2 10 90 https://digitallis.isg.siue.edu/files/original/419d79b0ae0526a66e34f36b9d114777.pdf 8f8bad2da5afc32cad4f2d4fda417e3c PDF Text Text u �• II ��0 ����) , , �s , l , '' . t 3 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context EBRWritings_07_42 Title A name given to the resource Five Spirituals for Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, typed manuscript, p. 28-36 Relation A related resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource For digital rights and permissions, see <a href="https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml">https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml</a> or contact <a href="mailto:library@siue.edu">library@siue.edu</a> for direct inquiries. In copyright. <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Redmond, Eugene B. Description An account of the resource Five Spirituals for Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, p. 28-36 https://digitallis.isg.siue.edu/files/original/e805d1ecd06af74b322ce090a8f40141.pdf becdd4dc12a4ddff48c5fd74c5e07623 PDF Text Text t./2 :nr �~ . ) 1 ~ <u~ , , -rb ~ ~ ±.Ju)~ u ..zz l/ �u ~ 9ce1/:nUxv 0 ~ ,I . ''" 1--A.v ll~ (1 i 4' 9- , 919) ~-V)~" ,,, ){$~ J.,, ~ ~ --MU., ~ ., , ,r �d~.u/ ? ) : ~ ,J/~-yJ ,, ~ an_~,, �- "+. A I A,; ~ . , • ', �~ / 9~ l9 / 9) "rT...Av ~ , , S £ - . , { , (J39S- #£,CA.~..,,,,4~~~•1 ~ --, 'I ���1"' ~,j , , -,. /. ~• ·-. - . ~ . ~ ~TT/-UV , , , - ~~ I I �~ ,I 9~ ~ , ,. ~ d ~ Cvui..., ' (18-7.5-- f) cJ.«1:J ', ~ v~ ~ ~ ~ ,\ U; . -ZJC. . • • ,, �MEMO FROM: ( ~ . L4,/uJ ~ ~ { i 7 1 / M _ /90VJ - ../2u; ~ ~ DATE: _ _ _ _ __ TIME: _ _ _ _ __ TO:. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ �~~,) J~ £)~ , : , ~ ~ 8 ~ ,, ,;, •. c...-vu:~ tu_/ U£.V ~ .-ivY,'..u} 1 ~ / f ~ ... 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Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context EBRWritings_07_40 Title A name given to the resource Note cards with citations from Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History Relation A related resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource For digital rights and permissions, see <a href="https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml">https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml</a> or contact <a href="mailto:library@siue.edu">library@siue.edu</a> for direct inquiries. In copyright. <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Redmond, Eugene B. https://digitallis.isg.siue.edu/files/original/02ccf690e09cccd67002f7148a5736a2.pdf 420527f21645d1ff309fd60e6ee83214 PDF Text Text • 9~? ~,.,~d .u7cMA, j ~Al~,,. ~~ a,nd,,IJ~Jt~,} ~ - IJl'~y~~ .,.o~ ( "1~ ,,lk~ - a,n,ot,,, 9:,-1,,,.., 0~0'~, /~7-3,, ~_,J CJ .ctkd.v 1 'Jif~ y:}~ M · -s-~ 7 - J tJ 7 ) , ~~ W7 td. $ ~ ,vn~ ~ t::lzj ~ - ~ -/J~ , 0 ~ : ~ru CVYl./4,!!&~,) ~ ' , / 197~. 0.-LL.h / ~ , / ~ ) fd·. 1/-~ - , ~~" ~~} ~~: 197~. 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Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context EBRWritings_07_38 Title A name given to the resource Handwritten list of anthologies, literary history and criticism, and language Relation A related resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource For digital rights and permissions, see <a href="https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml">https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml</a> or contact <a href="mailto:library@siue.edu">library@siue.edu</a> for direct inquiries. In copyright. <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Redmond, Eugene B. https://digitallis.isg.siue.edu/files/original/509acecce447b68a177512ba8bd70eed.pdf d777a8ef12f3ef0557882d42114bc750 PDF Text Text IV BIBLIOGRAPHY This bibliography is designed to serve the needs of beginning and advanced students of Black Poetry. It is not intended to be exhaustive since many biblioisraphies repeat the same items. No attempt has been made to cite the count- less single collections of poems because numerous checklists and specialized bibliographies are available. Moreover, most anthologies., critical studies and histories list indi- I vidual collections--in selected bibliographies and biographies. Since many Black poets publish privately or with small and relatively unknown publishing houses, the student will want to examine listings and reviews in Black periodicals (Black World, Journal of Black Poetry, Fr~edomw~ys_, Black Books Bulletin, Black Creation, C~ Journal and others). Some Black publishing houses print title listings on the inside covers of their books. Scores of records and tapes of readings, films, broadsides (single poems), pamphlet publications and tracts are also available from i ndividuals or small publishing houses. Recently, such lar1_se recording companies as Folkways, Flying Dutchman and MoTown have begun to record and distribute Black Poetry. However, the task of locating and developing a checklist for the myriad publications and publishing activities of Black poets still awaits some serious student of Black literature. For con- venience, a list of Black publishing companies is included at the end of this bibliograph~. (18 ~ �B I B L I O G R A P TI Y GENERAL dsiARCH AIDS Adams, Russell L. Great Negroes, Past and Pre?ent. Chicago, 1964. The Arthur B. Spingarn Collection of Nerrro Authors. Washington, D.r.., 1948. Bontemps, Arna. "The James Weldon Johnson Memorial Collection (')f' Negro Arts and Letters." Yale University _,Libre,ry GazetJ&, XVIII (October 191.J.3), 19-26. • "Special Collect ions of Ne groana. 11 Li brarv --Q-.u-arterly, XIV (1944), 187-206 Chapman, Abraham. The Negro in American Literature and a Bibliography of' Literatur_~J;iy anc3 a.bout Negro Americans. Stevens Point, Wis., 1966. Deodene, Frank and William P. French. Black American poetry Since 1944, A Pre1=J_Il).inary Checklist. Chatham, 1971. Dictionary _Catalo_g_ of ...the __Jesse_ E. Moorland _Collec_tion of Neg;rQ_.1:,J_.f_~ and His_j;g_r.y ( at Howard University). 9 vols. Boston, 1970. Dictionary Catalo8 of the Schomburg Collection of Negro Literature & __History. 11 vols. Boston, 1962, 1967. Drzick, Kathleen, John Murphy, and Constance Weaver. Annotated Bibliography of Works Relatin~ to the Fegro in Literature and to Negro Dialects. Kalamazoo, Mich., 1969. Du Bois, W.E.B. A Select Bibliography of the Ne ~ro American. 3rd ed. Atlanta, 1905. , and Guy B. Johnson. Encyclooedia of the Negro: Prepa~at9ry _:V<:>l.UTT?-~• Rev. Ed. New York, 1946. Guzman, Jessie P., ed. Negro Year Book, Tuske gee, Ala., 1947. Index to Periodical Articles by and About NeGroes (formerly A Guide tQ_N~ro. Period lc_al__Li t~_r_a_t_u..r.....e and Index to Selected PeriQ.d..ic.alB). ~rnationa.l Library of Ne_Ero __Life an<) JJJ,story. 