Ooo, this reminds me that I've been meaning to check out The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration out of the library. ("Pulitzer Prize–winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a better life. From 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America.")
Along with A Dream Deferred, the poem of Langston Hughes that's made home in me the deepest from way back when is Theme for English B, which is one of those poems that starts out so plainspoken and conversational that by the time it goes for the jugular you read even hot-button truths as unvarnished what they are & undeniable - there are no defenses that can be raised to soften them. (It also happens to be the poem that first & most deeply taught me that lesson I mentioned in my 'Mockingbird Poetics' post last week, i.e. there's nothing like attempting to imitate another poet's style to teach myself appreciation for their subtleties. This is a poem that rewards revisiting and sitting with.) These lines start the section that heart grabs my breathe away, every time
I guess being colored doesn’t make me not like the same things other folks like who are other races. So will my page be colored that I write? Being me, it will not be white. But it will be a part of you, instructor. You are white— yet a part of me, as I am a part of you. That’s American. ometimes perhaps you don’t want to be a part of me. Nor do I often want to be a part of you [...]
As far as slam poets go, I'm still most fond of the ones cadenzamuseintroduced us to from the Art Amok! team, and their teammate Shyla Hardwick (who incidentally will be touring & doing workshops this spring! eeeeee) whom I got to see perform live at NPS '13 — you can see a video of her performing '5 again', aka the piece that had me breathless & wordless & cracked open electric the most of all the pieces I saw performed that night, via buttonpoetry: Shyla Hardwick - “5 again” (NPS 2013) [video]
"I’ve never cursed as much as I did in my prepubescence. Five was the age my tongue was a sailor; the ship of me just would not stop sinking."
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2014-02-21 04:17 pm (UTC)Along with A Dream Deferred, the poem of Langston Hughes that's made home in me the deepest from way back when is Theme for English B, which is one of those poems that starts out so plainspoken and conversational that by the time it goes for the jugular you read even hot-button truths as unvarnished what they are & undeniable - there are no defenses that can be raised to soften them. (It also happens to be the poem that first & most deeply taught me that lesson I mentioned in my 'Mockingbird Poetics' post last week, i.e. there's nothing like attempting to imitate another poet's style to teach myself appreciation for their subtleties. This is a poem that rewards revisiting and sitting with.) These lines start the section that heart grabs my breathe away, every time
As far as slam poets go, I'm still most fond of the ones