by Ernie McCray
Amanda Gorman
gifted us with
“The Hill We Climb”
at an
inaugural celebration,
a poem inspiring hope
which hangs on weakly
by a thread
in our nation,
a poem a parent had
removed from a school
because in her narrowed way
of looking at things
she saw it as
hateful, un-educational,
confusing, and indoctrinating
which makes me inclined
to opine
that this woman
hasn’t read a line
of Amanda’s poetry
that, ever so eloquently,
asks us
to leave behind
all that restricted us from getting along
in our dark past
when it comes to culture
and race
and ethnicity,
and shine a bright light on a path
leading to societal changes
where we utilize
our diversity
to somehow find a way
to live harmoniously,
peacefully,
but of course, though,
in the process
we have to deal
with people like the woman
who got a remarkable piece of art
taken away,
fear-ridden folks
whose knees shake
every time
their mind wanders
to the very thought
that their children
might be exposed to learning
that could inspire them
and future generations
to make our country
live up to what it can be:
one
where the citizens
are accepting and respectful
of what everyone brings
to the table
that can assist us
as we build
a more
loving and caring
society.
Ms. Gorman
made it perfectly clear
that it’s a human environment
such as this
that she’s seeking
for us.
Making it happen
is up to us.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Ernie, this is Fascism. The US kind but it’s following a historical precedent.
Who were the first people to be persecuted in Nazi Germany? The non-hetrosexual population that led to the first book bans then to pyres of burning books.
Long before any other group like the gypsy culture or the mentally/physically damaged, union members, newspaper reporters & editors, teachers and profs, Jews etc etc. they went after this demographic. Years before Kristallnacht that happened in 1938. It was an easy target to get the public all riled up about. Worked, too, didn’t it?
We hear a lot about the 6 million dead Jews in the gas chambers and almost nothing about the 6 million non-Jews that were also murdered. Then there work the work camps…
At the moment, this country is experiencing the US/Republican modern version of Kristallnacht. Of course these same mentalities were burning rock & roll records when I was a teen in the 1960s…so I guess it has always been going on. It will get worse I’m sorry to expect.
___
Anybody else read about the Bible being banned in a school district in Utah because parents were fed up and retaliated over what was already being pulled from classrooms and library shelves? They were able to prove their case by its own words…
There should be NO book bans allow. Period. What, these cognitively-challenged, book burning, incompetent parents cannot control their own children well enough to instruct them to just NOT READ THEM? The kids won’t obey? Obviously they are terrible parents!
I’m not sure if this is a snark or not.
sealintheSelkirks
A friend reminded me today that it’s called, “Put something back in the pot.”
Keep shining a BRIGHT LIGHT on humanity.