The working class lost our brother Philip Levine, the former Poet Laureate of the United States. Philip Levine was the first Poet Laureate to speak at the AFL-CIO, in November 2011. Philip Levine told our stories, capturing the voices of the men and women who are our country. Philip Levine told what it was like to forge gears and axles, to sell insurance, to load trucks and to survive a riot. And he gave the literary world a glimpse of the bitter humor of the factory, the mine, and the warehouse.
Philip Levine was the heartbeat of America. He had no use for privilege or power. One of Philip Levine’s favorite quotes was from the Spanish workers’ leader Durruti, who said “we carry a new world here in our hearts. That world is growing this minute.”
That is the spirit in which we will remember our brother, Philip Levine.
Contact: Josh Goldstein (202) 637-5018