Black History Month: Self-Reliance

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Black History Month: James M. Whitfield—Self-Reliance

One is tempted to assume that there must be some relationship between Whitfield’s poem and Emerson’s more famous essay. We’re not experts, but are inclined to be skeptical. I suspect some of our readers will have a different take. If nothing else, the inspiration for those seeking to build their resilience is clear. The full text of the poem can be found at Classroom Electric.

I love the man whose lofty mind
   On God and its own strength relies;
Who seeks the welfare of his kind,
   And dare be honest though he dies;
Who cares not for the world’s applause,
   But, to his own fixed purpose true,
The path which God and nature’s laws
   Point out, doth earnestly pursue.
When adverse clouds around him lower,
   And stern oppression bars his way,
When friends desert in trial’s hour,
   And hope sheds but a feeble ray;...

Armed with the same sustaining power, 
Against adversity’s dark hour, 
And from the deep deceitful guile 
Which lurks in pleasure’s hollow smile, 
Or from the false and fitful beam 
   That marks ambition’s meteor fire, 
Or from that dark and lurid gleam 
   Revealing passion’s deadly ire. 
His steadfast soul fearing no harm, 
   But trusting in the aid of Heaven, 
And wielding, with unfaltering arm, 
   The utmost power which God has given—— 
Conscious that the Almighty power 
   Will nerve the faithful soul with might, 
Whatever storms may round him lower, 
   Strikes boldly for the true and right.

In honor of Black History Month, we will post an inspirational cultural item each day.

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