Verbal Effects and Margaret Walker's "Molly Means"

By Clarissa Richee

In her poem, “Molly Means,” Margaret Walker celebrates African American myth and folklore, combining lyrical traditions with narrative ones. Following a format, similar to that of a song, the poem consists of seven individual verses and one, slightly altered refrain. This gives the poem particular verbal effect when read aloud, hovering somewhere halfway in between a story and a song.

The “verses” are written in a constant rhyme scheme and the chorus of the poem relies heavily on assonance and repetition. “Old Molly, Molly, Molly Means / Cold is the ghost of Molly Means…O Molly Molly, Molly Means / Where is the host of Molly Means?” The long “o” sound is particularly important here; as readers are greeted with the same low sounds again and again, it helps to set the mood for the poem, to create the sense of something sinister, impending and immovable.

Lessons in the Art of Choosing

Haley Scholar Reading Groups

We've been having an extended conversations about Sheena Iyengar's The Art of Choosing over the last several weeks. We've covered issues related to cultural background and choice, the science of choosing, informed intuition, values associated with choice, and various other issues. 

What have you learned about the art of choosing, so to speak, that stands out?

Or, what idea from the first half of the book has been especially memorable and why?

Responses to Margaret Walker's "For My People"

A few responses from our contributors concerning Margaret Walker's "For My People."

Clarissa Richee writes that

By detailing the actions, attitudes and situations specific to common experiences of black Americans, Margaret Walker’s “For My People” presents a sense of recognition and admiration. Overall, Walker paints African American history as one of struggle. Each stanza works to examine a different era in the progression of that culture, exploring where it began, “singing their slaves songs,” as well as how it has progressed, “floundering in the dark of churches, and schools, and clubs.” She uses longs lists to encompass a wide variety of experiences and places, from “the maybe years of washing, ironing cooking scrubbing sewing mending,” and the “sands of Alabama” to the “47th Street in Chicago…deceived and devoured by money-hungry glory-craving leeches."

Cindy Lyles writes that

Margaret Walker’s “For My People” celebrates the ideals of community and camaraderie by stringing together familiar scenes at the heart of African American culture. By detailing the actions, attitudes and situations specific to common experiences of black Americans, the poem lends this community a sense of recognition and admiration. Overall, Walker paints African American history as one of struggle. Each stanza works to examine a different era in the progression of that culture, exploring where it began, “singing their slaves songs,” as well as how it has progressed, “floundering in the dark of churches, and schools, and clubs.”

She uses long lists to encompass a wide variety of experiences and places, from “the maybe years of washing, ironing cooking scrubbing sewing mending,” and the “sands of Alabama” to the “47th Street in Chicago…deceived and devoured by money-hungry glory-craving leeches.” In the final stanza, however, the poem takes an upward twist, as Walker writes “Let a new earth rise. Let another world be born,” ending the poem with the community looking forward to an era of peace and prosperity, where the old battles can finally be put to rest.

***********
Related: Margaret Walker Week

The Lessons of Outliers, Pt. 1

Haley Scholar Reading Groups

We've been having an extended conversations about Malcolmc Gladwell's book Outliers over the last several weeks. We've covered issues related to practical intelligence, the 10,000 hour rule, and accumulative advantage among other issues.

I'm curious about the lessons we've gained so far and topics that we need to further develop. What idea from the first half of the book has been especially memorable and why?

Or, what important idea related to outliers would you want to bring more attention to? Why?

W.D.S.: The Category Problem

Haley Scholar Reading Groups

By Cindy Lyles

“Troublemakers: What Pit Bulls Can Teach Us About Crime” opens with a horrifying scene of a father fighting vicious pit bulls off of his toddler son. Such an emotionally-charging introduction sets the stage for Gladwell’s journey through the process of how pit bulls became portrayed as one of the most dangerous dogs and consequently became banned in certain states and even countries, although all pit
bulls are actually not the most vicious breed. It is merely a generalization.

Amiri Baraka's "Digging" - A Powerful Jazz Tribute

Amiri Baraka's poem "Digging Max (At Seventy Five, All the Way Live!)" is an important contribution to the expansive body of jazz poetry, and more than that, it's a powerful tribute to the jazz drummer Max Roach, not to mention dozens more musicians. Baraka first presented "Digging" in 1999 for Roach's 75th birthday party. Baraka read the poem again as a tribute at Roach's funeral in New York City on August 24, 2007.

Baraka opens the poem by announcing that "Max is the highest / The outset, the /
Largest, the greatest." He goes on to note that "when we say MAX," we link him to a long line of ideas for artists including "Djali, Nzuri Ngoma, / Señor Congero, Leader, Mwalimu, / Scientist of Sound, Sonic Designer."

African American Lit., Medical Discrimination & Health Activism

While reading about instances of discrimination and African American health activism in Alondra Nelson's  book Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight Against Medical Discrimination, I started wondering about the extents to which black writers had addressed topics related to health inequality. What kind of responses to medical discrimination had novelists and poets presented? 

Given how widespread the lack of and barriers to health access have been over the last century and more, I figured that black writers would have certainly addressed health-related issues. Maybe, I'll eventually identify several examples in works published over the years.

Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey & Health Activism

In chapter 1 of Body and Soul, Alondra Nelson surveys the extensive histories concerning how African American responded to medical discrimination prior to the mid-1960s when the Black Panther Party was formed. The chapter clarifies the roots of the Party's activism.  Nelson charts the "little-known yet extensive history of African American health-focused activism as necessary context for understanding the Black Panthers' health politics" (24).

