To my aunt Consuelo, thank you for passing on your love, knowledge, and inspiration. Langston Hughes, 1902 - 1967 Let America be America Again, 1936. In solidarity with the @brooklynmuseum 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 dreamedâ 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. (Thereâs never been equality for me, Nor freedom in this âhomeland of the free.â) 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 slaveryâs scars. I am the red man driven from the land, I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seekâ 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 oneâs 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, meanâ Hungry yet today despite the dream. Beaten yet todayâO, Pioneers! I am the man who never got ahead, The poorest worker bartered through the years. Yet Iâm 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 Thatâs made America the land it has become. O, Iâm the man who sailed those early seas In search of what I meant to be my homeâ For Iâm the one who left dark Irelandâs shore, And Polandâs plain, and Englandâs grassy @rjkhckly âš
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