Today is the Harlem Renaissance writer, busboy and poet’s birthday.  Born in 1902, his words remind us that while we deem ourselves progressive, the words of Ecclesiastes still hold true: “There is nothing new under the sun” (1.9).  In honor of his life and proof that we have a lot of work to do are the words of Mr. Langston Hughes:

You delight,

So it would seem,

At making mince- meat of my dream.

If you keep on,

Before you’re through,

I’ll make mince- meat

Out of you.

While I do not advocate violence or suggest that vengeance is the answer to our problems, it must be noted that we have created no real solutions, all these many years later.  And more painful still, that we are addressing Nazis, fascists and Klansmen today.