Poetry Corner
Aimé Césaire, Martinique Poet and Politician, Dies at 94
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: April 18, 2008
The New York Times
FORT-DE-FRANCE, Martinique (AP) — Aimé Césaire, an anticolonialist poet and politician who was honored throughout the French-speaking world and who was an early proponent of black pride, died here on Thursday. He was 94.
Caribbean poet Cesaire dies at 94
Poet and political activist Aime Cesaire has died in Martinique aged 94.
BBC News
Add image from site
Born on the French Caribbean island in 1913, he became famous for promoting black consciousness and challenging the political establishment.
I did my own thing
Thirty years since the release of his first album, reggae poet Linton Kwesi Johnson is still using his verse to fight racism and document black Interview by Nicholas Wroe
Saturday March 8, 2008
The Guardian
Thirty years ago, it was not uncommon to encounter white, middle-class suburban and provincial teenagers wearing badges that proclaimed "SMASH THE SPG". The primary spark for their opposition to the Metropolitan Police's Special Patrol Group and its role in policing London's immigrant communities came from the work of Linton Kwesi Johnson. When the SPG was eventually disbanded in 1986, it was under a deluge of public condemnation. It is not too outlandish to suggest that Johnson's poetry and music shaped that opinion: so much for Auden's claim that "poetry makes nothing happen".
Choices
Poem from Nikki Giovanni
Yolande Cornelia “Nikki” Giovanni is an African-American poet, activist, author, English professor and lung cancer survivor whose early poetic inspirations stemmed from and were largely about the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. The piece below is said to be from 1982.
Poetry from Kemit Mawakana
aka "The Seven-Foot Poet"
Black Agenda Report introduces to these pages our resident poet, Kehmit Mawakana, also known as the "Seven-Foot Poet." An acclaimed spoken word artist and author, Mawakana explores the totality of African/human existence from his Washington, DC-based vantage point - like the confluence of behaviors and attitudes encountered both in church and on the subway, where "they got people and cameras watching you - just like at church."
Phillis Wheatley 1st Published African American Poet
Binding Ink by Nom de plume The Poetress
Phillis Wheatley, as illustrated by Scipio Moorhead in the Frontispiece to her book Poems on Various Subjects.Phillis Wheatley (1753 – December 5, 1784) was the first published African American poet whose writings helped create the genre of African American literature. She was born in Gambia, Africa, and became a slave at age seven. She was purchased by the Boston Wheatley family, who taught her to read and write, and helped encouraged her poetry
A Black American – A Def Poetry Jam
By: Smokey Robinson
Six minutes well worth watching, and I’m not to proud to admit it brought a tear to my eye.
CALIFORNIA POET LAUREATE AL YOUNG ON NPR’S MORNING EDITION WITH RENÉE MONTAGNE
California Poet Laureate Al Young’s ‘Blues’
NPR
Al Young was born on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. He grew up in the rural South and in Detroit before moving to the San Francisco Bay area in 1960.
Langston Hughes, Cab Calloway
A video Featuring footage of Cab Calloway dancing to the melodic musings of Langston Hughes.
One Ghana, One Voice
Poems and Poets of Ghana
The Poetry of Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie
London university launches competition in honour of black poet and activist
Black Britain
December 21, 2007
A short story competition in honour of black poet and activist, John La Rose, is being held as part of On Whose Terms? an international conference on Black British Literature and the arts, hosted by Goldsmiths, University of London.
Black Women Shine in This Year's Poetry Prizes
NPR
By Judy Valente
November 18, 2007
Four of the most prestigious poetry prizes went to African-American women this year. Some say the accolades are well overdue. Fueling this trend are a growing number of literary organizations that nurture the work specifically of black writers.
Robert Hayden: A Struggling African-American Voice
Two Poems by Sharon F. Walker
.jpg)
SHARON F. WARNER is a writer of various interests. She has national awards for poetry, fiction, and advertising. She has been published in 3 countries. Her work appears in journals, anthologies, and self-published chapbooks. Her poem, "Bright New Day" was included in the OBAC anthology, NOMMO 2, Remembering Ourselves Whole.
WHAT BLACK IS
by Sharon F. Warner
10/11/07
Bad gangsta rappers and booty-shakin' bitches-
Is that what you think Black is?
Arrogant athletes parading their riches--
Is that what you think Black is?
Language-killing dropouts hangin' out, smokin' crack--
Is that what you think Black is?
Welfare mothers making money on their backs--
Is that what you think Black is?
Well, yes, you're right, it's all that and much more,
There's always some truth to the hype.
But we pick our broken lives up from the floor
And bust the stereotype.
Doctors and lawyers and entrepreneurs--
That's what I know Black is.
Writers and painters whose genius endures--
That's what I know Black is.
Teachers and soldiers, technicians and cops--
That's what I know Black is.
Irrepressible life force that just never stops--
That's what I know Black is.
The lessons learned by our ancestors remain;
We are their precious lives' sum.
There's no rank or office we cannot attain,
There's nothing we cannot become.
Scientists, inventors, and statesmen and stars--
That's what I know Black is.
People of great beauty, in spite of their scars--
That's what I know Black is.
BRIGHT NEW DAY
by Sharon F. Warner
On the morning of
A bright new day,
I watched him walk
Out of the house of bondage
Into the arms of the people.
I am not a morning person,
And I had stayed up much too late,
But something told me this day
I could not linger
In unnecessary sleep
Or daydreams.
I must awaken
And be a witness
To history.
I called my parents
To share the moment with me.
I should have known
They were already watching.
For after all, these are the people
Who taught me that Black was beautiful
Long before it was popular.
The people waited,
In Soweto and Chicago,
In Johannesburg and Detroit,
And London and Lisbon
And countless other places.
The newspeople waited
With their cameras and microphones.
And we spectators/witnesses waited
For the news that they would bring.
And we all waited
To see his face--
Not a picture or a poster--
But his face.
And finally he came.
On the morning of a bright new day
I watched him walk
Out of the house of bondage
Into the arms of the people.
A Black woman from South Africa
Sat before a camera at a news desk
And wept tears of incredulous joy.
A white man with a British accent said,
"This is the man the world has been waiting for."
He came out into the day,
Walking tall
And straight
And rather casual, really.
As if 27 years in prison
Were nothing much,
Just a necessary obstacle
On a long but not impossible
(Or impassable)
Road.
The people saw him
And they shouted,
And they cried,
And they reached out for him,
And they danced.
They danced the toi-toi,
A dance of protest,
A dance of revolution,
And today,
A dance of celebration.
The young ones danced
Who had not yet been born
When he was first shut away
From his family and his freedom.
The old ones danced
Who had been there
For every day
Of the long, long struggle.
They danced and they flew
The formerly forbidden flag
And painted the colors
On the side of his garage:
Another bright beacon
To welcome him home.
They danced in the rain
Under bright umbrellas,
And ponchos and scarves,
And mostly with nothing
On their heads at all.
They just let the rain
Run down their faces
And drench their bodies,
Like tears of release
Or sweat from the struggle
Or baptismal water of a new faith.
Yes, I know
That virtually nothing has changed,
So much remains to be done.
And I know
That in his country
The time of his release
Was late afternoon,
And it was raining.
But for all of that,
The day I watched
Nelson Mandela walk
Out of the house of bondage
Into the arms of the people
Was still
A bright new day.
A brief talk with Derek Wolcott
Baltimore Times
By Ken Morgan
11/5/07
thank you haki madhubuti for being a genius
US Supreme Court won't hear appeal over Amiri Baraka’s 9/11 poem
