The Hill We Climb
When day comes we ask ourselves
Where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
The loss we carry,
A sea we must wade.
We braved the belly of the beast;
We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace.
And the norms and notions of what just is
Isn’t always justice.
And yet the dawn is ours before we knew it.
Somehow we do it;
Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed
A nation that isn’t broken but simply unfinished.
We, the successors of a country and a time
Where a skinny black girl descended from slaves
And raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president,
Only to find herself reciting for one.
And yes we are far from polished, far from pristine,
But that doesn’t mean we aren’t striving to form a union that is perfect.
We are striving to forge a union with purpose,
To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man.
And so we lift our gaze not to what stands between us,
But what stands before us.
We close the divide, because we know to put our future first,
We must first put our differences aside.
We lay down our arms
So we can reach out our arms to one another.
We seek harm to none and harmony for all.
Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:
That even as we grieved, we grew,
That even as we hurt, we hoped,
That even as we tired, we tried,
That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious—
Not because we will never again know defeat
But because we will never again sow division.
Scripture tells us to envision
That everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree,
And no one shall make them afraid.
If we’re to live up to our own time,
then victory won’t lie in the blade but in all the bridges we’ve made.
That is the promised glade,
The hill we climb if only we dare it.
Because being American is more than a pride we inherit,
It’s the past we step into and how we repair it.
We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it,
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.
And this effort very nearly succeeded,
But while democracy can be periodically delayed
It can never be permanently defeated.
In this truth, in this faith we trust,
For while we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us.
This is the era of just redemption.
We feared at its inception.
We did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour,
But within it we found the power
To author a new chapter,
To offer hope and laughter,
To ourselves sow. While once we asked:
How could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?
Now we assert: How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?
We will not march back to what was,
But move to what shall be,
A country that is bruised but whole,
Benevolent but bold,
Fierce and free.
We will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation
Because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation.
Our blunders become their burdens
But one thing is certain:
If we merge mercy with might and might with right,
Then love becomes our legacy
And change our children’s birthright.
So let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left.
With every breath of my bronze pounded chest,
We will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one.
We will rise from the golden hills of the West.
We will rise from the windswept Northeast where our forefathers first realized revolution.
We will rise from the lakeland cities of the Midwestern states.
We will rise from the sunbaked South.
We will rebuild, reconcile and recover
In every known nook of our nation,
In every corner called our country,
Our people, diverse and beautiful,
Will emerge battered and beautiful.
When day comes we step out of the shade,
Aflame and unafraid.
The new dawn blooms as we free it.
For there is always light if only we’re brave enough to see it,
If only we’re brave enough to be it.
- Hillbilly Elegy Light Spännande självbiografi om en hillbillys resa från amerikanska Södern till Yale university
- Generation Loss Light Annorlunda deckare med kvinnlig punkare och fotograf om tiden efter Nine Eleven
- Manchester by The Sea Light Mycket sevärd film från New England med stor nostalgikänsla över en svunnen tid - fucking freezing
- Det blev Trump - sic Kistalight bloggar om förra valet
- Inagural Adress Light Olycksbådande profetia från en gammal indianhövding, kan tyvärr gälla Joe Biden
- Thanksgiving Day med Barack Obama Lite kul med Obama om konsten att benåda en kalkon. Kanske något för Joe Biden om konsten att benåda en f.d president?
- La Vie en Rose - A Star is Born Kanske inte så mycket en berättelse från Trumpland men väl en rackarns stor amerikansk berättelse, a sad sad story
- Americaa Light Gammal blogg om hårdkokt deckarförfattare kan duga här, psykopat approach?
- Barack for the Nobelprize och Bara en sång och en dansman Bob Dylan Varför inte några bitar om två amerikanska nobelpristagare? Båda blev lika överraskande. En kom till Oslo och tog emot priset på ett värdigt sätt men undrade vad han egentligen hade gjort för att förtjäna det. Den andra var absolutely thrilled, men en cirkus blev det; kommer, kommer ej? Det kan ha sina sidor att ge ett Nobelpris till En Sång och en Dansman
© Thommy Sjöberg
Kistalight blir som alla andra som såg TV-sändningarnafrån Joe Bidens installation riktigt upplivad av Amanda Gormans läsning av sin egen dikt The Hill We Climb.
ReplyDeleteSkapar hopp för framtiden och vi tror på den unga generationen.
Samtidigt minns vi hur härligt det ibland kunde vara med att undervisa och vara lärare. I vår buffé av undervisningsmetoder; kateder, eget arbete, grupp, redovisningar, föredrag, film och studiebesök mm kunde det ibland dyka upp de mest fantastiska kreativa grejer som teater, dikt och digital teknik. Där eleverna överraskade med mycket fantasifulla tolkningar i sin kunskapsredovisning med hjälp av både musik, poesi och bild.
Då var det kul (fantastiskt) att vara lärare på Spånga High!
Undrar om vi inte ska göra en separat blogg om vår samling av USA-bloggar så här långt liksom lästipsen.
ReplyDeleteLästipsen kan dessutom utökas om vi plockar med tidigare bloggar från vår bloggbuffé!