Brotherhood
This poem says it all for our nation.
Brotherhood
by Georgia Douglas Johnson
Come, brothers all!
Shall we not wend
The blind-way of our prison-world
By sympathy entwined?
Shall we not make
The bleak way for each other's sake
Less rugged and unkind?
O let each throbbing heart repeat
The faint note of another's beat
To lift a chanson for the feet
That stumble down life's checkered street.
From President Ronald Reagan’s July 4 speech of 1986
He was referring to Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, political opponents but framers and signers of the Declaration of Independence:
“It was their last gift to us, this lesson in brotherhood, in tolerance for each other, this insight into America’s strength as a nation. And when both died on the same day within hours of each other, that date was July 4th, 50 years exactly after that first gift to us, the Declaration of Independence.”
Which of these two Christmas Messages conveys brotherhood:
From Reuters News, December 25, 2024
Outgoing President Biden urged Americans to find a moment of "quiet reflection" to remind themselves to treat each other with dignity and respect, to "live in the light," and to remember there was more to unite than divide Americans.
Incoming President-elect, Donald Trump "Merry Christmas to the Radical Left Lunatics, who are constantly trying to obstruct our Court System and our Elections
The Meaning of Brotherhood
The power of human communion is what Georgia Douglas Johnson's poem Brotherhood invites us to draw on. It calls our attention to the same struggles of life and calls us to walk beside each other with compassion. According to the poem, life is not easy, and there are challenges. But it does show us that life can also be good if we acknowledge our humanity and help the ones who fall along the way.
The poem is all about empathy. To be a brother is to feel another person's pain or happiness as if we did our own. This kinship is the song, the cadence, the music of survival that breaks the isolation of the process. The poet says life's violence is bearable if we listen to others. In this caregiving, even the most rocky of tracks become less scary.
Fundamentally, the poem is a call to consider the strength of collective action. In loving each other, we have a force field of good. Kindness, burden, or a mere acknowledgment of someone else's pain can relieve one from life's pain. Brotherhood, then, is a necessity, not a virtue, about living and acting with dignity and respect.
The poet's lyrical message is long ago and still poignant. In a polarized world and nation, Brotherhood reminds us that we are all part of the same family. It teaches us to be empathetic, bring insight, and remember that life is not a walk in the park. Standing up to one another makes the world less envious, where no one is unsupported in their steps.
This writer believes that Trump creates divisiveness and hostility rather than respect, dignity, and kindness. He is the direct opposite of what Presidents Reagan and Biden stood for.
