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've 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 just-ice

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 are

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 gazes 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 promise to glade

The hill we climb

If only we dare

It's 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

So 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 from my bronze-pounded chest,

we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one

We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the west,

we will rise from the windswept northeast

where our forefathers first realized revolution

We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states,

we will rise from the sunbaked south

We will rebuild, reconcile and recover

and every known nook of our nation and

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

Yeah, that is just the worst!

"...she claimed were filled with "indirect hate messages" inspired by critical race theory."

Can one of you esteemed magats explain the indirect hate message in that poem?

Always keep in mind that the person who complained defends insurrectionists.

It talks about overcoming racism. But worse, it talks about being co-authors of the future of the country. Think about everybody seeing Django ride on to the plantation riding a horse. This young woman doesn't know her place and this poem is subversive in its empowerment message. That cannot be allowed to stand.

#37 | POSTED BY HAGBARD_CELINE

IDK those themes seem too subtle for someone like Daily Salinas to pick up

You've got far bigger things to worry about than a poem being moved to a different section of a library.

#41 | POSTED BY BELLRINGER

Yeah, like public schools kowtowing to the whims of a single insurrectionist loving whacko, oh wait

"It was determined at the school that The Hill We Climb' is better suited for middle school students and, it was shelved in the middle school section of the media center. The book remains available in the media center," he said.

If you were a man Speaksoftly and TruthHurts you would apologize.

#46 | POSTED BY ONEIRONAUT

So, IoW the kids in K-5 don't have access to the poem or books

You do realize 3 of the books are geared towards 6 to 8 year olds, right? And the 4th book is geared towards 9-11 year olds, right?

So, why is 1 woman allowed to dictate these books not being available to age appropriate audiences?

I call that book banning.

As an aside, "If you were a man Speaksoftly and TruthHurts" we would have more problems than book bannings being we would be, what, cojoined?

" I call that book banning."
Of course you do. You are a lying POS.

#54 | POSTED BY BELLRINGER

Do the K-5 kids have access to the books? Yes? then why move them? No? then they are banned for the K-5 students

See, you can't win this cause your side is ugly

BTW try getting some original material you copyright infringing douchebag

truth hurts donut

BTW the school has like 1500 students, so it is a fairly large school and I would bet dollars to donuts there is an elementary library and a middle school library and never the ----- shall meet.

Why does your current alias [intentionally?] misrepresent what is occurring?

OOH OOH I know I know!

cause he is a lying PoS!!!!

What do I win???

One more point: There is a single man in Clay County, FL that has gotten 360 books banned and has a list of 3,600 he wants banned. He's a f**king nutjob, but HE is determining what EVERYONE can read in schools. HIM. His name is Bruce Friedman.
This is what DeSantis has done to education in Florida. Not just elementary school, but all schools and universities. They are being dumbed down to the lowest level possible, by idiots that weak, pathetic, perpetual victims, religious wackos, racist ---------, white nationalists and white supremacists.

#67 | POSTED BY YAV

Whoda predicted this would happen?

Me, for one.

Most of the people in this thread bitching about curriculums don't know anything about curriculums.

#69 | POSTED BY SENTINEL

Curricula, dumbass.

What does curriculum have to do with moving a K-5 book to a library for 6-8 graders because one magat complained?

"please explain what you know about curricula that is not understood here."
Typically, different curriculums for different levels do not have identical material. So if something is in the K-5 library but not the middle school library, does that mean it's "banned" from the middle school library?
Choosing not to include something in a particular curriculum is not the same thing as "banning" it. By that logic, algebra is banned in elementary schools all over the country.

#85 | POSTED BY SENTINEL

Wrong.

3 of the 4 books are designed for K-3 and the 4th book is designed for 4-6 grades. the poem doesn't have an age attached.

They moved these books from the age-appropriate library to a library where they are far below the grade level that will be interested in them.

The school is preventing the age-appropriate children access to the material, thus banning the elementary students from accessing elementary school level books.

Though in your world I am sure that 13 year olds enjoy reading books geared towards 2nd graders.

Hey look the lying PoS is once again downplaying the negative impacts of republican hate policies.

Hey -------------, you do realize this is a symptom of the larger problem emerging in Fl, right? Teachers afraid to teach ----, books being stripped from libraries, libraries being emptied, teachers being "investigated" for showing a disney cartoon, you know, all of the ongoing efforts to instill fear in teachers and schools.

to the detriment of the children you care so much for.

When you can't defend you downplay, when you can't downplay you deflect. You're a broken record stuck on cult.

#110. On the contrary. When of my favorite leisure activities is reading Mein Kampf and I frequently picket our local library.

#111 | POSTED BY BELLRINGER

The auto correct on your computer must be messed up as this is what you actually wrote

I'm more rational then you'll ever dream of being