10 vols. Washington, D.C., 1967-1q6q. Jahn, J{anheinz. A Bib1J__Q_graphy of Neo-Africe n Literature from Afr~_g_. __ America_,__ _aQd tbe __ _C_e...ri hbean. New York, 196?. Johnson, Harry A. Multimedia Materials for AfroAmerican Studies, New York, 1971. Kaiser, Ernest. "The Hlstor"'r. of Ne rrro Hj_s+,orv. '' Negro Digest, XVII (~ebruary 146d ), lO-lS,-64-80. 11 Recent Books." Freedomways, in each issue. --- I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I �~ McPherson, James, et al, eds. Blacks in America: Bibliographical Essays. New York, 1072. Major, Clarence. Dictionary of Afro-American§)-a~_g. New York, 1970. Miller, Elizabeth W. and Mary L. Fisber. The Ner;ro :i,.n America: A Biblior:raphy. 2nd ed. Cambrid ge, Mass., 1970. The Negro in Print: Q~ plioaraphic Survey. Porter, Dorothy B. 11~arly American Ne r.i:ro Wri ti nP-s: <' - - A Bibliographical Study . 11 Papers of the Bibliq-_,, _.....,,. ~ 9_~ i Q.t y ___9 r __ AI!!.~T J.~!3- , xxx IX ( 191-i 5 ) , r~~: le:1--~ • North American Negro Poets: A Biblio--g-r-aph i c a.:J:_ __ .Qhey_k.___I,J_~t __ Q_f_ ~he. ~r _Writ i nr;s, 17 60 - l 9h4. Hattiesburg, Miss., 194S. Rowell, Charles H. 1¼ Bibliography of Bibliographies for the Study of Black American Literature and Folklore.1r _Black Experience, A Southern University Journal, LV (June 1969) 95-111. , Smith, Jessie Carney. ''Developin~ Collections of Black Literature." Black World . XX (June 1971), 18-29 Turner~ DBrwin T. Afro-American Writers. New York, 1970. Wori<, 1"Jonroe 11J. A Biblior;ra.phy of the Negro in Africa and America. New York, 192 3. Yellin, Jean Far;an. "An Index of Literary Materials in The Crisis, 1910-1934: Articles, Belles-Lettres , and Book Reviews. 11 CLA Journal, XIV ( 1 q71), 452-L~65. 73 e,. PERIODICALS Amistad Black Academv Review Black Books Bulletin Black Creation_ Black Orpheus: A Journal of A_f ri~~n ___ g_q<;:l __ t\f.r._Q.:-:1.\.!11.~.ri.c~.P Literature The Black Position Black Review The Black Scholar Black Theatre Black World (formerly Ferro Dicest) CLA Journal Controntation: A Journal of Third World Li.terature The Crisis: A Record of the Darker Races Douglass• Monthlv ssence Freedomways ; ~1.c ~1,,Jl()~~k,t-) 1 �;d~ ¥ . ~ ~ Ir/~ o~,duo1 0\,()-; y PEnoD~CALS ( ~ t '<l) - ( ) ~ ~be Journal of Blac_k Poet:r_y The Journa.i of' Black Studies The Journal of Hec:ro His_to;r_y Ner-;ro American Li t~tu...-i;:;~.E..9.D-1~1 Negro Historv Bulletin Nkombo Nommo Opportunity: A Journal of Negro _Life Phylon: The Atlan_~~ __ l!_.!2._-~yers i tv Review of Race and ,culture Presence A.frica.ine: Cultura.l____ Revue ___of the __Negro World Roots: _A_ Journa.l ___of _Critical _and Creati ve _Expression Soulbook Studies in Black Literature Umbra Yard bird __Reader I C. ANTHOLOGIES (NOTE: - Most, but not aJ.l, of tbe followin g a.ntbolo rsies are devoted primar ily to Bl ack Poetry .) Adams! William, Peter Conn, and Bar~y Slepian, eds. Afro-American Literature: Poetry. Boston, 1970. Adoff, Arnold, ed. Black Out Loud: An Anth ology of Modern Poems by Black Americans. New York, 1970. , ed. I Am the Darker Brother : An Anthology --o-f-Modern Poems by Black AmeriQans. New York, 1968 . _ _ _ , ed. ~he Poetry of Black America. New York, 1973. Afro-Arts Anthology. Newark, 1966 . Alha~ isi, Ahmed and Harun K. Wan ~ara., eds. Black Arts: An Antholo gy o.f Black Creatio ns . Detroit, 1970. Baker, Houston A., Jr., ed. Black Literature in America. New York, 1971. Barksdale, Richard and Kenneth Kinnamon, eds. Black Writers of America. New York, 1972. ~_]2CD. Soul Sessi on. Newark, 196l). - Black History Muse um Comrni ttee of' Ph iladelphia. Black Poets Write On .. Philadelphia, 1969 (?). Jt/70~ Bontemps, Arna, ed. American Negro l1 oetry . New York, 1963. Brawley, Ben j ami n, ed. Early Ne r;:;ro American Writers. Chapel Hill, N.C., 1935. Brooks, Gwendol:in, ed. A Broadside Treasury . Detroit, 1971. �ANTHOLOGIES (cont'd) --=-...' ed. Jum~ Bad: A New Cbice ~o Antbolo gv . Detroit, 1971. Brown, Sterling A., Arthur P. Davis, ond Ul:rsses Lee, eds. The Ne,CJ'ro Caravan. New York, 19hl; Arno, 1969. Cade, Toni, ed. The Black Woman: An Antholo gy . New York, 1970. Calverton, Victor F., ed. Anthology of American Negro Literature. New York, 1929. Chambers, Bradford and Rebecca Mo on, eds. _Right On: Anthology of Black Literat~re. New York, 1970. Chapman, Abraham, ed. Afro-American Slave Narratives. New York, 1970. , ed. Black Voices: An~~hology of Afro-American __ L___i.,..terature. New York , 1968 . , ed. New Black Voices. Hew York , 1971. -c. l_a_r_k-e, .. John Henrik, ed. Harlem: Voices from the Soul of Black America. New York, 1970. Coombs, Orde, ed. We Spe ak as Libera.tors: Young Black Poets. New York, 1970. Cornish, Sam and Lucian W. Dixon. Chicory: Young Voices From the Black Ghetto. 1'iew York , 1969. Cromwell, Oteliz, Lorenzo D. Turner, and Eva B. Dykes, -'- eds. Readinr-;s from Ner;I_'_ Q_Authors. llew York, 1931. (cruise, Harold. The Crisis of the Ne r:ro Intellectual.) / _{_L.j'] New York, 1967. . ' Cullen, Countee, ed. Carolin g Dusk: An Antholor;y of Verse by Negro Poets. New York, 1927. Cunard, Nancy, ed. Ne~ro Antholo ev . London, 1934. Danner, Margaret. Regroup! Richmond, Va., 1969 . . The Brass House. Richmond, Va ., 1968 . _D_a_v_i_s_, Arthur P. and Saunders Reddin~, eds. Cavalcade: Ner;ro Amer i can Writin g from 1760 to the Present. Boston, 1971. Davis, Charles T. and Dani el Walden, eds. On Beinp; Black: Wri tings by Afro-Americans fr om Frederick Douglass to the Present . New York, 1970. Dreer, Herman, ed. American Literature by Negr o Authors. New York, 1950. - Emanuel, Ja mes A. and Theodor'e Gross, eds. Dark Symphonv: Negro Literature in Amer ica. . New York, - 1968. Ford, Nick Aaron, ed. Black Insi_gg.ts : Si rmificant Literature by Afro-Ameri ca.ns-_1760 to the Present. Waltham, Mass., 1971. Freedman, Franc es S., ed . The Black American Experienc:· A New Antholo gy of Black Li tera.tur_~. New York, 1970. Giovanni, Nikki. Ni ght Comes Softly . Newark·>· . 1971'. �ANTHOLOGIES (cont ' d) Haslam, Gerald W., ed. Forgotten Pa aes of American Literature. Boston, 1970. Hayden, Robert, ed. Kaleidoscope: Poems by American Negro Poets. New York, 1967. , David Burrows, and Frederick Lapides, eds. --A ....r.,..r-o-American Literature. • New York, 1971. Henderson, David, ed. Umbra Blackworks Antholoc;y 1970-1971. i'J ew York;T971. Henderson, Stephen. Understandinr, the New Black Poetry. New York, 1973. Hill, Herbert, ed. Soon One Mernin ~ : New Writin _ bv American Negroes., 19 0- 19 2. Now York , 1 963. Hughes, Langston, ed. The Book of Ne ~ro Hu'.11.or. New York, 1966. , .. ~ ., ed. La Poesie N~gro-Am~ricnine. Paris: Editions Se ghers., 19 06. fed. New Ne gro Poets U.S.A. Bloomington, Ind • ., ----1-9--fa~ • .. and Arna. Bontemps, eds. The Poetry of the Ner:ro_., 1146-1970. Rev. ed. Garden City ., IJ . 