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NAACP newsletters, Fort Madison Branch, 1967-1970

1967-06-15 Newsletter, Fort Madison Branch of the NAACP Page 5

-5-

A dream-
Still beckoning to me! 

O, let America be America again-
The land that never has been yet-
And yet must be-
The land where every man is free.
The land that's mine-
The poor man's Indian's, Negro's, ME-
Who made America,
Whose swear and blood, whose faith and pain, 
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain, 
Must bring back our mighty dream again. 


Sure, call me any ugly name you choose-
The steel of freedom does not stain. 
From those who live like leeches on people's lives,
We must take back our land gain,
America!

O, yes 
I say it plain
America never was America to me, 
And yet I swear this oath-
America will be!
An ever-living seed,
Its dream
Lies deep in the heart of me. 

We, the people, must redeem
Our land, the mines, the plants, the rivers,
The mountains a nd the endless plain-
All, all the stretch of these great green states-
And make America again! 

Comments by Langston Hughes on:

Living in the Suburbs - "I would rather have a kitchenette in Harlem than a mansion in Westchester."

Living in Harlem- " I do not want to move out of Harlem myself. I will miss Harlem, Seventh Avenue, 125th and Lenox, the Apollo, the Palms and Jennie Lou's also this little old bar in which I am now drinking."

On Segregation in World WarII- "To be Jim Crowed hurts my soul. It hurts my soul to have my uniform on and be Jim Crowed. I want to beat Jim Crow first. Hitler's over yonder and Jim Crow is here."

On the Negro Press: - " I have been exposed to lots of Literature in the time- but my favorite reading is the Negro press. Perhaps it should be The Illiad, The Odyssey, Shakespeare or Tolstoy, but it isn't. It is the Negro press. When ever I find myself in a town where the colored papers are not available, I feel on weekends as though I were completely out of this world and have lost contract with my people. Abroad the two things I miss most are American ice cream and Negro newspapers."

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-5- A dream- Still beckoning to me! O, let America be America again- The land that never has been yet- And yet must be- The land where every man is free. The land that's mine- The poor man's Indian's, Negro's, ME- Who made America, Whose swear and blood, whose faith and pain, Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain, Must bring back our mighty dream again. Sure, call me any ugly name you choose- The steel of freedom does not stain. From those who live like leeches on people's lives, We must take back our land gain, America! O, yes I say it plain America never was America to me, And yet I swear this oath- America will be! An ever-living seed, Its dream Lies deep in the heart of me. We, the people, must redeem Our land, the mines, the plants, the rivers, The mountains a nd the endless plain- All, all the stretch of these great green states- And make America again! Comments by Langston Hughes on: Living in the Suburbs - "I would rather have a kitchenette in Harlem than a mansion in Westchester." Living in Harlem- " I do not want to move out of Harlem myself. I will miss Harlem, Seventh Avenue, 125th and Lenox, the Apollo, the Palms and Jennie Lou's also this little old bar in which I am now drinking." On Segregation in World WarII- "To be Jim Crowed hurts my soul. It hurts my soul to have my uniform on and be Jim Crowed. I want to beat Jim Crow first. Hitler's over yonder and Jim Crow is here." On the Negro Press: - " I have been exposed to lots of Literature in the time- but my favorite reading is the Negro press. Perhaps it should be The Illiad, The Odyssey, Shakespeare or Tolstoy, but it isn't. It is the Negro press. When ever I find myself in a town where the colored papers are not available, I feel on weekends as though I were completely out of this world and have lost contract with my people. Abroad the two things I miss most are American ice cream and Negro newspapers."