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‘Like air, I’ll rise’: Ilhan Omar and others on words to conquer hate


Ilhan Omar responded to racist chants by posting a Maya Angelou poem. Image: U.S. House Office of Photography

Last week, after a chant of “send her back” broke out at a Trump rally in North Carolina, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar responded by posting some lines from the Maya Angelou poem Still, like air, I’ll rise on Twitter.

At this troubling moment in America, when vitriolic speech is dominating the conversation, the Guardian and PEN America reached out to high-profile writers and asked them to share inspiring lines from poems or literature about overcoming hatred and racism.

Andrew Solomon chose this line from Emma Lazarus’s letter collection Epistle to the Hebrews:

“Until we are all free, we are none of us free.”

(To read other contributions, and to offer one of your own, please visit The Guardian.)