Later she notes that "although physicians and race leaders often served as figureheads and visionaries, efforts to provide healthcare services were often funded and administered by dedicated laypeople working to improve the welfare of their communities." Club women, community organizers, and churchgoers were some of those laypeople who "played a crucial role in devising ways to stretch their communities' professional resources and in confronting health inequality" (27).

A Notebook on Body and Soul by Alondra Nelson

I'm slowly developing a small notebook here on Alondra Nelson's book Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight Against Medical Discrimination (2011).  The notebook will primarily include brief summaries or identifications of key points in the book as well as a few observations or ideas based on the reading.

The book's focus on "medical discrimination," "health inequality," and African American health activism provides some useful ways of thinking about or rethinking black and American history.

Entries
November 26: Opening Notes on Body & Soul
November 28: B. T. Washington, M. Garvey & Health Activism
November 28: African American Lit., Medical Discrimination & Health Activism
December 2: Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Medical Discrimination
December 14: The Black Panther Party and Study Groups

10 Poems by Margaret Walker

10 poems (online) by Margaret Walker

"For My People"

"Molly Means"

"Kissie Lee"

"Lineage"

"For Malcolm X"

"Sorrow Home"

"Childhood"

"Love Song for Alex, 1979"

Related: Margaret Walker Week

Margaret Walker Week

We've been sharing Margaret Walker's poetry with participants in our programs for years now. Her poems "Molly Means," "Kissie Lee," "Bad-Man Stagolee," and "For My People," in particular, are mainstays in our rotation. Those works, and more, also appear regularly on my course syllabi.

Overall, Walker's poems serve as mediums for the display and perhaps preservation of a range of black cultural ideas. She projects an African American collective or communal voice in many of her works that really appeals to readers. Or more to the point, some of her poems seems as if she is a voice of the people.

This week, we're providing a few entries on her work, developing our notebook on Margaret Walker.

Entries:
November 28: Margaret Walker Week
November 28: 10 Poems by Margaret Walker 
November 29: Responses to Margaret Walker's "For My People"
November 30: Verbal Effects and Margaret Walker's "Molly Means"
December 1: A Renegade Woman: Margaret Walker's "Kissie Lee"
December 2: Margaret Walker, Struggle & Poetry magazine in the late 1930s  

Why the Coverage of Poets Matters

Among other attributes,  a major literary award can bring winning poets increased media coverage. Just ask Nikky Finney. Over the last couple of weeks, she has received substantial attention in various media outlets after she won the National Book Award for Poetry for her volume Head Off & Split.

[Related content: Why Poet Awards Matter]

Poets rarely receive coverage in mainstream magazines like Time such as a recent piece on Finney or in newspapers. Perhaps journalists have a hard time explaining why writing poems or publishing a volume of poetry constitutes news? But winning a major award? Well, that's newsworthy.

Notes on Body & Soul by Alondra Nelson Pt. 1

Alondra Nelson's Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight Against Medical Discrimination is kinda like an extended remix. The work takes a familiar tune--here, the saga of the Black Panther Party--and includes distinct innovations--in this case, the Party's health activism.

Alondra has been a friend and important teacher for me for years now. Her pioneering work on afrofuturism (AF) has been an essential guide for the work that our program does concerning the convergence of race and technology.

Why Poetry Awards Matter

The many newspaper articles on poet Nikky Finney over the last couple of weeks after her receipt of the National Award for Poetry speaks to the important role major literary awards can play in expanding the coverage of poets and their works. Poets rarely receive widespread media attention for their work. But winning major awards can push poets into broader public discussions at least for a while.

James English explains in his book The Economy of Prestige (2005) that literary awards and prizes in the arts and the entertainment industry have increased over the last decades. The interest in competition and more importantly the capital generated through the facilitation of awards competitions and shows have prompted the increase.

Adam Bradley on Common's Creative Process

During his presentation at the "Make It Funky" Symposium at the University of Kansas, on November 10, Adam Bradley offered a fascinating narrative about Common's creative process. Bradley served as the writer for Common's autobiography One Day It'll All Make Sense.

During his presentation, Bradley shared a moment he had captured on an audio recorder when he and Common were driving in the car, and Common was trying to come up with rap lyrics. Common played a beat and free-styled over the instrumental.

The clip that Bradley played had Common rhyming with various free associations then muttering in places that he did not have words yet. At times Common talked to himself about what he wanted to say and then he talks to Bradley at times for feedback.

After playing the audio clip, Bradley then switched to a video clip on youtube of Common rhyming in a B.E.T. cypher.  What we witnessed there was a finished product of what Common had been developing and practicing while riding in the car with Bradley.  A collective and audible "ah-ha" moment emerged among the audience when everyone realized that we were observing the results of that initial behind-the-scenes session of a rap coming together.  

There was something special about witnessing Common in that somewhat vulnerable and private creative moment when he was thinking through his work. It was also a special moment because of the rare chance we had to see a rap by a well-known figure like that at the development stage.

College classes on "The Wire" and Jay-Z

A couple of years ago, there was a rise in college courses being taught about the popular HBO series The Wire. Professors at Harvard, Duke, UC Berkley, and various other schools taught courses on the show. Drake Bennett wrote a piece for Slate about those college courses and noted that "Some sociologists and social anthropologists, it turns out, believe The Wire has something to teach their students about poverty, class, bureaucracy, and the social ramifications of economic change."

