Militant poets, funny poems

One of the things you sometimes forget or never fully realize is how humorous black arts poets tended to be in their writings and public presentations. In summaries and brief sketches, the Black Arts Movement is often represented with its most militant poems, so the humor and joke poems get left out. And that's a shame given how prevalent the funny poems were during the era.

In his poem "The New Integrationist," Haki Madhubuti writes that he seeks the "integration of negroes with black people." In his poem "But He was Cool," Madhubuti writes sarcastically about a guy who was so cool that he was "nicknamed refrigerator." Madhubuti's volumes of poetry are filled with jokes like those.

Carolyn Rodgers has humor here and there in her work, and perhaps her funniest poem is "The Last M.F." She vows not to use the MF word anymore then proceeds to keep mentioning it throughout the poem as she explains that she'll stop. Students get a good laugh out of that piece when we cover it in class.

Ishmael Reed's poem "Flight to Canada" is still one of the all-time funniest poem in my classes, as gauged by the students laughing out loud every year that I read it during the courses. Students also enjoy the humor in poems by Sonia Sanchez, Larry Neal, Etheridge Knight, and Henry Dumas that we cover.

And no wonder black arts folks projected humor in their works, given the influence of Malcolm, one of our greatest militant-minded joke tellers. These days, the humor among black arts poets is still there. I mean, you'd be hard-pressed to find any two black poets who prompt more belly-aching laughter during a reading than Nikki Giovanni and Amiri Baraka.

• A Notebook on Black Arts Poetry

Poets against poetry?

In the history of American letters, has any group of poets, more so than black arts poets, been so suspicious of the idea of poetry? Throughout the writings of African American poets of the 1960s and 1970s, you find the them addressing the limits of poetry, calling for different kinds of poems, and questioning whether they and others should continue their pursuits as poets. 

In one of the more well-known instances, Nikki Giovanni closes her poem "For Saundra" by noting that:

maybe i shouldn’t write
at all
but clean my gun
and check my kerosene supply
perhaps these are not poetic
times
at all

Her poem challenges the ability of poems to achieve desired ends.

In the afterword to Black Fire, Larry Neal writes "Listen to James Brown scream. Ask yourself, then, Have you heard a Negro poet sing like that, of course not, because we have been tied to the texts, like most white poets."  Like many of his peers, Neal encouraged poets to re-purpose themselves by abandoning traditional and prevalent definitions of poets and literature. 

In the introduction to Neal's Black Boogaloo, Amiri Baraka writes that "Literary sound like somethin’ else … sound like it ain’t sound. And sound is what we deal in … in the real world.” The push toward new sonic possibilities, expressed by Neal and Baraka, or the interest in activism, as raised by Giovanni, were common motivating factors offered by poets to move away from conventional conceptions of poetry and poets.

In retrospect, one important outcome of poets questioning poetry was that they routinely explored realms and discourses well beyond poetry. They viewed and defined themselves as writers and something else. The Black Arts Movement was such an enduring cultural enterprise in part because so many of the poets were in some ways against poetry.  

• A Notebook on Black Arts Poetry

Photos from Week 2 of African American Poetry Institute

I participated in Week 2 of  Don't Deny My Voice: Reading and Teaching African American Poetry, a three-week summer institute for college and university teachers funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. I had a good time talking about publishing history, black arts as a way of thinking, and various other concerns related to poetry with the summer scholars. 

[Related:  Photos from Eugene B. Redmond's visit to the Poetry Institute]

Here are some of the photos that I took during the week. 

Summer scholars making presentation

Sarah Arbuthnot Lendt, Institute Coordinator, and Jerry W. Ward, Jr., resident faculty

Summer scholar Carla Lester and poet Eugene B. Redmond

Resident faculty member Joanne Gabbin with the summer scholars

Professor William J. Harris listens to summer scholar Kamau Kemayo

Tony Grooms speaks with Helen Polite via Skype

Resident faculty member Joanne Gabbin

Summer scholar Sarah RudeWalker sports her Song of Solomon shirt

Writer Tony Grooms makes presentation 

Institute book display and "library"

Summer scholar Zanice Bond makes presentation

Helen Polite, widow of poet Allen Polite, speaks via Skype with summer scholars

• A Notebook on Black Arts Poetry

Photos from Eugene B. Redmond's visit to the Poetry Institute

Thursday, July 25, at the University of Kansas, Eugene B. Redmond discussed poetry, his completion of the the landmark work Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry, his role as Poet Laureate of East St. Louis, his work as a activist-poet, and a range of other issues. Jerry W. Ward, Jr. facilitated the interview, which was part of  Don't Deny My Voice: Reading and Teaching African American Poetry. 

What follows are a few photos that I took during and after the Redmond event.

Redmond and poet Opal Moore

Redmond and Jerry W. Ward, Jr.

Summer scholar Deborah Ford and Redmond

Kentucky Poet Laureate and summer scholar Frank X. Walker and Redmond

Summer scholar Erin Ranft and Redmond

Scholar Tony Bolden, Redmond, and Jerry W. Ward, Jr.

• A Notebook on Black Arts Poetry

Black arts poetry is a way of thinking

They all knew to write Malcolm and Coltrane poems. They frequently thought about black culture and the interests of African American audiences. And they had a sense that there was a "they" -- diverse and sometimes in conflict, but existing nonetheless.

There was this thing, yes, known as the Black Arts Movement. But we can even go further and say that black arts poetry was a way of thinking. Poets thought, wrote, agreed, and disagreed about common ideas, symbols, and topics. Observers have sometimes overestimated the agreement part; however, the attention to overlapping and interrelated concerns and approaches even while holding opposing views about those issues is what contributed to the idea that the movement was a movement, a discourse, a way of thinking.

Poets and audiences perceived Negro Digest / Black World as a central and important site of publication. They all knew who Amiri Baraka was and had a sense of why he and others felt compelled to change their names and adopt political positions. They were aware of Nikki Giovanni, Haki Madhubuti, Carolyn Rodgers, Sonia Sanchez, Margaret Walker, Gwendolyn Brooks, and others.

