Here are some of the songs from Thomas W. Talley's 1922 book Negro Folk Songs, Wise and Otherwise that include elements of protest by enslaved African Americans:


DIE IN THE PIG- PEN FIGHTING
Dat ole sow said to de barrer:
"I'll tell you w'at let's do:
Let's go an' git dat broad-axe
And die in de pig-pen too.

"Die in de pig-pen fightin'!
Yes, die, die in de wah!
Die in de pig-pen fightin',
Yes, di wid a bitin' jaw."
(p. 19)

**

OFF FROM RICHMOND
I's off from Richmon' sooner in de mornin'.
I's off from Richmon' befo' de brak o' day.
I slips off rom Mosser widout pass an' warnin'
For I mus' see my Donie wharever she may stay.
(p. 15)

**
NOBODY LOOKING
Well: I look dis a way, an' I look dat a way,
An' I hared a mighty rumblin'.
W'en I come to find out, 'twus dad's black sow,
A-routin' an a'grumblin'.

Den: I slipped away down to de Big White House.
Miss Sally, she done gone 'way,
I popped myse'f in de rockin' cheer.
An' I rocked myse'f all day.

Now: I looked dis a way, an' I looked dat a way,
An' I didn' see nobody in there.
I jes run'd my head in de coffee pot,
An' I drink'd up all o' de beer.
(p. 48)

**

PROMISES OF FREEDOM
My ole Mistiss promise me,
W'en she died, she'd set me free.
She lived so long dat 'er head got bal',
An' she give out'n de notion a dyin' at all.

My ole Mistiss say to me:
"Sambo, I'se gwine ter set you free."
But w'en dat head git slick an' bal',
De Lawd couldn' a' killed 'er wid
a big green maul.

My ole Mistiss never die,
Wid 'er nose all hooked an' skin all dry.
But my ole Miss, she's somehow gone,
An' she lef' "Uncle Sambo
a-hillin' up co'n.

Ole Mosser lakwise promise, me,
W'en he died, he'd set me free.
But ole Mosser go an' make his Will
For to leave me a-plowin' ole Beck still.

Yes, my ole Mosser promise me;
But "his papers" didn' leave me free.
A does of pizen he'ped 'im along.
May de Devil preach 'is funer'l song.
(pp 25-26)

-snip-

All of these examples are from the 1968 Kennikat Press edition of Thomas W. Talley's book.