The Tubman Connection

Some take you for Black, and some for White.
My Caucasian ancestor built his abode in
Old Columbia Heights.
When the 1950s rolled around,
The Earnshaw house was less than
Hallowed Ground.
Most of the towering “Castles”
Had been carved into squalid
Rooms;
People of a caring nature
Wished segregation’s end
—And fast!
Therein lies the Cusp
Of change, for
A school building
Bearing the name of a Messenger
Of Freedom, Harriet Tubman
Supplanted the old place
At Thirty-Four Twelve
Thirteenth Street.