Margaret Walker expresses the theme in her poem For My People that equality has not been attained but can be with a new generation; by combining anaphora and polysyndeton to illuminate the hardships that African Americans have faced in the past, but acknowledging that society can change for the better and be able to break the... Also see what other people are saying about For My People. Written by an American poet, published in 1948. The title comes from a line in the poem which reads "and for my people too". Walker was born on January 18th, 1869 in Georgia. She got her bachelor's degree from Fisk University and then went on to get a master's degree from Columbia University. In 1992 she would become the first black woman to be awarded a PhD in English from Yale University. Walker started writing poems at a very young age and soon after became one of the leading poets of the New York Renaissance. Her work is known for its social commentary as well as its use of language artfully. She was appointed as a lecturer at Howard University in Washington DC in 1889 where she would remain until her death in 1958.