These poems have been written as I traveled the country sharing my educational programs, Spiritual Songs, The History of the Negro Spiritual and Dancing with the Devil, The African American Holocaust. They are reflections of my encounters at places such as Carnton Plantation, the burial grounds of the largest group of Confederate soldiers on private property. The Freedom Center which sits on the banks of the Ohio River, an educational testament to the past and present history of slavery. They were delivered to me through the news. The modern day terrors which transcended race but exemplified hate and from seeing cotton growing in the field for the first time at the age of forty one. I have chosen to sing the songs of my ancestors so that all may know the truth - the truth of an evil that still rolls like thunder across our nation today. And I like to think of these poems as songs as well, songs bound to the page to carry on long after my voice has been silenced and entered into the ages.