Read enough of the poetry and essays, view the photographs, or listen to enough of the audio recordings, and you'll get a sense of the interconnectivity and recurring subjects and subject matter. You'll become conscious of widespread interest in the symbol of Africa, the idea of black pride, and the rhetoric of militancy. You'll get the sense that there was definitely some sort of black arts mindset.          

• A Notebook on Black Arts Poetry

Embracing Natural Hair

By Briana Whiteside

The last time I wrote about my natural hair journey, I expressed that I was still hesitant about exposing my hair for long periods of time, and that I wore a lot of protective styles because of the summer heat. However, this week, I decided to wear my hair out and in the style of a frohawk. To my surprise, I received so many compliments.

Because my hair is thick and curly in some places and wavy and coily in other places, a lot of the hair styles that other naturals wear do not work for me. As a result, I am usually self-conscious about the way my hair reacts to products and weather conditions.

Two months into this natural hair expedition and let's not forget the disposing of those false eyelashes, I have to admit that I love it more each day. I feel like I’m embracing who I really am and allowing my inner beauty and confidence to shine through. Some one has even remarked that I have a glow about me!

I understand now that this is a process—anyone who knows me knows I don’t like processes—and it’s not about when I get to the end of this journey, but about the things I learn about myself along the way.

Briana Whiteside is a graduate student in English at SIUE and a contributing writer for the Black Studies site.

40 Black Arts era poems

Here's a list of 40 essential black arts era poems, not all poems published, but just some that circulated widely or were widely discussed in scholarship.

• “SOS” by Amiri Baraka
• “Black Art” by Amiri Baraka
• “A Poem for Black Hearts” by Amiri Baraka
• “It’s Nation Time” by Amiri Baraka
• “Malcolm X” by Gwendolyn Brooks
• "Good Times" by Lucille Clifton
• "I am New York City" by Jayne Cortez
• “How Long has Trane Been Gone?” by Jayne Cortez
• "I am a Black Woman" by Mari Evans
• “Evil is No Black Thing” by Sarah Webster Fabio
• “True Import of Present Dialogue: Black vs. Negro” by Nikki Giovanni
• "Nikki-Rosa" By Nikki Giovanni
• "For Saundra" By Nikki Giovanni
• "Ego Tripping (there may be a reason why)" by Nikki Giovanni
• “Dear John, Dear Coltrane” by Michael S. Harper
• “El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz” by Robert Hayden
• “Keep on Pushing” by David Henderson
• "Jitterbugging in the Streets" By Calvin C. Hernton
• “My Blackness Is the Beauty of This Land” by Lance Jeffers
• "It Was a Funky Deal" by Etheridge Knight
• "I Sing of Shine" by Etheridge Knight
• "Hard Rock Returns to Prison From the Hospital for the Criminal Insane" by Etheridge Knight
• “The Idea of Ancestry” by Etheridge Knight
• "But He Was Cool (or: He Even Stopped for a Green Light)" By Haki Madhubuti
• “Don’t Cry, Scream” By Haki Madhubuti
• “The New Integrationist” by Haki Madhubuti
• “A Poem to Compliment Other Poems” by Haki Madhubuti
• "Poppa Stoppa Speaks from His Grave" by Larry Neal
• “Malcolm X—An Autobiography” by Larry Neal
• “The Summer After Malcolm” by Larry Neal
• “Don't Say Goodbye to the Pork-Pie Hat" By Larry Neal
• "Frederick Douglass and the Slave Breaker" by Dudley Randall
• "Flight to Canada" by Ishmael Reed
• “The Last M.F.” by Carolyn Rodgers
• "Me, in Kula Se & Karma" by Carolyn Rodgers
• "a/needed/poem for my salvation" by Sonia Sanchez
• "Summer Words of a Sustuh Addict" by Sonia Sanchez
• “blk/rhetoric” by Sonia Sanchez
• “Poem at Thirty” by Sonia Sanchez
• “For Malcolm X” by Margaret Walker

Related:
A Notebook on Black Arts Poetry

A Black Arts Timeline, 1965 - 1976

1965:
Malcolm X is assassinated in Harlem on Feb. 21. Poet, essayist Larry Neal witnesses the murder.
The Black Arts Repertory Theatre/School opens in Harlem in April.
Broadside Press is created by Dudley Randall in Detroit, Michigan.
"A Poem For Black Hearts" (tribute poem for Malcolm X) by Amiri Baraka published in Negro Digest.
"Black Art" (audio) by Amiri Baraka is released on Sonny Murray's album Sonny's Time Now.

1966:
A fourth published version of Robert Hayden’s “Middle Passage” appears in his Selected Poems.
"Black Art" by Amiri Baraka is published in the January issue of Liberator.
The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense is founded.
John Oliver Killens organizes a black writers conference at Fisk University in Nashville in April.
Jubilee by Margaret Walker published.
Black Writers Conference takes place at Fisk University.
Black Arts Convention takes place in Detroit.

1967:
John Coltrane dies July 17, and quickly becomes a frequent subject of tribute for black poets.
Third World Press is created by Haki Madhubuti in Chicago, Illinois.
For Malcolm: Poems on the Life and Death of Malcolm X edited by Dudley Randall & Margaret Burroughs pub.
Organization of Black American Culture (OBAC) paints Wall of Respect mural in Chicago
Second Black Writers Conference takes place at Fisk University.
Second Black Arts Convention takes place in Detroit.
Negro Digest runs special issue on poetry (dedicated to the memory of Langston Hughes) in September.

1968:
Martin Luther King assassinated, April 4.
Poet Henry Dumas is killed May 23, New York City Transit Authority police officer.
“The Black Arts Movement” (essay) by Larry Neal is published in special issue of The Drama Review.
Black Fire: An Anthology of Afro-American Writing edited by Baraka and Neal published.
Dark Symphony edited by James A. Emanuel and Theodore Gross published.
Black Writers Conference takes place at Fisk University
Negro Digest publishes survey results focusing on black writers and the topic “a black aesthetic.”
Negro Digest runs special issue on poetry in September.

