Freedom is
only a word . . .
Free men and indentured servants,
Slave men and slave masters, all new—
To a new world, America!
With billowing sails the galleons came
Bringing men and dreams, women and dreams.
In little bands together,
Heart reaching out to heart.
Hand reaching out to hand,
They began to build our land.
Some were free hands
Seeking a greater freedom,
Some were indentured hands
Hoping to find their freedom,
Some were slave hands
Guarding in their hearts the seed o f freedom.
But the word was there always:
FREEDOM.
Langston Hughes
Share-Croppers
Share-Croppers
Just a herd o f Negroes
Driven to the field,
Plowing, planting, hoeing.
To make the cotton yield.
When the cotton’s picked
And the work is done
Boss man takes the money
And we get none,
Leaves us hungry, ragged
As we were before.
Year by year goes by
And we are nothing more
Then a herd o f Negroes
Driven to the field—
Plowing life away
To make the cotton yield.
Langston Hughes
William Christopher Handy (1873-1958,
"FATHER OF THE BLUES." A minister's son
from Florence, Alabama, at 18 he went to St. Louis
and Chicago playing the cornet and trumpet with
small bands and minstrel groups. He summed up
his wanderings through towns where a Black per
son wasn't welcome after dark, in the line, "I hate
to see the evening sun go dow n.". He composed
over 150 sacred and secular popular musical com
positions, including "M em phis B lues," "Beale
Street Blues" and "S t. Louis Blues." He was the
director of music at Alabama A&M College, and
founded the Handy Foundation for the Blind. In
1931 the City of Memphis named a park after him
and opend the W.C. Handy Theatre in 1947. The
W.C. Handy School stands in Florence, Alabama.
Page 8 Portland Observer February 25, 1982
t
Keep your hand on the plow.
Hold on.