The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 1995, Memorial IssueVarious
History
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 1995, Memorial Issue
Various
African Americans -- Social conditions -- To 1964; Civil rights movements; Martin Luther King, Jr., Day; United States -- History
"An' den, w'at did she git fer de yuther things she done? Who paid her
fer de gals she kep' f'm throwin' deyse'ves away? Who paid fer de boys
she kep' outer jail? I had a son dat seemed to hab made up his min' ter
go straight ter hell. I made him go ter Sunday-school, an' somethin' dat
woman said teched his heart, an' he behaved hisse'f, an' I ain' got no
reason fer ter be 'shame' er 'im. An' I can 'member, Br'er Cotten, when
you didn' own fo' houses an' a fahm. An' when yo' fus wife was sick, who
sot by her bedside an' read de Good Book ter 'er, w'en dey wuzn' nobody
else knowed how ter read it, an' comforted her on her way across de
col', dahk ribber? An' dat ain' all I kin 'member, Mr. Chuhman! When yo'
gal Fanny was a baby, an' sick, an' nobody knowed what was de matter wid
'er, who sent fer a doctor, an' paid 'im fer comin', an' who he'ped nuss
dat chile, an' tol' yo' wife w'at ter do, an' save' dat chile's life,
jes as sho' as de Lawd has save' my soul?
"An' now, aftuh fifteen yeahs o' slavin' fer us, who ain't got no claim
on her, aftuh fifteen yeahs dat she has libbed 'mongs' us an' made
herse'f one of us, an' endyoed havin' her own people look down on her,
aftuh she has growed ole an' gray wukkin' fer us an' our child'n, we
talk erbout turnin' 'er out like a' ole hoss ter die! It 'pears ter me
some folks has po' mem'ries! Whar would we 'a' be'n ef her folks at de
No'th hadn' 'membered us no bettuh? An' we hadn' done nothin', neither,
fer dem to 'member us fer. De man dat kin fergit w'at Miss Noble has
done fer dis town is unworthy de name er nigger! He oughter die an' make
room fer some 'spectable dog!
"Br'er Glaspy says we got a' educated young man, an' we mus' gib him
sump'n' ter do. Let him wait; ef I reads de signs right he won't hab
ter wait long fer dis job. Let him teach in de primary schools, er in de
country; an' ef he can't do dat, let 'im work awhile. It don't hahm a'
educated man ter work a little; his fo'fathers has worked fer hund'eds
of years, an' we's worked, an' we're heah yet, an' we're free, an' we's
gettin' ou' own houses an' lots an' hosses an' cows--an' ou' educated
young men. But don't let de fus thing we do as a committee be somethin'
we ought ter be 'shamed of as long as we lib. I votes fer Miss Noble,
fus, las', an' all de time!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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