Sing Out, Nation of Immigrants!

Sing out, nation of IMMIGRANTS!

Sing your glorious song

Of how this country was built--

Of what made this nation strong.

 

Sing about all the challenges

And hardships our ancestors found

When trying to build their lives

And get their feet on the ground.

 

Sing of the PERSECUTION

That drove them out of fear

To abandon their native homelands

And often haunted them here.

 

Sing of the Native Americans--

Of the proud and varied nations--

Displaced from their territories,

And forced into reservations.

 

Sing of our fellow Americans

Originally brought here by force;

Let the melody echo

Kindness and REMORSE.

 

Sing of the jobless, the homeless,

Whose families suffered the bane

Of a harsh, cruel existence

And here sought relief from their pain.

 

Sing of the countless refugees

Who fled from war-torn places,

Hoping to live in PEACE

In a land of welcoming embraces.

 

Sing of the life of the immigrant

Who faced prejudice and jeers--

Whose struggles for rights and acceptance

Sometimes lasted for years.

 

Sing of the factory workers

Who worked under hellish conditions--

Whose voices were long unheard

By the deaf ears of politicians.

 

Sing of the plight of the miners

Who extracted the underground coal--

Of the dangers that they encountered

As they worked in that dark, dusty hole.

 

Sing of the laborers from Asia,

Who helped lay our tracks--that’s a fact--

And to whom we showed our thanks

With the Chinese Exclusion Act.

 

Think of the German, Norwegian...

All farmers who tilled the soil

To feed a nation that took

For granted their sweat and toil.

 

Sing of those working in fields,

Because of whose work you are able

To place with minimum effort

Fresh strawberries on your table.

 

Sing about all of the workers--

Such as the ones you hire

To do the low-paying work

Where conditions are sometimes dire.

 

Sing of the great DIVERSITY

That all people brought to this land,

Lest we forget who we are

And how to understand.

 

Sing of our immigrant nation

Before our memories fade

And we lose our self-identity,

And our actions become a charade.

 

Sing of the tired, the poor,

The “huddled masses yearning to breathe free,”

And may our behavior reflect

KINDNESS from you and from me!

 

Sing of our generous hearts

And let us eagerly guide

One another to show our compassion,

And NOT our cruel, ugly side.

(7-2-14)