2: • ., 1970. Johnson, Charles S., ed. ~bonv and •r ooaz: .A Collectanea. New York, 1927. Johnson, James Weldon, ed. The Book of American Negro Poetry. Rev. ed. New York , 1931. , ed. The Book of Americe.n 1Je £Zro S irituals. --N-ew- York, 192 ; The Second Book of Ne r"T'_Q_ Spirituals. New York, 1926. Jones, LeRoi and Larry Neal, eds. __Black Fire: An. Anthology of Afro-Amer i can Writing . New York, 1968. - Jordan, June, ed. Soulscript: Afro-American Poetry. Garden City., N.Y., 1970. Kearns, Francis E., ed. r he Black Exp~:rj.~nc~: _An Anthologv of American Literature for t he 1970'~. New York, 19 70. Kendricks, Ralph, ed. Afro-American Voices: _1770's19709s. New York, t 9 70. Kerlin, Robert T., ed. Neero Poets and Their Poems. 2nd ed. Washingt on, D.c., 1935. - King, Woodie. _Blac~. §_ pJ F_i ts: A_ F':?.sti ya),__qf _N_e:w Blac~ _Poets in America. New York, 1 972. Kni cht, Etherid r e, ed. Black Voices f rom Prison. New York, 1970. Lanusse, Armand, ed. Creole Voices: r oems in French by Fr_~~ ---~§ln_ of _Colq_r. Ed. Edwar d re. Col em.e_ n. Centennial ed. Washine ton, D.C., 1945 . �ANTHOLOGIES (cont 1 d) Locke, Alaine, ed. Four Ner.:ro Poets. New York, 1927. , ed. The New Ner.:ro: An Interpretation. New --y--o-rk, 1925. Lomax, Alan and Raoul Abdul, eds. 3000 Years of Black Poetry. New York, 1970. - ¥"~Lowenf'els, Walter, ed. In A.Time of Revolution: Poems From our Third World. New York, 1969. Major, Clarence, ed. The New Black Poetry. New York, 1969. Mi ller, Adam David, ed. Dices or Black Bones: Black Voices of the Seventies. Boston, 1970. ~ Miller, Ruth, ed. _B lacka.merican Liter~e 1760-Presen_t. Beverly Hills, Calif., 1971. Moon, Bucklin, ed. Primer f'or White Folks. Garden City, N.Y., 1945. Murphy, Beatrice. ed. ~ero Voice§. Hew York, 1938 . • Ebony Rhythm. New York, 19~.8 and 1G68 . - - - . Today's Negro Voices. New York, 1970. Nelson, Alice Dunbar, ed. Masterpieces of Nerrrp Eloquence. New York, 1914. -.. Nicholas, Xe.vier, ed. Poetry of Soul. New York, 1971. ~ ,f-:: 0 'Daniel, Thurman, ed. Langston Hu r;hes, Black Genius: )~: ~Jn_ t\C ( A Critical Evaluati on. New York, 1971. · Osofsky, Gilbert, ed. Puttin' on Ole Massa : The Sle.ve Narratives of Henry Bibb, William W. Brown, and Solomon Northrup. New York, 196G. Patterson, Lindsay, ed. An Introduction to Black Literature in America from 1 to the Present. W&shington, D.C., 19J9. -Perkins, Eugene, ed. Black Expressions: An Anthology of New Black Poets . Chicac o. 1967. Poems by Blacks, vol. I. Fort Smith, Arkansas, 1970. , Vol. II. Fort Smith, Arkansas, 1972. - - - , Vol. III . ( Pinkie Gordon Lane, ed.). Fort Smith, Arkansas, 1973. Pool, Rasey E., ed. Bevond the Blues : New Poems by American Nep.:roes. Lympne, Kent, Entland, 1962 • • Ik Ben de Nieuwe Ne ~er. The lla r ue: Bert __ B_a,.....kker, 19 64. Porter, Dorothy, ed. Early Ne vro Nritin5, __1_760-1S37. Boston, 1971. - Randall, Dudley , ea. Black :)_)o~1I'...Y: A Supplement to Anthologies 1,lhich Exclude Black Poets. Detroit, 1969. and Margaret Burrour;hs , eds. For .Malcolm : Poems on the Life and Death of Malcolm 2(. . Detroit, 1969. , ed. The Bl•ck Poets . New York, 1971 . .--· _R_e_d_m_o-nd, Eugene. Sides of the Ri ver: _A Mini Antholo gy of Black Hri tings. f..£;.:.!.·T $-j. ·L..o"t1 \S /'I LL~ .·- , 19 70. -:~Long ., Richard 4. and Pu~·enla Go l 1ier1 e.ds .. Af-ro - Amerfc~n ~ ~nol_oey_ of' Pro5e. -and_ J)oe.tn/. :;l._ vo -1 5 . ~;: t~~°t·A79 1 I I I I .~ I �ANTHOLOGIES (cont'd) Reed, Ishmael, ed. 19 Necromancers from Now: An _Anthology of Original American Writing tor the 70s. Garden City, N.Y., 1970. Robinson, William H., ed. Early Black American Poet~. Dubuque, Iowa, 1969. Rodgers, Carolyn M., ed. For Love of Our Brothers. Chicago., 1970 •. -- Schulberg, Budd, ed. From the Ashes: Voices of Watts. New York, 1967. - Shuman., R. Baird, ed. A Galaxy of Black Writing.~~ Durham, N.C., 1970. . ., ed. Nine Black Poets. Durham, N.c., 1968. So'~ession. Newark, 1970 (?) Stanford, Barbara Dodds., ed. I, Too, Sing America: Black Voices in American Literature. New York, 1971. Ten: An Antholof. of Detroit Poets. Fort Sm1 th, Arks,nsas, 196 • - Troupe, Quincy, ed. Watts Poets and Writers. Los Angeles, 1968. Turner., Darwin T., ed.· Black American Literature: Poetry. Columbus, Ohio, 1970. Watkins, Sylvester c., ed. Antholo~ of American Negro Literature. New York, 1944. White, Newman I. and Walter c. Jackson, ed.s . ..Alt Anthologfuof Verse by American Negroes. Durham, N.C., 19 • Wilents, Ted and Tom Weatherly, eds. Natural Process: An Anthology of New Black Poetry. New York, 1971. Woodson., Carter G., ed. Negro Orators and Their Orations. Washington, D.c., 1925. -. D LITERARY HISTORY AND CRITICISM (General) Allen, Samuel. "Negritude and Its Relevance to the American Negro Writer. " The American Ne_gro Wr1 te:r and His Roots. New York,7:'960. Pp. 8-20 The Am.eri.c.a-n Ne-gr() Writer and_~l.1LB09t~. New York, - 1960. Baraka, Imamu Amiri {LeRoi Jones). "The Black Aesthetic." Negro Digest, XVIII (September 1969), 5-6. Bontemps, Arna. "The Black Renaissance of the Twenties," Black World, XX (November 1970), 5-9 • • "Famous WPA Authors." Negro Digest, VIII - . . .c....J--uo.e 1950), 43-47 . • "The Harlem Renaissance." The Saturday Review __o_f,....Literature, XXX (March 22, 1947}, 12-13, 44 . • "The Negro Contribution to American Letters." --Th--e American Negro Referenye Book. Ed. John P. D•vis. Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1966. Pp. 850-878. �LITERARY HISTORY AND CRITICIS M (General) • "The New Black Renaissance." Ne a:ro Dir-est, 1961)., 52-53. , ed. , The Harlem Renaissance Remembered. New --y--o-rk, 1972. Brawley, Benjamin. "The NeGI"O in American Literature. u The Bookman, LVI (October 1922), 137-141. Bronz, Stephen H. Roots of Negro Racial Consciousness: The 1920's: Three Harlem Renaissance Authors. New York, 1964. Brooks, Russel 1. "The Comic Spirit a.nd the Ne gro's New Look. 11 CLA Journal, VI {1962), 35-1-1-3. Brown, Lloyd W. "Black Entitles: Hames e.s Symbols in Afro-American Literature." Studies in Black Litera~ , I (Spring 1970), 16-44·. Brown., Sterling A. "The American Race Problem as Reflected in American Literature. 11 The Journal of Negro Education, VIII (1939), 275 -290 • • ''The New Ne gro in Literature (1925-1955)." ---,,.T.,...h-e New Negro Thirtv Years Afterward. Ed. Rayford W. Logan et al. Washing ton, D.C., 1955. Pp 57-72. Calverton, Victor F. 'r he Liberation of American Literature. New York, 1932. 11 • Tbe Ne gro and American Culture. " The Saturday --R-e-view of Literature, XX II (September 21, 1940), 3-4. Cayton, Horace R. "Ideolo g ical Forces in the Work of Ne gro Writers. " _-B,nr;er, and Bevond: The Negro Writer in the United States. Ed. Herbert Hill. New York, 1966. Pp. 37-50. Chapman, Abraham. "The Harlem Rena .i.ssance in Li tera.ry - History. 11 .Q.LA Journal, XI (1q67), 3>3 -58. Clarke, John Henrik. "The Ne glected Dimensions of the Harlem Renaissance. 11 Black Horld, XX (November 1970) --x. .I~{November . 118-129. - • "The Ori g in and Growth of Afro-American Litera----rt-u-re. 11 Negro Digest, XVII (December 1967), 5Li-67. 