What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a rasin in the sun?

by James One thousand. Wall

What happens to a dream deferred?

The question comes from Langston Hughes' poem, Harlem , which inspired Lorraine Hansberry to write her drama, A Raisin in the Sun,the first play written by an African American adult female to be produced on Broadway.

Her play was made into a 1961 movie which featured Sidney Poitier (above), as Walter Lee, the angry and ambitious son of a mother trying to give her family a safe and secure home.

Hughes' poem,Harlem, isshort and prophetic:

What happens to a dream deferred?

      Does information technology dry upwardly
      like a raisin in the sun?
      Or fester like a sore—
      And then run?
      Does it stink like rotten meat?
      Or crust and saccharide over—
      like a syrupy sugariness?

      Peradventure it just sags
      like a heavy load.

      Or does it explode?

Langston Hughes' poem was an artistic cry of protest against racial injustice in the United States. He was addressing the increasing frustration and anger felt past African Americans whose dream of equality was continually being deferred.

Langston Hughes (1902-1967) (right) was known to possess a "strong sense of racial pride". It was "through his poetry, novels, plays, essays, and children's books, [that] he promoted equality, condemned racism and injustice, and celebrated African American culture, humor, and spirituality".

Like all great art, Hughes' poem transcends the context of immediacy. "A dream deferred"  applies wherever injustice exists.

Injustices, that is, such as Israel'south oppressive military occupation of the Palestinian people, an occupation that began either in 1948 or 1967, however one wishes to measure out the history of stolen land and stolen lives.

Religious institutions take been notoriously deadening in responding to that occupation, preferring instead to concentrate narrowly on their ain institutional house keeping and growth.

In so doing, these institutions accept followed the same program of deferral practiced by an early generation that tolerated and encouraged racial segregation in U.S. life.

That deferral began to change when Palestinian Christians challenged these churches to denounce and assault Israel's occupation with the non-violent campaign, Cold-shoulder, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS).

BDS began with a telephone call by Palestinian ceremonious society to pursue the same sort of non violent action that earlier worked in the US civil rights movement, and in the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa.

Some critics have objected (in skillful deferral style) to lumping BDS into a single assignment. Never heed near that, individuals, institutions and nations can all cold-shoulder and divest. Sanctions are the tactic of nations against nations (e.g. Russia and Iran).

The of import thing to think for those who want a way to fight back, non-violently, against an illegal, savage occupation, is that each institution and each individual has a weapon of selection.

U.Due south. institutional church bodies have chosen the divestment route, debating proposals to remove church retirement and other fund investments from U.S. companies that continue to conduct business within illegally occupied Palestinian territories.

And yep, the touch of divestment on major businesses is less against the bottom line of the affected companies, and far, far more confronting the public prototype of the visitor and, in this example, the state of Israel.

Is State of israel worried about its public image? Is the Pope a Catholic? Just await at the desperate way in which Israel and its allies are spending big dollars to fight the BDS campaigns. Even Sheldon Adelson has gotten into the act.

Palestine'due south dream of freedom has been deferred far as well long. Information technology is time at present to "conquer" State of israel, non on the battlefield, only in the war that hits State of israel where information technology hurts, in the earth of public stance.

Conquer is the right word.

 In the rarely heard 4th verse of the Star Spangled Banner, Francis Scott Keywrote, "So conquer nosotros must, when our cause it is just, and this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.'"

Key's verse form, which became our national anthem in 1931, was written later on  a British flotilla attempted to capture the port of Baltimore, a battle that culminated in the bombardment of Fort McHenry throughout the dark of September 13, 1814.

In that context, "conquer we must" referred to "conquer" not as the deed of an established nation at war with a neighbour, but every bit the challenges a new nation faced.

Or, on a more personal annotation, the word "conquer" to my mother, meant to "rise above" a barrier, in social club to overcome it. How many times did she tell me, "you lot tin conquer this"? I lost count at age 14.

Art, like the poetry of Langston Hughes, tin can inform united states of america that dreams too long deferred, will wither upwards like "a raisin in the sun", or perhaps just "explode".

Dreams are deferred by barriers, like those legal barriers established past American segregationists or by Israeli occupiers who employ periodic acts of "mowing the grass", routine night raids into Palestinian homes, and armed checkpoints for a single purpose, to maintain the status quo for those in power.

It is time to fight against that oppression with whatever weapons we  accept in hand. Later this month, three U.S. Christian denominations–United Church of Christ, Episcopalian, and  Mennonite–volition decide whether or not to seize the BDS weapon to fight confronting injustice.

When Shakespeare'due south English Male monarch Henry V rallied his forces to battle against the French, he called on their pride and their dedication to God, rex and country.

In Human activity 4, Scene 3, Henry says:

And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were non here,
And hold their manhoods inexpensive whiles any speaks
That fought with usa upon Saint Crispin's day.

It is this same reminder that Christians in three U.S. denominations, and others who will follow, must hear: Fight confronting injustice or remain asleep in your beds.

Will these Christians fight injustice or will they continue to sip interfaith tea in an deed that defers the dreams of Palestinian children in Gaza who accept no beds in which to slumber because the Israelis have destroyed them?

Almost wallwritings

From 1972 through 1999, James Thou. Wall was editor and publisher of the Christian Century magazine, based in Chicago, lllinois. He was a Contributing Editor of the Century from 1999 until July, 2017. He has written this blog, wall writings.me, since it was launched April 27, 2008. If you would like to receive Wall Writings alerts when new postings are added to this site, ship a note, saying, Please Add together Me, to jameswall8@gmail.com Biography: Journalism was Jim's undergraduate college major at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. He has earned two MA degrees, i from Emory, and one from the University of Chicago, both in religion. He is an ordained United Methodist clergy person. He served for 2 years in the United states Air Forcefulness, and three additional years in the USAF reserve. While serving on active duty with the Alaskan Command, he reached the rank of outset lieutenant. He has worked every bit a sports writer for both the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, was editor of the United Methodist magazine, Christian Abet for 10 years, and editor and publisher of the Christian Century magazine for 27 years.

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Source: https://wallwritings.me/2015/06/16/what-happens-to-a-dream-deferred/