Remember those who grew this food
Who picked and packed
Who shipped and sold.
Bronze rainbow arms
Have set this food upon our table.
Remember those who built this house
Assembled, weaved, created
Light and warmth and health.
Remember those who fought and died
To break the king’s command, the slaver’s yoke
And slay the Nazi beast.
Remember those who walked in darkness
Eyes on the gourd and the Trail of Tears,
Marching in Selma, martyred in Memphis
They can’t kill the dream, Jesús y Maria,
Che on his cross in the Andean highlands
Shot in the stadium, pushed from the airplane
Martyrs for freedom
And America.
Never forget
Our ancient foe
His craft and power,
His cruel hate
His endless thirst
Through blood and oil
For profit, profit
Uber alles.
Remember those whose songs of love
Restore us still
Pablo, Diego, Woody and Giant Paul
Mus’ keep on fightin’, Comrades all
Remember those who grew this food
Who mined and forged
Who sang and loved
Who fought and died
Who made all wealth
All honor and glory,
All power and peace
Be unto you
Be unto you.
Originally published in 2006 by People’s Weekly World.
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Author
Rick Nagin, Ohio correspondent for the People's World, has written for the paper and its predecessors since 1970. He has been active for many years in Cleveland politics and the labor movement.
He helped elect Cleveland's first Hispanic city councilman and served as his Executive Assistant for over seven years. Rick has run for public office a number of times and received 45 percent of the vote in a race for City Council in 2009. He is the Democratic Leader in Cleveland Ward 14 and serves on the County Democratic Party Executive Committee.
A member of The Newspaper Guild, Communications Workers of America, he is a delegate to the North Shore AFL-CIO Federation of Labor and serves on its Political Coordinators and Labor Day Parade committees. He is on the Executive Board of the Greater Cleveland Labor Council for Latin American Advancement and represents the People's World on the steering committee of Cleveland Jobs With Justice.
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