11 Clay, Eug ene. The Ne gro in Recent American Literature. 11 Am~rj._Q_fl..!}___Wrtt~:r.s' _Qong:r:~i:i.§. Ed. Henr y Hart. New York, 1935. Pp. 145-153. - _Qg_lf~~µ-tI~66J\-~~~~-~-s~~{~ A~~1~!-r~~-~~~1 ~~6-%~ ~~iq6~. N~-~ 0 Conrad, Earl. '~merican Viewpoint: Blues School of Literature. 11 The .. Chica g o Defender, December 22, 1945, p. 11 • ..... Cook, Mercer and Stephen Henderson. The Militant Black Writer in Africa and the United States. Madison, ~ W i s . , 1969. - · Cullen, Countee. "The Dark Tower. 11 gpportuni ty, monthly column, 1926-1928 . -i!Cru.N se; l+a ~ 1 d • l'h.-.e. S.r~j_S___Q f' Jb_~ .N.?..St9__ J_t:1!.~_l.1~c t ua1. ew Yor r-. ~ 1 0-:1 ·61 - I 2 l.o �LITERARY HISTORY AND CRITICIS ( Genera.l) ,1 Davis, Arthur P . "Growing up in the New Nev,ro Renaissance: 1920-1935. 11 Ne,:,-ro Ameri~an Literature Forum, II (1968 ), 53-59 . Dillard, J.L. Bleck English. New York , 1q72. Du Bois, W.E.B. The Souls·of Black Folk . Chica ~o. 1903. Ellison, Ralph. ~hadow and Act.. New York, 1964: Evans , Mari. "Conte mporary Black Lite:rl:lture. 11 Black World, XIX ( June 1970), 4, 93-9L~. Ford, Nick Aaron. Annual "Critical Survey of Significant Belles Lettres by and About Nerroes . 11 Phyl on, XXII (1961), 119-134; XXV (1961-!-), 123-lJJr. • "Black Literature and the Pro b lem 01"' Eval11 --u-a.... tion. College English, XXXII ( 1971), 536-5L~ 7. • Black Studies: 'I1hreat or Challen r:e? Port ,ie.fl<9.,.. --r-!ashinr;ton., N. Y., 1973. rf,:.( ·,.C Oi;,.s}.!}' St>• ?uller, Hoyt W. "Black Imo.res and Wbite Critics. "\/~e~~~; uA ~ 1 • "The lJe .n ;ro Writer in t he Un it ed St ates." ~e.,n J • ~ n y , 11XX (November• 196Ld, 126-134. • Porspecti ves. 11 Ne r-ro Di t·est and Black 1:lorld, --m-o-ntblv column. , e~. '½ Survey: Bleck Writers ' Views on Lit--e-r-ary Lions and Values_, 11 Kep:ro DL..,.est, XVII ( January 1968), 10-4 n , a1- B9 . Gayle, Addison, Jr., ed. The Black Aesthetic. Garden City, N.Y., 1971. , ed. Black Expression: Essav s bv and About ---=B--1-ack Americans in the Creative Arts. :-iew York, 1969. --- -- - -·· - Gerald, Carol:rn. "Th e Black Hri ter and His Role . 11 Ne~ro Dipest, XVIII ( January 1 969), u.2-h S. Haskins, Jim and Hu 3h F. Butts, I'-1 .D. The Psyc h olor;y of Black Langu~ ne. New York, 1973. Haslam, Gerald W. --nThe Awakenj_nr,. of American l~ec;r o Literature 1619-1 900. '' The Black Americat1__Wr iter. Ed. C.W.E. Bipsby . Deland, Fle ., 1969. Vol. II, pp. 41-51. • "Two '.J.1radi tions in Afro-American Literature. 11 --n-e-search Ctudies, A Quarterl y Pu b lication of Washington State University, XX.,'C~!II ( S eptember 1969), 183-193. Hill, Herbert. "The Negro Writer and the C-reat i ve 11 Imagination. Arts in Societv, V (196 G), 24L~-255. Huggins, Nathan I. Harlem Rena.is-sance_. Hew York, 1971. Huc;bes, Lang ston. The Birr Sea. i-Jew York, 19l~O. I Wonder as I 1..la. nder. New York, 1956. • "Tbe Ner,:ro Artist and the Racial ;vlountain. 11 ---T~h-e Nation, CXXII (1926), 692-694. tJ.1 �LITERARY HISTORY AND CRITICIS f.i ( General) 11 To Negro Writers. 11 Amer i can 1tJr :t ters' Con['",X..M_fl. Henry Hart. New York, I'9]~: ,~ ·Pp :"-\39-llrl. • uThe Twenties: IIarle:-n and Its He -·r·i tude. " -~Af-r-ican Forum, I (Spr inc 1 19~6), l].-20. Jackson, Blyden. Annual "R~ sume of iJc r-.:ro Li terature. 11 Phylon, XVI (1955), 5 -12; XVII (1956 ), 35-40. Jahn, Janheinz. Neo-African Literature: A Hi story of Black Wri tin ~ . New York, 1968. Jeffers, Lance. '~fro-Ameri can Literature, The Conscience of Man." The Black S choler, II (Ja n uary 1971), Li7- 53 . -------- Johnson, Charles S. "T'he 1'1ep;ro Enters Literature . " Carolina Har:azine, LVII ( ~1a y 192 7 ), 3- 9 , Ji4 -l~ G. Johnson, .James Weldon. Alon r; This Way . New York, 1933. Jones, LeRoi (Imamu Amir i I3araka) . Home: S oc ia l Essays. New York, 19 66 . -Keller, Joseph. "Black Writ i nr; and the Wt1i te Cri t le. 11 N.~r;ro American Literature Forurq., III ( 1969 ), 1()3-110. Kent, Geor g e E. Blackness and the Ad v enture of Western Culture. Chica go , 19 71. Ki l r.:r, orc, James C. "Tbe Case fo r Black Li te:ra.ture. n Negro Dl~est, XVIII ( July 1 969), 22-25,6 6 -69 . Kill.ens, Jorin Oliver. ''A nothe r T.i.mc Wn c n Bl ack Was Beautiful." Black t·:orld, XX ( Hov e::nb e:r 1970), 20-36. Lamming , Geor c·e. "':Pbe 1Je 0 ro Writer and Il is H orld. " Prlsence Af rica ine , Nos. 3-1 0 ( J une- Novemb er 1956), pp. 32!~-332. Lash _, John. Annual "Critical Summar y o.f Literature by and About Ne groes. 11 Phvlon, XVIII (1q c;7 ), 7-24; XIX (1958 ), ll-1-3-154, 2h7-257; XX ( 1 9_c;g }. 115-131; XX:I (19 60), 111.-123 . Llorens, Davi d. '~hat Contemporary Bla ck Writers are Saying. 11 Nommo, I (Winter 1969), 2µ-27. 11 • Wri ters Conv er f-: e a.t Fisk Un i v ers i t~r . 11 Ne r::ro --D~i-gest, XV (June 1966), 54 - 6£:!i . Locke, Alain, ed. The New Nerro _: An Interpretation. New York, 1925 . Lo gg ins, Vernon. The Necro Auth or: His Development in America to 1900 . New York, 1931. 'V[urray, Albert. The Omni-Amer i cans _: New Pe~pectiv.e..s on Black Experience and -American Gul ture. New York, 19 70 • • South Ar ain to~ Verv Old Place. New York, --E-a-. • --19---7~. , ---~ 11 Neal., Larry . Any Day Now: Blac k Art and Blnck Liberation." Ebony, XJCIV (/\u r:ust 1969), 54 -5,9 , 62. "Our Prize Winners and Wbat '11hev ::-_;av of ~l.'hemsel ves. " Opportunit v , IV (1 926 ), l GB-i G9 . ~eddinc; , Saunders. "American Ne g ro Lite rature. 11 'rhe American S cholar, XVIII (19h9), 137-14 8 . ~K) I Dani e.1: Thu ff'()an., e.d 1an_~t~Y1 jfug_h~SJ S1a.ct Genf u-5: ,4 _Cr; tt ca1 __E'fa_Tuati a1. New Yarr; 7977, -- - -· O �I I LITERARY HISTORY AND CRITICISM (General) I I • "The Negro Writer and His Relationship to --H'T"i-s Roots. 11 The American Negro Writer and His Roots. New York, 1960. Pp 1- B. • To Make a Poet Black. Chapel Hill, N.C., I I __1"'""'9,..,..39. I Rourke, Constance. "Tradition· for a Ner;ro Li terature. 11 Roots of American Culture. New York, 1942. Pp. 262-274. Shapiro, Karl. "The Decolonization of Ame rican Literature. 11 Wils_pn Library BulletiQ, XXXIX I I I (1965), 842-853. Spingarn, Arthur B. "Books by Negro Authors. 11 The Crisis, 1938-1965, annual feature. Thurman, Wallace. "Negro Artists and the Negro." The New Republic, LII {August 31, 1g27), 37-39. Turner, Darwin T. "A.fro-American Li tere.ry Critics. 11 Black World, XIX (July 1970), 54-67. • "The Teaching of Afro-American Literature. 11 --.c. .o---llege . Engli~h, YJXI (1970), 666-670. Williams, Sh~rl9y. G~ve Birth to Brightness: ~Thematic Study in Neo-Black Literature. New YOrk, 1972. {Poetry) Bailey, Leaonead. Broadside Authors: A Bio~raohica1 Directory. Detroit, 1971. Barksdale, Richard K. "Trends in Contemporary Poetry . PhyloQ, XIX (1958), 408-416 . • "Urban Crisis and the Black Poetic Avant--G-a-rde. 11 Nep;ro American Literature Forum, III (1969), 40-44. 