Black History Salute to Ron Brown

In honor of Black History Month, I would like to remember Ron Brown who was the first African-American to be appointed to the Cabinet post of Secretary of Commerce. As well, he was the first black to serve as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

He was born in Washington D.C. but his family relocated to Harlem, New York. He was well educated having attended Hunter College Elementary School, Rhodes Preparatory School and Middlebury College in Vermont.

He later joined the Army in 1962 serving in South Korea and Germany. He married his sweetheart, Alma Arrington. After his honorable discharge from the service, he joined the National Urban League and enrolled in Law School at St. John's University where he received his degree in 1970. He spent twelve years with the Urban League as Deputy Executive Director, General Counsel, and Vice President of the Washington bureau.

He concurrently became involved in politics and worked on Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s presidential campaign in 1980. He was appointed chief counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee under the chairmanship of the Senator.

In 1981 Mr. Brown joined Patton, Boggs & Blow, becoming the first African-American partner at this prestigious firm in the nation’s capital.

He died on April 3, 1996, while on an official trade mission, the Air Force CT43 with 34 other people when the plane crased into a mountainside in Croatia.

He was a true African American Hero so in honor of Black History Month, I am paying tribute to Ron Brown.

Black History Salute to Caesar "C.C"Antoine

In honor of Black History Month, I would like to pay tribute to a little known black hero, Caesar Carpenter "C.C." Antoine. He was Louisiana born and bred in New Orleans and came from "good stock." His father fought at the Battle of New Orleans and his mother was of African/West Indian heritage and the daughter of a captured African Chief. His mother purchased her own freedom and amassed a small fortune for her time which enabled the family to live as free blacks. Their wealth also afforded Antoine a quality education at the best private schools where he became fluent in English and French.

In New Orleans, Antoine established and ran a successful grocery business. However, after the Civil War broke out and the Union captured and occupied New Orleans, this proud young nubian joined the Union Army. He quickly rose to the rank of Captain in the one of the nation’s first all-black regiments, the Louisiana Native Guards. He also recruited former slaves to serve in Company I of the Seventh Native Guard which he organized at Brashear which was 85 miles from New Orleans.

After the Civil War, Antoine moved to Shreveport, Louisiana where he purchased land for farming and and went back into the grocery business.

However, he soon answered a call to serve his Country during Reconstruction in an effort to make life better for his family and other newly freed African Americans. His first political office was that of a Delegate to Louisiana’s Constitutional Convention in 1868 which set the parameters of Louisiana’s Reconstruction-era state government. With black voting rights established under the protection of federal troops, Antoine served Louisiana as State Senator between 1868 and 1872 and Lieutenant Governor from 1872 to 1877. In 1876 he was briefly Acting Governor. Antoine’s tenure in office ended soon after the Compromise of 1877 which withdrew federal troops from Louisiana, allowing the Democrats to return to power.

Antoine enjoyed a life that former slaves and blacks had previously only dreamed of. He had a nice house, investments in the railroad and lottery, raised race horses and co-owned the semi-weekly newspaper called "Louisiana" with Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback, the nation's first black Governor of a U.S. state. Antoine also served in 1880 as the president of the Cosmopolitan Life Insurance Company.

C. C. Antoine died in September of 1921 in his house on Perrin Street at the age of eighty-five. He is buried in Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery in Shreveport. In 1982, an 8-acre park was dedicated to him.

So in honor of Black History Month, I would like to salute this very accomplished Louisianan, Caesar "C.C"Antoine. I thank God for you C.C. May He bless you and pray that he blesses you richly in the Afterlife!

Black History Month Tribute to God the Father

In honor of Black History Month, I would like to pay tribute to God, the father. The reason is pretty obvious to me but for those of you who it is not so apparent to, please let me explain.

First of all, I thank God for protecting and allowing the many African men, women and children to make it safely to America even though it was under less than desirable circumstances. I thank God for giving them the strength and courage to endure the brutality, hard labor and conditions that they experienced at the hands of their capturers. I thank Him for comforting them when their hearts longed for their homeland and their families so far away. I also thank God for giving them the will to keep a positive attitude even under dire circumstances and for putting a song in their hearts, minds, and mouths, i.e. hymms and spirtuals to give them peace and joy in their souls even in the midst of a hostile environment.



