Read the excerpt from "My City” by James Weldon Johnson.But, ah! Manhattan's sights and sounds, her smells, Her crowds, her throbbing force, the thrill that comes From being of her a part, her subtle spells, Her shining towers, her avenues, her slums— O God! the stark, unutterable pity, To be dead, and never again behold my city!
Read the excerpt from "We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar.We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries To thee from tortured souls arise. We sing, but oh the clay is vile Beneath our feet, and long the mile; But let the world dream otherwise, We wear the mask!
Read the excerpt from "On Imagination” by Phillis Wheatley.Thy various works, imperial queen, we see, How bright their forms! how deck’d with pomp by thee! Thy wond’rous acts in beauteous order stand, And all attest how potent is thine hand.
Read the excerpt from "Jabari Unmasked” by Nikki Grimes.Is such unfairness what the world is filled with? The evidence is seen in spirits ripped and torn. Still, the world needs the dreams we offer, and should we leave those dreams bleeding on the road, we’d shrink our own hearts down to nothing, and that we would regret. Better to let our anger go, and smile.
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