the artist...

"I have been in the world, but not of it. I have seen the human drama from a veiled corner where all the outer tragedy and comedy have reproduced themselves in microcosm within. From this inner torment of souls the human scene without has interpreted itself to me in unusual and even illuminating ways." -William Edward B. Du Bois.

Its been awhile that I buried my face into books since the last time I read the enchanting stories in "How They Met" by Joey Green, when my big boss at work gave it to me as a Christmas present. And so out of the hope to fill my empty mind , I grabbed another collection that I bought already a month ago as my classmate in graduate school handed it down to me, while we were fortunate to avail books on sale during the "kadayawan Festival" recently held here in Davao. I started reading Du Bois' "Darkwater". Here's an excerpt that goes...

" I believe in pride of race and lineage and self; in pride of lineage so great as to despise no man's father; in pride of race so chivalrous as neither to offer bastardy to the weak nor beg wedlock of the strong, knowing that men may be brothers in Christ, even though they may not be brothers-in-law. I believe in Liberty for all men; the space to stretch their arms and their souls, the right to breathe and the right to vote, the freedom to choose their friends, enjoy the sunshine, and ride on the railroads,uncursed by color; thinking, dreaming, working as they will in a kingdom of beauty and love."

Du Bois is an African-American, an artist and a real intellectual man so proud of his race. He was a civil rights leader who aimed to bring just and fight against discrimination and economic exploitation of the mostly wrongly interpreted black people of his time. And indeed he'd proven his lot.

..such an artist who aimed no more than his own glory but to his fellowmen. And that there is real victory in every one of us; a blood and a race worth fighting for.