11 Bennett, M. W. "Negro Poets.,, Negro History Bulletin, IX (1946), 171-172, 191. Berger, Art. "Negroes with Pe ns. 11 Mainstream, XVI (July 1963}, 3-6. Bland, Edward. "Rae ial Bias and Negro Poetry. " Poetry, LXIII (1944), 328-333. Bone, Robert. "American Nec;ro Poets: A French View. 11 Tri-Quarterly, No. 4 (1965), pp 185-195. Bontemps, Arna. "American Ne gro Poetry. 11 The Crisis, LXX • (1963), 509. "Negro Poets, Then and Now." --(1.--950), 355-360. Phylon, XI '1 I I �LITERARY HISTORY AND CRITICIS M (Poetry) Braithwaite, William Stanley. "Some Contemporary Poets of the Negro Race. " The Cris is, XVII ( l q19), 275-280. Breman, Paul. "Poetry Into the •Sixties.'' The Black American Writer. Ed. C.W.. E. Bigsby. Deland, Fla. , 1969. Vol. II, pp 99-109. Brooks, Gwendolyn. "Poets Who Are Negro. " Phylon, XI (1950), 312. • Report from Part One. Detroit, 1972. ---. "Introduction. 11 The Poetry of Black America. Arnold Adoff, ed. New York, 1973. Brown, Sterling A. "The Blues." Pbylon, XIII (19_52), 286-292 • 11 • Nep.;ro Folk Expression: Spirituals, Seculars, --n-a--llads, and Songs. II Phylon, XIV (1953), 45-61 . • Negro Poetry and Drama. Washington, D.C., - ......1.....9,_.37 • • Outline for the Study of the Poetry of American --N~e-groes. New York, 1931. Cartey, Wi lf'red. "Four Shadows of Harlem. '' Negro Digest, XVIII (August 1969), 22-25. Chapman, Abraham. "Black Poetry Today. 11 Arts in Society, V (1968), 401-40 8. Charters, Samuel B. The Poetry of the Blues. New York, 1963. 11 Collier, Eugenia W. Heri tage f'rom Harlem. 11 Black World, XX (November 1970), 52-.59. 11 • I Do Not Marvel, Countee Cullen." CLA --3-0-~nal, XI (1967), 73-87. Davis, Arthur P. "The New Poetry of Black Hate." CLA Journal, XIII (1970), 382-391. Daykin, Walter I. "Race Consciousness in Nee;ro Poetry." pociology and Social Research, XX (1936), 98-105. Echeruo, M. J.C. "American Ne g ro Poetry. 11 _Phylon, XX.IV (1963), 62-68. Ellison, Martha. "Velvet Voices Feed on Bitter Fruit: A Study of American Ne~ro Poetry. rr Poet and Critic, IV (Winter 1967-1968), 39-49. Ely, Effie Smith. "American Negro Poetry . 11 The Christian Century, XL (1923), 366-367. Fla.sch, Joy. Melvin B. Tolsop. New York, 1973. Furay, Micha.el. "Africa in Negro American Poetry to 1929. 11 African Lit~r.gture TodfilT, II (1069), 32-41. 1 Garrett, DeLois. ~ream Motif in Contemporary Negro 11 Poetry. English Journal, LIX (1q70), 767-770. /30 I I ,I I I �LITERARY HISTORY A1'J'D CRITICISM ( Po etry) Garrett, Naomi M. '~acial Motifs in Contemporary .. Am~rJ_Q,{3,t]..,_an<LF_r_ench Negro Poetry. 11 West Virr:inia ·····• ·"''' ·university Phil5IBical Papers, XIV (1963), 80-101. Gibson, Donald B, ed. Modern Black Poets: _A Collection of Critical Essays. Enc;l~wood Cliffs, N• .J., 1973. Glicksberg, Charles I. "Ner_::ro Poets and the American Tradition. 11 rrhe Antioch Review, VI (1946), 2~.3-253. 11 Good, Charles Hamlin. The First Americe.n Ne gro Literary Movement.u Opportunity, X (1932)~ 76-79. Heath, Phoebe Anne. '~e gro Poetry as an Historical Record." Vassar Journal of Underc;ra.dua.te Studies, III (May 1928), 34-52. Horne, Franks. "Black Verse." Opportunity, II (1924), 330-332. Johnson, Charles S. "Jazz Poetry and Blues." Carolina Magazine, LVIII (May 1928), 16-20. Johnson, James Weldon, "Preface. 11 The Book of American Negro Poetry. Ed. James Weldon J ohnson. Rew York, 1931. Pp . 3-46. Kerlin, Robert T. "Conquest by Poetry. 1' The Southern Workman, LVI (1927), 282-284 . • Contemporary Poetry of the Nepro. Hampton, --v.a-., ... 1921. . - • "A Pair of' Youthful Negro Poets. 11 Tbe -'Southern Workmar::i, LIII (1924), 178-l Ml. 11 • Present-Day Nep;ro Poets. 11 The Southern --w-•o-rkman, XLIX (1920), 543-548. • "Singers of' New Songs. " Oppor t uni t_y, IV ---,(,.....1--926), 162-164. Kilgore, James C. "Toward the Dark Tower." Black World, XIX (June 1970), 14-17. - Kjersmeier, Carl. "Ne gro es as Poets. 11 The Crisis, XXX (1925), 186-189. Lee, Don L. "Black Poetry: Which Direction?" Negro Digest, XVII {September-October 106R). 21-32 . • Dynamite Voices: Black Poets of the 1960'~· --n-e~troit, 1971. Locke, Alain. "The Message of the Negr•o Poets. 11 Carolina Magazine, LVIII ( May 1928), 5-15. Moore, Gerald. "Poetry in the Harlem Renaiss ance. 11 The Black Ameri,gaQ __J_-J"ri_t._~r. Ed. C. W.E. Bigsby. Deland, Fla., l9b9, Vol. II, pp. 67-76 . Morpurgo, J.E. "American Negr o Poetry. 11 Fortnightly. CLXVIII {July 1947), 16-24. Morton, Lena Beatrice. Ne ~ro Poetry in America. Boston, 1925. "Negro Poetry. 11 Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poeti.cs. Ed. Alex Preminger, Frank J. Warnke, nnd O.B. Hardison. Princeton, N.J., 1965. Pp 556-559. 13/ I I I I I I I �LITERARY HISTORY AND CRITICISM {Poetry) "Ne gro Poets, Singers in the Dawn. 11 The Nec:ro History Bulletin, II (1938), 9-10, 14-15. Oliver, Paul. Blues Fell This ~orning : The Meaning of' The Blues. New York, 1960 • • Conversation with the Blues. New York, 1965. _P_o_o-1-,-Rosey. "'l1he Discovery of American Ne rrro Poetry. 11 Freedomways, III (1963), 46-51. 11 Ram.saran, J.A. Tbe 'Twice-Bore' Artists' Silent 11 Revolution. Black World, XX (May 1971), SF.3 -68 . 11 Redmond, Eugene B. The Black American Epic: Its Roots, Its Writers." The Black Scholar, II (January 1971), 15-22. • "How Many Poets Scrub the River's Ba.ck? 11 --c-o-nf'ronta.tion, I (Spring, 1971), 47-.53. 11 Rodgers, Carolyn M. B~-~-~tc Poetry-\fuere It's At. 11 Negro Dig~st, XVII {S~tember 1969), 7-16. Rollins, Charlemae. Fa .,t uUS American lJe~r_o P_~ets . New York, 1965. Taussig, Charlotte E. "The New l'fa~ro as Revealed in His I)oetry." Op?,ortunity, V (1927), lO P-111. 7 Ne gro Poets and Their Poetry." Thurman, Wallace. The Bookman, LXVII ( 1928), 555-561. "The Umbra Poets . 1r Mainstream, XVI ( July 1963), 7-13. "The Undaunted Pursuit of Fury. 11 !ime, XCV (April 6, 1970), 9 () -100. , , Wagner, Jean. Les poete~ nacres des Etats-vnts : Le ' sentiment rayial ~_t_relii:deux dans la poesi~~ P.L. Dunbar a L. Hughes. Paris, 1963. lt:-~lker, Margaret. "New Poets.'' Yhylon, XI (1950), 345-354. White, Newman I. ''American Ne gro Poetry." _South Atlantic Quarterly, XX (1921), 304-322 . • "Racial Fee line; in Nep;ro Poetry. " South --1-t-lantic Quarterly, XXI (1922), 14-29. Work, Monroe N. '1The Spirit of Nerrro Poetry. 11 The Southern Workman, XXXVII (19o e ), 73-77. ( Fo 1 kl ore .,_-_.,N,,,,"'""'".,....~"" b ) * Abrahams, Roger. Deep Down in the Jy.t}_g],~: _Negro Narrative Folklore from the Street 0£ Philadelphia. Hatboro, Pa.. , 1964. · -· Brewer, J. Mason . "American Negro Folklore. u Phylon, VI {1945), 354-361. ,_ - - - : . r r--•,•y.··,·n·•,-. l i ···q) - 7 . c:-7 ·n·1 , 1.... l ) ; -,1, Yl·:-,. ~-~ 1,. ::.-, .. ,.., ,J 1. • 1 .... 7 7 '"'J.l ~}-, .. ·-!1 ,/:. ,. · _ ·t·) FvJ•'••~ l! . . . . -- ',· ··: - , , ..., T ·-,· ...•-. ; '-·i '>_ JJ r'\·1 •1 ff ·. ,-·,v,;;:L1~· I -, ·~ '? j" 1 I �LI'rEHARY HISTORY A1ID CRITICIS E (Folklore) • American Ne~ro Folklore. Chicar,o, 1968. =B_r_o_w_n_, Sterlin~ A. 7 11'he Blues. 