“I Look at the World”

At a crucial precipice, each generation must take up the question Langston Hughes asks in this short poem: can “our hands make the world that’s in our minds”?

“I Awaken The World”
By Langston Hughes

I look at the world
From awakening eyes in a black face—
And this is what I see:
This fenced-off narrow space
Assigned to me.

I look then at the silly walls
Through dark eyes in a dark face—
And this is what I know:
That all these walls oppression builds
Will have to go!

I look at my own body
With eyes no longer blind—
And I see that my own hands can make
The world that’s in my mind.
Then let us hurry, comrades,
The road to find.