These are not my words. These are the words of the Great American Poet, Langston Hughes. Any relation to the trial now before the Senate is, however, not purely coincidental.
Let me back up a minute. This is Black History Month. Every month we should be raising our awareness of the contributions of African-Americans to our history; as Barack Obama once said, “African-American history is not somehow separate from our larger American story ... it is central to the American story.” And so it is.
Last night I met with my Spanish-language book club (Club del libro), and Amanda Gorman’s iconic inaugural poem came up, The Hill We Climb. The topic of our meeting was a “reading that has changed your life”. I didn’t bring up Gorman’s poem, it was a friend from Spain. (My own contributions were The Autobiography of Malcolm X, co-authored by the eloquent Alex Haley, and The Dispossessed by the great Ursula LeGuin.) This Book Club focuses primarily on Spanish language literature, though of course other stuff comes up; it’s notable that 2 of us chose African-American writers.
In the context of The Hill We Climb, I mentioned Langston Hughes. I felt that Ms. Gorman was influenced by him, and according to this article, I was right. None of my club-mates had heard of him, which is a shame but seems understandable since I am the only American in the group (the others are all Latinx, plus 1 Spaniard and 1 Kiwi. For the record, this is all happening mask-free in Aotearoa/New Zealand.) That’s ok, the whole point of the discussions is to learn from each other.
So I came home and looked up Langston Hughes in es.wikipedia. The man was highly educated and traveled in Mexico and had extensive connections to the Spanish-speaking world. Perhaps his most notable poem in this context is Song of Spain (link to the full poem). The relevant quote from that poem reads:
Workers make no bombs again …
Lest some Franco steal into our backyard
Under the guise of a patriot
Waving a flag and mouthing rot
And dropping bombs from a Christian steeple
On the people.
Was Mr. Hughes prophetic? Or is it simply a matter of history repeating itself? Certainly, trump’s fascist troops spout a similar “christian” rhetoric to Franco’s.
The trial happening in the Senate this week, despite GQP denials (or because of them), is historic in importance. The terrorist attack on the Nation’s Capitol, orchestrated by trump and his lackeys, was unprecedented and must not be glossed over.
And as we are watching that — for those who are; I content myself with written synopses — we must also keep in mind the importance of our compatriots who have stood for the greater good. People like policeman Eugene Goodman. Like John Lewis and Cori Bush. And our artists, writers, and poets.
This week, you may consider taking a break from the proceedings and reading a poem by Langston Hughes. Or by Amanda Gorman. Or something by Malcolm or by Alex Haley, and so many others. Their contributions are essential to our identity as a People.
Please share a favorite relevant writer or literary piece in the comments below.