Lucille Clifton was an American poet. Langston Hughes published Clifton's poetry in his highly influential anthology, The Poetry of the Negro, in 1970. 

A prolific and widely respected poet, Lucille Clifton’s work emphasises endurance and strength in the face of adversity.

In an interview, she said she continues to write because “writing is a way of continuing to hope ... perhaps for me it is a way of remembering I am not alone.” How would Clifton like to be remembered? “I would like to be seen as a woman whose roots go back to Africa, who tried to honour being human. My inclination is to try to help.”

Sharing her poem, “Won’t You Celebrate with Me” – 

won't you celebrate with me

what i have shaped into

a kind of life? i had no model.

born in babylon

both nonwhite and woman

what did i see to be except myself?

i made it up

here on this bridge between

starshine and clay,

my one hand holding tight

my other hand; come celebrate

with me that everyday

something has tried to kill me

and has failed.