He has long been a promoter of reading poetry aloud for children. His book Ashley Bryan’s ABC of African American Poetry (1997) includes poems by such poets as Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, and Paul Laurence Dunbar. He has won the Coretta Scott King Award ten times ― sometimes for illustration, and sometimes both for writing and illustration. Perhaps his best known collection of his own poetry is 1992’s Sing To The Sun. He is also known for illustrated books of African folk tales, and of Black American Spirituals.
The following poem is one of eleven poetic portraits of slaves, he wrote using original auction and plantation estate documents, that appear in his book, Freedom Over Me (2017). It was selected as a Newbery Honor Book.
Qush
Many years ago
Mulvina and I worked together
on a Louisiana plantation.
Our voices could always be heard
singing singing singing.
It was our voices
that brought us together.
We sang to strengthen our spirits.
We cared for each other.
Luckily, we were sold together
to the Fairchilds’ estate.
We had a way with animals.
We led their cattle
to green pastures
and still waters.
No matter what the work―
herding the cattle,
tending the garden,
picking cotton―
we sang.
The steady gait of the cattle,
their contented, quiet munching,
aroused sentiments of song
within us.
We sang low, thoughtful melodies
to Bible stories we heard
standing in the back
of the Big House
for Sunday church services.
We remembered
the stories of suffering and longing,
of Moses, Joshua, David
of Jesus and Mary.
Stories like our own.
During the heavy laboring
in the cotton fields,
caring for the garden,
planting rows of vegetables
for the estate,
the tiring daily chores,
Mulvina and I sang together quietly:
“Oh, by and by,
by and by,
I’m going to lay down
this heavy load.”
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