Category: African-American

20th century, African-American, American, American Poetry, Classic Poetry, Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes, Stanza

January 13, 2026

The Negro Speaks of Rivers

“My soul has grown deep like the rivers.” Written when he was just 17, this Langston Hughes classic traces Black history from the Euphrates to the Mississippi.
African-American, America, American, American Poetry, General, Life, Literature, Love, Other Stuff, poet, Poetry, Religion and Spirituality, Teyuna T. Darris, United States, women, women poets

September 1, 2024

Book Release: Stuff I Wrote from My Heart

by Teyuna Darris Exciting News: My First Poetry Chapbook is Now Available on Amazon! 🎉 Dear Good Poetry Community, I am so happy and grateful to share some exciting news with you, today I self-published my poetry chapbook, entitled, “Stuff I Wrote from My Heart— Part One: The Ingenue. This collection is now available on…
21st Century, African-American, American, American Poetry

July 2, 2024

“My Poetical Side”

by Teyuna Darris This poem is on page 6 of my upcoming poetry chapbook, entitled, “Stuff I Wrote from My Heart” under the penname (or pseudonym) Margalo Meeks. I wrote this poem when I was circa 15 or 16 years old. The following is a link to a reel of my narration of my poem:…
19th century, African-American, America, American, American Poetry, Black History, Christian, Christianity, General, new england, Sara Louisa Forten, United States, women, women poets

April 23, 2023

An Appeal to Women

“We are thy sisters, Oh, woman, woman in thy brightest hour Of conscious worth, of pride, of conscious power”
19th century, African-American, poet, Poetry, United States

February 4, 2023

“America”

“When black and white fought side by side, Upon the well-contested field,— Turned back the fierce opposing tide, And made the proud invader yield—” from “America” by James Monroe Whitfield
18th Century, African-American, America, American, American Poetry, Poetry, United States

February 3, 2023

“The Slave’s Complaint”

“Am I sadly cast aside, On misfortune’s rugged tide? Will the world my pains deride Forever?”
18th Century, African-American, Lucy Terry, poet, Poetry, United States, women, women poets

February 2, 2023

“Bars Fight”

August ’twas the twenty-fifth, Seventeen hundred forty-six; The Indians did in ambush lay, Some very valiant men to slay, The names of whom I’ll not leave out.
African-American, American, American Poetry, Black History, Poetry, Uncategorized

October 23, 2022

from “The Octoroon” by Alberry Alston Whitman (1851 – 1901)

“…What man is there who would not dare defend A life like this? Is doing so a sin?”
19th century, 20th century, African-American, America, American, American Poetry, E.W. Harper, Ellen Watkins Harper, Frances E. W. Harper, General, poet, Poetry, Uncategorized, United States, Victorian Era, Victorian Period

August 15, 2022

Songs for the People

by Ellen Watkins Harper 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,…
19th century, 20th century, African-American, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Poetry

August 14, 2022

In Summer

by Paul Laurence Dunbar Oh, summer has clothed the earthIn a cloak from the loom of the sun!And a mantle, too, of the skies’ soft blue,And a belt where the rivers run. And now for the kiss of the wind,And the touch of the air’s soft hands,With the rest from strife and the heat of…