A ______

While the majority of poems in these periodicals were either unattributed or published under a name, there are a handful signed with a status, title, or occupation. This was not unique to poems - letters and essays in these periodicals were often simply signed "A Free Man" or "A Man of Colour".

These titles invite universality, inviting readers who are "A Mother" or "A Farmer" to see themselves in them. They also ask readers to recognize was often repressed, obscured, or denied to its writers and editors: maternal love in black women, childhood innocence in black children, or dignity in "An Injured, Wronged, and Traduced Man".