Ode to Frederick Douglass

"I would unite with anyone to do right
And with nobody to do wrong,"
Frederick Douglass said;

Abolitionist, author, lecturer, and diplomat;
In Talbot County Maryland
He was born and bred;

He was a slave
Who learned to read;
He was a slave
Whose mind was freed;

He taught other slaves to read
And as his teachings spread,
It worried plantation owners
And filled their hearts with dread;

If slaves became educated,
they might want freedom;
The plantation owners feared
The slaves wouldn't need 'em;

So they clubbed the poor slaves
Upside the head,
And painted their backs
With streaks of red;

They burned their books
And made them bleed
Just for wanting to read!
Just for learning to read!

From this tyranny
And from this fate,
Frederick Douglass
Would finally escape;

Abolitionist, author, lecturer, and diplomat
Describe the man that he became;
He was called the Lion and Sage of Anacostia,
His words were the roots of his fame:

"Right is of no sex;
Truth is of no color;
God is the father of us all,
And we are all brethren."

Amen, Frederick Douglass!