by Langston Hughes
This is for the kids who die, Black and white, For kids will die certainly. The old and rich will live on awhile, As always, Eating blood and gold, Letting kids die.
Kids will die in the swamps of Mississippi Organizing sharecroppers Kids will die in the streets of Chicago Organizing workers Kids will die in the orange groves of California Telling others to get together Whites and Filipinos, Negroes and Mexicans, All kinds of kids will die Who don’t believe in lies, and bribes, and contentment And a lousy peace.
Of course, the wise and the learned Who pen editorials in the papers, And the gentlemen with Dr. in front of their names White and black, Who make surveys and write books Will live on weaving words to smother the kids who die, And the sleazy courts, And the bribe-reaching police, And the blood-loving generals, And the money-loving preachers Will all raise their hands against the kids who die, Beating them with laws and clubs and bayonets and bullets To frighten the people — For the kids who die are like iron in the blood of the people — And the old and rich don’t want the people To taste the iron of the kids who die, Don’t want the people to get wise to their own power, To believe an Angelo Herndon, or even get together
Listen, kids who die — Maybe, now, there will be no monument for you Except in our hearts Maybe your bodies’ll be lost in a swamp Or a prison grave, or the potter’s field, Or the rivers where you’re drowned like Leibknecht But the day will come — You are sure yourselves that it is coming — When the marching feet of the masses Will raise for you a living monument of love, And joy, and laughter, And black hands and white hands clasped as one, And a song that reaches the sky — The song of the life triumphant Through the kids who die.
It's a common thing for them to say,
"Oh well, back in my day..."
As they rattle on about their past,
Saying thinks in hopes you act a ghast.
And by itself this would be grand.
If they didn't say it after you show your hand.
After you tell them of your day, joys or pain
On your parade they have to rain.
"At least your life isnt like before,
You see, now that life was a chore.
Compared to us you get to have life in ease
And get to do whatever you please."
This lack of sympathy makes them seem jealous.
Jealous of their child's privileges I guess.
I don't get why they aren't proud
Of the life for their child that they've allowed.
Why
Why do we jump
Before we can see
Why do we fly
Before we can leap
Why take the risk
If all we will see
Is the rushing reality
Of all those lost dreams?
[image id: a four-page comic. it is titled “do not stand at my grave and weep” after the poem by mary elizabeth frye. the first page shows paleontologists digging up fossils at a dig. it reads, “do not stand at my grave and weep. i am not there. i do not sleep.” page two features several prehistoric creatures living in the wild. not featured but notable, each have modern descendants: horses, cetaceans, horsetail plants, and crocodilians. it reads, “i am a thousand winds that blow. i am the diamond glints on snow. i am the sunlight on ripened grain. i am the gentle autumn rain.” the third page shows archaeopteryx in the treetops and the skies, then a modern museum-goer reading the placard on a fossil display. it reads, “when you awaken in the morning’s hush, i am the swift uplifting rush, of quiet birds in circled flight. i am the soft stars that shine at night. do not stand at my grave and cry.” the fourth page shows a chicken in a field. it reads, “i am not there. i did not die” / end id]
a comic i made in about 15 hours for my school’s comic anthology. the theme was “evolution”
“There’ll be peace when you are done” my fucking ass. There’s no peace and I’m not even sure it’s done.
how is it mario day and no one posted the essay
A short comic I made about my experiences as a seasonal worker, and the way places change you.
Prints & PDF
A little advice from someone studying extremist groups: if you’re in a social media environment where the daily ubiquitous message is that you have no hope of any kind of future and you can’t possibly achieve anything without a violent overthrow of society, you’re being radicalized, and not in the good way.
glad to know people will still be experiencing this video for the first time this daylight savings
By sun.after.winter
I am a middle schooler
Stuck in between
Attending your classes
Remaining unseen
Fiery passion
Energy low
Nothing to accomplish
But so much to show
Adult or small child,
Nobody knows
Pendulum swinging
Back, to, and fro