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• 1 2022-01-11T10:30:54-05:00 Olivia Ward Bush-Banks: Author Page 6 plain 2023-05-09T07:42:20-04:00

  [The following text is a contribution by Amira Shokr. December 2020] 
  
  Olivia Ward Bush-Banks was born on February 27, 1869 in Sag Harbor, New York. Her parents being of Native American Montauk and African American descent, Bush-Banks was raised with two cultures that highly influenced her poetry. As Bush-Banks grew up her Aunt, Maria Draper, became the role model for her Native American heritage. 

  Because of Bush-Banks' Montauk ancestry she was able to attend and participate in Native cultural ceremonies and gatherings. In addition to her poetry including Native themes, Bush-Banks also wrote an unfinished play called Indian Trails which largely was based off of Montauk tradition but also represented the colonization of Native Americans through European invasion. A poem that strongly represents her Native themes is "Morning on Shinnecock" and "A Floating Spar" where Bush-Banks represents the beautiful emphasis on nature and the importance of earthly surroundings and the fierce pain of the loss of many Native nations where land was stolen and people perished at the hands of European invasion. Bush-Banks often connected her two ancestries through their common history of European colonialism and the exploitations that came as a result of that. You can find more information on Native American poetry and its influences at this scalar project by Hannah Provost.

  In 1889 Bush-Banks married Frank Bush and had two daughters by the time their marriage ended in 1895. For several years Bush-Banks raised her two daughters on her own taking up odd jobs to keep her and her children alive. These hardships greatly inspired much of her writing such as in poems like "Voices," where she always represents her strong will to keep her faith in herself and the future ahead. Her poems often represented this type of optimism despite the many hardships she faced during her life as a single mother. It was only until she remarried Anthony Banks that Bush-Banks was able to put time into developing her literary career during the Harlem Renaissance. 

  At this point in her career, Bush-Banks largely identified with her African American ancestry where she worked closely with the Harlem Renaissance movement. Including the Works Progress Administration's Federal Theatre Project in 1936, where she worked as a teacher in the Abyssinian Baptist Church Community Center in Harlem, New York. In addition to becoming a certified teacher, Bush-Banks also wrote for the New Rochelle Westchester Record-Courier as a cultural art columnist. Her poems during this period largely reflected her involvement with social justice and the New Negro Movement, such examples of this are shown in her poems "Lights Along Shore" and "Honor's Appeal to Justice."

  Bush-Banks' poetry also consisted of large themes of religion, nature, hope, history, and social justice for both of her ancestries. Poems that reflect and represent her strong connection to religion and faith are shown in "The Walk to Emmaus" and "The Moaning of The Tide". Bush-Banks often associates her strength in faith in her religious beliefs to the strength of her people and the ability to overcome the historical wrongdoings that they have had to face for centuries. 

  On April 8, 1944 Bush-Banks passed away in New York City at 75 years old. She published only two books of poetry, one play, and two poems in magazines. Both her books of poetry, Driftwood (1914) and Original Poems (1899) are part of this project and represent the many connections between Bush-Banks' bicultural upbringing. She offers a unique perspective to African American and Native American literature as her work aimed to represent the beauty and the stolen justice for both her cultures. Bush-Banks provides readers with the richness of understanding the love for heritages that represented the identities and life for so many that suffered at the hands of colonialism and enslavement.
• 1 2024-07-16T11:32:01-04:00 Chapter 1b: Revisiting American History via Poetry, 1890-1899 6 Chapter 1, Section b of Poetry by African American Women: A Reader and Guide plain 2024-07-23T15:22:18-04:00 Revisiting American History: the Legacy of Slavery, the Indian Wars, and Lynching
  
  
  The 1890s was far from a great time for African American communities in terms of race relations. The peak period for lynchings was during this era, with more than 150 lynchings per year between 1880-1901. Several poems from this period deal with racialized violence; a representative example might be Frances E.W. Harper’s “The Martyr of Alabama” (1895). 
  
  It’s important to remember that despite the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1870, Black people generally could not vote in most southern states, as the states created work arounds and various ‘tests’. Segregation was also widespread, with racial separation imposed for public accommodations like hotels and restaurants as well as on trains and buses. 
  
  Schools and colleges were generally segregated – though the Black community aimed to address this by developing a robust network of Black Colleges and Universities (today referred to as HBCUs); these feature prominently in the poetry of this period. Finally, the Black Church was an extremely important part of the Black experience at this time, and many poets were churchgoing people. As a result, theology inspired by social justice and racial justice concepts permeates many of the poems in this collection. 
  
  Frances E.W. Harper (1825-1911) was a poet, novelist, and public speaker who was born free in Maryland in 1825. She was raised by her uncle and aunt, who were active in the Abolitionist movement. As a young adult, she worked often as a teacher in northern states, including Ohio and Pennsylvania. Starting in the early 1850s, she became active as a speaker on the abolitionist speaker circuit through northern states, and the poems she wrote during this period often had a distinctly activist tone, as she often recited them alongside her talks and lectures on the evils of slavery. Two of her best known poems from the 1850s are “Bury Me in a Free Land” and “Ethiopia.” 
  
