The America that Never Was--must be

In 1935 Langston Hughes wrote

O, let America be America again—
The land that never has been yet—
And yet must be

—a lament, a challenge, a call, a commitment.

Shaken by the election as so many are, being 81 and as a friend said, in the last quarter of my personal game, running up the last hill on the marathon, I take time to consider not just what to do, to be busy, but what I choose to believe. My questions evolved and changed from where do I stand to how do I live?

I’m also enraged. No “graceful aging” here. Elder. Patriot.Warrior. I chose these and work to live into each one. (well, the elder part—I got that)

I chose—with no blinders, no denial, no willful looking away—to bring all I can to the American promise. This from Langston Hughes, 1935.

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!

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.

_________________________________________

The America that never was and must be—is not the MAGA America—not the empire, not the dominating ever expanding ever exploiting ever in denial idea of a nation.

It is as Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote—

“One cannot, at once, claim to be superhuman and then plead mortal error. I propose to take our countrymen’s claims of American exceptionalism seriously, which is to say I propose subjecting our country to an exceptional moral standard.”
― Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me

To hold ourselves to a higher moral standard—even when those in power and their “religious” collaborators betray us, betray the dream, betray the core of the great wisdom traditions, Muslim, Christian, Jewish, indigenous ones, so many with that common core——which is love. Fierce Love. (see my previous North of 80 —Fierce Love, Parts 1 and 2).

It is a choice, a courageous choice, an act of courageous imagination, to work for and believe in the America that—never was—yes—must be. A nation we have imagined and have never achieved. Why necessary? Because that never America has also held u a true vision of people both free and committed to each other, with personal freedom and living within the rule of law, with no kinds, no despots , no dictators crushing individual lives. A dream. Imperfect? Oh yes—and —at times—visible, actual, real.

We now have in the highest offices people whose moral standards are Greed and Me. I don’t need to spell that out here—read —

Letters from an American | Heather Cox Richardson | Substack

Letters from an American | Heather Cox Richardson

How will I live? The question my 81 year old self carries now—with grief and anger and passion. Choosing—always—to contribute in any way possible to what we must be, must imagine and create. But—what about the calamity that is upon us now? This crude image is a pattern I created to guide my choices, to not be overwhelmed.

Resist. Affirm. Imagine/Create.

Resist—what will I actively obstruct, stand in front of, deny entry, deny authority? Will I help house threatened immigrants in my church-in my home? and a 100 other possible and probably needed actions.

Affirm—all over my city, this state, the nation, the world, people are gathering, organizing, working to build networks of hope and justice. There is much underway that I don’t need to invent—I am not going alone. I chose to join, affirm —to support. these —

Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, this is the issue that underlies so much of the threats we face, There has never been a good outcome when religious power and political power are in the same bed. Never. They corrupt each other. You see it now. Check them out—

https://www.au.org/

AND—

American Civil Liberties Union—perhaps our best resource for the legal battles we now face,

Home | American Civil Liberties Union

American Civil Liberties Union

https://www.aclu.org

Laws will be introduced, many will pass, that are destructive to life,liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Destructive to certain people -especially women and people of color, and immigrant people. See what Project 2025 proposes-ACLU will fight those laws.

See this summary and analysis—

Project 2025’s Plan To Gut Checks and Balances Harms the American People

The new authoritarian playbook would devastate Americans in many ways.

https://www.americanprogress.org/

The ACLU will fight the laws that will, among them, make it easier to round up and deport people without due process, make it easier to discriminate against people who are gay or bi or searching, easier to ban books, maker it easy to designate a nonprofit as a terrorist organization. and more.

Imagine/Create

Be clear what we are for—not only what we will resist.

This by Rebecca Solnit: Rebecca Solnit: We, the People, Can Make a Better Future:

It is up to us—not to the corrupt and dying political,economic powers. It is up to us.

You are not alone. We are many.

“Loneliness is the bully that coerces us into giving up on democracy” Hannah Arendt.

Join me in the Center for Purposeful leadership

Center for Purposeful Leadership

https://www.centerforpurposefulleadership.org

a growing network of people —national and international—who imagine and create, resist and act, educate and encourage each other, share resources, explore and build new connections and relationships. CPL is a portal, a hub, through which I —and you will —find an ever expanding web of friends , links—and hope.

Do not go into this storm alone.

There is an America that never was—and must be.

Must Be.

This from Vaclav Havel

It is I who must begin, and once begin, once I try here and now, right where I am, not excusing myself by saying things would be easier elsewhere. … As soon as I begin that, I suddenly discover to my surprise that I am neither the only one,nor the first one, nor the most important one to have set out upon that road. And also realize that whether all is lost or not, depends entirely on whether or not I am lost.

And this—simple actions for your health,courage and resilience

O, let America be America again—
The land that never has been yet—
And yet must be—the land where every one is free.