APRIL IS NATIONAL POETRY MONTH!

Written by J. M. Duganne and published in 1849.

I present...

THE SONG OF TOIL

Let him who will rehearse the song

Of gentle love and bright romance;

Let him who will with tripping tongue

Lead gleaming thoughts to fancy's dance;

But let me strike mine iron harp,

As northern harps were struck of old-

And let its music, stern and sharp

Arouse the free and bold!

My hand that iron harp shall sweep,

Till from each stroke new strains recoil,

And forth the sounding echoes leap,

To join the arousing song of toil;

Till men of thought their thoughts outspeak,

And thoughts awake in kindred mind,

And stirring words shall arm the weak,

And fetters cease to bind!

And coursing, soon, o'er soul and sense,

That glorious harp, whose iron strings

Are Labor's mighty instruments,

Shall shake the thrones of mortal kings;

And ring of axe and anvil note,

And rush of plough through yielding soil,

And laboring engine's vocal throat,

Shall swell the song of toil!

 APRIL IS NATIONAL POETRY MONTH!

Published in the Louisville Newspaper on February 18, 1849. Today, I spotlight a poem written by Theodore doughty Miller, “God Never Made A Slave.”

GOD NEVER MADE A SLAVE

Ah! Dark skinned tribes though black we be,

God, our creator, made us free;

To all HE life and being gave,

But never, never made a slave.

His works, all wondrous to behold,

Proclaim to us a power untold;

He made the sea and formed the wave,

But never, never made a slave.

He made yon sun with splendor bright,

The moon to brighten earth's dark night;

He made in power this vast concave,

But never, never made a slave.

He made all colors and all climes,

Of living things made every kind;

For all he made the common grave,

But never, never made a slave.

Though Adam sin brought pain and death,

Yet life came with Christ's dying breath;

From henceforth heaven and hell may rave,

His blood speaks freedom to the slave.

For all He sent His son to be

The Great High Priest of Liberty,

From sin's strong chains our soul to save,

And break the fetters of the slave.

All men are equal in His sight,

The bond, the free, the black, the white;

He made them all--all freedom gave--

God made the man, man made the slave.

But glorious tidings of great joy!

Yon kingdom beams without alloy;

And while we view that "crystal sea."

We'll shout, praise God, we're free! we're free!

 APRIL IS NATIONAL POETRY MONTH!

The North Star to Freedom!

Today, the spotlight shines on a poem published in 1848, written by S. S. W.

THE NORTH STAR

Oh, hark! what voice the silence breaks!
What accents are new those we hear!

List, freeman, 'tis chatted speaks!--

It chatted's voice salute your ear.

Bursting the bonds that him confined,

From darkness sprung a giant mind:

Yes, he's escaped from slavery's den,

And guides the North Star with his pen.

Hail, beam-light of liberty!

With joy we greet thy ray afar,

And pray that thou mayest ever be

Freedom's unchanging polar star.

We longed had looked upon the skies,

To see the Star of Hope arise,

And shed upon it the bleeding slave,

Its cheering ray this side of the grave.

And, now, behold! far in the north,

Near where the lion bears his sway,

A brilliant Star is beaming forth,

Cheering the down-trod with its ray.

It shines upon the fugitive;

It bids the slave take heart and live;

For soon--ah! soon, may come the day,

When he shall bask in Freedom's ray.

Unchanged, unchanging, ever shine,

On this benighted land of ours;

Until the force of Truth divine

Shall break the proud oppressor's powers;:

Till man shall walk the verdant sod,

In the blest image of his God,

Free and untrammelled --then thy ray

May well be lost in Freedom's day.

 APRIL IS NATIONAL POETRY MONTH!

A Scholar, an Educator, a Lawyer, an Abolitionist, Essayist, and Poet.

New York's first African American Attorney.

George B. Vashon was born in 1829 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. The only son of the renowned abolitionist John Bathan Vashon. George attended his father's school until 1837 when he went to public school. In 1844, George B. Vashon was the first African American to graduate from Oberlin Collegiate Institute, doing so with valedictory honors.

A fighter for emancipation and a champion of education. George B. Vashon's accomplishments and contributions to the African American race will forever be immortalized.

Without further ado, I present to you a poem written in 1848...

SEASONS

First Spring came tripping on from Southern bowers,

And strewed her sunny path from fragrant flowers,

Bade the still brook from out of its torpor wake,

And freed, from icy bonds, the captive lake,

Then smiling back upon the smiling land,

Resigned the rule to SUMMER'S warmer hand.

Earth in the genial change rejoicing much,

Glowed like a picture 'neath a Guido's touch,

And Lovelier grew with each succeeding day,

Till Autumn seized the scepter and the sway.

She, to enhance the beauty of the scene,

Tinged with rich brown each leaflet's brilliant green.

Cast o'er the land her sad yet lovely smile,

Then sank beneath dread Winter's chilling wile.--

Dread winter, who, with no kind of feeling warm,

Evoked in envious rage the belighting storm;

And conscious that no gift she could bestow,

To Equal Summer's, Spring's, or Autumn’s glow,

Blew spitefully her freezing beneath on all,

And strove to crush earth 'neath her snowy pall.

 APRIL IS NATIONAL POETRY MONTH!

Today, the spotlight shines on a poem published in 1848, written by Robert Nicol.

THE BURSTING OF THE CHAIN

An Anthem For The Third Centenary Of The Reformation

An offering to the shrine of power

Our hands shall never bring--

A garland on the ear of Pomp

Our hands should never fling--

Applauding in the conqueror’s path,

Our voice ne'er shall be;

But we have hearts to honor those

Who bade the world go free!

Stern Ignorance man's soul had bound,

In fetters, rusted o'er

With tears--with scalding human tears,

And red with human gore;

But men arose--the men to whom

We bead the freeman's knee,

Who, God-encouraged-burst the chain,

And made our fathers free!

Light dwelt where darkness crst had been,

The morn of Mind arose--

The dawning of that day of Love

Which never more shall close:

Joy grew more joyful, and more green

The valley and the lea;

The glorious sun from Heaven looked down,

And smiled upon the free!

Truth came and made its home below;

And Universal Love,

And Brotherhood, and Peace, and Joy,

Are following from above;

And happy ages on the earth

Humanity shall see;

And happy lips shall bless their name,

Who made our children free!

Praise to God-the Pure-the Great,

Who made us what we are!

Who lit the flame which yet shall glow

With radiance brighter far:

Glory to them in coming time,

And through eternity!

They burst the captive's galling chain,

And bade the world go free!

       GO SETAPHIRE TODAY!     

Purchase Your Copy of BLACK CROSS Today!

Paperback Now Available @BarnesAndNoble.Com

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/black-cross-nicole-hammett/1140532427?ean=9781668593448

BLACK CROSS

Stage Play by Nicole Hammett

Cover Illustrated by Nicole Hammett

A tie-in with the SETAPHIRE SERIES!

BLACK CROSS

The New Negro Movement. Back to Africa Movement. Harlem 1921. Home of the Black family. Black Cross tells the story of the becoming of Alice-Paul Black. Wife of Rufus Black, mother of Willie and Junior Black, daughter of Mamie Johnson.

Born a dark-skinned Negro woman. 

Disallowed the right to dream.

Black Cross tells the story of Alice-Paul Black’s willingness to no longer accept who her husband allows her to be. Who her mother tells her she needs to be. Who the world says that she is. It took a long time for Alice-Paul Black to find her voice. She’s going to tell you who she ain’t.

        GO SETAPHIRE TODAY! 

Paperback Now Available @BarnesAndNoble.Com

Purchase Your Copy of SetaPhire: Mandela

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/setaphire-nicole-hammett/1140532426?ean=9781668587218

Commemorating and Celebrating the life of Marcus Mosiah Garvey!

SetaPhire: Mandela

What is the purpose of your life? 

What are you supposed to Setaphire to?

Mandela’s journey begins

More than Setaphire’s best friend. Born Francesca Xnonymous in Kingston, Jamaica. On Francesca's 11th birthday, she’s given the truth as a gift. Her name is not Francesca Xnonymous, it’s Mandela Xnonymous. Mandela will leave her bittersweet paradise behind and move to a foreign land to attend a prestigious elite academy.

Modeled on a Black History curriculum and Marcus Garvey's philosophies. The Academy provides support and guidance as the instructors wade the chosen through the tempestuous of self-doubt to the realization that they are Black Beauty and Black Excellence!