  After the Civil War, Harper spent several years visiting with newly-emancipated Black communities in the south. Her political activism also changed in certain ways, as she became involved with both the mainstream, predominantly-White feminist movement and the “Temperance” movement that encouraged abstinence from alcohol. However, she continued to also write poems arguing for racial justice; the following poem from the 1890s is one such example. 
  
  Here is a poem by Harper inspired by a real-life incident: 
  
  Frances E.W. Harper, "The Martyr of Alabama" (1895)
  
  [Author's note: The following news item appeared in the newspapers throughout the country, issue of December 27th, 1894:
  
  “Tim Thompson, a little negro boy, was asked to dance for the amusement of some white toughs. He refused, saying he was a church member. One of the men knocked him down with a club and then danced upon his prostrate form. He then shot the boy in the hip. The boy is dead: his murderer is still at large.”]
  
      He lifted up his pleading eyes,
      And scanned each cruel face,
      Where cold and brutal cowardice
      Had left its evil trace.
  
      [...]
  
      A dark-browed boy had drawn anear
      A band of savage men,
      Just as a hapless lamb might stray
      Into a tiger’s den.
  
      Cruel and dull, they saw in him
      For sport an evil chance,
      And then demanded of the child
      To give to them a dance.
  
      “Come dance for us,” the rough men said;
      “I can’t,” the child replied,
      “I cannot for the dear Lord’s sake,
      Who for my sins once died.”
  
      Tho’ they were strong and he was weak,
      He wouldn’t his Lord deny.
      His life lay in their cruel hands,
      But he for Christ could die.
  
      Heard they aright? Did that brave child
      Their mandates dare resist?
      Did he against their stern commands
      Have courage to resist?
  
      Then recklessly a man arose,
      And dealt a fearful blow.
      He crushed the portals of that life,
      And laid the brave child low.
  
      And trampled on his prostrate form,
      As on a broken toy;
      Then danced with careless, brutal feet,
      Upon the murdered boy.
  
  [The text above is just an excerpt. To read the entire poem, click here]
  
  Incidentally, internet searches do confirm this newspaper clipping involving a child named Tim Thompson in 1894. However, it appears to be just a clipping – we have been unable to learn more about the incident involving the murder of Tim Thompson in Alabama in December of 1894. It’s quite possible it was never seriously investigated by authorities at the time. So the poem may be our best and only account of the ‘real’ story of what happened that day. 
  
  In general, the poem represents an important part of Harper’s method as a poet – she was inspired by current events, and used her poetry to narrate her perspective on them. Sometimes the events were ‘big’ stories, like the Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation, or the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment. But sometimes she focused on the sufferings of individual people, often using them as a symbol of a larger pattern of injustice. An example from the 1850s might be the story of Margaret Garner, which Harper turned into verse form in “The Slave Mother: A Tale of the Ohio” (1857). For Harper, that incident revealed the deep inhumanity of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1853, which meant that even people who had escaped from slavery into free states would be sent back to enslavement by force. 
  
  The poem here, “The Martyr of Alabama,” highlights the apparent failure of a predominantly Christian nation to actually adhere to the foundational values of Christianity. 
  
  Native American Themes.
  
  Alongside concerns for injustice as experienced by Black folks, many African American poets of the late 19th century were acutely aware of the ongoing genocidal war against Native American peoples, which by the 1890s was in its final stages. The widespread sympathy many Black communities felt for indigenous people was complicated somewhat by the fact that some of the military units employed by the U.S. government to subdue or eliminate Native American resistance were actually predominantly Black units (most famously, the ‘Buffalo Soldiers’). While many Black poets condemned violence against Native Americans, others celebrated the military achievements of predominantly Black soldiers in the Indian Wars as well as in the Spanish American War (1898-1900). 
  
  An example of a poem expressing strong sympathy for the Native American plight might be Mary Weston Fordham’s “The Cherokee” (1897):
  
  Mary Weston Fordham, “The Cherokee” (1897)
  
      ‘Twas a cloudless morn and the sun shone bright, 
           And dewdrops sparkled clear; 
      And the hills and the vales of this Western land 
           Were wreathed with garlands rare. 
      For verdant spring with her emerald robe 
           Had decked the forest trees; 
      Whilst e'er and anon the vine-clad boughs 
           Waved in the playful breeze. 
  
      All, all was still, not a sound was heard, 
           Save the music of each tree, 
      As gracefully it bent and bowed 
           Its branches o'er the lea. 
      But hark! a sound, 'tis the Red man’s tread, 
           Breaks on the silent air; 
      And a sturdy warrior issues forth, 
           Robed in his native gear. 
  
