“These Yet-to-be-United States”
Is unity achievable amidst great difference?
On June 3, 1990 Maya Angelou’s poem “These Yet-to-be-United States” was published in the Los Angeles Times. In the six stanza masterpiece, not once is America or the United States mentioned. Instead, Angelou refers to the influence and control that implicitly belongs to the United States and questions how the pain, suffering, and cries of America are so easily overlooked. She writes: “Tremors of your network/cause kings to disappear/your open mouth in anger/makes nations bow in fear/Your bombs can change the seasons/obliterate the spring/what more do you long for/why are you suffering?” Such lines juxtaposed against her title “These Yet-to-be-United States” suggests that the united front America portrays may help in her foreign affairs, but it is her internal division that is creating the deep sorrow felt within her borders. In light of this, the question Americans must wrestle with is, in spite of immense difference is unity truly achievable?
The Morning News
Today, I read Sunday’s articles and news reports from The New York Times on my iPad. Whether watching the video of swing state voters speaking of our current moment and the way forward, reading of how some believe Kamala Harris has retreated in preparation for her new role as Vice President, or even…
