I Am Blessed; I Am America

I am blessed; I am America

I am December 1773;

I am the Boston Tea Party

I am blessed; I am America

I am the American Revolutionary War  

I am Thomas Jefferson’s

Declaration of Independence:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

I am Francis Bellamy; I penned the pledge:

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

I am blessed; I am America

I am the woman’s suffrage movement

I am Elizabeth Cady and Susan B Anthony

I am the nineteenth amendment of the constitution:       

“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by . . . on account of sex”.

Like Langston Hughes, (at times)

I am America’s Heartbreak

Yet still, I am blessed; I am America

WATCH Dr. Hyman recite her “I Am Blessed; I Am America” poem below or on Facebook by clicking here:

Dr. Ramona L. Hyman is a writer, speaker, and professor “whose words are powerful memories for us to walk in the 21st century,” says Sonia Sanchez. Presently, Hyman serves as Chair and Professor of the Department of English and Foreign Languages at Oakwood University. Dr. Hyman is a graduate of Temple University (BA), Andrews University (MA), and earned her PhD from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa.

She is the author of I Am Black America, where this poem originally appeared. Of her literary work, African American critic Dr. Joyce Joyce says, “Hyman challenges audiences to explore a poetic imagination grounded in a feel for the southern landscape, African-American literary and political history, Black spirituality, and a creative fusion of Black folk speech with a Euro-American poetic vernacular. Dr. Ramona L. Hyman emerges as a strong Black intellectual poetic voice.”

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

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