FACT-An estimated 645,000 slaves were kidnapped and sold into slavery in the United States. The slave population in the United States had grown to four million by the time of the 1860 Census.



I also thank God for working through people like President Abraham Lincoln, abolistionists, former slaves, Union Officers and soldiers both black and white and giving them the courage to stand up against what in the heart of hearts was not right and for being willing to lay down their lives for it. I also thank him for the many African American men, women and children who were allowed to experience freedom.

FACT-Approximately 180,000 free and runaway African-Americans comprised 163 units of the Union Army and served during the Civil War. Many others served in the Union Navy.

I would also like to thank God for giving the newly freed slaves the courage and desire to pursue and fight for their right to education, careers and to better themselves and the lives of their families amidst racial prejudice and intimidation. I thank him for allowing the former slaves, their descendents and others of african origin to enjoy prosperity and to obtain their goals of becoming doctors, lawyers, educators, professional athletes, musicians, heads of corporations, policiticians and anything else they desire to be!

I thank God for allowing a son of Africa, the nation from which our ancestors were brought to serve as a lowly slave-to become the head of the Nation, President of the United States! I thank God for President Barack Hussein Obama! Isn't it wonderful how God has a way of turning things around?

God is Good! Praise his name. He has been a strong force in the lives of African Americans since their arrival on U.S. soil. So in honor of Black History month, He receives all my praise, honor and Glory! Can I get a hallelujah and amen?

Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:13-14

History.com celebrates Black History Month

The website "History.com" is a wonderful site for learning about the history, contributions and journeys of Black men and women in America. In honor of Black History month, they are featuring an abundance of stories on noteable African Americans as well as some who are less known.

The site also features full-length videos on a variety of subjects and individuals.

This is a MUST visit site for anyone wanting to learn about more about the African American struggle and culture.

You can assess this website on the following link or click on the link on the right sidebar of this site:

http://www.history.com/minisites/blackhistory

President's Day and Black History Month Salute to Barrack Obama

I have another tribute and salute to pay to Presidential Hopeful, Barrack Obama in honor of President's Day and Black History Month.

Although, he has not yet been elected President, it is the first time in history, an African American has been a major contender for the office so in light of that, I was would to honor Barrack Obama and commend him on running his campaign with dignity, respect and honor especially with the negativity being thrown his way by his opponents.

Barrack Obama has demonstrated courage under pressure and his high-road ethics makes you proud to be not only an African-American but an American period. He is a candidate for the people and ALL people.

In the last blog, I honored Abraham Lincoln and credited him as being pivotal figure in the struggle for racial equality and there have been many since him. I believe Barrack Obama is the next chapter in the War against racial divide. I believe under his leadership, we can begin just being people and one United Nation under God, indivisable.

I cannot predict the future so I do not know what the outcome will be but I do know that whatever plan God has for this Country and whoever he has ordained to lead it, it will be so.

Whatever, the outcome of the 2008 Presidential Election, I admire Barrack Obama for running an outstanding campaign!

President's Day & Black History Month Tribute to Abraham Lincoln

Yesterday, was President's Day so I'm a day late and a dollar short in writing this. Also, this month is Black History Month. In honor of these 2 occasions, I would like to pay tribute to Abraham Lincoln who is on the top rung for heroes in both categories.

Abraham Lincoln was born Feb. 12, 1809, in a log cabin in Hardin (now Larue) County, Kentucky to Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln. His mother was a distant cousin of the current and popular actor, Tom Hanks. Do you notice his resemblance to Abraham? His father was a carpenter. Abraham was one of 3 children as he had an older sister, Sarah, and a younger brother, Thomas, who died in infancy.

In 1816, the Lincolns relocated to the wilderness of Indiana near Little Pigeon Creek, in Perry (now Spencer) County. It is said that their move was in part because of slavery, since his parents belonged to a faction of the Baptist church that disapproved of slavery.

Lincoln's mother died in 1818 when he was 9 years old and the following year his father married a Kentucky widow, Sarah Bush Johnston who proved a good and kind mother according to Lincoln.

