and you can't grow up there without having been raised thinking that Gwendolyn Brooks was one of the best poets in the world. And knowing that Barack Obama was going to be president 12 years ago. :)
In the spirit of our fabulous new day, the dawn of this new time, I want to share my favorite Gwendolyn Brooks poem with you.
Speech to the Young : Speech to the Progress-Toward
Say to them,
say to the down-keepers,
the sun-slappers,
the self-soilers,
the harmony-hushers,
"even if you are not ready for day
it cannot always be night."
You will be right.
For that is the hard home-run.
Live not for battles won.
Live not for the-end-of-the-song.
Live in the along.
We can't stop now. Let's keep living in the along and making our country a more perfect union.
(i also want to relate another little story. I am Jamaican-American and live in New York City. My four year old nephew, James, came home from school today and said to my sister "I am going to be president." She told me that on the phone, as my plane taking me back from Ohio after a week being a voter protection team volunteer came to an end, and I burst into tears for the 1,203,305,456 millionth time since last night. For the first time, I realized that my sister, and black parents all around the country can now finally say, "yes, you will" and for the first time ever they won't be lying.)