Fenton Johnson, "Children of the Sun" (1913)
We are children of the sun, Rising sun!
Weaving Southern destiny,
Waiting for the mighty hour
When our Shiloh shall appear
With the flaming sword of right,
With the steel of brotherhood,
And emboss in crimson die
Liberty! Fraternity!
II.
We are the star-dust folk,
Striving folk!
Sorrow songs have lulled to rest;
Seething passions wrought through wrongs,
Led us where the moon rays dip
In the night of sulle despair,
Showed us wher ethe star gleams shine,
And the mystic symbols glow--
Liberty! Fraternity!
III.
We have come through cloud and mist,
Mighty men!
Dusk has kissed our sleep-born eyes,
Reared us for a mystic throne
In the splendor of the skies,
That shall always be for us,
Children of the Nazarene,
Children who shall ever sing
Liberty! Fraternity!
First published in The Crisis, December 1913