1969:
Nikki Giovanni has a book party promoting Black Judgement; receives coverage in the Times.
Carolyn Rodgers's essay “Black Poetry--Where It's At” appears in Negro Digest in September.
Pissstained Stairs and the Monkey Man's Wares by Jayne Cortez
Ebony mag., special “The Black Revolution” issue, includes profile on Baraka and poetry essay by L. Neal.
Negro Digest runs special issue on poetry in September.

1970:
Prophets for a New Day by Margaret Walker published.
We a Baddddd People by Sonia Sanchez published.
Cables to Rage by Audre Lorde published.
I am a Black Woman by Mari Evans published.
3000 Years of Black Poetry edited by Alan Lomax and Raoul Abdul published.
Soulscript edited by June Jordan published.
Black Out Loud: An Anthology of Modern Poems by Americans edited by Arnold Adoff published.
The Black Woman edited by Toni Cade Bambara published.
The Third Life of Grange Copeland by Alice Walker published.
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison published.
Negro Digest becomes Black World magazine in May.
Black World runs special issue on poetry in September.

1971:
Festivals and Funerals by Jayne Cortez published.
Nikki Giovanni records Truth Is On Its Way with the New York Community Choir.
Jump Bad: A New Chicago Anthology edited by Gwendolyn Brooks published.
To Gwen With Love: An Anthology Dedicated to Gwendolyn Brooks edited by Patricia Brown published.
The Black Poets: A New Anthology edited by Dudley Randall published.
Black Literature in America edited by Houston Baker published.
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest Gaines published.
Black World runs special issue on poetry in September.

1972:
Mumbo Jumbo by Ishmael Reed published.
Black Spirits: A Festival of New Black Poets in America edited by Woodie King published.
Early Black American Poets edited by William H. Robinson published.
Black Writers of America: A Comprehensive Anthology edited by Richard Barksdale and Keneth Kinnamon pub.
New Black Voices: An Anthology of Afro-American Literature edited by Abraham Chapman published.
Black World runs special issue on poetry in September.

1973:
Understanding the New Black Poetry edited by Stephen Henderson, published.
Sula by Toni Morrison published.
The Poetry of Black America: An Anthology of the 20th Century edited by Arnold Adoff published.
Black World runs special issue on poetry in September.
Margaret Walker organizes the Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival at Jackson State University.

1974:
Celebrations & Solitudes (recording) by Jayne Cortez (with bassist Richard Davis)
The Black Book edited by Middleton Harris published.
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman is broadcast on CBS.
Keeping the Faith: Writings by Contemporary Black American Women edited by Pat Crutchfield Exum pub.
My Black Me: A Beginning Book of Poetry edited by Arnold Adoff published.
Black World runs special issue on poetry in September.
Poetic Equation: Conversations Between Nikki Giovanni and Margaret Walker is published.

1975:
Corregidora by Gayl Jones is published.
Giant Talk: An Anthology of Third World Writing edited by Quincy Troupe published.
The Forerunners: Black Poets in America edited by Woodie King published.
Black World runs special issue on poetry in September.

1976:
Black World magazine, a major venue for the publication of black poetry, ceases publication.
Eugene B. Redmond publishes Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry, A Critical Study.
Robert Hayden appointed Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress.
Roots by Alex Haley published.
Flight to Canada by Ishmael Reed published.
Eva’s Man by Gayl Jones published.
Patternmaster by Octavia Butler published.

Related:
A Notebook on Black Arts Poetry

A Notebook on Black Arts Poetry

This week at the University of Kansas I'm talking with folks about black arts poetry and really the black arts era at Don't Deny My Voice: Reading and Teaching African American Poetry, a three-week summer institute for college and university teachers, as well as graduate students, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

During the course of my presentations, I'll try to convince folks that the Black Arts era of the 1960s and 1970s constitutes one of, no, the most important moment in African American literary history because of the number of past and "new" writers involved, the centralized and many interconnected publishing activities and events that took place, and the far-reaching aftereffects and ongoing contributions of those associated with the discourse. 

Entries:
• Militant poets, funny poems
• Poets against poetry?
• Photos from Week 2 of African American Poetry Institute
• Photos from Eugene B. Redmond's visit to the Poetry Institute
• A Black Arts Timeline, 1965 - 1976 
• 40 Black Arts era poems

Initial notes on Jason McCall's Dear Hero,

I thought Jason McCall’s first two books Silver (2011) and I Can Explain (2012) were cool, good. His third book Dear Hero, (2013), though, really drew my interest.  Perhaps, the subject matter gave me more entry points. 

Throughout the volume, McCall alludes to a wide range of heroes from Hercules and Ulysses to Superman, Optimus Prime, and X-Men. He goes even further than highlighting leading figures by mentioning notable sidekicks as well. In the “Sidekick’s Creed,” for instance, McCall writes “If Superman is taken, I’ll settle for a regular Dick / Grayson-Jimmy Olsen-John the Baptist role;” later observing that “Someone has to be the guy / who knew the Guy, saw the miracles.”

McCall reveals his capacity for connecting a wide range of texts (oral, written, and cinematic) as he references contemporary pop culture heroes in the same volume and often in the same poems with Greek and biblical heroes. McCall's poems reminded me of the experience of reading Colson Whitehead's New Yorker essay "A Psychotronic Childhood." In that piece, Whitehead reveals the dozens and dozens horror movies that he watched and how he immersed himself in the genre.

Dear Hero, is evidence that McCall is immersed in the worlds of superheroes. And more. At a few different points, he mentions the vexed relationship between comic book narratives and their black audiences. In "Because Black Kids Can Read," he assumes the voices of African American characters who possess special powers, who are "Like Iron Man,/ but with more guns and less / brains or the Green Lantern who willed / himself out of the ghetto." In the guise of War Machine, Falcon, or Steel, he "won't save the day," but will "only keep the action going" while the lead (white) hero "recalibrates his armor."     