In 1830, the Lincolns left Indiana for Illinois and in 1831, Abraham left home for New Salem, in Sangamon County near Springfield. After trying several different occupations, Lincoln ran unsuccessfully for the Illinois legislature in 1832. Two years later he was elected to the lower house for the first of four successive terms (until 1841) as a Whig. He later became a lawyer in 1836, and in 1837 he moved to Springfield.

He met and married Mary Todd on Nov. 4, 1842.

Lincoln served one term (1847-49) as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
In 1854, Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act which opened lands previously closed to slavery to the possibility of its spread by local option (popular sovereignty) and Lincoln viewed the provisions of the act as immoral.

In 1856, he joined the newly formed Republican Party, and two years later he campaigned for the Senate against Douglas. In his speech at Springfield he expressed the view that the nation would become either all slave or all free: "A house divided against itself cannot stand."

Lincoln was elected to the presidency in 1860, defeating the Northern Democrat Douglas, the Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge, and the Constitutional Union candidate John Bell.

By the time of Lincoln's inauguration in March 1861, seven states had seceded from the Union. As a commander in chief, although the Constitution protected slavery in peace, in war, Lincoln came to believe that the commander in chief could abolish slavery as a military necessity. The preliminary Emancipation Proclamation of Sept. 22, 1862, bore this military justification, as did all of Lincoln's racial measures, including and especially his decision in the final proclamation of Jan. 1, 1863 to accept blacks in the army.

By 1864, Lincoln endorsed the 13TH Amendment to the Constitution abolishing slavery.
He was re-elected that year. On Apr. 9, 1865, Robert E. Lee, the South's Confederate General surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant's Union forces at Appomattox Court House.

Lincoln was gunned down by John Wilkes Booth 5 days late on Apr. 14, 1865 while attending a performance of Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre in Washington. Booth entered the presidential box and shot Lincoln. He died the following morning at 7:22am.

Abraham Lincoln was an Almighty God-sent angel. God used him and worked through him and others to free a people and a nation from the evils of slavery. He may or may not have known at the time that this was the case but God definitely had a plan for him at an early age and also worked through his parents who were God abiding people and anti-slavery activists to prepare him for his destiny.

African Americans have a lot be thankful for and first and foremost we should drop to our knees and thank God. However, we also need to be grateful for men and women like Abraham Lincoln who when God gave him a mission, he answered the call and went with what was in his gut and heart and did what he thought was right.

So in honor of both President's Day and Black History Month, I salute Abraham Lincoln because he ranks on the top in regards to both of the events.

He was "hands down" one of the best presidents in US History and his actions forever changed Black History because without his contribution and efforts Black History could very well still be one of slavery and oppression.

Below are just some of my own ancestors who were liberated by the Civil War (Holy War) and the Emancipation Proclamation signed by Lincoln:

Levi and Mary Clay Green
Henry and Effie Johnson
Jane Green,
Harry and Mary Gay
Monroe and Sophia Brittentine
Nat and Sarah Hill
Pompey and Mary Hines
David and Mariah Pressly Hines
Stephen and Phyllis Pressley
William and Phoebe Brayboy
Issac and Jane Jefferson
Betsey Taylor
Prince and Jennie Burney
William and Louisa Knox
Anthony and Betty Banks Brown Smith
Adam and Sallie Brown
Richard Clyde "Papa Dickie" Lee

On behalf of my ancestors and their descendant's past and present, We thank, God for you, Abe!

A tribute to Ella Fitzgerald

My ladies of jazz tribute would not be complete without the inclusion of the late great Ella Fitzgerald.

Ella Jane Fitzgerald was born in Newport News, Va. on April 25, 1917 to William and Temperance (Tempie) Fitzgerald.

Her parents separated early on and Tempie and Ella moved to Yonkers, N.Y. where they lived with her mother's longtime boyfriend, Joseph Da Silva, a laborer and part-time chauffeur.

Ella grew up in a hard-working family in a racially mixed neighborhood. Her mother worked at a laundromat and did some catering. Even young Ella took on small jobs to contribute money which sometimes included being a runner in a gambling ring. Asides from that she enjoyed dancing and singing with her friends, and some evenings they would take the train into Harlem and watch various acts at the Apollo Theater.

