Let America be America Again

Hola mi gente,
I literally have no words on the state-sanctioned murder of black and brown people. I feel only rage. So I lend my little platform to another, far more eloquent, voice.

Let America Be America Again

-- 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!

* * *

My name is Eddie and I’m in recovery from civilization…

A Crumb...

Hola mi Gente,

As many of you know, thousands of protestors composed of a coalition of Black Lives Matter activists and some allies (including MoveOn) put a stop to a planned Chicago Klan fest/ Trump rally. I don’t want to say too much, but organized efforts have been under way for some time with groups around the nation coordinating Trump protests. This is not going to be the last one. I won’t say more…

One more thing: Trump’s campaign illustrates clearly the historical fact that in the U.S., racism and conservatism are the same. An essential read if you want clarity on this issue is Robert C. Smith’s Conservatism and Racism, and Why in America They Are the Same (here). He argues that in American politics, conservatism and racism are the same and always have been. He says that it’s, “… not that conservatives in general are racist, but that the application of pure conservative principles has the same effect as racism.” It’s provocative reading. After reading this, you will never look at a conservative talking point the same way.

* * *

Luck

On the subway… so many things happen, there’s so much to take in. One of the hidden joys of the subway is the Poetry in Motion series. It’s a series of posters highlighting the poetry of some of America’s great and some not so well-known poets. On any given day, you could find yourself packed shoulder-to-shoulder on a train and you lift your eyes and you’re blessed by line or two of sublime beauty. The following is one of my favorite Langston Hughes poems. I saw it once after a particularly hard day and it brought a smile to my lips…

Sometimes a crumb falls
From the tables of joy,
Sometimes a bone
Is flung.

To some people
Love is given,
To others
Only heaven. 

-- Langston Hughes (1902-1967)

From The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes

* * *

My name is Eddie and I’m in recovery from civilization… 

A Crumb...

¡Hola! Everybody… Has anyone else noticed that the more Obama pulls away from McCain the more the media spin on the election changes? For example, I noticed an increased coverage of McCain under the guise of “What should McCain do to close the gap?” kinda/ sorta spin.

Also, why was it that it was left up to David Letterman to draw a parallel between McCain's scurrilous attacks regarding the “association” between Obama/ Ayres and McCain’s own longstanding friendship with convicted felon and very likely treasonous Gordon Liddy?

Liddy, you may not know, was part of the Reagan crew that created a shadow government for the sole purpose of bypassing our constitution and laws. I believe it’s omissions like this that force the vast majority of Americans to distrust the corporate-owned media.

BTW, you notice how the McCain campaign goes from smear to smear and never touts its own policies? That’s because his economic policy is to do more of the same -- give all the tax breaks to the richest 1%.

* * *

-=[ Luck ]=-

On the subway… so many things happen, there’s so much to take in. One of the hidden joys of the subway is the Poetry in Motion series. It’s a series of posters highlighting the poetry of some of America’s great and some not so well-known poets. One day, you’ll find yourself packed into a subway, lift your eyes and you’re blessed by line or two of sublime beauty. The following is one of my favorite Langston Hughes poems. I saw it once after a particularly hard day and it brought a smile to my lips…

Sometimes a crumb falls
From the tables of joy,
Sometimes a bone
Is flung.

To some people
Love is given,
To others
Only heaven.

-- Langston Hughes (1902-1967)

From The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes