Anna Elizabeth Cofer, "The Future of the Negro" (1902)
Is a question often asked,
Will we, the Negro, ever see
Our hidden pow'r unmasked?
Yes, we were once a hopeless race;
And with us the mem'ry lives;
A race that did not dare to taste
The joy that freedom gives.
But now, we are free at last,
Free, by God's will divine;
Threw off the chains that held us fast
To cope with all mankind.
To be a Negro is no disgrace;
A Negro bold and true;
True to his God, and to his race,
His duty quick to do.
This kind of Negro is the man.
That's sure to win at last;
If more of these were in the land,
We'd soon blot out the past.
Other men are laboring hard
To reach the goal of fame;
And we will find a sure reward,
If we strive to do the same.
If we would only be inspired
By the example our Douglass set,
Our wand'ring brother's footsteps guide,
To all that's good and great.
And if we would attain success,
And conquer in the strife,
This motto will always be the best,
"Have some true aim in life."
Our standard of right must be so high,
That we'll loath to stoop to wrong;
That we'll do the right, the wrong defy,
Though weak-- our purpose strong.
And after the darkness, the sunshine
Will the pathway of our lives illume;
And blessed peace will all enshrine
In its eternal home.
Then, let our minds be nobly set,
To do the best we can.
And we shall never once regret
That we made our future grand.
Published in Colored American Magazine, June 1902