Men Of Color, Do Your Duty Poem by Robert C O Benjamin

Political


Oh! ye men of color, wake to glory!
Too long have you been the serfs of wealth;
Too long have you been their willing slaves,
And the fruits of your toil they've got by stealth.


Oh, ye noblemen of nature, claim your own,
And no longer submit to tyrant's rule;
'Tis your labor and your strength that made the wealth;
Yet you starve in adversity's cold school.


Then awake to your rights, and don your armor,
And ne'er longer be trampled in the dust
By the rings and bosses who rob you
To gratify their taste and sensuous lust.


They misnamed this place a land of freedom,
Yet command you to submit to your cursed lot;
But the coward who bows down to class oppression
Is a dastard in your ranks, and should be shot.


Oh! ye men of color, do your duty;
The wretches who oppress you fear your might;
If you stand like men, and fight the battle,
Grand victory will crown your noble fight.