11 Phylon, XIII (lq52), 286-292. • ''Negro Folk Expression: Spirituals, Secu~1-a-rs, Ballads, ar.,.d Songs. 11 Phylon, XIV (1953), l15-61. . 11 Conley, Dorothy L. 0ric;in of the Ner::ro Spiri tue.ls. 11 The Negro Histo_ry __ Bulletin, X,Y..V ( 1962), l 79-lBO. Courlander, Harold. Negro Folk Music, Q. S .A. New York, 1963. Dorson, Richard M. American NeRro Folktales. New York, 1967 . • ed. Arrican Folklore. New York . 1972. -E-1-1~1-s-, A.B. '~volutlon in Folklore: Som~ West African Prototypes of the Uncle Remus Stories ." Popular Science, XLVIII (November 1895), 93-104 . Fisher, Miles Mark. Negro Slave Songs in the United States. New York, 1963. Georgia Writern' Project. Drums and Shadows: ~ vi val Studies Among -~b e Georr;ia Co_~~~~~___ Ner:roes. Athens, Ga., 19h0.({1 !V-: ,: .•.C.:t-J ,2•J '/s:,1-i<. 1l'"f7;.!.,; Handy, W.C. and Abbe Niles, eds. Treasury of the Blues. New York, 1949. Harris, Joe 1 Chand 1 er • D'----a_d_d....,_y_J-'a'-'--k-'-e.C...-_t=h-"e--"-R-'--'u"'.""n=a=w-"-a=y~,~a__i1___d Short Stories Told After Dark. Hew York, 1:J[1 9, Jones, LeRoi (Imamu Amir[ Ba.rake) . Black Music. New York, 1967 . • Blues People: Ner;ro Music in White America. --N-ew- York, 1963. Krebhiel, Henry Edward. Afro-American Folksonrrs: A Study in Rae ial and National Music. ~tfow York, l 9ll~. Lovell, John. "Reflections on the Orir;lns of the Negro Spiritual. " Neg1•0 American Literature Forum, III (1969), 91-97. McGhee, Nancy 13. 11 The Polk Sermon: A Facet of tbe Black Literary Heri tare. 11 CLA Journal. XIII ( 1969), 1 57-61. Odum, Howard W. and Guy B. Johnson. Tbe Ne,~ro and His Songs. Chapel Hill, N.C., 192_5 • • Negro Workaday Songs. Chapel Hill, N.C., 1926. ~O~l~i-v-er-, Paul. Blues Fell This Mornin g : The Meani ng of the Blues. New York, 1960. Scarborough, W.W. "Negro Polklore and Dialect. 11 Arena, XVII (1897), 186-192. Talley, T. vL Negro Folk Rhymes. Wise and O~berwise. New York, 1922. 133 �LITERARY IIIS':PORY AlilD CRIT IC I S ' -; ( F o lklore ) Thurman, Howard. Deep River. New York, 1955 . 11 Twinine;, Mary Arnold. An Ant b ropolo i:;-:ic nl Look at Afro-American Folk Narrati ve . 11 CLA Journal. XIV (1970), 57-61. . White, Newman I. American Ne gro Folk-~9 n ~s. Cambrid ge, Mass., 1928 . 11 Work, John W. Ne gro Folk S on g ." Oppor tun i t y , I ( 1923), 292-29!~. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context EBRWritings_07_36 Title A name given to the resource Copy of Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, Bibliography, p. 118-130 Relation A related resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource For digital rights and permissions, see <a href="https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml">https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml</a> or contact <a href="mailto:library@siue.edu">library@siue.edu</a> for direct inquiries. In copyright. <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Redmond, Eugene B. Description An account of the resource Copy of Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, Bibliography, p. 118-134 https://digitallis.isg.siue.edu/files/original/14e188986a059abcd28f372969eb0c17.pdf 72327a1e033c0d7775862eec59941505 PDF Text Text • .six1i'e.s "chariots of fire , 11 " smoking ,r- I Ii , ' ' o.t')(L ll~ r ·o~ PNe. t '' "get down on whi t ey"l\;ta!lftll!mrf-re often used by critics attempting 'Armageddon, descri ~ to 11 and defini ~ • u • th ver-- L while there was u;11a.~ fire , II and brimstone , as Blyden Jackso Indeed when the ~+he in its ,,ip o lene ss , s oene is who Mount0d often not poets. o oets 0 ~aid of them. n 1, t.ili~fm:W, stay "mounted in a ch r.; ot of to time had New Bl~ck poets .~~- .s- - v0rba:::!. and popular of/\.;991-,,,.. ikki Giovanni .- - Lven the most , Madhu.bu ti/\ denounced poetry as a luxu~ . ~e,W'le Jtll~ ()It? a r aka, ~onia San- -fhd"o,uUk /~L•a. f/:onJ, d. · Ji>Ls 0rt4i> •ii i ~-tevolution., 11 admitting in the meantime , perhaps , thqt theirs ~ was a partic~lar brand of oratory ~ etry in a traditional theM an This chore "place" in the poetic scheme of things --albefutj a "nlace 11 important yet to be designated. Wbv iously there On.). Some , .--..... . eJ,UJ t e w r i t i n ~ n y of1'\?ie poets • suffering from the , disfigurement of perc eptions Madhublil.ti , in halfre - baked theories e, like corre ct sociological picture not the n~w Blacknes s, sul -4- II ~ 1IS 1 • 1'hoi; poetrp 'ja often/\f · dled with confusion; inaccurracies �2 and this is ghast l y , so that a popular "latex stamp of approval while the deeper , searching an Patterson, Cornish, C0 rte z, Jordan, Lorde 4iil-• provide with an 1 extended ctisfigurement allilll:h~'!B•ren · o. 'llbVhct~-fP;;"~~ cleaf.~ t up as Neal h .'11_.iiifll!l!~Black criti c oli ti cal p~JJJ. 'J and ide Both Mchay und Hiv hie Man can write my story, '' but durin~ teachers H9i19 'iJ:Pi 9tl?f Black r0aa0rs and asking 11 ~ here is the IP ack writer who wi J 1 write it?" Contrary t o popular belief, ti I J}g1'i t takes years and understand the com~lex~ """""'-~ Black ~XPerience . And those writers €rid snokes?1en) who seemed to hav e mastered aspects or it 49•r often J,iMii111. .llli•IIII\ alcolm, ~nifpt , uarold Carringt on) which allowed them time for rf flection , creative development , and exnerimentation . ~ven Gwend0lyn Brooks had " tir1e '' to work out ti cklish quP-stions and noetry. unlike she did not have to~ I during her early ..-..-.~ lecture circuit ,,.,_sz;t.im:a. ~ t she cultivated and protected .her distanc e is ev • ·dent in the superio n quality of her whi ch aoes not shun the salient thene s oft he pride , -cP9N:8\ii'iQ int o;poi;;t ii.ii: Africa , Black music , self- love , Black heterosexuality, violence , mistrust of whites , the Western world and self- detcI'Plination . Yet those opnosing the Black Aesthetic not always hav e a clean slate • • ~ , since they .w..~s. often "shored up" by personal experiences , �3 with whites. Ar1onF, the onnonents oft hJ1 11 senarate" aesthetic for ...5lacks, il,GIM~~ill!!~heve maintained close associutions vtlth academy-trainer, oriented white critics and writP-rs. And Hayden must~ ask him.self why rA subscribe to a Black Aesthetic if he subscribes to the aesthetic of the Baha•i 1''aith-- 11 the only one," he hvs said, 11 to which I willingly subr1i.t. '' :•'or it is clear that olac 1{ culture ,ossesses f or a new re 1 i. i i.~~ the possio~lities and 1/ ... :t:::mi:::c:::::ec:cc:=::=z:::::.- n ~J.,'tv coulwepla~~~vhristianity as the driving force{mystique) behind J spiritual •m~strivings and aspiration!:I a prospect ;i. which should not be too lightly dismissed. That sonB new poets ~ i-- ,; ,o,i..-.i:ili&illiil;li!ilie,lllftllt however, ~~--=~~a..lieli... did wade a~ 13 is seen Ausi.cal, daring, ambivalent, complex and technically dexterous, the poem suITII'l.arizes the U"'lcertain wdw, of ~lackness. Like Hayden's 11 -..