Category Archives: Heroes

African Americans’ heroes were both black and white–Frederick Douglass and John Brown, for example–and both historical and current. Current heroes included those who fought in their country’s wars and those who survived and triumphed over white insensitivity and brutality.

The Champions of Our Race (1911)

James Conway Jackson; Washington Bee, April 15, 1911

Oh, they tell of grim, old giants who fought in the days of old;
Of the knights who wore the gauntlets, of the many warriors bold;
And they rave about the brave men who looked danger in the face,
But we seldom hear a good word for the champions of our race.

Continue reading →

To Charles Young (1917)

William Nauns Ricks (San Francisco) in the California Eagle, July 7, 1917:

To Charles Young
Leut. Colonel U.S. Army

Read at public meeting of N.A.A.C.P. at which Co. Young spoke

Could I portray in words of grace,
The service you have done your race;
Could I but half such service do;
Then I might pen a song to you.

Continue reading →