DRUM MAJOR FOR A DREAM 23

Now that he is safely dead 

Let us praise him 

Build monuments to his glory 

Sing hosannas to his name

Dead men make 

Such convenient heroes. 

They cannot rise

To challenge the images

We wouldfashion from their lives 

And besides,

It is easier to build monuments 

Than to make a better world. 

So, now that he is safely dead

We, with eased consciences 

Will teach our children 

That he was a great man … knowing 

That the cause for which he lived

Is still a cause

And the dream for which he died Is still a dream,

A dead man’s dream.

– CARL WENDELL HIMES JR.