Toward the end of the volume, McCall has a series of poems about blockbuster movies with their superheroes coming to Tuscaloosa, where McCall lives and works. Thor, X-Men, the Lantern, Transformers, Captain America, and Conan all make their appearances.  And we know this because they're there in  McCall's volume being directly addressed, questioned, re-imagined, and chronicled in verse.

When my RapGenius activities become less fun, though purposeful

By and large, my time annotating pieces on RapGenius is fun and enjoyable. I have become more adept at adding images that illuminate the words of poems or lyrics that I annotate. I also can choose to annotate tunes that I view as cool and funny, like that "Khaki Pants" rap.

The other day though the usual fun activity on RapGenius quickly became a more somber undertaking. Earlier, I had annotated words and phrases from Jourdan Anderson's letter to his old master. Although the subject was slavery, the letter is amusing because you get the sense that Anderson gets the better of his ex-owner. When I decided to upload and begin annotating and researching a letter by an enslaved woman named Virginia Boyd, there was no such happy or victorious closure.

Boyd's letter is in fact a plea to R. C. Ballard to prevent her from being sold. Virginia had been owned by  Ballard's business partner, Judge Boyd, but after Virginia was impregnated likely by Judge Boyd, his wife insisted that Ballard arrange to have Virginia and her children sold. In her letter, Virginia Boyd encourages Ballard to consider that "after all that has transpired between me & the old man," there are major problems with selling "me off among strangers."

"What is still harder," she writes, is "for the father of my children to sell his own offspring Yes his own flesh & blood." She goes on to raise the following question: "Is it possible that such a change could ever come over the spirit of any living man as to sell his child that is his image."  

Reading and thinking about Virginia Boyd's circumstances was difficult. Further reading indicates that she did not convince Ballard to assist her. She and her children were sold separately, and no one knows what happened after that. My work on the Boyd letter was the least fun I've had on the RG, but the experience did feel purposeful.

Related:  
• A Notebook on RapGenius

LeRoi Jones vs. Amiri Baraka vs. Black poetry

The other day, I was taking a look at Google’s Ngram database, which allows you to input words and then view their frequency in use based on more than 5 million books published between 1800 to 2008. The site allows you to input word combinations as well as to consider how various words or phrases compare. At one point, I decided to concentrate on the words "LeRoi Jones" and "Amiri Baraka," the same person but different names.

I first concentrated on "Amiri Baraka" from 1934, when he was born, up to 2008 where the database concludes. Not surprisingly, the name begins to rise in references and popularity during the late 1960s. By 1998, the name reaches a peak. (See image above).

Next, I focused on "LeRoi Jones" from 1934 - 2008. There, the name peaks in the early 1970s. I inserted both names to see how they compared. The results suggest that Jones/Baraka was most frequently mentioned during the early 1970s, and over time, we see the decline in "LeRoi Jones" and the rise in "Amiri Baraka."

Finally, I added "Black poetry" and "Black Arts Movement" to the mix. Notice how much less those terms appear over time in comparison to both "LeRoi Jones" and "Amiri Baraka." One reason, I imagine that Jones/Baraka appears much more frequently is because he is known in fields well beyond poetry. Moreover, scholars focusing on black poetry are more likely to repeatedly mention Baraka's name(s) as opposed to simply poetry. In the many simulations I've run, "major" poets tend to outrank the term "black poetry."  That's not the case for the single word "poetry."

A couple days ago, I was talking on facebook about the Black Arts Movement with scholars Tony Bolden and James Smethurst. They were both noting the increasing number of studies devoted to the subject. The trajectory at the end of the graph seems to confirm their observations.

Institutional factors shape dreams, outcomes of black men as well

By Briana Whiteside 

Too often, our society provides low standards for young black men and at the same time fails and criticizes them for not achieving more. As a sister of 5 black young men, I can’t help but to wonder if they will ever be expected to, or held accountable for achieving past those ready markers of failure placed on them by society.

During her speech at Bowie State University, first lady Michelle Obama stated, “Today, instead of walking miles every day to school, they’re [black men] sitting on couches for hours, playing video games, watching TV. Instead of dreaming of being a teacher or a lawyer or a business leader, they’re fantasizing about being a baller or a rapper.”

Although I agree with the First Lady in general, I have reservations about her aspects of her statement. Black boys and young black men are turning towards being a “baller” or a “rapper” in part because educational systems appear to fail them in ways that systems of athletics and entertainment do not. Unfortunately for a large number of low-income men, becoming lawyers and business leaders could be, based on many statistics, far-fetched ideas.

Ellis Cose, in his book The Envy of the World: On Being A Black Man in America (2002), speaks of “the seduction to the street” where black men are lured and offered a place to belong and own. In The Assassination of the Black Male Image (1994), Earl Ofari Hutchinson explains, “black males who desperately want degrees are losing ground…young black males haven’t given up the dream, but it has become tattered.”

By no means am I making excuses for the shortcomings of black men. However, I am calling attention to the fact that structural realities might affect, in substantial ways, the aspirations and outcomes of black men. Institutions that provide black men with inadequate standards, guidance, and instruction should share some of the blame, right? Either way, this perpetual cycle of underachievement passes like a plague from one generation to the next.

Briana Whiteside is a graduate student in English at SIUE and a contributing writer for the Black Studies site. 

When black people's responses are configured as incomprehensible

By Therí A. Pickens 

In the wake of the George Zimmerman verdict, I turned to CNN for news. After all, that's what it's there for. As with most corporate media, it has a meager complexity and try as it might (though I'm not sure it tries at all), it still manages to make me ill at ease.

There was much discussion about people "rioting" after the verdict. In an effort to quell public rage and mute the expression of confusion and anger, pundits and newscasters (are there any journalists anymore?) Asked people to be calm and peaceful. As a disabled member of society, my rage stays muted generally, but my sympathies are with those who felt the need to publicly demonstrate their feelings. Certainly, I do not endorse rioting, but I am all for public marches, vigils, and gatherings that display the strange combination of grief, anger, faith, and cynicism.

