Camillus Darden's House, Negro History Week,
February 10, 1949
Hughes' fourth and last stop in Wilson, NC was Camillus Darden's house. There, Hughes attended a reception by Mr. and Mrs. Darden before traveling to Washington, DC. Hughes called this reception a "lovely event" in the Chicago Defender.
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FREEDOM'S PLOW
Hughes ends "Freedom's Plow" on a very positive note. He dismisses the enemies of freedom, which are the racists and the Axis powers. To end the poem, Hughes makes sure to reiterate that freedom is an American ideal and that Americans should join together in the fight against those who try to hold them back from it.
Who said those things? Americans!
Who owns those words? America!
Who is America? You, me!
We are America!
To the enemy who would conquer us from without,
We say, NO!
To the enemy who would divide
And conquer us from within,
We say, NO!
FREEDOM!
BROTHERHOOD!
DEMOCRACY!
To all the enemies of these great words:
We say, NO!
A long time ago,
An enslaved people heading toward freedom
Made up a song:
Keep Your Hand On The Plow!
Hold On!
The plow plowed a new furrow
Across the field of history.
Into that furrow the freedom seed was dropped.
From that seed a tree grew, is growing, will ever grow.
That tree is for everybody,
For all America, for all the world.
May its branches spread and shelter grow
Until all races and all peoples know its shade.
KEEP YOUR HAND ON THE PLOW!
HOLD ON!
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