Happy Black History Month.  

I will like to give credit to all the Afro-American poets who path the way for others. Each day I will put up new poems for those who open the doors for other Black poets.

Check out thyblackman.com

Life Is Fine by Langston Hughes

I went down to the river,
I set down on the bank.
I tried to think but couldn't,
So I jumped in and sank.

I came up once and hollered!
I came up twice and cried!
If that water hadn't a-been so cold
I might've sunk and died.

But it was Cold in that water! It was cold!

I took the elevator
Sixteen floors above the ground.
I thought about my baby
And thought I would jump down.

I stood there and I hollered!
I stood there and I cried!
If it hadn't a-been so high
I might've jumped and died.

But it was High up there! It was high!

So since I'm still here livin',
I guess I will live on.
I could've died for love--
But for livin' I was born

Though you may hear me holler,
And you may see me cry--
I'll be dogged, sweet baby,
If you gonna see me die.

Life is fine! Fine as wine! Life is fine!

The Pioneers

Joshua Johnston (1765-1830), Otto Reinhold Jacobi (1812-1901), Patrick Reason (1817-1856), William H. Simpson (1818-1872), and Robert Scott Duncanson (1821-1872) represent some of the names of the early trailblazers who were the unusual combination of black, American, and artist. A review of their work suggests that these vanguards did not focus on the issues surrounding their racial acceptance in society; but rather followed personal or business interests such as Duncanson's extensive mural work resulting from his classical education in Paris. Robert Scott Duncanson, considered by some art historians as the first black man to earn his living as an artist, was a painter of both Hudson River landscapes and floral still lifes.Na Johnson facebookNaomi_Soulality twitterhttps://twitter.com/#!/Naomi_Soulality