - the youngest just an infant - continue on
their own. They are led by 13-year-old John: spoiled, surly, often mean, yet
determined and even heroic in keeping his siblings alive.
12. "The Prince and the Pauper." Most kids encounter Mark Twain through "Tom
Sawyer," but this work is at least as funny and offers unforgettable images
of English history.
13. "Lad, a Dog" is simply the best book ever about a pet, a collie. This is
to "Lassie" what Shakespeare is to CliffsNotes. The book was published 90
years ago, and readers are still visiting Lad's real grave in New Jersey -
plus, this is a book so full of SAT words it could put Stanley Kaplan out of
business.
You can post your own suggestions for best children's books on my blog,
www.nytimes.com/ontheground. My own kids have the temerity to think they
know better than I which books they've enjoyed, so I've deigned to post
their recommendations there. But listening to one's children is dangerous: I
advocate reading to them instead.
I invite you to comment on this column on my blog, On the Ground. Please
also join me on Facebook, watch my YouTube videos and follow me on Twitter.
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