      And wandering on, he neared the brook; 
           Then sat him down to rest; 
      'Twas a noble sight—that warrior free— 
           That Monarch of the West. 
      He gazed around. O! a wistful gaze 
           Saddened his upturned brow, 
      As he thought of those he'd fondly loved,
           Of those now laid so low. 
  
      He mused aloud “Great Spirit!” list 
           To the Indian's earnest plea; 
      And tell me why, from his own loved home, 
           Must the Indian driven be. 
      When the "Pale Face" came to our genial clime, 
           We wondered and were glad; 
      Then hied us to our chieftain's lodge,
           Our noble “Flying Cloud.” 
  
      We told him all, and he calmly said 
           He'd gladly give them place; 
      And if friends they proved, perchance, extend 
           The calumet of peace. 
      But soon, alas! the dread truth rang 
           That the Pale Face was our foe; 
      For he made our warriors bite the dust—
           Our children lie so low. 
  
      So now, my own, dear, sunny land, 
           Each, woodland and each dell,
      Once the Indian's home, now the Indian's grave, 
           I bid a last farewell. 
      To the “Great Spirit's" hunting-ground, 
           To meet my long-lost bride,
      My "Raven Wing" I gladly hie— 
           He said, then calmly died. 
  
  [Note a “Calumet” is a North American peace pipe]
  
  This poem might be a little confusing at first, since Fordham shifts between third-person narration (the encounter with the Cherokee warrior), and a first-person account in the warrior’s own voice. The core of the poem might be the fourth and fifth stanzas in the warrior’s voice – as he recounts the arrival of the “Pale Face” (Europeans), and the betrayal of peace treaties that led to the displacement of many indigenous tribes, and in some cases genocidal wars that decimated Native American populations. The Cherokee in particular suffered a painful “Removal” process in 1838-1839 that is often described as the “Trail of Tears.” 
  
  
  Finally, Olivia Ward Bush-Banks has a poem about a man of mixed African and Native American ancestry named Crispus Attucks, who played an important role in the American revolution. 
  
  Olivia Ward Bush-Banks, "Crispus Attucks" (1899)
  
      The Nation's heart beat wildly,
        And keenly felt the coming strife;
      The Country's call was sounding
        Brave men must offer life for life.
  
      So long Great Britain's power
        Had sternly held unyielding sway,
      The people yearned for freedom
        And cried, "Our blood must pave the way."
  
      So, on the streets of Boston,
        Where madly rushed the British foe;
      Men questioned with each other,
        "Who shall be first to strike the blow?"
  
      Not that they shrank from duty,
        Ah, no! their lives they gladly gave;
      But War, with all its terrors,
        Brings fear to hearts both true and brave.
  
      But one, with fearless courage,
        Inspired them to activity,
      And boldly led them forward
        With cheering shout, "For Liberty!" *
  
      In face of death and danger,
        He met the foe, this soldier true,
      Till, charging full upon them,
        Their bayonets had pierced him through.
  
      He fell, and o'er the pavement
        A Negro's blood was flowing free.
      His sable hand was foremost
        To strike the blow for liberty.
  
      It was a deed most valiant,
        And mighty was the work begun,
      For War then waging fiercely,
        Ceased not till victory was won.
  
      Naught but a slave was Attucks,
        And yet how grand a hero, too.
      He gave a life for freedom,
        What more could royal sovereign do?
  
      Well may we eulogize him!
        And rear a monument of fame.
      We hold his memory sacred;
        We honor and revere his name.
  
      A century has vanished,
        Yet, through the years still rolling on
      We emulate his bravery
        And praise the deed he nobly done.
  
      Then write in glowing letters
        These thrilling words in history,–
      That Attucks was a hero,
        That Attucks died for Liberty.
  
  One note: in the original printing we have looked at, line 21 of the poem (“With cheering shout, ‘For liberty!’”) ends with a question mark. It is also a question mark in various digital editions that are available online, such as the U-Penn digital edition. We believe the poet must have intended it to be an exclamation, and have rendered it that way here.
  
  The Crispus Attucks described in this poem is a real person, probably of mixed African and Native American descent. He was the first person killed in the Boston Massacre of 1770, and is also thought to have been the first American killed in the Revolutionary War. In contrast to the way he’s portrayed by Olivia Ward Bush-Banks, there is some historical debate as to whether Attucks was actually enslaved at the time he was killed (he may also have been a runaway slave). 
  
  The fact that Attucks was also of Native American ancestry – though this is not mentioned by Bush-Banks – gives an added resonance to her claim “That Attucks was a hero, / That Attucks died for Liberty.” 
   
• 1 2024-07-16T11:23:06-04:00 Chapter 1a: Poems of Racial Uplift, 1890-1899 4 Chapter 1, Section a of Poetry by African American Women: A Reader and Guide plain 2024-07-23T15:18:34-04:00 Chapter 1a. Poems of Progress and Racial Uplift
  
  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.