As though it wasn't enough to ask the injured to not emote after being injured, the talking heads on CNN uncritically used "crazy" to describe those who would attack George Zimmerman or those who would riot. These so-called crazy people were somehow seen as markedly different from those who would peacefully protest. Implicitly, they were seen as outliers among those decent folk of color and their allies.

Immediately, Douglas Baynton's work sprang to mind. His article "Disability and the Justification of Inequality in American History" (recently reprinted in The Disability Studies Reader 4th Edition) details the ways that discourses of ability and blackness have been intertwined. Upon hearing that only the "crazy" would "riot," it struck me that  “yet again" understandable responses to injustice by black people were being configured as so incomprehensible so as to be madness. Consider the modern version of drapetomania.

Fascinating though how the logics of this admonition against violence work. People are being asked to stay away from the kind of vigilante justice that just received state sanction. But, like the verdict, this is not surprising even though it is heartbreaking. Hegemonic discourse always finagles its way into the spaces it feels most comfortable. Here, that space is hostile to the full humanity of people of color.

As I said to the young man who called me a bitch in an effort to voice solidarity on Twitter, I urge us to be careful in our language. There are those who have been classified as mad or crazy. Their backs are bent under the weight of structures of oppression similar to and not divorced from the ones that were laid bare on Saturday night. It is possible to be advocates of justice of all kinds simultaneously. It is necessary to articulate our anger with the clarity and precision that comes from respect of other people's experiences.

******
Therí A. Pickens is an assistant professor of English at Bates College and a contributing writer for the black studies site.    

An Ex-Slave's Letter Arrives on RapGenius

This past weekend on RapGenius, I uploaded and began annotating Jourdon Anderson's letter to his old master. In 1865, Anderson, an ex-slave, dictated a letter to his former owner informing him of the conditions necessary for him to return to the plantation after having gained his freedom. The letter exudes wit, humor, and an early proposition for reparations or at least back-pay.

"Although you shot at me twice before I left you," notes Anderson, "I did not want to hear of your being hurt, and am glad you are still living" he informs his master, who had apparently sent a letter requesting that the former slave return to the plantation in Tennessee.

"I want to know particularly what the good chance is you propose to give me," Anderson asks, noting that "I am doing tolerably well here" in Dayton, Ohio. To assist in helping him make a decision to return, Anderson asks what wages his old master will offer. He goes further than asking for current wages and tallies up the money he and his wife are owed for having worked for free for so long:

I served you faithfully for thirty-two years, and Mandy twenty years. At twenty-five dollars a month for me, and two dollars a week for Mandy, our earnings would amount to eleven thousand six hundred and eighty dollars.

He closes the letter by saying "Say howdy to George Carter, and thank him for taking the pistol from you when you were shooting at me," and then signs off "From your old servant, Jourdon Anderson."

The letter is fascinating to read and has been enjoyable to annotate. In addition to providing brief explanations and links to key words, phrases, and passages, I have added images in places throughout the piece to further enhance the document for the benefit of modern-day readers such as my students who I'll cover Anderson's letter with this fall.

If you get a chance, check it out: Jourdon Anderson – Letter from a Freedman to His Old Master

Related:  
• A Notebook on RapGenius

Mapping those Ohio poets

Last month, I published a list of poets by state of birth. I was intrigued that such a large number of the poets on my list were born in Ohio. Since I've been experimenting with different approaches to presenting information about African American poetry, I decided to create a map and identify the hometowns  of 5 of the poets from Ohio that I have studied.

Mari Evans is from Toledo. Marilyn Nelson is from Cleveland. Rita Dove is from Akron. Paul Laurence Dunbar is from Dayton, and William J. Harris is from Yellow Springs, which is near Dayton.

The process of looking at and creating a map helped me better appreciate the geographic distances among these Ohio-born poets. I also appreciated the idea that they were from different areas of the state. Searching for and locating their places on the map gave me a more accurate view of them as Ohio poets, or better yet, I gained a sense of their places in the state.  

Now I'll hold off on reading too much into the map and those locations, because all of the poets ended up moving on to various other places. But perhaps maps like the one above offers more possibilities for thinking about the geographies of various poets. 

Related:
Notebook on the Demographics of African American poetry

Jennifer Johnson's Travels in China Notebook

Jennifer Johnson is a Psychology major at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. She is a co-founder with Kouki Collier of "Girls with Curls," a student organization that promotes healthy hair practices.

Earlier this summer, Jennifer participated in a summer program in China. She was there from May 8 to June 16, 2013. She became interested in studying Chinese in 2010 because of her longtime interest in Asian culture.

She has produced a series of blog entries on her experiences traveling and studying in China.

Jennifer's notebook:
• Black in China
• Shanghai
• Traffic & Safety in China

Black in China

By Jennifer Johnson

Since coming to China I, like a lot of the other American students here, have gotten a lot of glares from the people who live here. Since China is a very homogeneous society, foreigners stick out very easily. But for me, there is a slightly greater extreme.

I am the only African American student on the trip.

So I am spotted a bit easier in this overcrowded city of Hangzhou. The Chinese (like most other Asian cultures) pride themselves on having extremely pale skin. Just like in the African American culture where lighter skin was a signifier of class, the same concept pertains to most Asian cultures.

Therefore, I can’t help but wonder if when they look at me they see “low class” or whatever the media portrayal of African Americans is here. I try to avoid going out alone because at times the stares become too much for me and cause me to feel uncomfortable.

Others see me as a bit of a novelty. I’ve encountered individuals who wanted to take pictures with me and others who think that my “tan” looks nice. Either way, I don’t mind the attention that I get here when I am in a group. Sometimes, I suppose, the attention has allowed me to make new friends.

Related:
Jennifer Johnson's Travels in China Notebook

Traffic & Safety in China

By Jennifer Johnson

The traffic system in China is slightly different than the American system. Just like the US, there are red and green lights, walk and don’t walk traffic signals. The difference is that drivers disregard lanes and drive wherever they want. Because of this, a two lane road can be turned into four.

