Tag Archives: Statue of Liberty

Mother of Exiles

 

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Emma Lazarus — November 6, 1883

Postscript: Two days ago, a publishing company in New Brunswick, Canada, terminated its contract with cartoonist Michael de Adder after a drawing he did of President Donald Trump standing over the bodies of two drowned migrants went viral on social media. After much non-signifying sound and fury of the “right,” many outlets removed the cartoon, just as they de-imaged after 12 cartoonists at Charlie Hebdo were slaughtered for cartoons of Muhammad, including the one below. 

Fuck that.  If you’re not exercising your First Amendment rights, give them to someone who will.