This semester, a class taught by Michael Eric Dyson at Georgetown University entitled "Sociology of Hip-Hop — Urban Theodicy of Jay-Z" has been getting quite a bit of media attention. College professors have been teaching courses devoted to hip hop for years now. But maybe a course focusing on a single major figure (Jay-Z) by a nationally known and popular professor (Dyson) at a prestigious university has fueled the increased attention in the Jay-Zclass.

From Lucille Clifton to Nikky Finney: Achievements of Black Women Poets

Lucille Clifton

Years from now, when and if people write literary histories of black women poets in the early 21st century, they will likely mention Lucille Clifton's and Nikky Finney's receipt of National Book Awards in Poetry in 2000 and 2011, respectively.

Over the years in interviews and public presentations, Finney has expressed her admiration for Clifton's work. So receiving the National Book Award in Poetry had to be especially important for Finney as it linked her in a distinct way to one of her revered literary models.

A Preliminary List on Black Men & Consciousness

Last week, I did a presentation focused on blogger Ta-Nehisi Coates, cartoonist Aaron McGruder, novelist Colson Whitehead, and poet Kevin Young--four black men writers whose works I have followed regularly over the last several years. Their compositions have been useful touchstones, I was thinking, for getting me and folks in my circles thinking about a variety of concepts.

After the talk, I started thinking about a few other well-known black men born between 1969 and 1975, Whitehead's and Coates's respective birth years, who've been important to conversations I've had about "consciousness" during the contemporary era.

Places Poets Love

In his poem “For you: anthophilous, lover of flowers,” Reginald Dwayne Betts asks "what place do you love?" The question had me thinking about my own preferences, and then, I started thinking more broadly about places--especially regions and locales--that some my favorite poets seem to love.

Langston Hughes, it appears based on his writing, loves Harlem. You see the place represented quite often in his work. You get the sense reading Helene Johnson's "Sonnet to a Negro in Harlem" that she loves the site to or at least its people. In Calvin Forbes's recent poem "Talking Blues," the speaker warns raccoon about the pitfalls of New York City and Harlem, but it's clear there's some community reverence for the place.

Nikky Finney, Facebook & Youtube

Screenshot of one of the facebook pages dedicated to Nikky Finney

Looking back on the promotion of Nikky Finney and her volume Head Off & Split this year, it's apparent that facebook and youtube were key factors in raising the poet's visibility. Those social media sites helped publicize Finney and her work among hundreds of online users, bringing her work to the attention of new readers and making long-time supporters aware of her progress.  

In mid-December an author fan-page was established on facebook for Finney. An early entry on the page noted that "Nikky Finney's new book of poetry, Head Off & Split, will be released on February 1." On January 7, the facebook page published a link to a youtube video of Finney reading her poem "Penguin Mullet Bread," and on January 11, a message on the fanpage pointed out that "A new web presence for Nikky Finney, launched in the early hours of the morning..." and included a link to Finney's webpage.

Some of Adrian Matejka's Jack Johnson poems (online)

I've been having a good time over the last few years witnessing Adrian Matejka researching, writing, talking through and reading the poems that will eventually comprise his volume of poetry on Jack Johnson.

I'm told his manuscript is done now. He has a contract. Just waiting for the publisher to press print.  In the meantime, here are links to some of Adrian's Jack Johnson poems.

Reflecting on “From Profit To Prophecy”

Pongo performing at "Black Verse" event.

By Dometi Pongo

Working on “From Profit To Prophecy” gave me a new-found respect for all the emcees that attended college or made other business moves while launching their music careers. Artists like Plies, Ludacris, J. Cole, Wale, Lil Wayne, Ice Cube, Common, 2Pac etc. gave me some motivation to increase my work ethic to get where I need to be.

The hardest thing about putting the project together was remaining inspired to write while outside obligations occupied my mind. Below are a few things I learned throughout this process:

Redmond Reading at Lovejoy Library

This past Thursday, Nov. 17, we worked with Lydia Jackson and the folks at Lovejoy Library to organize a poetry reading featuring Eugene B. Redmond. He gave a really outstanding "reading" that included chants, call and response, songified phrasings, dance movements, and narratives about cultural history in East St. Louis.

I've seen Redmond give several readings over the years. This was one of his best.

A Notebook on the Work of Aaron McGruder

I've been reading Aaron McGruder's The Boondocks for years now. When the show was televised, I followed that as well. Over the last few years, I've started blogging about the comic strip and show.  A few are my blog entries about The Boondocks are below; more to come.  





2011
• November 13: Huey Freeman, Black Militant Nerd
• August 31: 1999-2000: Discovering The Intuitionist, The Boondocks & Afrofuturism 
• July 17: Huey Freeman as Black Public Intellectual?
• July 17: Writing about Huey Freeman (again)
• May 20: Four Contemporary Black Male Writers & Their Fathers
• April 27: The Boondocks, and uhh, Black Studies
• March 25: Huey vs. Riley Matters
• February 25: Huey Freeman vs. Intellectual Solitude

Nikky Finney's Poetry-Prose Voice

On twitter a couple of nights ago, people were initially reporting that the National Book Award for Poetry winner Nikky Finney had read a poem for her acceptance speech. Those initial eye-witness accounts were incorrect. Many of the early observers perhaps did not know that when Finney reads prose it sounds like poetry.

