Chapter 1a: Poems of Racial Uplift, 1890-1899
What are poems of Racial Uplift? In a nutshell, these are poems that aim to represent hope, progress, and empowerment in the Black community. Poems in this vein tend to be socially engaged and responsive to historical events, including severely challenging problems connected to institutionalized racism. However, rather than expressing anger or frustration, poems of Racial Uplift place a strong emphasis on the potential power and solidarity possible for African American communities looking forward. They are sometimes written by folks associated with newly emerging Black colleges and universities, including the Tuskegee Institute, Atlanta University (today Clark Atlanta), Wilberforce, Howard, Lincoln, or Spelman College, to name just a few. They might also be inspired by theological undercurrents and Biblical imagery connected to the Black church.
The best way to get a handle on what poems of racial uplift are like is to read a few! Here are some examples:
1. Let’s start with a classic poem exploring “uplift” quite literally, Gertrude Mossell’s “Tell the North That We Are Rising.” This is a poem that reworks a poem by a well-known White poet named John Greenleaf Whittier, “Howard at Atlanta” (read Whittier’s original poem here). Whittier’s poem described a historical incident where a young boy was attending the opening of a new Black university, Atlanta University. When a northern soldier asked “What shall I tell the children Up North about you?” a young boy spontaneously replied, “Tell ‘em we’re rising.” Here is the poem, which begins with two stanzas from Whittier’s earlier poem.
Gertrude Mossell, "Tell The North That We Are Rising" (1894)
At the laying of the corner-stone of Atlanta University in 1879 occurred the incident recorded in the following lines.
From Whittier: “There was the human chattel
Its manhood taking;
There in each dark brain statue,
A soul was waking,
The man of many battles,
The tears his eyelids pressing,
Stretched over those dusky foreheads
His one-armed blessing.
“And he said: “Who hears can never
Fear for nor doubt you;
What shall I tell the children
Up North about you?"
Then ran round a whisper, a murmur,
Some answer devising;
And a little boy stood up—“Massa,
Tell 'em we're rising.”
[Mosell's poem begins here:]
Tell the North that we are rising;
Tell this truth throughout the land-
Tell the North that we are rising--
Rising at our God's command.
Could the bravest say it better?
Was the child a prophet sent?
From the mouths of babes and sucklings
Are the words of wisdom lent.
Tell the North that we are rising;
East and West the tidings go;
Tell this truth throughout the nation-
Tell it to both friend and foe.
Tell our true and tried friend Lincoln,
Tell our Grant and Sumner true–
Tell them each that we are rising,
Knowing we have work to do.
See the child before us standing,
All his heart and life aglow,
Backward flit the years of sorrow;
Onward hopes, bright visions flow.
All his life has lost its shadow,
Filled is it with coming light;
Hope and Faith again triumphant
Make the present glad and bright.
Thus the keynote of our future
Touched he with his childish hand;
In his words the inspiration
Lingering yet throughout the land.
And the brave old poet Whittier
Treasured up his song in verse,
That the myriads yet to follow,
Might anon the tale rehearse.
Those who then wore childhood's garland
Now are true and stalwart men;
Those who bore war's dreadful burdens,
Friend and foe have died since then.
But we still would send the message
To our friends where'er they roam,
We are rising, yea, have risen:
Future blessings yet will come.
Noble son of noble mother,
When our hearts would shrink and falter,
We yet treasure up your message,
Laying it on freedom's altar.
We with courage strive to conquer,
'Till as England's Hebrews stand
We are neither slaves nor tyrants,
But are freemen on free land.
This poem seems to be arguing that despite the painful memories of recent years (especially the bloody and divisive years of the Civil War), the future looks bright. The boy in the poem has no memory of that sorrow, and his entire orientation is toward the future. He is, for the poet, the embodiment of a happier potential future for the Black community. Alongside the boy, the famous poet himself is a character in the poem, described as a “brave old poet” whose influential account could reach thousands, if not millions, of friends and allies in the cause. Finally, the poem closes with some religious imagery – the idea of “freedom’s altar” is especially evocative, as it suggests not mere political standing but a kind of divine or holy status: something you pray to!
As a side-note, Mossell notes that the young boy in Whittier’s poem (and in hers) was a real child who was known to her – R.R. Wright, also known as Richard R. Wright, Sr. After graduating from Atlanta University some years later, Richard R. Wright Sr. would himself go on to be President of another Black College, the Georgia State Industrial College for Colored Youth (today known as Savanna State University).
