Bettiola Heloise Forston, "Queen of Our Race" (1915)
Dedicated to Mrs. Ida B. Wells-Barnett
Mrs. Ida B. Wells-Barnett. our prominent race and club leader, refused to be "Jim Crowed" in the Suffragette parade in Washington, D. C. Being a delegate from the Illinois Suffragette Wovement, Mrs. Barnett protested against any such laws and was given her place with the Illinois Suffragettes. It was these facts that gave the inspiration to the writer for the following poem:
Side by side with the whites she walked,
Step after step the Southerners balked,
But Illinois, fond of order and grace,
Stuck to the black Queen of our race.
Mile after mile the throng moved on,
Soon there was heard a familiar song,
Right about face and give her space!
And its echo reached the Queen of our race.
To-day the grand old march is o'er,
There are many white women sore:
Because of their prejudice to trace
The dignity of the Queen of our race.
Still in their minds there is a thought,
And deep in their hearts a lesson taught:
Not to worry one's self about another's place;
Thus victory is won for the Queen of our race.
'Tis true, they're able at this age to bar--
But justice will soon send the doors ajar
And sit the black and whites face to face
There will be seen the Queen of our race.
Page after page in history you'll read
Of one who was ready and able to lead,
Who set the nation on fire with her pace
And the Heroine will be the Queen of our race.
Published in Mental Pearls, 1915