Amerika is not a virgin

[resisting arrest with violence]

Langston Hughes the poet once wrote:

You really haven't been a virgin for so long.
It's ludicrous to keep up the pretext…

You've slept with all the big powers
In military uniforms,
And you've taken the sweet life
Of all the little brown fellows…

Being one of the world's big vampires,
Why don't you come on out and say so
Like Japan, and England, and France,
And all the other nymphomaniacs of power.

[coda]

that is beautiful!

I love "Good morning, Revolution." and I don't have it to post, unfortunately.

[El_Revolucionario]

Originally posted by resisting arrest with [email protected] 26 2005, 11:30 PM
Langston Hughes the poet once wrote:

You really haven't been a virgin for so long.
It's ludicrous to keep up the pretext…

You've slept with all the big powers
In military uniforms,
And you've taken the sweet life
Of all the little brown fellows…

Being one of the world's big vampires,
Why don't you come on out and say so
Like Japan, and England, and France,
And all the other nymphomaniacs of power.
Langston Hughes was a great poet. I would also like to share another poem of his:

Gods

by Langston Hughes

The ivory gods,
And the ebony gods,
And the gods of diamond and jade,
Sit silently on their temple shelves
While the people
Are afraid.
Yet the ivory gods,
And the ebony gods,
And the gods of diamond-jade,
Are only silly puppet gods
That the people themselves
Have made.

He was also quite an outspoken atheist as you can see by this poem. :D

[codyvo]

Sounds very interesting, I haven't read any Langston Hughes although my father owns his collective works, I think I might check it out.

[Raisa]

He is my favorite poet. :)

[h&s]

Surely this thread should be in Literature?

[OleMarxco]

No, are poems literature? I thought only books where literature. What about putting it instead in, like, either theory, philosophy, history or somethin' like that, huh? :)

[Hampton]

I moved it to Literature.

I was always a fan of Langston but never realized the wide range of poems until someone got me his collected works.

Some good ones:

Poem to Uncle Sam

Uncle Sam
With old Jim Crow-
Like a shadow
Right behind you-
You go.
Uncle Sam
Why don't you
Turn around,
And before you
Tackle Hitler-
Shoot Jim down?

Lenin

Lenin walks around the world.
Frontiers cannot bar him.
Neither barracks nor barricades impede.
Nor does barbed wire scar him.

Lenin walks around the world.
Black, brown, and white receive him.
Language is no barrier.
The strangest tounges believe him.

Lenin walks around the world
The sun sets like a scar
Between the darkenss and the dawn
There rises a red star.

Message to the President

Mr. President, kindly please
may I have a word with you?
There's one thing, for a long time,
I've been wishing you would do.
In your fireside chats on the radio
I hear you telling the world
What you want them to know,
And your speeches in general
Sound mighty fine,
But there's one thing, Mr. President,
That worries my mind.
I hear you talking about freedom
For the Finn,
The Jew,
And the Czechozlovak-
But you never seem to mention
Us folks who're black!
We're all Americans, Mr. President,
And I've had enough
Of putting up with this
Jim Crow stuff.
I want the self-same rights
Other Americans have today.
I want to fly a plane
Like any other man may.
I don't like this Jim Crow army
Or this Jim Crow navy,
Or the lily-white marines
Licking up the gravy.
We're one-tenth of the nation,
Mr. President, fourteen million strong.
If you help to keep us down,
You're wrong
We work and pay our taxes.
Our patriotism's good.
We try to live like
Decent Americans should.
That's why as citizens, Mr. President,
We have the right to demand
The next time you make a speech,
Take an all-out stand
And make your meaning
Just as clear to me
As you do when talking to
Those Englishmen across the sea.
Since, for our lan'd defense
If we have to fight-
We ought to be together,
Black and white.
So what I'm asking, Mr. President.
IS to hear you say
No more segregation in the U.S.A.
And when you mention the Finns,
The Jews,
And the Czechoslovak,
Don't forget the fourteen million
HEre who're black.
Such a speech Mr. President, for me
Whold put a whole lot more meaning
In Democracy
So the next time you sit down
To that radio
Just like you lambast Hitler,
Give Jim Crow a blow-
For all I'm asking, Mr. President,
Is to hear you say,
No more segregation in the U.S.A.
My friends, NO more
Segregation in the U.S.A.

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

Interesting fact: Hampton's signature isnpired me to choose Langston Hughes as the subject of a term paper for my US literature class.

He wrote a lot of great stuff. One of my favorites:

Democracy

Democracy will not come
Today, this year
Nor ever
Through compromise and fear.

I have as much right
As the other fellow has
To stand
On my two feet
And own the land.

I tire so of hearing people say,
Let things take their course.
Tomorrow is another day.
I do not need my freedom when I'm dead.
I cannot live on tomorrow's bread.

Freedom
Is a strong seed
Planted
In a great need.

I live here, too.
I want freedom
Just as you.

I hadn't read either of those two poems, Hampton. Thanks.

[Hampton]

No prob, that's actually really cool. I never realized he had so many poems myself that are to the left of center. He has like a half dozen dedicated to May Day, the only shame is that a lot of them aren't widly published so lots of people don't know about them. Lemmie know if i can help find any if you need it.

This (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0679764089/qid=1117241159/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-7835462-6212965?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) is the book I have.

Great stuff to pick up and read a couple when you have some time to kill.

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

I'm actually already done.
I turned it in like this monday, I think.
I just looked on the internet, and looked at some biographies. I found a couple of leftist poems, but nothing like what you posted. Although that would have been cool to include.
It was also written kinda last minute-ish. Otherwise I may have looked into more stuff. But I really had no idea he wrote such radical stuff.