Harriet
This poem by Lucille Clifton is a celebration of what Harriet Tubman was able to achieve. Not only was Tubman an Underground Railroad icon, she was also the first black woman to lead a military expedition in 1863 at the Combahee River.
harriet
if i be you
let me not forget
to be the pistol
pointed
to be the madwoman
at the rivers edge
warning
be free or die
and isabell
if i be you
let me in my
sojourning
not forget
to ask my brothers
ain’t i a woman too
and
grandmother
if i be you
let me not forget to
work hard
trust the Gods
love my children and
wait.
