Voyage of Ignominy: A Legacy of Slavery
by Benny J. Jefferson of New Orleans, LA

In the bosom of ships they came,
The weary , the sick and the lame.
No brass bands were there to wish them well;
They were captives - all headed for hell.

That hell was slavery in a hostile land
Where flames of hatred had been fanned;
And hope for freedom would be mocked
By the presence of the auction block.

When shipped to plantations far and wide,
The strongest lived but the weakest died.
Their cries for freedom came to naught
'Cause slaves could be sold and bought.

Finally with the many evils of slavery bared,
An enlightened America showed they cared.
And in a great war in which the slaves, too, fought bravely,
America put an end to slavery.