African American Women Poets from 1746 to the Harlem Renaissance

Race and gender have denied many their rightful place in the canon of humanity's arts.In today's world, in the blink of an electronic pulse, words can be transported across continents and peoples and all too easily lost in the ever-growing mass of disposable culture of 'me-me-me' and 'more- more-more'. We can all be 'woke' be 'politically correct' be outraged at a transgression or even a slight. Everything means something to someone. But, once again, more modern times miss the reality of what others in previous generations suffered in the battle for equality and recognition. In America, to be black and a woman over the years this volume covers, was to be chattel, to be bartered, sold, trafficked and used for no more than the whims of others.It was a harsh reality, and yet...., and yet, these women produced verse that sears our souls with the ambition to tell others, to share with us all, what life was like, what was endured and the heartbreak of what their reality was. They could not be overcome; their voice sought to endure and not be smothered. Words are powerful weapons, they form ideas, they create movements and manifestos that can change the world. Many of the women in this volume added to those words, to that desire that the words of their Constitution would someday include themselves. The fight is not yet wholly won, prejudice and inequality still single them out but the flame of hope, of destiny continues to burn fiercely with their names. Their poetry is not solely of protest but rich in a range of subjects embracing tenderness, love, family and includes works by Alice Dunbar Nelson, Frances W Harper, Phyllis Wheatley, Zora Neale Hurston, Esther Popel, Clarissa Scott Delany and many others whose voice voices call to us through the years.01 - African American Women Poets from 1746 to the Harlem Renaissance - An Introduction02 - Bars Fight by Lucy Terry03 - On Virtue by Phyllis Wheatley04 - To a Lady and Her Children on the Death of Her Son and Their Brother by Phyllis Wheatley05 - An Hymn to the Morning by Phyllis Wheatley06 - An Hymn to the Evening by Phyllis Wheatley07 - Bury Me in a Free Land by Frances E W Harper08 - My Mother's Kiss by Frances E W Harper09 - The Slave Trade Girl's Address to Her Mother by Sarah Louisa Forten10 - Burial of Sarah by Frances E W Harper11 - Reflections, Written On Visiting the Grave of a Venerated Friend by Ann Plato12 - The Natives of America by Ann Plato13 - The Angel's Visit by Charlotte L Forten Grimke14 - Disappointment by May E Tucker15 - Light In Darkness by Mary E Tucker16 - Hope by Mary E Tucker17 - Drifts That Bar My Door by Adah Isaacs Menken18 - Infelix by Adah Isaacs Menken19 - Aspiration by Adah Isaacs Menken20 - The Coming Woman by Mary Weston Fordham21 - In Memorium. Alphonse Campbell Fordham by Mary Weston Fordham22 - Aspiration by Henrietta Cordelia Ray23 - Life by Henrietta Cordelia Ray24 - Scraps of Time by Charlotte E Linden25 - Brave Man and Brave Woman by Charlotte E Linden26 - What Constitutes A Negro by Eva Carter Buckner27 - Thine Own by Josephine Delphine Henderson Heard28 - The Black Sampson by Josephine Delphine Henderson Heard29 - The Singer and the Song (To Paul Laurence Dunbar) by Carrie Williams Clifford30 - The Widening Light by Carrie Williams Clifford31 - The Door of Hope by Lizelia Augusta Jenkins Moorer32 - Negro Heroines by Lizelia Augusta Jenkins Moorer33 - The Voice of the Negro by Lizelia Augusta Jenkins Moorer34 - The Angel's Message by Clara Ann Thompson35 - Not Dead, But Sleeping by Clara Ann Thompson36 - Treasured Mome'nts by Olivia Ward Bush Banks37 - When Mandy Combs Her Head by Katherine Chapman Tillman38 - Emancipation by Priscilla Jane Thompson39 - To A Deceased Friend by Priscilla Jane Thompson40 - Ain't That Hard. Transcribed by Christine Rutledge of the Carolina Singers 187341 - The Gospel Train. Transcribed by Christine Rutledge of the Carolina Singers 187342 - The Prettiest Thing That I Ever Did. Transcribed by Christine Rutledge of the Carolina Singers 187343 - I Sit and Sew by Alice Dunbar Nelson44 - Sonnet by Alice Dunbar-Nelson45 - In Memoriam by Alice Dunbar Nelson46 - Impressions by Alice Dunbar Nelson47 - At the Grave of the Forgotten by Effie Waller Smith48 - Preparation by Effie Waller Smith49 - Tenebris by Angelina Weld Grimké50 - The Black Finger by Angelina Weld Grimké51 - The Eyes of My Regret by Angelina Weld Grimké52 - The Heart of A Woman by Georgia Douglas Johnson53 - Transpositions by Georgia Douglas Johnson54 - When I Rise Up by Georgia Douglas Johnson55 - Translation by Anne Spencer56 - White Things by Anne Spencer57 - La Vie C'est la Vie by Jessie Fauset58 - Dead Fires by Jessie Fauset59 - Sometimes by Maggie Pogue Johnson60 - The Negro Has A Chance by Maggie Pogue Johnson61 - Journey's End by Zora Neale Hurston62 - That Hill by Blanche Taylor Dickinson63 - To an Icicle by Blanche Taylor Dickinson64 - Flag Salute by Esther Popel65 - The Mask by Clarissa Scott Delany66 - Joy by Clarissa Scott Delany67 - To Usward by Gwendolyn B Bennett68 - Epitaph by Gwendolyn B Bennett69 - Heritage by Gwendolyn B Bennett70 - My Africa by Gladys May Casely Hayford71 - The Serving Girl by Gladys May Casely Hayford