Another noteworthy thing is that most people, at least in Hangzhou, ride bikes, have mopeds, or take public transportation (buses & taxis) everywhere. There are even separate lanes for the bikes and mopeds. Even so, there are a lot of traffic accidents that occur daily because many drivers are careless and care so much about getting where they are going fast that they disregard any drivers or pedestrians that get in their way. It is also very unnerving to see a lot of parents have their children with them on bikes or mopeds without any kind of protection going into the unforgiving roads.

Related:
Jennifer Johnson's Travels in China Notebook

Shanghai

By Jennifer Johnson

During my Travel Study in China, I was lucky enough to visit Shanghai for a weekend. This city was extremely different from Hangzhou, which is where I studied. Shanghai is definitely larger and has a greater population of foreigners. I was amazed to find out that a little over a decade ago, none of the notable monuments and skyscrapers that Shanghai is known for existed.

Now, when you are in the middle of the canal, you can look in one direction and see old Shanghai and in the opposite direction, you will see the new modernized Shanghai, which lights up every night. Looking at these two sides feels like you’re in the middle of both the past and the present.

Related:
Jennifer Johnson's Travels in China Notebook

Notebook on the Demographics of African American poetry

2013
• June 9: Poets by state of birth 

2012
• December 20: Poets by birth year
• December 18: The Demographics of African American Poetry 
• March 3: The Densely Populated Field of Poetry 

• August 13: Why 105 Volumes of Poetry is Small and Large   
• July 29: 105 African American Volumes of Poetry by Publisher, 2000 - 2012
• July 23: 105 volumes of poetry by year, 2000-2012

Related:
• Birth Years & Age Matters  
• Assorted Notebooks

Early Readings: Richard Wright and the Humanities

One of the Harvard reports on the humanities recommends that professors become more actively engaged in the academic and intellectual lives of students, specifically at some point during the first 3 terms or semesters. Often, accomplished professors teach graduate courses and advanced undergraduate classes, so first- and second-year students are less likely to encounter these professors in classroom contexts. The Harvard report suggests that the absence of attention to lower-level or introductory courses could be a reason that would-be humanities majors leave for other fields and disciplines.

Those observations from the report prompted me to consider my own early experiences as an undergrad at Tougaloo College. I took one of my most memorable courses during the first semester of my sophomore year in 1996 with Jerry W. Ward, Jr. The course focused on works by Richard Wright. At Ward's suggestion, I re-read Wright's Native Son, Black Boy, and stories in Uncle Tom’s Children during the summer prior to taking the class.

During the semester, we covered Wright's less popular works, including Lawd Today!, Black Power, The Color Curtain, Pagan Spain, Savage Holiday, Eight Men, and The Outsider. Ward shared copies of the Richard Wright Newsletter with the class, and I checked out Wright's 12 Million Black Voices that semester outside of class. Covering so much material by a single major writer under the guidance of a leading scholar on the subject so early in my academic career was really important and unusual.

In retrospect, I benefited by reading a major writer who composed novels, short stories, travel writing, a type of political journalism, and a visual cultural history in the case of 12 Million Black Voices in a single semester during the first semester of my sophomore year. So much of the multi-genre work that I have done over the years is linked to what I began learning about Wright all those years ago.   

Related:
• Coverage of the Humanities conversation 
• A Notebook on Richard Wright

Natural Hair at 2 months

By Briana Whiteside

54 days ago, I revealed to the world that I went completely natural. I told of the process, what cutting my hair meant to me, and exposed how I had some insecurities about short hair. 54 days ago, I cut off a little over 3,650 days of relaxed hair.

I have been a member of the natural hair community for 54 days now, and I couldn’t have done it without two of my biggest fans and sisters Danielle Hall and Cindy Lyles. Without their support and encouragement, I probably would have gone back to relaxed hair because the process is tiring. I have learned a lot over the last couple months, and I’m so glad I didn’t go back to the creamy crack—relaxers.

When I chopped off the relaxed hair, I had approximately 4 inches of relaxed hair. Today, I have 5 ¾ inches of hair. It might not seem like a lot to those who aren’t familiar with natural hair, but it is. Notably, the 9 months that I transitioned my hair only grew 4 inches, and in less than 2 months after the chop, my hair has grown 1 ¾ inches.

Because of the heat and humidity of the summer, I wear a lot of braids and protective styles which has probably helped with hair growth. I must admit though, I am still not completely confident with shorter hair; however, my discomfort encourages me to continue to fight to remain a member of the natural hair community.

Briana Whiteside is a graduate student in English at SIUE and a contributing writer for the Black Studies site.

Covering poetry: essays vs. blog entries vs. annotations on RapGenius

Earlier today, I moved between three different projects and modes of practice. I worked on an essay about poetry. I worked on a blog entry concerning poetry, and I worked on annotations on RG.

A year ago, I was only pursuing essays (including book chapters) and blog entries projects on poetry. Four years ago, I was primarily producing essays and book chapters. If you told me today that I could only write essays, I would assume somebody's poetry had said something really bad about your mama. How else to explain your meanness toward the genre?     

Seriously though, these different modes have greatly enhanced my engagements with poetry and perhaps my overall appreciation. Before I became an active blogger, I had no idea that I was even capable of writing 5 or so paragraphs about poems nearly everyday. The benefit of essay writing was the extended time for researching and thinking through pieces.

Blogging helped me significantly cut the time between writing and sharing my observations about poetry. Back in my "essay only" days, months would pass before I had the opportunity to share what I thought and wrote with broader audiences. Blogging inspired me to consider much more seriously the needs and interests of readers beyond fellow poetry scholars and literature professors.   

I'm still at the very early stages of my RapGenius work; however, I already recognize changes in my approaches. Despite widespread observations concerning how aspects of technology and internet use diminish our cognitive skills, annotating poems and lyrics on RG perhaps inclines me to participate in close reading in new ways. In addition, the culture of RG prompts me to use images to annotate and explain lines of verse in ways that I would not have done otherwise in essays and blog entries.

Not to hate on the old "essay only" me, but my current essayist, blogger, RapGenius self feels more active and intellectually engaged.

