Harriet Tubman | 1820 – 03/10/1913 | ABOLITIONIST
Huge connection with God, she sought for justice and freedom,
Araminta Ross was her legal name, boss steady and strong,
Ready to take captivity away, she gave every drop of blood,
Rescued over a 1,000 slaves in love, slavery was something to overcome,
“I go to prepare a place for you,” was the motto she lived up to,
Even when the Fugitive Slave Act passed, no distance was too long;
The final straw, slavery gone in 1865, New York was where she’d rest her eyes.
Frederick Douglas 02/1818 – 02/20/1895
ABOLITIONIST | CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST | WRITER
Fighter with the art of words, he was a man of truth, surely
Reading at an early age, although illegal, as slave, he
Earned his way, faked as a sailor, freedom rang, he
Dared travel to New York, for freedom, in 1838.
Endangered by the reigns of slavery’s domain, he
Readily spoke at abolitionist meetings, those clearing seeing
Intelligence, well spoken, traveling, his story became well known,
Captivated most of those who thought slavery should be no more,
Keeping this man in the U.S. books and history’s great storyboard.
Benjamin Banneker| 11/09/1731 – 10/09/1806
SCIENTIST | ASTRONOMER | AUTHOR
Book, books, books, young Banneker was hooked on it,
Even made clocks and shocked folks with his tech knowledge,
Now into the stars, astronomy was close at heart, not afar,
Just a fascination that sent Banneker on his way to make an
Almanac, a book with detailed astronomical facts, had an impact,
Making headway towards Thomas Jefferson, asking him to end slavery,
Instead, he complimented him on his impressive almanac, and
Never got to see slavery’s end as he died 60 years prior to that.
Rosa Parks 02/04/1913 – 10/24/2005
CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST
Rose to the occasion, mama a teacher, dad a carpenter, got her high school education,
On the path towards integration, she worked many jobs, eventually on the bus was tired,
Sitting on the bus up front, she stood for justice and won the people’s hearts,
And even though leaders like her had died, she is the symbol freedom won, liberty’s prize.
Maya Angelou 04/04/1928 – 05/28/2014
POET | AUTHOR | ACTRESS | DANCER PLAYWRIGHT | SCREENWRITER | CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST
Mute at the tender age of eight, but collected in your memory bank, was sources of precious knowledge
African dance and the calypso art form as a journey to be reborn with a new name aside from Johnson
You were an activist, a poet, a genius who didn't boast it, but had confidence in you, not seeing yourself as garage
Autobiographies, a total of five, where you try in merely pages, to sum up your tender young ages, not yet facing stardom
Josephine Baker 06/03/1906 – 04/12/1975
DANCER | SINGER | ACTOR | CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST
Josephine was born in Missouri; father abandoned her, mother’s name was Carrie,
On the streets sometimes, dancing became her source for money, she got the drive,
So 1925, she moved to Paris and danced her heart desires, 10 years later, she became
Ever-so famous in the land of Paris, and she bought a home, adopted children of her own,
Particularly, children of every color and size, she called those kids her rainbow tribe.
Helping in World War II to become a spy, she succeeded, and won a prize from France,
In due time, she returned to the United States people raved about her dance and she
Now had the chance to take a stance on racism and really bring the rants of disunity to an
End, she told stories of freedom in France and Grace Kelly was her dear friend.
Ida B. Wells 07/16/1862 – 03/25/1931
JOURNALIST | CIVIL RIGHTS & WOMAN’S RIGHTS ACTIVIST
In 1892, inspiration came through,
lynching became a heavy topic she wrote about so people knew
Devastation is the impact of this violent move; her legacy grew, lynching became more few, and
Alpha Suffrage Club was a black women’s suffrage club came true; help found NAACP too!