"Was it a poem, your speech?" a reporter for the Wall Street Journal asked the poet after the awards ceremony.

"It’s my first voice, poetry, but I wouldn’t call it a poem. Just passages," said Finney. "I have to think about the history that brought me to this moment, and I have to thank the people who surrounded me my entire life. Those thoughts and that energy went into that."

When Finney reads essays, her voice has a sense of urgency, rhythm, and intensity that could easily be mistaken for the approach that poets take when they are reading poems. Of course, Finney too identified her mode of delivery as "my first voice, poetry."

For decades now, Finney has been called on to inspire audiences, to deliver words of wisdom, to reflect on difficult times and not only read poetry. Perhaps, she has been inclined then to squeeze her poetry voice into those many moments where she was called on to offer prose.

Related content: A Notebook on the work of Nikky Finney

Notes on Memorable Lines from Kevin Young's "Bereavement"

There's a line in Kevin Young's poem "Bereavement" that really stands out to me: "Their grief is colossal / & forgetful."

In the poem, Young is discussing his father's hunting dogs. They remain at the house after their owner--Young's father--has died. In the poem, the "their" refers to the dogs who seem grief-stricken on the one hand but forgetful at the same time.

Coverage of Nikky Finney's Big Win

Well, she did it. Nikky Finney was a big winner yesterday at the National Book Award ceremony. I've had a chance to read and re-read her volume this year. And blog about it. I was really pleased to see it gain this kind of national recognition.

Some of the coverage
• How Nikky Finney Found Her Own Path To Poetry NPR
• Poet Nikky Finney Dazzles the National Book Awards Time 
• Q & A with Nikky Finney Kentucky Kernel 
• NBA Winners Going Back to Press Publishers Weekly
• Book Award Winners Jesmyn Ward, Nikky Finney Discuss Race & Lit. Huffington Post
• Poet Nikky Finney hopes prestigious award illuminates arts' role in Kentucky LexGo
• UK says hats off to poet: Colleagues laud Finney for national award  Kentucky Kernel
• Reactions From the National Book Award Winners Wall Street Journal blog
• Kentucky poet Nikky Finney wins National Book Award Courier Journal 
• Nikky Finney wins National Book Award for poetry Chicago Tribune
• 2011 National Book Award Finalist, Poetry: Nikky Finney  National Book Award
• Professor wins National Book Award for Poetry Kentucky Kernel
• S.C. native, Nikki Finney, wins National Book Award The State (South Carolina)
• Lexington poet wins National Book Award   LexGo
• Ward, Finney Are Among 2011 National Book Award Winners PBS
• National Book Awards Finalists Reading at The New School Electric Literature 
• UK Perspectives Talk to Creative Writing Professor Nikky Finney UK News
• Nikki Finney's poetry nomination a triumph Lexington Herald-Leader

Related content: A Notebook on the work of Nikky Finney

Winning & Losing Awards, Gaining Prestige in Poetry

Tonight when the winner of the National Book Award in Poetry is announced, two and possibly three African American poets will have lost. In some respects. Carl Phillips’s Double Shadow, Nikky Finney's Head Off & Split, Yusef Komunyakaa's The Chameleon Couch, Bruce Smith's Devotions, and Adrienne Rich's Yet in Tonight No Poetry Will Serve are the finalists for the award. Phillips, Finney, and Komunyakaa represent the rare occurrence of a majority of African American poets comprising the majority of finalists for a major award.

Unless an award is exclusively for African American poets, it's uncommon to witness black writers as finalists for mainstream literary awards. In some quarters, there's always talk that only one is accepted at a time. That one is thought to be a kind of token among some. Having three, though, might shift some of the conversations. Maybe.

Meaningful Work and Outliers

In his chapter “The Lessons of Joe Flom,” Malcolm Gladwell traces the backgrounds and experiences of a select group of people whose “world -- culture and generation and family history – gave them the greatest opportunities.” In particular, he pays close attention to the importance of ethnic background, demographic luck, and meaningful work. Given my remark that “hard work is often overrated” in the comments section of our last post, I was especially intrigued with Gladwell's alternative or refined consideration of work.

According to Gladwell, meaningful work is characterized by
1) autonomy – processes that yield senses of independence;
2) complexity – work that engages the mind and imagination;
3) a connection between effort and reward – a noticeable return on the uses of time and energy.

So rather than champion “hard work,” Gladwell makes distinctions and highlights “meaningful work,” indicating that such work heightens people's possibilities for success when they find their efforts freeing, thought-provoking, and fulfilling.

What determining factor -- ethnic background, demographic luck, or meaningful work -- did you find most compelling? Why?

Or, to incorporate a local concern, what do you think your individual department or the university in general here at SIUE could do to create a community that ensures that more students get engaged with meaningful work?

Ebony magazine & Black Arts Poetry

At some point during my research for my book The Black Arts Enterprise, I came across the August 1969 issue of Ebony magazine's special issue on "The Black Revolution." I was intrigued that artists figured so prominently in the conception of revolution.

Eric Ruckh & Jeffrey Skoblow Read "Howl" at the Underground

Jeffrey Skoblow & Erick Ruckh reading "Howl" in the Underground Reading Room

Earlier today, Jeffrey Skoblow and Eric Ruckh read Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl" in the Underground Reading Room on the third floor of Lovejoy Library. Skoblow and Ruckh had agreed to do the reading for a small audience of students.