Tragedy struck when her mother passed away in 1932 as a result of a car accident. Ella took the loss very hard. She and her younger sister, Frances remained for a time with her stepfather, Joe but eventually relocated back to Virginia with one of her mother's sister. Her stepfather, Joe soon thereafter suffered a heart attack and died.

Back in Virginia, Ella now a troubled youth, started doing poorly in school and getting into trouble with the police. This led to her being taken into custody and being sent to a reform school.

The Reform school was very harsh since she suffered many beatings at the hands of her caretakers which eventually led Ella to escape. The then 15-year-old found herself broke and alone during the Great Depression so she struggled just to survive but the Lord was on her side.

In 1934, Ella's name was pulled in a weekly drawing at the Apollo and she won the opportunity to compete in Amateur Night. Ella had planned to dance but was intimated by the previous act and facing boos from the crowd, she made the choice to sing instead. And "Oh Boy" was that the right choice. Her performance earned her a standing ovation and was the catalyst for something far bigger than she could have ever imagined.


In the band that night was saxophonist and arranger Benny Carter. Impressed with her natural talent, he began introducing Ella to people who could help launch her career. In the process he and Ella became lifelong friends, often working together.

Fueled by enthusiastic supporters, Ella began entering - and winning - every talent show she could find. In January 1935 she won the chance to perform for a week with the Tiny Bradshaw band at the Harlem Opera House. It was there that Ella first met drummer and bandleader Chick Webb. Although her voice impressed him, Chick had already hired male singer Charlie Linton for the band. He offered Ella the opportunity to test with his band when they played a dance at Yale University. Lets just say, she passed the test with "flying colors". The audience and the band loved her so she was hired to travel with the band for $12.50 a week.

In 1936, Ella made her first recording. "Love and Kisses" was released under the Decca label, with moderate success. By this time she was performing with Chick's band at the prestigious Harlem's Savoy Ballroom, often referred to as "The World's Most Famous Ballroom."

Shortly afterward, Ella began singing a rendition of the song, "(If You Can't Sing It) You Have to Swing It," once of my personal favorites.

In 1938, at the age of 21, Ella recorded a playful version of the nursery rhyme, "A-Tisket, A-Tasket." The album sold 1 million copies, hit number one, and stayed on the pop charts for 17 weeks. This catapulted Ella Fitzgerald to national fame.

On June 16, 1939, Ella mourned the loss of her mentor Chick Webb. In his absence the
band was renamed "Ella Fitzgerald and Her Famous Band," and she took on the overwhelming task of bandleader.

Ellas also married, bassist Ray Brown. The two were married and eventually adopted a son, whom they named Ray, Jr. Unfortunately, the two divorced in 1952, but remained good friends for the rest of their lives.

Ella continued to work hard despite obtstacles including discrimination and it brought her international fame.

She worked with some of the best of the best including Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Goodman or should I say, they worked with her.

She received many esteemed awards, was inducted into Hall of Fame and received Kennedy Center Honors for her continuing contributions to the arts.

Outside of the arts, Ella had a deep concern for child welfare. Though this aspect of her life was rarely publicized, she frequently made generous donations to organizations for disadvantaged youths, and the continuation of these contributions was part of the driving force that prevented her from slowing down.

In 1987, United States President Ronald Reagan awarded Ella the National Medal of Arts. It was one of her most prized moments. France followed suit several years later, presenting her with their Commander of Arts and Letters award, while Yale, Dartmouth and several other universities bestowed Ella with honorary doctorates.

By the 1990s, Ella had recorded over 200 albums. In 1991, she gave her final concert at New York's renowned Carnegie Hall. It was the 26th time she performed there.

On June 15, 1996, Ella Fitzgerald died in her Beverly Hills home. The end of her mortal life on earth but her music still lives on and is legendary.

She is remembered as "The First Lady of Song." Her wide-ranging, sultry, sophisticated and angelic voice is timeless and ageless. She could sing sultry ballads, sweet jazz and imitate every instrument in an orchestra.

My personal favorites are, "Lullaby of Birdland," "Sophisticated Lady," "Miss Otis Regrets," "Shiny Stocking" and "A Night In Tunisia."

I will end this with the words to her song "A Night In Tunisia" but ask that as you read it replace the word Tunisia with the word, "heaven" because that is where I know she is and Oh what a choir they have going on up there with Ella as one of the lead vocalists!

