Katherine D. Tillman, "Ida B. Wells" (1902)
Thank God, there are hearts in England
That feel for the Negro's distress,
And gladly give of their substance
To seek for his wrongs a redress!
Speed on the day when the lynchers
No more shall exist in our land,
When even the poorest Negro
Protected by justice shall stand.
When no more the cries of terror
Shall break on the midnight air,
While poor and defenseless Negroes
Surrender their lives in despair.
When the spirit of our inspired Lincoln,
Wendell Phillips and Summer brave
Shall enkindle a spirit of justice
And our race from oppression save.
When loyal hearts of the Southland
With those of the North, tried and true,
Shall give to the'struggling Negro
That which is by nature his due.
And the cloud that threatens our land
Shall pale beneath Liberty's sun,
And in a prosperous future
Be atoned the wrongs to us done.
Go on, thou brave woman leader,
Spread our wrongs from shore to shore,
Until clothed with his rights is the Negro,
And lynchings are heard of no more.
And centuries hence the children
Sprung up from the Hamitic race
On history's unwritten pages
Thy daring deeds shall trace.
And the Afro-American mother
Who of Negro history tells
Shall speak in words of grateful praise
Of the noble Ida B. Wells!
Published in Tillman's Recitations, 1902