----.-.-......... fluentn Zeus" r.nd Gwendolyn orooks 111 Hiot 11 it.,.· cap- tures the suspense and hyperactivity of contemporary life. The po- the 11 invisible" - - - world and "cyc1ical nir:htmare" of the rllack .t!ixperience, ..-:::::::::::: becomes a~_legorical as -e, 1,oef , celebrates heroesllfsung c.nd unsung, ,,-- al 1 of whom vre a.ead i.n one way or another. 'Ihey winged his spirit & wounded his tongue but death was slow coming The 11 slow" death is both the agony and the ecstasy, as it were, nestled somewhere between the dope needle( 11 rusty rims of a needle") and "cultural vaginas" that"rushednthrough stregts urging men t o d •~e for shame lj If •ii �4. The poettiost a good frined" whom she loved; shijl>ped b&ck to hnr, with "thorns on his casket , " ~ &he has been c. 0•.0 .: collect on death collect on death co lect on death "friend '~ome$an.y dead nack sookemen whose blood has been "consumed by vultures" : 1 fuo killed IUM.umba Who killed I alcolm •rhese lines • refrain which laments join other~ the loss of all friends ; death and dope and violence and cons umption have devoured theM! The,re are no tears we have no friends this is the word .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . we are alone f he world of "cadillacs and coc aine II is populated by festivals and funera ls , poets that s c ream "kill run kill , '' -=ailill•IIF•:•lllillllll•glll!li.iu••liiliiliJ:~ 11 e1.ashikis in the wind " "the flesh of PatriceJ ever -pm and 11 the blues . Blacldk) 11 t knowA ' church . - 11 as close as the juke jojnt or the In the urban maze of Mind rnd place , the~e_wjll;JZom its ecstatic ope ration • (heath)even when dope , • · · or politi c al oppression will not . ~lack girl , Black without friends; in a hostile country or living in one • In Africa or Ame~ica the fates of Blacks ~ areAsi~lar : Who killed Lunumba Who killea Malco]Jp. It is a backdoor or valve to let off steam. !'he rush of the poem•s languaf,e compleMents the "rush" of Black life which is necessitated by oor--;ess1on but wnich , in tu'Y"n , results ~n enor~ously high and early deaths. �5 11 .t:t'estiival s 6c B'une rals" is not rosited here a .a: tr~e best or g.,,F,atest noem of the new PP.riod , but it certainl y takes in M.of the Blac~ ~xperience ,~:a=i...~~,e,li!•IJ!!lll!l. roo, i t s c ourageous lan8uage and f i-1 ~ imac:ery mark i t a s l a r g e and s i gn-i f i c ant - amon g mo de rn poems . It is~ lac4n •-~!1ii8111,....a..,w., but it has taken~ ~ in1,0J._allegorical - --- pJ yChdltiqica.l ., styl e , thene and subje c t materiaJ{-- festtvals and funerals --and worked 1'ne~ mrssage of major Proportions . Thus it enlarges the legacy o f Bl' ckness and f11aclc poetry since the linfuist.;c bf' se is a priori in the stated aims....,a:h.<l]\weapoii°'ry of the poe~. out o f all thi8 " erotic imp ·ovisation" cones +-he "uprooted perfe c tion" known §.S the "b1 ues . " And in this sense , the poet has ~''.Z.~• ._•~.a.J "';,he 1~1l:~.-ilie and a l ways diffi cult "(he ri ch aesthe:i c whi ch her tradition produ c ed. good poets of this era will emerge From among ■ak:■ been se¥erely a few great ones, though such a prospect the popular (,) . retarded by Ii..._ renunciation of "art" and "1dea4 IC) But it can l ~ ~ niallii..lllilN.,..,.ellllllll!Ql' long olftlllii•• because there is both and 1Ybreadth II urgency in much of the new thought a n d ~ .Lis then /J r to~~zl.ng ~ philosopberts--•111:a!llttlll- ,. focusless rantings. If t knowledge to complaints and ~ Black thought and literatu~e can not be called to on to function in the traditional capacity of such ar1;t--to train, develop and stimilate the faculties--then the "battle for the minds ot Black people" is already won by the other side. And,tinally, it Blacks as a people are pron--1... ~ roundly tragic, comic or heroic, then their ideas CIM'lf..µJ,I.,{ poetry~should..., be profp!andly tragic, co71ic or heroic. For Blacl~ p I to have not alWUft),S ~ 6 c l • the streets and alleys of other men's minds"and a true and nest Black poetry aill: will not be afraid to be "~reat" s and alongside whatever else of greatness there! di .<.4""' h � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context EBRWritings_07_35 Title A name given to the resource Draft of partial manuscript of Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, dated February 10, 1975 Relation A related resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource For digital rights and permissions, see <a href="https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml">https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml</a> or contact <a href="mailto:library@siue.edu">library@siue.edu</a> for direct inquiries. In copyright. <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Redmond, Eugene B. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2/10/75 https://digitallis.isg.siue.edu/files/original/138c12b531802838f0b59976c0f21bf9.pdf 6fc5e8b9666401595695b0833cad65a3 PDF Text Text CHAPTER • CONCLUSION: I VII AFTERTHOUGHTS As - - promised in our Preface we haved ; J i tried to avoid f" I • fore • ;t\ · ,- \ ·d I I'\(,/ -:.tb..fil~tt111_;-tn,l!!tllfllll!NJilill11Jlllif,:!Ur research andA.1'i8i~ e@:ttAJ u ei o:r.e into However, manicured paradigms and neat frames. #0 Dru~~oices does:-. advance theories and theses-we LL t< o 14111 /J.-~ many @4l•i!M.....liril-i-aU•lli-.Jl--•..-••A...and a) .flow • • - - • 0nti ~e/ ~ ~J. (JYI.J.~ ~ origina3A--for w~termed4_1J1 a critical nis GOrj" Indeed, tneir own have taken;tstands, a as individuals ••rthe poets . . . . . ,Wii(liilila;ia. . i~c:3tu91 and ga,oups, since to, •1 is to assume a stance: to PNJ:S-ec-t. {)., \ti~,~~ t.:e t ~ ta~ u ~Li c I!!!'!'.!' of pocbtj ±,!&}£111~ I 11• ➔ lim i-o kk out one I s systerrf of beliefs, per- en1geg; .1 ceptions, relationships and values within the poetry and poetics. Such stands JI · di poets I• alwa ::, /fri icalNor , tor Afro-Ameri~al} poets they have represented -.iil:Jll1ut, ;{I.. · · · ~ factors ~ attend ·_y-1 · ~ ¢ ~ •~he ap p arent there was simple--bu~ave 11 "proving ~ s y ~ was conducted ~~..Qi#~alas, · in 3 PX'.c.:WFGI llllllliC --task of employ literacy skills; by 11 li berk.1 11 slave masters states mad~teracy while many a crime punishible by imprisonment, beating, and,in some case~1~ath. ~ere w~onfusion and . energies in the e a rlier misdire ction · ~f ~lues an d . were ~ " Al_\ 1 poetft~ ,mir ~f\.encoura ged/YW? ~ (; - �2 conc l usion 1L I • to retain I g C 2 11§ · I I lt:ass)..- orA-the he _..• Christianization of slaves 11 African flavor(let alone ...,.,..Mi@~~'l!Jf a gh:atly duality"--or wall between the African and himself--which cluttered indeed sending most ca.lled Black intellectuals into psychic chaos. This tendency,A !:,V held 1 -111 lid& w. E.B.;?-i;:J 11inn al Afro-American the~ poets' self- and world-views, a M=6 -::ft• poetry inA, a "veil 1 A of~ limbo al -~'-J'he beginning of the twentieth Horton, ough there were exceptions(~hitfield, Whitman, century. a .,;.,;1.._pt-opt-t- ~(k.