Racism in the United States is undoubtedly one of the most gruesome forms of inhumanity. This disease spawned the dehumanization of slavery that took the lives of countless innocent African Americans. It also robbed an entire race of their identities, heritages, and cultures. Through the myriad of novels, songs, poems, videos, and other forms of literature we have encountered in this course, it is unmistakable that the African American literary tradition demonstrates that the past (the incredible suffering of African Americans) can never be arrested and forgotten. . The many who have died because of racism are the history of African Americans themselves, and the African American literary tradition makes it a priority to be faithful to that history. So why is death a theme in the African American literary tradition? Death, in itself, is a universal phenomenon, without exceptions; It touches the lives of all people regardless of their social status or ethnic heritage. Likewise, death is a universal theme in literature, but its relevance in African American literature is especially poignant because of the loyalty African American writers have to their history. With the help of Frederick Douglass's works Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass an American Slave, Negro spirituals ("I Feel like my Time Ain't Long" and "Many Thousands Gone"), and Abel Meeropol's "Strange Fruits", Modern African American literature such as Martine Luther King Jr.'s last sermons and Elizabeth Alexander's "Praise Song for the Day" used the universal theme of death to symbolize the racial injustice that African Americans experience in their own country and also use a theme so strong to state… middle of paper… shocking result of racism in the United States and the topic has made its way into the African American literary tradition. Slave narratives like the Douglass narratives and Negro spirituals like “I Feel Like My Time Were Not Long” and “Many Thousands Gone” made African American literature faithful to the history that was recorded. A controversial topic today in our society is why can't people, especially African Americans, forget about slavery and the adversity against African Americans? It is believed that African Americans have progressed and made progress since then; however, with writers like Elizabeth Alexander, the past cannot be forgotten; especially a gruesome past like that of African Americans. Every single bloody lash, death and moan happened, and as he said, we need to "say it straight" that it happened.