AS I GREW OLDER
AS I GREW OLDER by Langston Hughes
I have almost forgotten my dream.
But it was there then,
In front of me,
Bright like a sun—
My dream.
And then the wall rose,
Rose slowly,
Slowly,
Between me and my dream.
Rose until it touched the sky—
The wall.
Shadow.
I am black.
I lie down in the shadow.
No longer the light of my dream before me,
Above me.
Only the thick wall.
Only the shadow.
My hands!
My dark hands!
Break through the wall!
Find my dream!
Help me to shatter this darkness,
To smash this night,
To break this shadow
Into a thousand lights of sun,
Into a thousand whirling dreams
Of sun!
Langston Hughes: The Journey from Discrimination to Racial Pride
DISCRIMINATION
1. Define discrimination.
2. Choose a group of people who were discriminated against in the past.
3. Who discriminated against them?
4. Choose a specific period in time or a specific event.
5. What was the relationship between the two groups before the recorded event?
6. What were the incidents that occurred as a result of the event?
7. How have things changed since then?
8. Is this group still being discriminated against by the same group? By other groups?
9. Could the incident happen again?
10. What can be done to prevent this from happening again?
11. Is there anything we can learn from these incidents?
12. Why do you think one group discriminates against another?
13. What kinds of discrimination might occur in the future?
14. How can you as a Jew/Israeli prevent discrimination?
15. Relate to these concepts.
a. “One cannot and must not try to erase the past merely because it does not fit the present.” Golda Meir, My Life
b. “If we do not learn from history, we are condemned to repeat it.” George Santayana
c. “That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history.” -- Aldous Huxley
d. “Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it.” -- Edmund Burke
e. “For the survivor who chooses to testify, it is clear: his duty is to bear witness for the dead and for the living. He has no right to deprive future generations of a past that belongs to our collective memory. To forget would be not only dangerous but offensive; to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time.” ― Elie Wiesel, Night
Quizlet - Synonyms and Antonyms
Thinglink tutorial
Creative Presentation
1. Create a thinglink with a picture that represents one of the themes in the poem with your assigned group.
2. The thinglink must be composed of the following 3 tasks.
a. Find a link that presents a real life event that relates to any of the themes in the poem.
b. Find a song that represents your chosen event.
c. Find a quote by a famous person that represents your chosen event.