Related:
• A Notebook on RapGenius
• My work as a Blogger vs. my work as an Author 

5 Reasons some contemporary poets gain, maintain recognition

As an alternative to my piece “5 Reasons so many contemporary poets remain largely unknown,” I decided to pull together some thoughts on why some poets gain and maintain recognition.

Beyond producing poetry that's good enough, what follows are, for now, 5 of the key reasons:

Big presses – Poets who are widely known tend to have the backing of a major press and sometimes more than one press. Well-resourced and well-connected publishers can really assist in facilitating a poet’s visibility and overall career.

A solid university appointment - Well-resourced universities can greatly assist poets attaining and maintaining high degrees of success, especially when the universities can keep poets' teaching loads low, offer sabbaticals and other perks, and provide poets with long-term financial and intangible support.

Awards - Awards beget awards, and poets who win some are likely to win more. Winning awards, especially the more prestigious awards brings poets to the attention of fellow poets, some news outlets, publishers, and possibly broader audiences.

Coverage - Working with a large press and winning awards raises the changes that a poet will receive extensive news coverage. Being one of the relatively few poets to receive news coverage can elevate a poet slightly above the crowded fields.

The right connects - Having friends or associates (fellow poets, influential agents, public figures, etc.) with the power to offer access to high-profile platforms and large audiences can  be key for individual poets securing a contract with large press or a solid university appointment, winning awards, and receiving more coverage.      

More later. 

Related:
• 5 Reasons so many contemporary poets remain largely unknown  
• Does the Pulitzer award for poetry favor "younger" black poets? 

Coverage of the Humanities conversation

Beginning in early June with the release of a series of reports concerning the humanities by scholars at Harvard and then later with the release of a report "The Heart of the Matter" by the American Academy of the Arts & Sciences, an expansive conversation about the humanities began taking place. Below, I have provided a round-up of 20-plus articles that I have read.

I particularly enjoyed the series of pieces by Ben Schmidt, who offers useful and uncommon quantitative data and gender analyses on the overall conversation noting that "explanations of the decline in humanities majors have to reckon with changing gender patterns in the American university." Marianne Hirsch and Jennifer Schuessler  provide helpful round-ups as well, and Stanley Fish makes pointed critiques of the American Academy report that drew some attention.     

Schmidt, Michael Bérubé, and Nate Silver take some of the early commentators to task for over-exaggerating the "decline" of the humanities and representing that decline as a "crisis" when in fact other forces were at work.

The Coverage:

June 6: The Harvard Humanities Report -- Arts & Humanities Division -- Harvard University
June 6: Mapping the future -- Corydon Ireland -- Harvard Gazette
June 6: Humanities Fall From Favor -- Jennifer Levitz and Douglas Belkin -- Wall Street Journal
June 7: Some long term perspective on the "crisis" in humanities enrollment -- Ben Schmidt -- Sapping Attention  
June 10: Humanist: Heal Thyself -- Russell A. Berman -- The Chronicle of Higher Education (CHE)
June 13: Fight Fiercely Harvard (for the Humanities) -- Jonathan Marks -- Commentary 
June 19: The Heart of the Matter: The Humanities and Social Sciences -- American Academy of the Arts & Sciences
June 19: Media coverage of Commission report -- American Academy of Arts & Sciences
June 19: Making the Case for Liberal Arts -- Collen Flaherty -- Inside Higher ED
June 20: The soft sciences matter as much as ever -- James Cuno --  Los Angeles Times
June 22: The Decline and Fall of the English Major -- Verlyn Klinkenborg -- NYTimes
June 24: A Case for the Humanities Not Made  -- Stanley Fish -- NYTimes
June 25: As More Attend College, Majors Become More Career-Focused -- Nate Silver -- NYTimes
June 25: The Best Argument for Studying English? The Employment Numbers -- Jordan Weissmann -- The Atlantic
June 26: Crisis in the humanities, or just women in the workplace? -- Ben Schmidt -- Sapping Attention
June 26: Gender and the long-term decline in humanities enrollments -- Ben Schmidt -- Sapping Attention  
June 27: 11 Reasons to Ignore the Haters and Major in the Humanities -- Max Nisen -- Business Insider
June 27: Quants Ask: What Crisis in the Humanities? -- Jennifer Schuessler -- NYTimes
July 1: The Humanities, Declining? Not According to the Numbers -- Michael Bérubé -- The CHE
July 2: Mismeasuring the Humanities -- David Laurence -- The Trend (blog of the MLA Office)
July 3: The Summer of Humanities Debates -- Marianne Hirsch -- MLACommons
July 3: The Humanities in Crisis? Not at Most Schools -- Scott Saul -- NYTimes

Related:
• Coverage of books, authors & special topics  

From Corinthan Hall to RapGenius: The Evolutions of Frederick Douglass's July 4th Speech

A few days ago, folks in my circles emailed the annual reminders to check out that famous Douglass speech amid 4th of July celebrations. Among those reminders, I received one from Jerry W. Ward, Jr. who noted the resonance of Douglass's speech, which is "often referred to as 'What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?'" Professor Ward is always attentive to language, so his line "often referred to" caught my interest.

A day or so later, I realized that the folks at RapGenius had recently uploaded Frederick Douglass's speech, which had been delivered on July 5, 1852, in Rochester, New York.  As I prepared to annotate some of the sentences from the piece, I became distracted thinking about the distances Douglass's speech may have traveled before arriving on RapGenius.

The speech was initially published as a pamphlet Oration, Delivered in Corinthan Hall, Rochester, by Frederick Douglass, July 5th, 1852. Later, the speech was entitled  "The Meaning of July the Fourth for the Negro." In 1950, Douglass's speech appeared in Phil S. Foner's The Life and Writings of Frederick Douglass, Vol. 2, Pre-Civil War, 1850-1860, and in 1975, Folkways Records  released The Meaning of July 4th for the Negro with actor Ossie Davis performing Douglass's speech. 

By the early 1990s, Douglass's speech was almost always referred to as "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" That title, which has remained for decades now, is based on the question from Douglass's speech "What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July?" The removal of "your" from the title makes Douglass's speech a little less confrontational, eh?

