The *2nd* poem published by someone of African descent in the future US, Jupiter Hammon:
AN Evening THOUGHT. SALVATION BY CHRIST, WITH PENETENTIAL CRIES: Composed by Jupiter Hammon, a Negro Belonging to Mr. Lloyd, of Queen's-Village, on Long-Island, the 25th of Dec., 1760.
1/15
2/15
SALVATION comes by Jesus Christ alone,
The only Son of God;
Redemption now to every one,
That love his holy Word.
Dear Jesus we would fly to Thee,
And leave off every Sin,
Thy Tender Mercy well agree;
Salvation from our King.
3/15
Salvation comes now from the Lord,
Our victorious King;
His holy Name be well ador’d,
Salvation surely bring.
Dear Jesus give they Spirit now,
Thy Grace to every Nation,
That han’t the Lord to whom we bow,
The Author of Salvation.
4/15
Dear Jesus unto Thee we cry,
Give us the Preparation;
Turn not away thy tender Eye;
We seek thy true Salvation.
Salvation comes from God we know,
The true and only One;
It’s well agreed and certain true,
He gave his only Son.
5/15
Lord hear our penetential Cry:
Salvation from above;
It is the Lord that doth supply,
With his Redeeming Love.
Dear Jesus by thy precious Blood,
The World Redemption have:
Salvation now comes from the Lord,
He being thy captive slave.
6/15
Dear Jesus let the Nations cry,
And all the People say,
Salvation comes from Christ on high,
Haste on Tribunal Day.
We cry as Sinners to the Lord,
Salvation to obtain;
It is firmly fixt his holy Word,
*Ye shall not cry in vain.*
7/15
Dear Jesus unto Thee we cry,
And make our Lamentation:
O let our Prayers ascend on high;
We felt thy Salvation.
Lord turn our dark benighted Souls;
Give us a true Motion,
And let the Hearts of all the World,
Make Christ their Salvation.
8/15
Ten Thousand Angels cry to Thee,
Yea lourder than the Ocean.
Thou art the Lord, we plainly see;
Thou art the true Salvation.
Now is the Day, excepted Time;
The Day of Salvation;
Increase your Faith, do no repine:
Awake ye every Nation.
9/15
Lord unto whom now shall we go,
Or seek a safe Abode;
Thou hast the Word Salvation too
The only Son of God.
Ho! every one that hunger hath,
Or pineth after me,
Salvation be thy leading Staff,
To set the Sinner free.
Dear Jesus unto Thee we fly;
10/15
Depart, depart from Sin,
Salvation doth at length supply,
The Glory of our King.
Come ye Blessed of the Lord,
Salvation greatly given;
O turn your Hearts, accept the Word,
Your Souls are fit for Heaven.
Dear Jesus we now turn to Thee,
Salvation to obtain;
11/15
Our Hearts and Souls do meet again,
To magnify thy Name.
Come holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove,
The Object of our Care;
Salvation doth increase our Love;
Our Hearts hath felt thy fear.
Now Glory be to God on High,
Salvation high and low;
12/15
And thus the Soul on Christ rely,
To Heaven surely go.
Come Blessed Jesus, Heavenly Dove,
Accept Repentance here;
Salvation give, with tender Love;
Let us with Angels share.
(End.)
Published in 1761 by Jupiter Hammon (17 October 1711-ca.1800).
13/15
Graham & Ward write in the Cambridge History of African American Literature (2011):
Jupiter Hammon "accepts the institution of slavery, perceiving the metaphorical enslavement to sin as more threatening than physical enslavement. Not surprisingly, the vast majority of...
14/15
"...works by black writers were first published in urban centers—London, Philadelphia, New York, Boston—in societies with slaves, rather than slave societies, with significant populations of free blacks, as well as established networks of publication and distribution."
15/15
Learn more about the literature produced in North America by people of African descent in our "Art & Literature" section: bit.ly/3x3G1VP
Read the *1st* poem ever written, in 1746, by a person (a woman) of African descent in the future US:
👉 POWERFUL & timely essay by @JohnRWoodJr. Read the thread. It's may not be what you expected:
"We do need unity in America. We need peace & order. We need justice & the correcting of genuine social inequities. There is a path to this kind of unity. It is a painful path."
1/19
2/19
"There is a price to be paid for what we sometimes call 'unity.' Sometimes, consciously or not, we use 'unity' to fashion societal arrangements that bury legitimate grievance and social dissent beneath consensus, where they may be comfortably ignored."
3/19
"We may feel polarized in America along the axes of left and right, Black and white. But the core division that must be identified and spoken to in American life is the divide between the privileged and the marginalized—in ways that go beyond what you might think."
"A case can be made that the correct narrative to adopt today is one of unabashed black patriotism—a forthright embrace of American nationalism by black people."
"Is this a venal, immoral, & rapacious bandit-society of plundering white supremacists, founded in genocide & slavery & propelled by capitalist greed, or a good country that affords boundless opportunity to all fortunate enough to enjoy the privileges and...
3/
"...bear the responsibilities of citizenship? Of course, there is some warrant in the historical record for both sentiments, but the weight of the evidence overwhelmingly favors the latter. The founding of the United States of America was a world-historic event...
"The redefinition of harm infantilizes people of color. I would never let someone else have so much power over my wellbeing that a 'mean tweet' or a mere question...would shake me to my core.
"Robin DiAngelo has made a pretty penny insisting that white people should infantilize black people—and that black people should embrace victimhood (their own fragility)—to coax a racial reckoning."
3/10
"I believe that this ideology's biggest, most dangerous tool is its ever-evolving definition of the most salient word in [DiAngelo's] new book's title: 'harm'."
'Harm' has become an almost ubiquitous term in social justice circles."
Here's where theoretical academic CRT & DiAngelo's pop ideas ultimately lead, in practice.
Is this the path to a harmonious multiethnic USA?
Whole "prayer" in this thread.
1/18
2/18
"Or at least to want to hate them. At least, I want to stop caring about them, individually and collectively. I want to stop caring about their misguided, racist souls, to stop believing that they can be better, that they can stop being racist.
3/18
"I'm not talking about the White antiracist allies who have taken up this struggle against racism w/ their whole lives—the ones who stand vigil for weeks outside jails where Black women are killed; who show up in Charlottesville & Ferguson & Baltimore & Pasadena...
"The same laws that we used to combat segregated water fountains, are the same laws that we can use to fight against segregation that typically happens under a critical race theory regime."
@IanVRowe's testimony before the Rhode Island State Legislature.
A short thread.
1/6
2/6
"Less than 1/2 of RI’s white students in the 8th grade scored proficient in reading. Closing the black to white achievement gap, w/o improving outcomes for all students, would mean black student outcomes would grow from sub-mediocrity to full-mediocrity in terms of reading."
3/6
"American institutions are enforcing a cynical & intolerant orthodoxy. This orthodoxy requires us to view each other based on immutable characteristics like skin color, gender and sexual orientation. It pits us against one another, and diminishes what it means to be human."