As Lawrence prepares to honor Hughes once again, this type of presentation might help more people understand that as we embrace his life and work we must also remember that because of his ethnicity he did not fully and equally enjoy the privileges of citizenship in this city or country. We must honor his life and work by accepting that if he was here in body today, he likely would still face the same oppression and exclusion that he fought so eloquently throughout his lifetime.
Perhaps less overtly than what would have occurred during his lifetime, today he still would likely be condemned and persecuted for being uppity and branded as a troublemaker for having the nerve to speak out about the inherent racism in our city and country. To pretend otherwise is to cheat him posthumously by exploiting him for selfish tokenism.
As the mainstream media presentations of "news" become more and more shallow and sensational, and focused more and more on fewer and fewer segments of society, these kinds of sensitive, thoughtful and insightful presentations of outside-the-mainstream American heroes are all the more relevant. It's inspirational to know that there are some people left who understand how journalists are supposed to serve society.
A hearty thank you to Greg Hurd and associates.
Mike Cuenca,
Lawrence
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