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I want to begin my speech today with a poem. If you are not a student of American classical literature this is one that's probably unfamiliar to you but it is regarded as possibly one of the best literary works of the modern age. It is the poem Evangeline: A Tale of Acadia by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The full text to this magnificent and emotional piece can be found here:

http://www.readbookonline.net/title/3207/

It's rather a long poem (a short novel, really) so I will of course sum it up here for those who don't know it.

Evangeline describes the betrothal of an Acadian girl named Evangeline Bellefontaine to her beloved, Gabriel Lajeunesse, and their separation as the British deport the Acadians from Acadie in the Great Upheaval. Many say the most touching (and certainly most memorable) is set in St. Martinsville, Louisiana. Gabriel promises to meet Evangeline beneath a great oak tree in town but never comes. Evangeline then has her heart truly broken and sobs uncontrollably beneath the towering oak. The poem then follows Evangeline across the landscapes of America as she spends years in a search for him. Finally she settles in Philadelphia and, as an old woman, works as a nun among the poor. While tending the dying during an epidemic she finds Gabriel among the sick, and he dies in her arms.

(Mostly copied from the Wikipedia entry at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangeline)

I wrote this speech with this story in mind but then realized many of the players probably wouldn't understand it's significance and so I am trying to explain it as best I can. With this serving as my backdrop, let me begin...

Deus Ex stands outside of the simple capital building of the Revolutionary Province of Mmabatho. The building, reflecting the simple glory of South Africa and it's people before the current political crisis, has a large oak tree outside of it that is a bit of a fixture for the city. In front of a crowd of thousands who have turned out, Deus stands beneath the great and towering oak and begins to speak...

"My friends...we are upon hard times. No easier than they were ever before and so much for difficult for the vast majority of us. Our country is split in half and in ruins, the markets particularly that of Gifts are in crisis, and there is a war in the streets and indeed in our own hearts over the current unelected leadership of this great nation. I cannot help but feel like Evangeline in Longfellow's poem. As she sought and searched for her lost love so do we search for Zion in this ruinous Babylon.

It is here under a great oak such as this where Evangeline waited for her lover, Gabriel, who never came. This oak is an immortal spot, made so by Longfellow's poem, but Evangeline is not the only one who has waited here in disappointment.

Where are the schools that you have waited for your children to have, that have never come?

Where are the roads, highways, and hospitals that you send your money to build, that are no nearer now than ever before?

Where are the institutions to care for the sick and disabled?

Where are the gift circles, government wellness system, good wages, and fairly regulated economy the politicians here have always talked about but never delivered?

Evangeline wept bitter tears in her disappointment, but it lasted only through one lifetime. Your tears in this country, around this oak, have lasted for generations. Give me, and BLF, the chance to dry the eyes of those who still weep here."




Vote Deus Ex for Mayor of Mmabatho and keep BLF and the Glorious Struggle in your thoughts and Hearts always.

Thank You.

(A picture of the real oak tree from the poem can be found here:
http://www.lsuagcenter.com/MCMS/RelatedFiles/%7BD642FE60-B4EF-4BF6-823F-1A247D506207%7D/evangelineoak.jpg)