Storytelling as Foundations for Black Poetry and Literary Studies

Jerry W. Ward and Eugene B. Redmond preparing for discussion in East St. Louis, February 2005

Much of my crucial knowledge of Black poetry and Black literary studies didn't come from classrooms and reading scholarly works alone, but by word of mouth. My foundations were built in extended conversations with Jerry W. Ward, beginning at Tougaloo College; William J. Harris, Keith Gilyard, and Bernard W. Bell at Penn State; and Eugene B. Redmond at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

Just as important was Donald Garcia, whom I met in New York City in spring 1998 while participating in an exchange program at NYU. He opened worlds of books and bookstores to me. Later, I encountered Ben McFall, the Oracle of the Strand, who generously passed along a wealth of stories and information.

They were not the only ones who shared knowledge about authors, books, essays, and ideas, but they were foundational. Their storytelling shaped the way I entered and understood Black poetry and literary studies.

I'm taking note of the storytelling and the sharing and the passing along of information because I realized that we don't talk about it enough in our discussions of intellectual development or in discussions about training in the field of African American literary studies. 

We understandably place a lot of emphasis on "reading." That makes sense. People should be reading. But there are so many important side stories, unpublished footnotes, eye-witnesses accounts, and so forth that, while vital, do not make it onto the official record. 

Now, even as I raise this issue, I know there are problems and challenges. In many cases, there are only a few scholars of African American literature in English departments. So often, there are no opportunities to hear stories and direct information. Folks will come up not knowing that they are missing things. 

Early on, I had no idea that it was unusual that Professor Ward spent so much out-of-class time talking to me about the histories of Black poetry. He and Garcia normalized it to a degree that I almost expected or sought our such conversations from my teachers in grad school and then from my mentor when I became a professor. 

I realized along the way that such conversations weren't normal or normalized. In fact, I understood how rare it was. But when and if we as a field view those things as really important, then perhaps we can find ways to embed aspects of them along the educational and career paths of graduate students and junior scholars. 

Related:

• Black men, personal libraries, and Black Book Culture