I, Too, Sing America

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.

The Fourth of July is a holiday when I struggle. I love the opportunity to spend time with friends and family, but the truth of being Black in America has its challenges. It feels hypocritical. “I, Too, Sing America” is a poem by Langston Hughes that shared the discriminating treatment received by the “darker brother.” This poem was written in 1926. Yet, the words still ring so true. The great contradiction still rings true to me as it did in 1926. The recent Supreme Court decision regarding impacting race. I have traveled abroad and appreciate the life that living in America has afforded me.

Yet, we are mindful of the challenge that we experience celebrating the birth of a country that has enslaved, devalued, and oppressed us and now with the recent Supreme Court rulings, denied that it has had an impact. This follows the celebration of Juneteenth when we celebrate the delayed but not denied emancipation. The continued efforts to oppress Black people should not be surprising. Frederick Douglass stated in 1857, “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will!”

Read the full post on the Washington Informer site here.