the poem by Whitley is significant because of the two reasons:
D) It is among the first literary works published by an African American.
) It is the first literary work to assert African equality to whites.
Whitley uses a narrative unfamiliar to many of her peer slaves of the time to deliver her message in her eight stanza poem. She appears calm,composed and appreciative of conversion to christianity, while using its fundamental believes and ethics to counteract the issue of black hatred that had permeated good white christians.