Douglass's speech is presented on RapGenius as part of the Common Core State Standards Initiative, which "provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them." Thus, Douglass's work appears alongside other canonical texts, including The Declaration of Independence, Abraham Lincoln's "The Gettysburg Address," Emily Dickinson's "We Grow Accustomed to the Dark," Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself," and Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken."

When  Douglass gave his speech 161 years ago, he informed his audience that "the distance between this platform and the slave plantation, from which I escaped, is considerable." Indeed. And so is the distance from Corinthan Hall to title changes to a Folkways performance by Ossie Davis to the Common Core to the subject of annotations on RapGenius.

Does the Pulitzer award for poetry favor "younger" black poets?

Natasha Trethewey and Tracy K. Smith

When Natasha Trethewey and Tracy K. Smith won the Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry in 2007 and 2012, respectively, commentators made a point of noting that the poets were "young." Later when Trethewey was appointed as U.S. Poet Laureate, the coverage noted that she was "among the youngest" to hold the position.  As I looked over the birth years of winners of the Pulitzer since 1990 though, I wondered about the absence of older black poets in comparison to their white counterparts.
 
2013: Stag's Leap by Sharon Olds (b. 1942)
2012: Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith (b. 1972)
2011: The Best of It: New and Selected Poems by Kay Ryan (b. 1945)
2010: Versed by Rae Armantrout (b. 1947)
2009: The Shadow of Sirius by W. S. Merwin (b. 1927)
2008: Time and Materials by Robert Hass (b. 1941) and Failure by Philip Schultz (b. 1945)
2007: Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey (b. 1966)
2006: Late Wife by Claudia Emerson (b. 1957)
2005: Delights & Shadows by Ted Kooser (b. 1939)
2004: Walking to Martha's Vineyard by Franz Wright (b. 1953)
2003: Moy Sand and Gravel by Paul Muldoon (b. 1951)
2002: Practical Gods by Carl Dennis (b. 1939)
2001: Different Hours by Stephen Dunn (b. 1939)
2000: Repair by C. K. Williams (b. 1936)
1999: Blizzard of One by Mark Strand (b. 1934)
1998: Black Zodiac by Charles Wright (b. 1935)
1997: Alive Together: New and Selected Poems by Lisel Mueller (b. 1924)
1996: The Dream of the Unified Field by Jorie Graham (b. 1950)
1995: The Simple Truth by Philip Levine (b. 1928)
1994: Neon Vernacular: New and Selected Poems by Yusef Komunyakaa (b. 1947)
1993: The Wild Iris by Louise Glück (b. 1943)
1992: Selected Poems by James Tate (b. 1943)
1991: Near Changes by Mona Van Duyn (1921 – 2004)
1990: The World Doesn't End by Charles Simic (b. 1938)

The winners of the Pulitzer have been primarily been over the age of 50, and in fact, many have been over the age of 60. Thus, it is quite unusual when poets are 41 and 40 as Trethewey and Smith were when they won. Even at about age 47 in 1994, Komunyakaa was a "young" Pulitzer winner.  By the way, Rita Dove was about 35 when she won the Pulitzer in 1987, and Gwendolyn Brooks was 32  when she won the award in 1950.

But what about the many African American poets above the age of 50? What obstacles have prevented more of them from becoming winners of the Pulitzer? Or, what advantages have "younger" poets had that have assisted them?    

A while back, I wrote that poets born during the late 1920s and early 1940s have enjoyed uncommon popularity as poets. However, that popularity has not translated into one of the most notable poetry awards, the Pulitzer. 
 
Related:
• 5 Reasons so many contemporary poets remain largely unknown 
• A Notebook on Birth Years & Age Matters 

Tyehimba Jess, Allison Joseph, and those sonnet sequences

Tyehimba Jess's  book leadbelly was the one that prompted me to pay closer attention to what contemporary poets were doing with sonnets. Jess includes a crown of sonnets toward the end of his volume, and as it turns out, several poets have produced crowns or extended sequences of sonnets.
Allison Joseph's My Father's Kites, for instance, contains a sequence of 34 sonnets focusing on her father. 

Jess and Joseph are key touchstones in broad network of poetry projects featuring sonnets.

2005 - Tyehimba Jess's leadbelly 
2005 - Marilyn Nelson's A Wreath for Emmett Till [a heroic crown of sonnets in Petrarchan rhyme scheme]
2007 - Natasha Trethewey's Native Guard (a crown of 10 sonnets) 
2007 - Elizabeth Alexander's & Marilyn Nelson's Miss Crandall's School for Young Ladies & Little Misses of Color
2009 - Allison Joseph's My Father's Kites (includes 34 sonnets)
2010- Tyehimba Jess's "Sonnet Crown for Blind Tom" (7 sonnets) [reprint in 2013] 
2010 - John Murillo's Up Jump the Boogie 
2011 - Nikky Finney's Head Off & Split: Poems (a sequence of 19 sonnets)
2012 - Patricia Smith's Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah ["Motown Crown"] (15 sonnets)

Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah

The appearances of those sonnet sequences in volumes reflect the extents to which contemporary poets utilize the extended spaces of books to present extensive poetry projects. Jess's sonnets, for example, are part of a larger book-length treatment of the life of musician Leadbelly, and Nelson's sonnets for Till comprise the entire book. Most print-based magazines provide poets with the space to publish one or two points at a time, but certainly not sequences of 19 and 34 interrelated sonnets like in Finney's and Joseph's books, respectively.

Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah

As those sonnet sequences suggest, for many poets, volumes of  poetry are no longer simply sites for the publication of individual poems. Instead, the books serve as platforms for poetry projects that showcase deliberate interconnectivity among several different pieces.  

Related:
• 14 Sonnets by 14 African American poets 
• The Strength of Weak Ties in Nikky Finney's Sonnet Sequence
• Nikky Finney's George Bush Sonnet Sequence, Pt. 1
• Allison Joseph and the fourteen-line box