Skoblow and Ruckh have read Ginsberg's poetry before on  a number of occasions outside as part of a yearly celebration to honor the poet's famous poem. I attended their reading back in October. A few weeks ago, Pamela Fetters and I were discussing their yearly readings and mentioned how much we have enjoyed them, so we talked about and then proposed that Skoblow and Ruckh do another reading of "Howl" for Fetters's students at the Underground.

Online responses to “For you: anthophilous, lover of flowers” by Reginald Dwayne Betts

Over the last few days, some of my students have been conversing online about
“For you: anthophilous, lover of flowers” by Reginald Dwayne Betts. The poem appeared in the September 2011 issue of Poetry magazine, and we're discussing it in our "Black Nerds" course.

One of my students noted that "Repetition is used sparingly but is noticeable in the poet's use of the suffixes -philia and -phile which usually ends words which the poet mentions are words for 'love' or more so a love of something." That student went on to explain:

That use of repetition and the focus on the love of something directly relates to nerdom because of its specialization. Nerds are generally specialized in a particular subject and the poet's poem speaking on just the love of something in general is also specialized. The poet could have wrote place lover instead of "topophilia" but philia can give even non-defined words a technical feel which makes the poem technical and yet simple.

My First Book Blues

Don't get me wrong; I'm really thankful that I was fortunate enough to get my book The Black Arts Enterprise published, especially "during these times," as we're obliged to say...during these times.

As a writer, you tend to want as many people as possible to read your book, right? The problem with making that desire more of a reality at this point has to do with the price of my book, which is officially $60 (It's possible to get the book at an 11% discount on amazon and an even better 40% discount from my publisher.).

A 40% Discount on the Black Arts Enterprise

The University of Michigan Press is running a 40% discount on my book The Black Arts Enterprise, if you order from their site. The discount runs through December 2011.

Click here The Black Arts Enterprise, and as you complete the order form insert the promotion code: BLACKARTSENT. The final price will be $36.

Related:
My First Book Blues
Notes on My First Book Signing

Tony Bolden, the Scholar & Cultural Organizer

Tony Bolden introducing the symposium, Nov. 10

I first met Tony Bolden the scholar some years ago on a panel at a conference. He was dropping knowledge about poetry. Listening to him at the conference later led me to his wonderful book Afro-Blue. I kept in touch with him over the years, and he became an unofficial teacher.

Or better yet a guide.
 
"Look at..." he might say pointing to me to this poet or that poet. Or, "go around there, make a left at...." he was basically saying when he led me to various ideas related to artistic production and culture.

Huey Freeman, Black Militant Nerd

Early in the semester, students in my "Black Nerds" course were reading Colson Whitehead's The Intuitionist. Folks had no trouble viewing the novel's protagonist Lila Mae as a black nerd. She's bookish, isolated and in solitude, and apparently socially awkward.

But what about Huey Freeman? We've been reading Aaron McGruder's The Boondocks comic strip and talking about his 10-year-old protagonist as a black nerd. Huey is as nerdy as Lila Mae in many respects, but there are some key differences that have gotten our attention.

Notes on My First Book Signing

On Thursday, after the presentation at the "Make It Funky" symposium at the University of Kansas, my good friend Maryemma Graham had made arrangements for me to sign my book The Black Arts Enterprise alongside Adam Bradley who had been the keynote speaker for the event. Not a good look for me.

You see, Adam has four books--3 related to rap (author of Book of Rhymes, co-editor of The Anthology of Rap, and co-author of Common's autobiography) and a book about Ralph Ellison. And me? Well, I have this one book. And it's published by a university press that's seeking to sell the book to libraries, so it's more expensive than a general audience book. In short, that means it costs too much for the average student.  So yeah.

Jay-Z, Adam Bradley, & the Rap-Poetry Conversations

Questions about the degrees to which rap is or is like poetry have persisted since the days even before old-school rap. But you'll probably recall that the rap-poetry conversation gained new life a year ago with the publication of Decoded by Jay-Z and The Anthology of Rap edited by Adam Bradley and Andrew DuBois.

Jay-Z and Bradley were especially important figures on the rap as poetry side of the conversation. Jay-Z was inclined to really highlight the extents to which rappers are poets in all the interviews he was doing to promote the release of his book. What better spokesman for rap as poetry than one of the leading rappers of all time?

Cain, Obama, and Black Cadence

On Sunday in the Times, T.A. Frank wrote about Herman Cain and reasons he appeals to large numbers of people. He writes that

There can be no doubt that Cain draws on a deep American love of black American culture. Black music, black comedy and black oratory are integral to the cultural mainstream in a way that would have been unimaginable 50 years ago but is now taken for granted. This is no less true of the South, where Cain’s brand of blackness taps into shared religious faith and a love of the region. His manner of speaking only increases his appeal: 9-9-9 is NAN-NAN-NAN. Hill is HEE-oh. Quarter is KAW-tuh.

Black Writers as Outliers

The persistence of the color line in literature means that works by African American writers often appear in 'black' contexts--works categorized as "urban literature," shelved in the "African American section" at bookstores, or anthologized  together in collections featuring black writings. For the most part, in the broader realm of literature, most African American writers are outliers in a marginal sense.

There are, on the other hand, a few select authors who are outliers in relation to the majority of black writers. These writers' works appear in black spaces, but they also appear in mainstream venues as well and receive attention from large numbers of non-black readers. These select black writers are outliers in the exceptional  sense.   

