To Honor Naomi Cordelia Madgett

MIDWAY

I've come this far to freedom and I won't turn back

I'm climbing to the highway from my old dirt track

     I'm coming and I'm going

     And I'm stretching and I'm growing

And I'll reap what I've been sowing or my skin's not black 

I've prayed and slaved and waited and I've sung my song

You've bled me and you've starved me but I've still grown strong

     You've lashed me and you've treed me 

     And you've everything but freed me

But in time you'll know you need me and it won't be long. 

I've seen the daylight breaking high above the bough

I've found my destination and I've made my vow;

     So whether you abhor me 

     Or deride me or ignore me

Mighty mountains loom before me and I won't stop now.

At the age of 17 Naomi Madgett published her first book of poetry, Songs to a Phantom Nightingale, a few days after graduating from high school. She attended Virginia State College (now Virginia State University), and graduated in 1945 with a bachelor of arts degree.

Her poem "Midway," from her collection One and the Many, portrayed black people's struggles, and victories. In 1955, she graduated from Wayne State University with a M.Ed. 

In the 1960s, Madgett taught the first black literary course in the Detroit public school system. In 1968, she became a teacher in creative writing and black literature at Eastern Michigan University, where she taught until her retirement in 1984

Some of Madgett's poems have been set up as songs and publicly performed.

Noted Poet Laureate of Detroit, Michigan, Naomi Cordelia Madgett died in November 2020 at the age of 97.