Paul Laurence Dunbar

I believe a hero is a person who makes a difference in either one person’s life or in millions of people’s lives. I believe a hero has to have courage to stand up for what they believe in. I do not think a hero has to have a cape on and fly in the night fighting crime. I believe heroes are right around us, but we just don't know it.

Paul Laurence Dunbar was the son of two former slaves. He was born on June 7, 1872 in Dayton, Ohio. His childhood was very poor, but he still had a thing for writing poetry. He was the first, most well known, African American poet. He has written over 35 books and they are still known to this day. Paul started writing and reciting poetry when he was six years old. He was the only black person at his high school. After he graduated high school he worked as an elevator operator. He would write poems while he was working and became known as the "elevator boy poet."

In 1893 Paul published his first book of poetry called "Oak and Ivy." He sold a couple of his books and got encouragement from famous African Americans like Fredrick Douglass and other very important African Americans. Paul had a conflict with his poetry. He liked to write poetry using dialect and Standard English, but the public thought his poems should be written in dialect.

Paul married Alice Ruth Moore, a writer and teacher. After being married, he accepted a job at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. The job made him really tired and the dust from the books was one of the reasons he had tuberculosis. He quit that job after a year and became a writer and recited poetry full time. In 1902 he and his wife separated. The depression from the marriage made him an alcoholic, but he still wrote twelve books of poetry after that. His work was published in "Harper's Weekly" and "The Sunday Post." He went to visit his half brother in Chicago and returned to Dayton, Ohio in 1904 to see his mother. Paul died February 6, 2006.

So what is the real meaning of the word hero? Is a hero someone who has a cape on and flies through the night fighting crime? Could a hero be a person who makes a difference in another person's life? Is a hero a person who has the courage to speak out on what they believe in? Is a hero well known by everyone in the country? Could the hero be right there in your classroom? So tell me, are you a hero?