I+to+We

I to We  **"When they're all workin' together, not one fella for another fella, but one fella kind of harnessed to the whole shebang -- that's right, that's holy." ** **-John Steinbeck, //The Grapes of Wrath// **



-John Steinbeck, //The Grapes of Wrath//
** I Hear America Singing ** I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear, Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe  and strong,  The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,  The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off  work,  The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deck-  hand singing on the steamboat deck,  The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing  as he stands,  The woodcutter's song, the ploughboy's on his way in the morn-  <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: center;">ing, or at noon intermission or at sundown,  <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: center;">The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work,  <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: center;">or of the girl sewing or washing,  <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: center;">Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,  <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: center;">The day what belongs to the day—at night the party of young  <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: center;">fellows, robust, friendly,  <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: center;">Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">-Walt Whitman, 1867

<span style="color: #a13f30; display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">** I, too ** <span style="color: #a13f30; display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"> <span style="color: #a13f30; display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;"> I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong.

Tomorrow, I'll be at the table When company comes. Nobody'll dare Say to me, "Eat in the kitchen," Then.

Besides, They'll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed--

I, too, am America.

—Langston Hughes, 1925

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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">"The two men squatting in a ditch, the little fire, the side-meat stewing in a single pot, the silent, stone-eyed women; behind, the children listening with their souls to words their minds do no understand. The night draws down. The baby has a cold. Here, take this blanket. It's wool. It was my mother's blanket -- take it for the baby. This is the thing to bomb. This is the beginning -- from 'I' to 'we.'" <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">-John Steinbeck, //The Grapes of Wrath// media type="youtube" key="yer4L1Uhayc" height="349" width="560"