The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1890-10-18
THE Appeals A NATIONAL AFRO-AN1ERICANN NEWSPAPER
w. r. NORRIS ESQ
The Talented Young Afro-American
Lawyer Of Minneapolis,

! z
Pays the Highest Tribntes to his Race, and
Paints it's Success In Glowing Colors in
an Address at q Literary Entertain
ment at Bethesda Bap. Church.
Men my brothers, men the workers,
Ever feaping something new;
a sRsy hsA sbs sSn ssd sHs
!. "For dipt into the future.
Far as human eye could see;
Saw the vision of the world.
And AL the wonders that would be-"
Through trials, hardahips and Difficult
ties we as q people have come,
badly SCARED and misused. but,
still hopeful and determined. Although
for centuries in this country a. dark face
has been a signal for insult and outrage,
and the black man has been the white
mans back log in winter and his umber-
ella in summer, his pillow in the spring
and his rake in the fall, still bis innate
manhood, sterling qualities and nobility
of soul, has kept him from wholly sink
ing down, and with the pluck and cour-
age characteristic of the race, as soon as
his burdens were removed, he like a
cork from which the weight that has
held it down has fallen, has risen rapid.
~ towards the top. He has. shown him.
selfa man under all circumstances and
in all avocations of life. Whatever other
people can do so can he. He is a good
citizen and brave soldier, a fearless
sailor and tireIess traveller. He has
shown his ability to cope with the bright
est scholars of all races. All knowledge
is within the grasp of his mental facul-
ties. He is especially blest with pa
tience, perseverance, good nature and
contentment. Kindness, docility, ten
derness, and sympathy, are not un-
known to him. He loves the beautiful
and bis heart is ever responsive to the
teachings of nature This is the simple
childlike abiding trust that enables him
to bear his burdens With patience and
fortitude. With his face ever turned
towards the dazzling sunlight, he is
pushing forward, onward and upward.
The docile child of the human family
the large-souled and trusted friend OF
the human race, the natural and &C.
knowledged by those who are acquaint-
ed with his ability, spokesman of the
world, and prince of multipliers of his
kind, his is great future, and the eful-
gent radiance and resplendent glory of
his destiny will verify blot out and utter.
ly destroy the thick darkness and sty-
gian gloom of his woeful and unfortu-
nate past. His history, his natural char
acteristics and bis 1enacitv and love
of life all admirably fit him to fulfil the
declaration of Holy Writ, that the first
shall be last and the last first. Verify
we have indeed been the last of the
Earth, and are still so considered by the
baser sort, but those who can dip into
the future as far as the human eye
can see, aad behold the vision of the
world and all the wonders that will be,
see that the defendants ~of the dark
skinned children of sunny Africa are
destined to be the lords of the earth.
This is no idle dream, no pleasing con.
coct1oa of disordered brain, nor is it
the silly boast or senseless dream of q
would be prophet, nor a shadowy pre-.
diction based on flying phantoms and
feetiDg fancies, but it is firm convic.
ton, grounded upon past history, 8
knowledge of the race and of the human
family. and of the indications of the
present as we'll as the facts and the
knowledge of the logical results of the
concentration of a variety of forces. All
the elements essential for the mastery
of the world are found in those, through
whose veins flows the blood of the meek
patient, long suffering and sable hued
sons of Ham. l defy history to produce
an instance in which race has risen &c
rapidly from the lowest depths of ser, i.
tude to so high plane as has been
reached by the freedmen Of this coun.
try. Surely, my friends we have nc
cause to feel ashamed of what has been
accomplished; for it stands radiant, SUI
preme and unexampled in the annals of
history. AS soldiers our brothers have
shown themselves the bravest of the
brave; they have marched de6antly to
the lannon's mouth in the cause Of their
own freedom, and for the maintenance
nd of
bones have bleached on nearly every
battle field, both in the revolutionary
and civil wars, and their blood has en-
riched and made sacred the soil. They
have titled the earth and it has yielded
beautifully to their touch; they have
startled the world by their eloquence
and enchanted it with their song; they
have added to the comforts and enjoy
ments of life by their labor; They have
added to the works of history, science
and art; they lave searched the divine
word and brought forth hidden truths;
they have beautified the poetry Of earth
with their fervor; they have made wise
laws and executed soand Judgement;
they have sailed the seas, counted the
stars, examined the moon AMI weighed
the ean, yea they have done all that other
men have done. We have kept abreast
OF the times; we are indeed the heirs
of all the ages in the foremost files of
time; we live in 9 glorious age and we
are doing our part to make it illustrious.
Should we then be ashamed because our
faces are dark No, rather rejoice that
we have shown to the world that all the
elements of true manhood and woman
hood can ha and ara anclnaod u;4h;n :