LANGSTON HUGHES - LET AMERICA BE AMERICA AGAIN

Let America Be America Again

Langston Hughes, 1902 - 1967

Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.

(It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There’s never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this “homeland of the free.”)

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark? 
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?

I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one’s own greed!

I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean—
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today—O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.

Yet I’m the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That’s made America the land it has become.
O, I’m the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home—
For I’m the one who left dark Ireland’s shore,
And Poland’s plain, and England’s grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa’s strand I came
To build a “homeland of the free.”

The free?

Who said the free?Not me?
Surely not me?The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we’ve dreamed
And all the songs we’ve sung
And all the hopes we’ve held
And all the flags we’ve hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay—
Except the dream that’s almost dead today.

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 sweat 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 the people’s lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!

O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath—
America will be!

Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain—
All, all the stretch of these great green states—
And make America again!

BOW WOW WOW - ANNABELLA LWIN

WE RECENTLY WENT TO SEE BOW WOW WOW, WHAT A GREAT BAND. I STARTED LOOKING BACK AT THE OLD FOOTAGE AND PICS OF THEM, SO COOL. THE SINGER IS ANNABELLA AND I CAN REMEMBER HER BEING SUPER COOL BACK IN THE DAY, BUT I WOULD PROBABLY HAVE TO PUT HER INTO ICON STATUS, THE MOHAWK, THE CLOTHES EVERTHING ABOUT HER WAS ORIGINAL, AND UNIQUE. HERES A FEW PICS TO ENJOY. AND GO LISTEN, IT WILL BE WORTH IT.

GET THE MESSAGE - ELECTRONIC

GET THE MESSAGE WAS PROBABLY MY FAVORITE SONG FROM THE AMAZING BAND CALLED ELECTRONIC, AND OF COURSE WITH THE SINGER FROM NEW ORDER AND THE GUITAR PLAYER/WRITER OF ALL THE SONGS FOR THE BAND THE SMITHS YOU CAN'T GO WRONG. I ALSO LIKED HOW I THINK THEY WERE ACTUALLY CALLING OUT TO THE WORLD TO LOOK AROUND, AND IT'S SAD TO ME THAT EVERYTHING IN THIS VIDEO IS PROBABLY STILL AN ISSUE, STARVING CHILDREN, TOO MUCH TRASH AND POLLUTION, AND I THINK BASICALLY, THIS WORLD IS OUR CHILDREN'S, SO, WE SHOULD KEEP IT LIVABLE FOR THEM. BUT ANYWAY, ENJOY THIS GEM...

Music video by Electronic performing Get The Message.

BURN THE FRIGGIN BOATS - TONY ROBBINS

I CAME ACROSS THIS THE OTHER DAY, AND FOR SOME REASON, IT DOES HIT YOU RIGHT WHERE IT COUNTS. USE THIS INSPIRATION FOR WHATEVER YOU NEED, BUT I THINK IT IS JUST GENIUS, TO TRULY SUCEED, YOU NEED  TO TAKE ALL YOUR SAFETY NETS AWAY. AND BURN THE FRIGGIN BOATS...........

http://www.JoinSolutionsRealEstate.com - "If you want to take the island - burn the friggin boats" - Anthony Robbins... This could not be said any better... Let me explain... If you are going to make a choice to do something, put yourself into a position where failure is not an option.

BIG AUDIO DYNAMITE - JAMES BROWN

I THINK THIS VIDEO IS ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITES FOR A FEW REASONS, FIRST THE SONG IS AMAZING, SECONDLY JAMES BROWN WAS RAD, BUT MOSTLY BECAUSE THE CLOTHING THEY WEAR IN THIS VIDEO IS AMAZING, IT LOOKS TO ME THEY ARE WEARING MOSTLY STUSSY AND SOME GOTCHA CLOTHING, WHICH IN THE 80'S AND EVEN TO THIS DAY IS SOME OF THE BEST DESIGNS EVER DONE, IN MY HUMBLE OPINION. THE REASON THOSE BRANDS HAD SUCH GOOD DESIGNS WAS BECAUSE THE SURF INDUSTRY WAS SO SMALL THAT THEY DIDN'T WORRY ABOUT DEPARTMENT STORES OR ANY OF THE BIG CORPORATE MONEY, BECAUSE THE CORPORATIONS HADN'T SHOWN INTEREST YET, SO, THE DESIGNERS WERE FREE TO MAKE WHAT THEY REALLY WANTED TO, THEY COULD BE CRAZY, BRANDS WERE DRIVEN BY DESIGN, NOT BY SALES. I MISS THAT.... MAYBE IT WILL GO BACK TO THAT WAY SOME DAY, FINGERS CROSSED, WE NEED DESIGNERS TO GO BACK TO THOSE WAYS, TO INSPIRE THE NEXT GENERATIONS TO BE CREATIVE AGAIN AND NOT JUST FOCUS ON PROFITS.

