As President Bush was sworn in for a second term, 15 HELADA members and friends gathered in the rain at Parko Eleftherias (Freedom Park) to read "Let America be America Again", the stirring poem by African-American poet Langston Hughes.  We then walked to the monument of the American Philhellenes to lay flowers and say a few words.  Greek newspapers Eleftherotypia and Ta Nea covered the event, and MEGA TV sent a cameraman. Click here to read a great poem.

"Η ΑΜΕΡΙΚΗ ΝΑ ΞΑΝΑΓΙΝΕΙ ΑΜΕΡΙΚΗ"

Let America Be America Again

Πάρκο Ελευθερίας

Thursday, January 20, 2005,  6:30 pm

Today, January 20, 2005 at 7:00 pm Athens time, the first presidential term of George W. Bush ends and his second begins.  The inauguration is marked by lavish celebrations all around Washington DC, attended by major campaign donors, representatives of U.S. corporations, and token religious, military, and law enforcement personnel.  The estimated $40 million donated to pay for these events is a small expression of gratitude for the enormous transfer of public wealth from the many to these few over the past four years.  Many Americans believe this inaugural opulence is inappropriate.  American soldiers and innocent Iraqi citizens continue to die for a war most Americans now recognize to have been a grave mistake.

President Bush won reelection by a small margin, after a campaign that showed Americans and the world that American society is more divided now than it has been since the Vietnam War.  In response to the triumphalism of Inauguration Day, Americans are gathering all across the United States and in cities around the world to demonstrate a more generous, braver, more optimistic vision of their country.

To express their commitment to America's founding ideals of freedom and justice for all, American citizens living in Greece are meeting today at Eleftherias Park (Megaro Mousikis Metro Station).  They will read a famous poem by the black American poet Langston Hughes.  Afterwards, they will walk past the U.S. Embassy to lay flowers at the Monument to the American Philhellenes on Kyriakou Pan. Street across from the U.S. Ambassador's residence.

Langston Hughes (1902-1967) is one of the most famous American poets of the 20th century.  His poem, "Let America Be America Again" is a tribute to the power of the American dream to speak across race, ethnicity, and class.  The poem was written in 1936 during the depths of the Great Depression.  This American dream – which is indeed a universal dream –remains only a dream, unless good citizens everywhere unite to make it real.  The struggle of democratic, humane ideals against human selfishness is a permanent one. 

The event is organized by members of Hellenic American Democratic Association (HELADA), a new group founded in the wake of the 2004 U.S. Presidential elections to keep alive in Greece the energy and political commitment those elections generated. 

For information about today's event or about HELADA, please call or e-mail:

Karen Lee, editor, 210 223-6135  e-mail karen @helada.org