Democracy will not come Today, this year Nor ever Through compromise and fear. I have as much right As the other fellow has To stand On my two feet And own the land. I tire so of hearing people say, Let things take their course. Tomorrow is another day. I do not need my freedom when I'm dead. I cannot live on tomorrow's bread. Freedom Is a...Learn More

The night is beautiful, So the faces of my people. The stars are beautiful, So the eyes of my people. Beautiful, also, is the sun. Beautiful, also, are the souls of my people....Learn More

Singers Singers like O- Singers like Odetta-and that statue On Bedloe’s Island managed by Sol Hurok Dancers bojangles late lamented Katherine Dunham Al and Leon Arthus Carmen Alvin Mary Jazzers Duke and Dizzy Eric Dolphy Miles and Ella and miss Nina Strayhorn hid backstage with Luther “do you read music?” and Louis saying “not enough to hurt my...Learn More

'Me an' ma baby's Got two mo' ways, Two mo' ways to do de Charleston!' Da, da, Da, da, da! Two mo' ways to do de Charleston!' Soft light on the tables, Music gay, Brown-skin steppers In a cabaret. White folks, laugh! White folks, pray! 'Me an' ma baby's Got two mo' ways, Two mo' ways to do de Charleston!'...Learn More

When I get to be a composer I'm gonna write me some music about Daybreak in Alabama And I'm gonna put the purtiest songs in it Rising out of the ground like a swamp mist And falling out of heaven like soft dew. I'm gonna put some tall tall trees in it And the scent of pine needles And the smell of red clay after rain And long red necks And poppy...Learn More

Listen! Dear dream of utter aliveness- Touching my body of utter death- Tell me, O quickly! dream of aliveness, The flaming source of your bright breath. Tell me, O dream of utter aliveness- Knowing so well the wind and the sun- Where is this light Your eyes see forever? And what is the wind You touch when you run?...Learn More

In the In the quarter In the quarter of the negroes Where the doors are doors of paper Dust of dingy atoms Blows a scratchy sound Amorphous jack-o’-lanterns caper And the wind won’t wait for midnight For fun to blow doors down. By the river and the railroad With fluid far-off going Boundaries bind unbinding A whirl of whistles blowing No trains or...Learn More

I was so sick last night I Didn’t hardly know my mind. So sick last night I Didn’t know my mind. I drunk some bad licker that Almost made me blind. Had a dream last night I Thought I was in hell. I drempt last night I Thought I was in hell. Woke up and looked around me— Babe, your mouth was open like a well. I said, Baby! Baby! Please don’t...Learn More

Have you dug the spill Of Sugar Hill? Cast your gims On this sepia thrill: Brown sugar lassie, Caramel treat, Honey-gold baby Sweet enough to eat. Peach-skinned girlie, Coffee and cream, Chocolate darling Out of a dream. Walnut tinted Or cocoa brown, Pomegranate-lipped Pride of the town. Rich cream-colored To plum-tinted black, Feminine...Learn More

I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong. Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table When company comes. Nobody’ll dare Say to me, “Eat in the kitchen,” Then. Besides, They’ll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed— I, too, am America....Learn More

Christ is a Nigger, Beaten and black-- O, bare your back. Mary is His Mother Mammy of the South, Silence your Mouth. God's His Father-- White Master above Grant us your love. Most holy bastard Of the bleeding mouth: Nigger Christ On the cross of the South....Learn More

Well, son, I'll tell you: Life for me ain't been no crystal stair. It's had tacks in it, And splinters, And boards torn up, And places with no carpet on the floor— Bare. But all the time I'se been a-climbin' on, And reachin' landin's, And turnin' corners, And sometimes goin' in the dark Where there ain't been no light. So, boy, don't you turn...Learn More