Motley Moose – Archive

I originally posted this diary on Nov. 5th. It is even more appropriate for today so I decided to repost it on the front page.

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This electoral race has never really been about race to me. There are reasons to support Obama other than wishing to see an African-American in the White House. However, I’ve also been aware of how historic an Obama victory would be for this country. With that thought in mind, here is a verse from one poem and another full poem written by Langston Hughes, another half-white/half-black American, that I thought were especially suited to this day’s historical events.

The last verse of Langston Hughes poem “Let America be America Again”

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!

and this poem by Hughes is particularly relevant.

I, Too, Sing America    

by Langston Hughes

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.

They send me to eat in the kitchen

When company comes,

But I laugh,

And eat well,

And grow strong.

Tomorrow,

I’ll be at the table

When company comes.

Nobody’ll dare

Say to me,

“Eat in the kitchen,”

Then.

Besides,

They’ll see how beautiful I am

And be ashamed–

I, too, am America.