And to give a little additional context about Gertrude Mossell. Alongside writing poetry, she was also a prominent journalist, teacher, and activist. She was the women’s editor of the New York Age and the Indianapolis World, both prominent Black newspapers. She had a regular column oriented toward Women, called “Our Woman’s Department,” which was printed every week in dozens of newspapers around the country.
Another poem that could fall under this category might be Olivia Ward Bush-Banks’ poem, “Honor’s Appeal To Justice,” (1899). This poem has much less in the way of historical context behind it, though it does appear to be written in response to an idea circulating in the culture at the time – the idea that Black folks were somehow predisposed to criminality.
“Honor’s Appeal to Justice” (1899)
By Olivia Ward Bush-Banks
Unjust, untrue, is he who dares
Upon our honor to intrude,
And claims that with the sin of crime
The Negro's nature is imbued.
Shall we keep silent? No; thrice No!
We stand defenseless in our cause.
If voices fail to cry aloud
And plead a right to justice's laws.
For who shall vindicate this wrong?
Who shall defend our perjured race?
We must speak out with one accord,
If we the stigma would erase.
The cruel hand that raised the lash
To strike a wronged and helpless race,
Is stained with sin of deepest dye,
And shows of brutal crime more trace.
[...]
Today, on equal ground he stands
With loyal, true, and noble men.
He loves his country, and remains
A law abiding citizen.
He shares no part in daring plot,
He scorns to hint of anarchy;
He only asks his native right;
Can this be criminality?
Then, Justice! we implore thy aid.
Thine arm can well supply our need;
Protect our name, assist our cause,
For Right and Right alone we plead.
[The above is just an excerpt. To read the full poem, please click here]
This poem takes a different approach than what we saw with the first poem above, by Gertrude Mossell. Here, the speaker is engaged in a kind of public debate with an unnamed critic who seems to suggest that African American community is predisposed to criminality (“And claims with the sin of crime / The Negro’s nature is imbued”). She begins her response with a reference to a massive historical crime – the crime of slavery itself, where people of African descent were victims. She also invokes the important role of the Black Church in shaping African American cultural norms. At the present moment, Bush-Banks suggests, Black folks are on “equal ground,” only asking for equal protection under the law (“He only asks his native right”), nothing more.
Let’s look at one more example of an Uplift poem, by Frances E.W. Harper (we’ll introduce Harper a bit more in the next section). This is a poem called “Songs for the People”:
Frances E.W. Harper, “Songs for the People” (1895)
Let me make the songs for the people,
Songs for the old and young;
Songs to stir like a battle-cry
Wherever they are sung.
Not for the clashing of sabres,
For carnage nor for strife;
But songs to thrill the hearts of men
With more abundant life.
Let me make the songs for the weary,
Amid life’s fever and fret,
Till hearts shall relax their tension,
And careworn brows forget.
Let me sing for little children,
Before their footsteps stray,
Sweet anthems of love and duty,
To float o’er life’s highway.
I would sing for the poor and aged,
When shadows dim their sight;
Of the bright and restful mansions,
Where there shall be no night.
Our world, so worn and weary,
Needs music, pure and strong,
To hush the jangle and discords
Of sorrow, pain, and wrong.
Music to soothe all its sorrow,
Till war and crime shall cease;
And the hearts of men grown tender
Girdle the world with peace.
Some of the themes here rhyme with what we saw in the poems by Mossell and Bush-Banks earlier. There is again an emphasis on reaching and inspiring children (“Let me sing for little children”), and a clear sense that what the poet wants is to inspire not outrage or frustration, but a feeling of hope and strength to weather the storm. So while she does suggest that she wants to write “songs to stir like a battle-cry,” she is clearly not interested in fomenting hostility but rather strength and solidarity. The phrase that stands out to us might be, “Songs to fill the hearts of men / With more abundant life.”
There are many more examples of poems of Progress and Racial Uplift by African American writers here from throughout this historical period, by both men and women. One can often guess at the presence of an uplift poem even from its title: “The Negro Has a Chance,” “The Dawn’s Awake!,” “Forward!”, and “Daybreak” all fit the bill quite nicely in our opinion.
While literary historians have sometimes not taken poems like these as seriously as more personal and reflective poems, examples like Mossell’s and Harper’s suggest their potential value – with simple, memorable language and imagery, they can reach thousands or millions of readers and inspire them to have hope, look towards the future, and stay the course no matter how difficult.