Up the Down Staircase...

Last year, we read the poem "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes.  (I have a poster of this poem behind my back desk.) I have placed it below this post, in case you have forgotten it. My question to you is this: How does this poem relate to the novel A Lesson Before Dying?  The speaker in this poem could be one of several characters in the novel.  Select one character from the novel and explain this voice to Jefferson or Grant.  Explain how and why this character could say these words to either Jefferson or Grant.  CATCH:  You may not select the same character as the person who posted prior to you. (This post closes at midnight on January 14, 2014.)

Well, son, I'll tell you:

Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor
--Bare.
But all the timeI'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now --
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.