Literary Fiction by People of Color discussion

If We Must Die

If we must die, let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,
While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,
Making their mock at our accursèd lot.
If we must die, O let us nobly die,
So that our precious blood may not be shed
In vain; then even the monsters we defy
Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!
O kinsmen! we must meet the common foe!
Though far outnumbered let us show us brave,
And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow!
What though before us lies the open grave?
Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!

Claude McKay

I love this sonnet. I used it when I was a drama teacher for an after-school program(some years ago)in a play I created for the students forDr. Martin Luther King. I also, used Caged Bird, Still I Rise, and Dream Deferred plus Dr.King's "Dream" speech.

Sandra wrote: "I love this sonnet. I used it when I was a drama teacher for an after-school program(some years ago)in a play I created for the students forDr. Martin Luther King. I also, used Caged Bird, Still..."
Sounds wonderful, Sandra.