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.

If I could cheer my spirit when,
Like you, I was despised of men;
If through all changes I could hold
A faith like yours, so clear, so bold.

If under pressure I could see
Like you the path of Liberty;
If I could hold my trust secure,
And laugh and suffer and endure

The petty scornm the daily slight,
And keep my feet in paths of right;
Could calmly hold my hard won place;
And bring a glory to my race–

A glory whose unclouded sheen
Before the world stands big and clean;
The I could feel my song was true,
If I should pen a song to you.