Mother of Exiles (The New Colossus)

Songs From Nowhere Project

So, right now there’s a lot of ugliness going on in the US. People are using the Paris attacks as a pretext for venting their hate of Muslims, and they’re trying to block refugees from coming into the US: refugees fleeing calamity. That’s foul. Anyway, I thought I should respond. This is a recording of the Emma Lazarus poem, “The New Colossus,” set to music. For those who are unfamiliar, it is engraved on the base of the statue of liberty. Ellis Island in New York was one of the main ports of entry for immigrants to the US and refugees historically. Most of the nativists opposed to taking in Syrian refugees are descended from Irish who were fleeing starvation and who were allowed into our country, and who passed under the shadow of that statue, and this poem. Anyway, enjoy.