Let it Be Known • National Poetry Month

Let It Be Known


Let it be known to all, the story
Of the glorious struggle of my people.
Let it be known that black men and women
Helped to build this our country.
Let it be known that black men and women of the past
In an effort to make this country
What it ought to be, gave up their very last
To make America, a real democracy
A true homeland of the free.
Let our leaders of today go back into the past
And come fighting forth envigored with the spirit
Of Turner, and Vesey, Douglass, Tubman and Truth. 
Let our stalwart black youth, lift their heads in pride
As they tell of their fathers' fight for freedom
To the white youth by their side.
Yes, let it be known. Let all of the old folks tell it
Sing it to the babes yet in arms.
Let us read the glorious story
Right along with our Bible. Let it be known to all,
The story of the glorious struggles of my people.
Too long…Too long has it been kept from us. 

by Margaret Burroughs
from What Shall I Tell My Children Who Are Black?
Courtesy Poetry Foundation