Music video by Big Audio Dynamite performing James Brown. (C) 1989 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

THE CULT LOVE....

THE CULT'S LOVE ALBUM MAY BE MY FAVORITE MUSIC OF ALL TIME. IF YOU AREN'T FAMILIAR WITH IT, GIVE IT A LISTEN, SUCH A GREAT SOUND. AND SOME OF THE BEST ALBUM ARTWORK EVER.

SHAWN STUSSY / THOMAS CAMPBELL

I JUST CAME ACROSS THIS, EVEN THOUGH ITS FROM A FEW YEARS AGO. ANOTHER GREAT COLABERATION IS SHAWN STUSSY AND THOMAS CAMPBELL MAKING A COUPLE BOARDS. I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THESE IN PERSON, VERY COOL STUFF.

THE CULT / RICK GRIFFEN - MY FAVORITE BAND IS THE CULT AND IN HIS LATER YEARS RICK GRIFFEN DID SOME ALBUM ART ARTWORK, SUCH A GREAT COMBO.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIL SCOT HERON

TODAY WOULD HAVE BEEN GIL SCOT HERON'S 67th BIRTHDAY, WE MISS YOU BROTHER. ONE OF MY STRONGEST INSPIRATIONS, HE SPOKE THE TRUTH.

HAPPY NYEPI TO BALI....

NYEPI IS BALI'S NEW YEAR, AND THEY HAVE A BIG PARADE OF DEMON FLOATS CREATED BY THE PEOPLE OF EACH NEIGHBORHOOD THEN AT THE END OF THE PARADE THEY BURN THE FLOATS  TO EXERCISE THE DEMONS ON THE WHOLE ISLAND AND  THE NEXT IS CELEBRATED WITH A DAY OF SILENCE AND SELF REFLECTION SPENT IN DOORS, NO ONE IS ALLOWED OUTSIDE FOR THE ENTIRE DAY. IF YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN THIS, THEN GET OVER THERE, IT'S AMAZING. IT'S USUALLY IN MARCH, SO CHECK IT OUT, IT IS SO FUN, AND UNLIKE ANYTHING YOU HAVE SEEN BEFORE.

LEONARDO PART 2

I THINK THIS IS A GREAT SPEECH, WE CAN ALL PRETEND IT'S NOT REAL, THAT IT'S MADE UP TO MAKE MONEY, BUT GLOBAL CHANGE IS HAPPENING AND IT'S FIXABLE IF WE WORK FOR IT. WE ARE IN A TIME WHEN WE CAN MAKE THE CHANGES THAT WILL FIX OUR PROBLEM, BUT WE NEED TO ACT TODAY, RIGHT NOW. LIKE GHANDI SAID BE THE CHANGE, WE WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD. THE INFORMATION IS OUT THERE, IT'S NOT EVEN HARD TO FIND, IT WILL MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER WHEN YOU DO THINGS THAT ARE GOOD FOR THE WORLD, THINK OF THE FUTURE, HOW HAPPY OUR CHILDREN WILL BE THAT WE CHANGED OUR WAYS AND GAVE THEM A PLANET THAT IS THRIVING AND NOT DYING.

Leonardo DiCaprio's opening remarks at the 2014 United Nations Climate Summit in New York City. Subscribe to TDC: https://www.youtube.com/TheDailyConversation Like our page on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/thedailyconversation Join us on Google+ https://plus.google.com/100134925804523235350/posts Follow us on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/thedailyconvo