105 Ways to Give a Book

Poetry Friday: Let Us Fly

First order of business: The Comment Challenge. It’s totally rocking! If you haven’t signed up yet to join us in spreading the wealth in terms of words, it is not too late. I repeat, it is not too late. Okay, you won’t have the whole twenty-one days, but we’d rather a little late than not at all. Story of my life there.

Now, on to Poetry Friday, hosted today at Check It Out.

I wasn’t sure how to introduce this, but since I saw Barack Obama’s words made into a found poem at Carol’s Corner, I’m feeling better about my choice. It was a quote from Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, at an event to support Obama’s candidacy.
Rosa Parks sat,
So Martin Luther King could walk.
King walked,
So Barack Obama could run.
Obama ran,
So we all can fly.
I love this so much. This week I’ve been very moved by the outpouring of emotion about President-Elect Obama, but I admit that Jesse Jackson crying at his victory speech got to me most of all.

(I’ve tweaked the wording. Here’s the exact quote: “Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther King could walk, and Martin walked so Obama could run. Obama is running so we all can fly, so let’s fly.”)

Edited to Add: Apparently, this quote/poem has been going around with slight differences and, as far as I can tell, no direct credit. There’s even a T-shirt already. Which, by the way, I want.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

I love this poem so much I might put it up on my wall - oooh, another project!

Anonymous said...

This has been such an inspiring week. Great poem!

ElsKushner said...

This quote/poem just made me cry *again*. It's been a teary week.

I first saw it on a friend's blog; she'd seen it at an Obama volunteer HQ in Philadelphia, with the slightly different ending: "Obama is running so our children can fly."

Oh, here I go once more with the waterworks...

Anonymous said...

Where do I sign up for the blog comment challenge?

Andromeda Jazmon said...

I've been hearing that message quoted all over too. It's just so perfectly balanced and deep we can't help repeating it! I can see all sorts of art including it - quilted wall hangings. Collages. Photo montages. Tee shirts! I'd love to see some graphic multimedia projects.... would be a great computer lab activity at school!

Charlotte said...

That's just lovely. Thanks!

Karen said...

Love that quote!! Thanks so much for sharing!

rathacat said...

I liked this quote so much that I remembered it and put it on Twitter, but I didn't know who said it. Thanks for the info.

I also added a line of my own, which was "Take off, America!"

If anyone does a T-shirt, I'd like to know. Maybe I'll make my own with fabric paint.

Clare Bell
Http://www.rathascourage.com/scratchlog.html

Anonymous said...

Nice poem, Pam.

I do this comment thing already, and will undoubtedly forget to report myself, but I think it's a lovely notion.

Carol said...

I like this poem a lot!!!! And I NEED the shirt!