“August 19” by Langston Hughes

By: Donald V. Watkins

Copyrighted on August 19, 2026

A prison photo of "Scottsboro Boy" Clarence Norris.

"August 19 (A Poem for Clarence Norris)" is a powerful 1938 political poem by famed poet Langston Hughes. It was written from the perspective of Mr. Clarence Norris, one of the nine Scottsboro Boys.

Manuscript of "August 19" by Langston Hughes, circa 1938.

Norris and the other eight Black teenage boys were arrested on March 25, 1931 and falsely accused of raping two white women on a freight train passing through Paint Rock, Alabama. The "Scottsboro Boys" were tried on multiple occasions, and convicted each time. All but 13-year-old Roy Wright were sentenced to death. The U.S. Supreme Court saved the Boys' lives each time.

The nine Scottsboro Boys in captivity in March 1931.

When “August 19” was written, Clarence Norris was awaiting an execution that was scheduled for August 19, 1938.

Clarence Norris was my client from September 30, 1974, to November 29, 1976, when he became the last known surviving Scottsboro Boy to receive a full and unconditional pardon from the state of Alabama based upon “innocence.” He was also the first former death row inmate and "fugitive" to receive such a pardon.

On November 29, 1976, Attorney Donald V. Watkins presented Mr. Clarence Norris his full and unconditional pardon from the state of Alabama based upon his "innocence."

With tears streaming down his face, Norris proudly accepted his pardon on behalf of himself and the other eight Scottsboro Boys. Norris' 45-year legal battle with the state of Alabama was finally over, and his name had been cleared.

Certificate of Pardon for "Scottsboro Boy". Clarence Norris.

In 2013, the state granted posthumous pardons to three of the other Boys.

To this day, the Clarence Norris pardon has been the greatest and most rewarding legal fight in my 46-year career. I am proud that God chose me to end this fight for Clarence Norris while he was alive to smell the roses.