Langston Hughes:
Negro (1958)
I am a Negro:
Black as the night is black,
Black like the depths of my Africa.
I’ve been a slave:
Caesar told me to keep his door-steps clean.
I brushed the boots of Washington.
I’ve been a worker:
Under my hand the pyramids arose.
I made mortar for the Woolworth Building
I’ve been a singer:
All the way from Africa to Georgia
I carried my sorrow songs.
I made ragtime.
I’ve been a victim:
The Belgians cut off my hand in the Congo.
They lynch me still in Mississippi
I am a Negro:
Black as the night is black,
Black like the depths of my Africa.
Chris
This is pretty messed up:
(New York Times)…when Americans receive their census forms this year, the category for race will include Negro as one of the options. So why, in 2010, is Negro still on the census?
“The intent was not to offend,” said Robert Groves, the director of the United States Census Bureau. “The intent was to make sure that everybody could find themselves with the words there and check the box that fits.”
In an interview, Mr. Groves explained that a research study found many older African-Americans who still referred to themselves as Negroes. In the 2000 census, he said, about 50,000 additional people wrote in the word Negro in a line that asked people how they wished to be identified. Half of those, he said, were 45 years old or younger.
“This was a surprise,” Mr. Groves said. “No one expected this.”
Boston based shows/fests – DIY, punk, noise
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 