A Notebook on the Work of Amiri Baraka

2025

• April 24: Ryan Coogler, Amiri Baraka, and Black Music

• April 11: Amiri Baraka, Eugene B. Redmond, and the Art of Cultural Cataloging 

• January 25: Amiri Baraka, DEI, and Racial Barriers in the Arts

2024

• December 28: From Nikki Giovanni and Amiri Baraka to C. Liegh McInnis and others 

• August 28: Malcolm X, Amiri Baraka, and ....

• July 18: Amiri Baraka and Black World

• June 13: Amiri Baraka and Black World magazine

• June 8: Covering Amiri Baraka in Negro Digest/Black World magazine 

• June 8: An Amiri Baraka and Negro Digest/Black World Bibliography (by composition type)

• June 8: An Amiri Baraka and Negro Digest/Black World Bibliography (by author name) 

• June 8: An Amiri Baraka and Negro Digest/Black World Bibliography (chronological listing)

• June 8: An Amiri Baraka and Negro Digest/Black World Bibliography (by publication)

2022

• September 29: Covering Amiri Baraka's "Dope" with Collegiate Black Men

2021

• August 2: Twenty-two years covering Amiri Baraka's "Dope"

• June 26: Amiri Baraka, Slavery, and Rumors/Ruins

2020
• April 25: James Smethurst releases book on Amiri Baraka
• April 14: A post from William J. Harris on birds sparked Amiri Baraka project

2019
• May 28: Preface to even more Amiri Baraka Studies
• February 21: Amiri Baraka and Black Book History
• January 2: Amiri Baraka's "Dope" in the context of rap freestyle

2018
• December 31: Blogging about Amiri Baraka in 2018
• November 13: Amiri Baraka, ProQuest, and dissertations 1960 - 2018
• October 10: Anthologizing Amiri Baraka
• September 17: Amiri Baraka's five most anthologized poems
• July 25: Amiri Baraka's three most anthologized poems
• July 25: Remixing Amiri Baraka's RhythmBlues
• March 6: Amiri Baraka's "Dope" and June Jordan's "Poem about My Rights"
• March 2: Jeffrey Skoblow's Amiri Baraka/LeRoi Jones Books
• January 10: From Amiri Baraka and Greg Tate to a generation of black men writers

2017
• December 13: William J. Harris discusses Amiri Baraka for the St. Louis Book Club
• September 9: LeRoi Jones, Amiri Baraka, and nicknames of collegiate black women
• April 28: A checklist of liner notes written by Amiri Baraka  
• April 27: Amiri Baraka, editorial cartoons, and poetic insults 
• April 25: Amiri Baraka's searing critiques of U.S. Presidents
• April 24: Baraka, black boys & poetic curiosity  
• January 27: An Anti-War march, Amiri and Amina Baraka, and me  

2016
• December 29: Blogging about Amiri Baraka in 2016
• September 9: Amiri Baraka's sonic movement: from reader to performer 
• April 25: "Oooowow!": the wonderful wordless phrasings of Amiri Baraka 
• April 24: 50 Amiri Baraka poems on YouTube 
• April 13: George Packer compliments LeRoi Jones (but derides Amiri Baraka)
• April 3: In Search of Amiri Baraka
• March 4: Poets as Catalogers: The Cases of Robin Coste Lewis, Kevin Young, and Amiri Baraka
• February 1: Amiri Baraka's Metaphors and Ferocious Name-calling

2015
• September 9: Amiri Baraka on those Albert Ayler "ruins" and "rumors"
• July 15: A Baraka book Sighting at the Strand
• February 4: Amiri Baraka and Outness
• January 31: 30 Amiri Baraka poems on YouTube

2014
• December 11: Acknowledging the tremendous loss of Amiri Baraka and Maya Angelou in 2014 
• August 1: Notes on Amiri Baraka's Low Coup
• July 17: The LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka Reader
• January 19: Poetry and poets at Amiri Baraka's homegoing
• January 11: Amiri Baraka was not what you could call a follower - James Smethurst
• January 10: Coverage on Amiri Baraka's passing

2013
• September 10: The Durability of Amiri Baraka 
• May 3: 49 years ago, Amiri Baraka reviewed a grab bag of works for Poetry magazine 
• May 1: Coltrane vs. Thelonious Monk in the sounds of Amiri Baraka 
• January 29: Amiri Baraka and the "controversial" tag
• January 12: Beyond Poetry: Amiri Baraka and Kevin Young

2012
• November 20: From Little Richard to James Brown to Amiri Baraka
• November 12: Amiri Baraka's Frightening Poetic Recollections
• October 26: Once upon a time when black poetry was scary 
• October 22: Amiri Baraka's scary wordless phrasings 
• September 14: Back cover photograph featuring LeRoi Jones  
• July 5: Funny poets: Amiri Baraka & Kevin Young
• June 23: Where You Stay -- Amiri Baraka & the Matter of Where Poets Live
• April 3: Amiri Baraka, the Black Arts & post Black Arts Poet
• March 23: Defining Encounters with the Sound of Amiri Baraka's Poetry
• February 24: February 1965: A Defining Moment in the History of Black Poetry
• March 19: Poets as Essayists
• February 2: 8 Black Arts Era Poets and 11 Name Changes


