Ekphrasis of "Song of the Towers," Aaron Douglas, 1934

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 Ekphrasis of “Song of the Towers,” Aaron Douglas, 1934


In the depths of a city canyon, the impersonal gear of the economy grinds on, favoring the few, failing the many.

Clutching green tendrils, illusions of money, float through the scene like seaweed, and portray accurately the Depression-era economy as under water.

A black man runs for his life atop the teeth of the grinding gear. 

He grasps in his hand a green briefcase, the blacks' unfairly meager share of the country’s economy. 

His arm upraised in protection, he attempts to ward-off a monstrous, skeletal hand threatening to crush him or flick him into the abyss where a dazed, endangered brother has fallen.

Yet he strives to keep up.

Rising above the gear, buoyed by his music, the sax player sees beyond the city towers to the Light above.

His music radiates out in colorful, concentric circles of hope and inspiration.

At the center of the innermost circle, yet far-off in the distance, removed from the struggles of the people, is the Statue of Liberty.

Her dreams for all as yet unrealized, Lady Liberty, the Ideal, watches the Real play out.

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