The moon is the same moon above you
Aglow with it's cool evening light
But shining at night, in tunisia (heaven)
Never does it shine so bright

The stars are aglow in the heavens
But only the wise understand
That shining at night in tunisia (heaven)
They guide you through the desert sand

Words fail, to tell a tale
Too exotic to be told
Each night's a deeper night
In a world, ages old

The cares of the day seem to vanish
The ending of day brings release
Each wonderful night in tunisia (heaven)
Where the nights are filled with peace

Can wait to meet you Ella and enjoy each wonderful night in Tunisia (Heaven).

A Tribute to Billie Holiday

I'm continuing my tributes for Black History month. In this blog, I would like to pay a very special tribute to one of my favorite and America's legendary ladies of song and jazz, the late Billie Holiday.

I love jazz and she is was at the top of the game when it came to jazz vocalists.

I would like to honor Billie Holiday who was also fondly known as "Lady Day." Famous for her flower she wore in her hair, Billie was born Eleanora Fagan on April 7, 1915 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

She spent her early childhood years being shuffled back and forth between various relatives but later moved to New York with her mother Sadie.

In 1930s, Holiday began singing in local clubs and renamed herself “Billie” after the film star Billie Dove. She was discovered by a producer named John Hammond while she was performing in a Harlem jazz club in 1933 who struck a recording deal for her to record with bandleader Benny Goodman. She also met saxophonist Lester Young around this time and the two became longtime friends and collaborated on many songs. Young was the one who gave her the nickname “Lady Day."

She became known and cherished for her heartfelt,soulful, soft and melodious songs.
She went on to record with some of the best in the industry including Louis Armstrong and Count Basie and his Orchestra.

Some of her many fabulous hits include “God Bless the Child” (1939) and “Strange Fruit."

Despite her soaring career success and fame, her personal life was troubled. It included problems with drugs and alcohol and related arrests on narcotics-related charges. She even spent a year in a federal rehabilitation center, but she was unable to end her substance abuse.


Despite her personal problems, Holiday continued to tour and record in the 1950s.

Sadly, she passed awayin a New York City hospital on July 17, 1959, from alcohol- and drug-related complications.

Her autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues (1956), starring Diana Ross was one of the best movies of all time.

Despite her stormy life, her music has stood the test of time and remains some of the best in this history of jazz. Her music touched millions many years ago in my grandmother's day and it still provides entertainment and listening pleasure to countless generations of jazz fans today. I listen to her music still at least once a week!

So in honor of Black History month, I salute you Miss Billie Holiday.!

Rest in peace.

Tribute to Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori

In honor of Black History Month, I would like to pay Tribute to Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori. His story has always been one of the saddest yet inspirational slavery accounts for me.

Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori (a.k.a. Abdul Rahman) who was a former prince from West Africa who was captured and brought to America and made a slave.

He was born in Timbo, West Africa, which is present day Guinea. He was a Fulbe from the land of Futa Jallon and his father was a wealthy King who sent Abrahim to study in 1774 to study in Mali at Timbuktu. Timbuktu is a city in Tombouctou Region, in the West African nation of Mali and is home to the prestigious Sankore University an intellectual and spiritual capital and centre for the propagation of Islam throughout Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries but is believed to have been established in the 10th century. Its 3 great mosques, Djingareyber, Sankore and Sidi Yahya are representative of its awe and golden age.

Abrahim was captured by warring tribes and sold to slave traders in 1788 at the age of 26. He was bought by a Natchez, Mississippi, cotton and tobacco farmer, named Thomas Foster.

He spent many years as Foster's slave but never forgot his royal past. God set a plan in motion that would eventually alter his circumstances. God enabled him to cross paths with a European white man and former friend from his past in Africa.

The gentlemen was so amazed and outraged that this former Prince was being held a slave, he offered to buy Ibrahim but his mean and surly master, Thomas Foster refused to sell or grant him freedom.

In 1794 he married Isabella, another slave of Foster’s, and eventually fathered a large family.

In 1826 he wrote a letter to his relatives in Africa. A local newspaperman sent a copy to Senator Thomas Reed in Washington, who forwarded it to the U.S. Consulate in Morocco. After the Sultan of Morocco read the letter, he asked President Adams and Secretary of State Henry Clay to release Abrahim Abdul Rahman.