2011
• November 29: Amiri Baraka's "Digging" - A Powerful Jazz Tribute 
• October 30: Redmond, Baraka & Multi-directional Approaches to Poetry
• October 27: Adrian Matejka & Amiri Baraka
• October 2: Amiri Baraka, Lil Wayne & Mainstream, Underground Audiences
• September 3: Amiri Baraka : A Leading Black Arts Figure
• July 6: When Print, Performance & Online Cultures Converge: Amiri Baraka's "Dope"
• July 6: 10 Amiri Baraka poems on youtube
• June 28: The Remarkable Ingenuity (and indifference) of Amiri Baraka

2010
• March 18: EBR focus on Amiri Baraka
• January 8: Redmond Discusses Photographing Amiri Baraka

2008
• Sept. 26: In the Funk World

Related:
• An Extended Notebook on the works of writers & artists

A.O.C.: Values & Choice

Haley Scholar Reading Groups

By Danielle Hall

As we’ve been reading each chapter of A.O.C. we have had many opportunities to contemplate and discuss the complex processes involved in making decisions. However, I found chapter 5 “I, Robot?” particularly interesting because Iyengar identified in several essays, the ways in which our choices are often “manipulated” by external factors beyond our control. Some of the noted examples from the chapter were the “Ballet Slippers” vs. “Adore-A-Ball” nail polish samples in “Neutral Observer,” color and trend predictions of fashion designers and retailers in “You Say Chicken, I Say Egg,” and bottled water vs. tap in “There Is A Difference.”

In each scenario, I was able to see myself and my decisions…like the occasions I’ve gone to the nail shop and found it difficult to select a neutral color in the “cotton candy” family or even going grocery shopping, I am often very particular about what “brand” of bottled water I purchase, even though I know there's probably not much difference. At this thought, I could not help but apply this theory to education and intellectual growth at SIUE.

In many instances, education marketability is competitive and very much like fashion “wearability.” If academic life is viewed as a trend, we may be able to identify some people who place values on how much they spend on their education or where they attend school (i.e. Harvard, WashU). If we acknowledge that such factors exist and are inevitably linked to the options we have and choices we make, what are some of the values that brought you to SIUE and how can we as scholars create an intellectual network of shared values here at SIUE as a model to market our growth and capabilities?

W.D.S.: The Talent Myth

Haley Scholar Reading Groups

By Cindy Lyles

The query “Are smart people overrated?” threads through Malcolm Gladwell’s article “The Talent Myth.” By chronicling the strategies that McKinsey & Company management-consulting firm offered corporations like Enron, Gladwell explains that failed businesses quite possibly fell short on account of the very thing that seemed to make them outstanding—the talent mindset, or “the deep-seated belief that having better talent at all levels is how you outperform your competitors” (Gladwell 358).

One specific practice McKinsey promoted to businesses trying to place “better talent at all levels” within respective companies was that of differentiation and affirmation. This technique is a process of assorting employees into tiers based on performance. Those in group one would be employees who are “challenged and disproportionately rewarded,” and the next group would include workers who “need to be encouraged and affirmed” (Gladwell 360). The bottom group consists of those who are in danger of losing their jobs due to lackluster performance. Quite evident, each rank is distinguished and calls for divergent levels of affirmation.

Although the article demonstrates how differentiation and affirmation work in the business world, the concept is quite portable and apposite in other institutions, like colleges and universities. In what ways do differentiation and affirmation manifest in collegiate education systems? Who benefits from the strategy, and for whom does it prove problematic?

Blogging about Poetry in October 2011

For the month of October, our main  poetry project was our Black Verse exhibit. But we also managed to get various writings for the blog done on poets Evie Shockley, Allison Joseph, and others.


[Related content: Blogging about Poetry in 2011]

• October 31: Notes on Derek Walcott's Omeros By Emily Phillips
• October 30: Redmond, Baraka & Multi-directional Approaches to Poetry
• October 27: Adrian Matejka & Amiri Baraka
• October 27: Dometi Pongo at the Black Verse Exhibit

10 Poets who gained widespread attention in their 20s

After reading a piece about the young rap producer Lex Luger, I started thinking about literary artists who gained widespread attention at relatively young ages. In literature, gaining attention before the age of 30 is a "relatively" young age. Large numbers of "major" black poets began gaining national attention when they were in their 30s.

• Paul Laurence Dunbar was 21 when he published his first volume Oak and Ivory (1893), and he achieved national attention with his second volume Majors and Minors (1895).

• Langston Hughes was about 19-years-old when he published his poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" in 1921 The Crisis. The poem gained Hughes national attention and led to more publications. 

• Margret Walker was 22 when she first published her poem "For My People" in Poetry magazine. Her volume For My People appeared in 1942 and helped secure her place in literary history. 

A Prelude to Rita Dove's Anthology?

I've been reading some of the reviews of The Penguin Anthology of 20th Century Poetry edited by Rita Dove. Some reviewers, such as Jeremy Bass, have been critical of Dove's approach. In a review in The Nation, Bass notes that "Dove is so scrupulous about including traditional canonical figures as well as the outlying and dispossessed that, by the end of her journey through the century, her omissions become increasingly worrisome."

Bass compliments the early sections and selections of the anthology but notes that "The work Dove has chosen by poets born within the past fifty years seems at times more a cross section of cultural diversity than of literary achievement."

A Notebook on the work of Nikky Finney

I've followed Nikky Finney's writings for years now, but finally committed to writing about her regularly this earlier this year with the publication of her book Head Off & Split. Finney also has published four other volumes, The World is Round (2003), Rice (1995), and Wings Made of Gauze (1985), and a collection of short stories Heartwood (1997). She is also editor of the collection of The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South (2007).  

