I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong.
"I, Too, Sing America," in the magazine Survey Graphic (March 1925); reprinted in Selected Poems (1959)
They'll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed — I, too, am America.
"I, Too, Sing America," in the magazine Survey Graphic (March 1925); reprinted in Selected Poems (1959)
The night is beautiful,So are the faces of my people.
"My People," in the magazine Poems in Crisis (October 1923); reprinted in The Weary Blues (1926)
I've known rivers: I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins. My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
"The Negro Speaks of Rivers," from The Weary Blues (1926)
I've known rivers: Ancient, dusky rivers. My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
"The Negro Speaks of Rivers," from The Weary Blues (1926)
The stars went out and so did the moon.The singer stopped playing and went to bedWhile the Weary Blues echoed through his head.He slept like a rock or a man that's dead.
"The Weary Blues," from The Weary Blues (1926)
Way Down South in Dixie(Break the heart of me)They hung my black young loverTo a cross roads tree.
"Song for a Dark Girl" (l. 1-4), from Fine Clothes to the Jew (1927)
Love is a naked shadowOn a gnarled and naked tree.
Song for a Dark Girl (l. 11-12), from Fine Clothes to the Jew (1927)
While over Alabama earthThese words are gently spoken:Serve — and hate will die unborn.Love — and chains are broken.
"Alabama Earth (at Booker Washington's grave)," from the anthology Golden Slippers: An Anthology of Negro Poetry for Young Readers (1941), ed. Arna Bontemps
Hold fast to dreamsFor if dreams dieLife is a broken-winged birdThat cannot fly.
"Dreams," from the anthology Golden Slippers: An Anthology of Negro Poetry for Young Readers, ed. Arna Bontemps (1941)
Philip James Villapiano (born February 26, 1949 in
Long Branch, New JerseyLong Branch is a city in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 30,719.Long Branch was formed on April 11, 1867, as the Long Branch Commission, from portions of Ocean Township...
) is a former
American footballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
linebackerA linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...
in the
NFLThe National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
. He played in four
Pro BowlIn professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...
s and was a part of the
Oakland RaidersThe Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
Super Bowl XISuper Bowl XI was a football game played on January 9, 1977 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California to decide the National Football League champion following the 1976 regular season...
winning team.
Villapiano played
high school footballHigh school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....
at both
Asbury Park High SchoolAsbury Park High School is a comprehensive, four-year community public high school headquartered in a landmark building in Asbury Park, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, constructed during the New Deal as a model high school campus...
and
Ocean Township High SchoolOcean Township High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in Ocean Township, in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, as part of the Ocean Township School District...
. He lived in
Ocean Township, Monmouth County, New JerseyOcean Township is a township located in east central Monmouth County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 27,291.Oakhurst and Wanamassa Ocean Township is a township located in east central Monmouth County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census,...
. Phil has three children, Andrea, Phil, and Michael. His nephew, Joe, is currently the running backs coach at
Harvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
.
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