I remember watching Amanda Gorman delivering this beautiful poem at President Biden's inauguration and found it inspiring, moving and definitely written from the heart. I'm not even American, but then, that isn't a prerequisite for appreciating poetry written in blood, is it?
And then, buried amongst the latest news on the BBC website, I find an article stating that one single parent of a pupil at the Bob Graham Education Centre, Miami Lakes, Florida, had complained that the poem contained 'hate messages', resulting in the poem being moved to the middle school section, whatever the heck that means. Presumably because younger children would be offended?
Come again?
Needless to say, Amanda Gorman, who described herself as 'a skinny black girl descended from slaves', is furious over this... this...censorship and let's face it, there is no other appropriate description.
I'm tempted to utter a diatribe of expletives, but frankly that would do no good at all. Except to say that every instance of book censorship in the USA, and that includes poems, puts me in a very dark mood.
And I thought we had long moved past Lady Chatterley's Lover, when fornication and, God forbid, anal sex were not just taboo, but simply not discussed in polite company. Behind the net curtains perhaps.
But I digress.
Far be it for me to dabble in American politics, but clearly Trump Mark II, aka, DeSantis, is hell bent on pushing the American psyche way back to the Victorian era.
I find it horrifying.
The Hill We Climb is censored - we should be worried.
There are 4 replies in this Thread which has previously been viewed 570 times. The latest Post (
-
Display More
And then, buried amongst the latest news on the BBC website, I find an article stating that one single parent of a pupil at the Bob Graham Education Centre, Miami Lakes, Florida, had complained that the poem contained 'hate messages', resulting in the poem being moved to the middle school section, whatever the heck that means. Presumably because younger children would be offended?
Come again?
Middle school refers to the school years 7- 9. It used to be Junior High school in my day. "Middle" because it falls between elementary (1- 6) and High school (10- 12). Perhaps some nanny found it less demeaning - "middle" vs "junior".
Far be it for me to dabble in American politics, but clearly Trump Mark II, aka, DeSantis, is hell bent on pushing the American psyche way back to the Victorian era.---
I find it horrifying.Me too. Half this country is gulping down the vomit spewed by the likes of Drumpf, Der Santis, MTG, et al...
It is frighteningly reminiscent of Germany once fawning over their god, the maniacal Hitler. -
I want to read this, Splinter, but it’s another one in the faintest of type -
-
I want to read this, Splinter, but it’s another one in the faintest of type -
You can highlight the text
I remember watching Amanda Gorman delivering this beautiful poem at President Biden's inauguration and found it inspiring, moving and definitely written from the heart. I'm not even American, but then, that isn't a prerequisite for appreciating poetry written in blood, is it?
And then, buried amongst the latest news on the BBC website, I find an article stating that one single parent of a pupil at the Bob Graham Education Centre, Miami Lakes, Florida, had complained that the poem contained 'hate messages', resulting in the poem being moved to the middle school section, whatever the heck that means. Presumably because younger children would be offended?
Come again?
Needless to say, Amanda Gorman, who described herself as 'a skinny black girl descended from slaves', is furious over this... this...censorship and let's face it, there is no other appropriate description.
I'm tempted to utter a diatribe of expletives, but frankly that would do no good at all. Except to say that every instance of book censorship in the USA, and that includes poems, puts me in a very dark mood.
And I thought we had long moved past Lady Chatterley's Lover, when fornication and, God forbid, anal sex were not just taboo, but simply not discussed in polite company. Behind the net curtains perhaps.
But I digress.
Far be it for me to dabble in American politics, but clearly Trump Mark II, aka, DeSantis, is hell bent on pushing the American psyche way back to the Victorian era.
I find it horrifying. -
I couldn’t agree more, Splinter . The USA is so caught up in culture wars (mostly targeting immigrants, people of color, Mexicans, LGBTQ people, and those who don’t embrace the Protestant Christian religion), that actual issues are being lost in the deliberate chaos.
Book banning - - a practice that has long been scorned in the US and most civilized nations - -as well as laws restricting medical treatment for trans youths are right in line with laws restricting voting and state laws criminalizing abortion under any circumstances, including rape and incest.
These expressions of bigotry, anti-intellectualism, and control have taken over enough of the population that the country is completely ripe for the picking by aspiring autocrats who care not a thing for their own country. I fear that those who have willingly been duped will figure it out only when the overthrow of democracy in the “cradle of liberty” is a fait accompli.