I plan to continue developing this digital notebook concerning her work. 

Entries:
2020
• February 2: A notebook on Nikky Finney for Spring 2020

 2014:
• July 28: Nikky Finney's Head Off & Split

2011
• November 26: Why the Coverage of Poets Matter
• November 25: Why Poet Awards Matter
• November 21: Nikky Finney, Facebook & Youtube
• November 18: Nikky Finney's Poetry-Prose Voice 
• November 17: Coverage of Nikky Finney's Big Win 
• November 16:  Winning & Losing Awards, Gaining Prestige in Poetry
• August 15: The Strength of Weak Ties in Nikky Finney's Sonnet Sequence
• June 13: Nikky Finney's George Bush Sonnet Sequence, Pt. 1 
• April 23: Images of Black Writers in Mainstream Publications
• April 2: Nikky Finney's Reading Style 
• April 2:  Nikky Finney and her Audience
• March 14: Nikky Finney, Nikki Giovanni, & the Black Poetry Best Seller List  

A Notebook on the work of Rachel Eliza Griffiths

Rachel Eliza Griffiths is a poet and photographer. Her poems have appeared in several literary magazines, including Callaloo, Crab Orchard Review, Mosaic, RATTLE, Brilliant Corners, Indiana Review, Lumina, Ecotone, The Acentos Review, and PMS: poem memoir story, and African American Review.

She teaches creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College and lives in Brooklyn.

Entries
2015
• August 4: The Visual Artist as Poet: The Case of Rachel Eliza Griffiths  
• August 4: Rachel Eliza Griffiths's surrealist moments
• August 4: A connection between Lighting the Shadow and Mule & Pear 
• August 3: Rachel Eliza Griffiths's dedications to women

2014
• December 10: Amiri Baraka, Rachel Eliza Griffiths & #BlackPoetsSpeakOut

2011
• November 2 Rachel Griffiths as Zora Neale Hurston's Janie 
• November 2 A Poet Channeling the Work of Novelists 
• November 2 And She's a Poet: Rachel Eliza Griffiths
• November 2 And She's a Photographer: Rachel Eliza Griffiths
• November 2 Online Poems By Rachel Eliza Griffiths
• November 2 Griffiths's Trailer for her Upcoming Book of Poems

Rachel Eliza Griffiths as Zora Neale Hurston's Janie

In her poem "Janie Talkin in her Sleep," Rachel Eliza Griffiths takes on the persona of the protagonist of Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. We often talk about "entering a conversation" with authors, and Griffiths really takes that idea to the next level by writing/speaking as Janie.

The poem opens: "I swear on de life of a pear, / a part of me died / when mah finger, / like an enemy of de Lawd, / pulled de trigger / on mah sweet boy." Here, the poems references the moment toward the end of Hurston's novel where Janie is forced to shoot and ultimately kill her man Teacake as he attempts to kill her.

A Poet Channeling the Work of Black Women Novelists

Rachael Eliza  Griffiths covers or addresses well-known black women protagonists in her recent volume Mule & Pear. As a result, her work convenes with the works of some major African American novelists.

For instance, Griffiths has poems featuring Celie from Alice Walker's The Color Purple, Reba from Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, and Janie from Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. Her poems also provide quotations from novels by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Gayl Jones, and Edwidge Danticat and from a play by Adrienne Kennedy.

And She's a Poet: Rachel Eliza Griffiths

Mention the notable photography work of Rachel Eliza Griffiths to folks hip to contemporary African American poetry, and they're likely to add, "And she's a poet too." Like the poet-photographer Eugene B. Redmond, Griffiths's career as a poet and photographer complement each other. Her active participation in communities of writers, especially her work with Cave Canem, certainly relates to her efforts photographing so many poets associated with that group.  

Online Poems By Rachel Eliza Griffiths

A few online poems by poet and photographer Rachel Eliza Griffiths

Hymn to a Hurricane Rachelelizagriffiths

"The Two Elizas, 2009"

"Nights on the Ward" Revolving Door

"Verguenza" Daily Poem

"Ode to the Gazelle While I Bathe on Sunday Evening" the louderARTS Project

"Encarnar: El Águila" Cerise Press

Related
• Rachel Eliza Griffiths

And She's a Photographer: Rachel Eliza Griffiths

For some reason, I have a hard time pinpointing exactly when I first became aware of the work of Rachel Eliza Griffiths.

My problem remembering--you know, aside from my typical memory deficits--is because I encountered Griffiths's work in a few different moments, and it just so happens that some of those times, I wasn't fully aware that I was witnessing her work. Griffiths is a photographer, and poets are some of her favored subjects.

Outliers & Practical Intelligence

Haley Scholar Reading Groups

Extending his “Trouble with Geniuses” concerns, Malcolm Gladwell offers insight about those particular skills that give talented people the extra edge to become outliers. Gladwell explains that we too often assume that success is based purely on intellect or physical talents. Genetics tend to play vital roles, but they are hardly the sole determining factors.

To describe the differences between a highly intelligent yet underachieving person and a highly intelligent and successful one, Gladwell highlights psychologist Robert Sternberg’s concept “practical intelligence,” which includes “'knowing what to say to whom, knowing when to say it, and knowing how to say it for maximum effect.’” Practical intelligence is “knowledge that helps you read situations correctly and get what you want. And, critically, it is a kind of intelligence separate from the sort of analytical ability measured by IQ.”