He eventually returned to Africa after spending 40 years as a slave but died before reaching his actual homeland.

In 1977, history professor Terry Alford documented the life of Ibn Sori in "Prince Among Slaves", the first full account of his life, pieced together from first-person accounts and historical documents.

PBS is currently airing a documentary titled "Prince among Slaves", portraying the life of Abdul Rahman Ibrahim. It is a must see.

To Ibrahim:

Your struggle is over; your battle is done
You sit now in the Royal Court of the "Anointed One"
But your story remains as a lesson for all
With faith comes freedom til the Master calls

Rest in peace:

Karen Burney 2/7/08

Phyllis Wheatley

February is black history month so in honor of it, I have decided to do some biographies on some famous and some not so famous african/african americans. I hope you enjoy them.

This one is on Phyllis Wheatley. Phillis Wheatley was born in 1753 somewhere in the Gambia which is modern day, Senegal. She was captured as a slave at the tender age of 7 and brought to America. How frightened she must have been and how devastating it must have been for her parents to lose their precious baby girl.

She was brought to Boston, Massachusetts on 7/11/1761 and purchased as a slave by John Wheatley, a prominent Boston Tailor and merchant. She was named for the slave ship Phillis that brought her to this land. Timothy Fitch, a Medford Slave Trader owned the schooner,"Phillis" and conducted business in several New England towns, including Boston, Salem, Nantucket and Medford. Fitch used his schooners in the Atlantic slave trade (the "Triangular Trade") to transport slaves, rum, molasses, and various other items which were taken to West Africa and used to buy African slaves for transport back to the Americas.

Click on map to see where Boston is located in proximity to the Atlantic ocean where the slave ship made its long journey from Africa with its precious human cargo.



His wife was Susannah Wheatley. Phyllis became her domestic servant. Mrs. Wheatley soon realized how bright young Phillis was and began teaching her to read and write. She excelled so much that Mrs. Wheatley and her daughter, Mary began teaching her foreign languages such as Latin, as well as history, geography, religion, and the Bible.

In 1773, "Wheatley's Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral", was published with the help of the Wheatleys which brought her fame but not so much fortune. She toured England and was praised in a poem by fellow African American poet, Jupiter Hammon.

Phillis’ poetry became known in the United States and abroad ultimately brought her freedom from slavery on October 18, 1773. She appeared before General Washington in March, 1776 for her poetry and was a strong supporter of independence during the Revolutionary War.

After the death of the Wheatley family, she married a free black grocer named John Peters. This marriage resulted in three children, two of whom soon died. Sadly, her husband left her and Wheatley was forced to earn a living as a servant.

By 1784, she was living in a boarding house and, in December of that year, she and her remaining child died and were buried in an unmarked grave.

She died in poverty at the age of 31. Wheatley's third child died only a few hours after her death. At the time of her death, there was a second volume of poetry but neither it nor any other works of hers have ever been seen.

A sad end to a brillant mind. But we, must remember the legacy that Phyllis Wheatley left for both African American and young people in general. The lesson that should be learned is that no matter what obstacles that are presented before you, be it poverty, handicaps or whatever, you can rise above them and become the person that you were meant to be.

Here is a poem for you, Ms. Phyllis from me:

Long ago and in a distant land
Tragedy came and grabbed your hand

You were taken away in a blink of an eye
You were loaded on a ship and forced to lie

In the bowel of a ship so dark and gloom
Filled with tears & horror in a hope-starved room

An angel accompanied you as you were stolen away
And traveled across the ocean to a land far away

The angel put you in the care of those
Who taught you history, language, poetry and prose

It was this that brought you freedom and refuge from
The dark side of slavery that had fallen upon some

In the midst of darkness, a bright star will shine
With the aid of a God-sent angel and a brilliant mind

Alas, your angel has guided your soul to its final fate
In the presence of God Almighty via Heaven's Pearly Gates

Thine soul lives on, dear Phyllis in blissful and eternal peace
Lest your mortal memory and legacy, No, shall ever cease

Written by Karen Burney 02/05/08 (copyrighted material)