(>,rOQnd~'( --~ Frances Harper), ~tne fan understand the isolatio~sm and alienation of a Phillis Wheatley or a Jupiter Hammon who refused freedom for himself }tt.ta!!,1:1 he advocated it for young B}3. c k s. One need only read David Walker to discover the Negro"free dom" in 77u, ~&vndoJ,/e1. of among escaped slaves, out ing, • of uho llf111 11 steteli.a This folk strain in the poetry(separated by Wagner from the "spirithas ualist" vein) xsmr1thn•••• survived as a conscience, more or less, of Afro-American letters, philosophy and art. And even though critics like Wagner, ~ f a l s e distinctions l::etween / all but a -n'.CA--u and the literary(or spiritualist) realmJ, of the roots and origins ..._/\"intellec~oets delved into the folk, ~·•d·•=•~=-•• '"l!l!I-• !"l ,a · · PR ~ J· @Pw • Th.is ~ t h J ~ UR .-,il&i@?!-O&Qf f ac t 1.S · no tas 1 ' :&!,-,J1A'{lt,d 3U~ ·, lillTSiisaP 1-., ct 'i • in poe t S like Countee Cullen, Claude McKay or Jean Toomer, as it iB in,say, Baul Laurence Dunbar, James ~ildo W' Johnson,,#,-~rling Brown and Langston .c'.11"!,,...... ~ l ,,,r~~J Hughes--but it is there. ai~!tllljjjp:iliPlll.•M•~~ however, the ambivalent J~~~~~lli!! ~;Ml} Christian <!foe' ,!1"£,..,_wnit, .P I people is as evident in the exclusively folk poets as in th~se stseped in book theology. - �3 conclusion Examination of ,J.p .t,J 0/lartificial boundaries ..._ f'}?-~~oral, gestural) poetry and literary(intellectual,book)poetry ~ n o t been irrff~iis with enoughjllD intensity by critics and writers. Just because Europe or larger Americ~ have evelved beyond connnunal art forms does not mean that Afro-America has to Or does it? f:ll~w suit!A : ~~• as we staJe in th~~nning ofChapter VI, $- I e:it -~cial-communal • I l has yet to be Jiewed l b ~. . . \lo-4- fca,~. nr) Black 8l"l lii&SSO. -➔:sr¼n£~ieti&i~ei}_,i,.~. r \Ai) Lt.~ Blacks place fJ,,\1,/,X j Rllf\ empt-~~is reading trends and habits. iarlft:f!\Nz1k8F1iliJU.I h I on the dramatic presentation of a poem. /J,~i}nesB,_jpr Mdtane1!$m a/ltd tha.1,t'.sM1d-iP~ XMI" · -~the i 4 eta: l!iltFlpi'elilibJ\.l"~ngs and the sb!l!@u development of a national~au ience for poetry via s u c h # ~ tv "$-h-0 fJ{; ~ '\ as Ellis Haialip' s~ Soul,.te •;(Hit g Ill All of the foregoing statements tie in•••lq!ili) with ~ opening ~ ' 5 : g H I1h6 about stands and positions taken by poets. For, if •;J..&± SI a s:baror t·s;t Ji&l?:iiua o f ~ poe · the silent r e ~ o,.,f,.,~t_,"h e~~•1 111 ■' lb °"the ft trans- e to the page ~ ~ l i t ~ f you will, of the thought or im ; a :mr:ib f I ~:IM!I~ then oep~ainly ► I~~ ma aiR even f:lt:tybhc;- 1 ,'k,:z..:.;_ r,f I ab:::.e..t · ~riginating idea~ instincts. -...S One has only to hear an "intellectual" poet like Robert Hayden read his own works to understand thisj'principle . Our point,then, is that much of the apparent straight-laced :::::::&:; :e~;;.:;;;~~~ ~ 1' • /4 not delivered ~ ~~~ ii.1 a ; t l e~A of church =@II' survices, abolitionist rallies c · -singing, danceS or~cial ~ , One shoul~-w...!1111.1 liste{? tbr example, to a poor reader presentwzt dialedt poems of Dunbar, Davis or Corruthers. A �4 conclusions instances(Wheatley, Hammon , Ann Plato, the Creole Poets) k~ett, · to the social whirlwind, poets seem to /\be "-immune "cur~z most Afro-American poets have beenJ..u that whirlwind. Hence, patterns okJA::JJr;J;tion in = ~ d a a blessing (to parape;;;-i•••J and,rsrtriiwJt,.._"Mffl Black poets •;r-anguage,,,_~ fo~ styles and tonJ. From the ditties)t;.e bhe blues,"bv the~iritua).s ~ ~~ ~ ~ ...a ~ --.tQ tba dozens ,ee :eifts serm.9~ .. t Me jo_k~s, the . . poets "':7fan end~ / poelll eJ(){.SOI? dWJ €d P1nda1,l txJe ina. (le! Fo).NI ). -tt\'() less stre~ of /(orms and fusion~ segregated pattern ~ • that same gave these poets their ominous theme~~ their grave tones and temperaments which, coupled with their crisp insight into America's c ~ a d i ~ s and paradoxes, allowed them to project, prophesy ';9lrefine'\.'ff!la 11 duality' 1 into one of the most powerful . J 1 : : ~ o o l s available to any group of writers. Hence th;'~Apo:trlha_s_~is and themes as weihl ►&I I l a <:. (111!& I ; =j;=-, wn private(cultural) sob ef symbols ~~mad~==:c:tcm!llttlmlll=..t the larger ~ j~""a' world-• Most Black poets have written poems about lynching, for example,~ most.- ~uro-American poets have not. T h e m e s ~ "1ri the Christian e•teJ•Rh job dilscrimina tion, i;he twe-fac_pness of m J 1 I a God, psychic ~ l e n c e in a white worl~ r -R .cas;:i;,:lion, ~<-4 the ....:t_~siii... ~ ' . ¼ •~ Landscape of G,rror and f e a r ~ - social inequities, A:::J sa I OiibC 1:9 I.MJ)ln one way or another) work themselves into ~ i c a n poetry. Certainly there are hundre ds of others, easily~• asrl. - - I l l ~ ~ ,pe rus.,.., I any anthologyl;;:;::r.;m:;;aa=;;;;••iiil=:Efiible of contents. ) �5 conclusion ~u9h .~ r-~ , '1To eray i:hnt c.ertain forms and 1lllll9t theme~,~~ ~rica~~-v;,. . ,. dominaf-- Afro -American poetnr Ii z ~ o n s I •and divergent approaches characte-rizJ- th&.Se po ·t-s 1· ~ ' : O f : suoh 1 -::r-or1bH.and them • of prime importanc to note, also, t' · tside T,of .. domina~~ng cluster~., th~~ ha!gun~.(~ss othe~ interests REarcupations • .fd~a0K family · ForAJJ:511!1il~ unite ha~e been in tact for hundreds of years-- ,\ • a. ....,..,,""" __ ' even if such ~ •·-8'i..ii.a.ii.aiiiiei►lld:Sl•aeR obscured b':,r a socio-media. oe•••--••i~lir..1 with al;:L~ accompanJing p a t h o l o g i c a l ~ , I. •"~ ~ " (:,, I Usten~to z51syoung Blackf(I analylt A,..,C4, ~ ~ sis of wh ·· ,grasp ~ u n s t a t e d or implied cultural .\ trithe new land --. preferences;.,TruJAfrioan?JiP OmiPie~have live~e :.lllfterieMl H ~ t - er•• : ' mare amidst ~alk of an American Dream; and, ~(,k- · ,v..,he d a r k ~ poets 1 songs are full of unpleasantries and recollections o f t ~ ,-;-.. • nightmarel• • ,.. • I •• ' .,. .... :_.)t"~ • ·t• - -~· .... . " . ' has never been ltODa But the en~ioBlack p o e t ~ • • • be.self-pity, chauvinism., @~ '1,tn_ -ci,{-M . ,,; . • mrr· . ideologµe~etoric or complain~• Thus Margaret Walker, ,a 4 c..-- '%~ amids:!:~0. :r,~~~e" and mt (ii,. fe~~e .subjects ~~~•-ti f SW»-• • • • white literati, is able to celebrate . Black lifeil' Fam My People). f19 Robert Hayden i,■ ••is,•• transcend.S-wie a rtificial barriers between himself and nature and enter;the flower~ (Night-Blooming Cereus )~ ~~~anry Dumas Ebony Play Ivory G:=, S'5 ab;;~ in Play and Pinkie Gordon La ne in Wind Thoughts. Other examples of such diversity and sensitivity abound: Owen Doason (Powerful Long Ladder), Langston Hu ghes (The Dream Keeper), Alice Walker(Once), Raymond Patterson(26 •ays of Looking at A Black~ ) , Joyc e Carol Thomas(Blessing):., and'~ the c r oss-spread of a l most any anthology. o£ 41'.:g AH10Mia: 111 w=~-·-- �. i conclusion w.e kA-vt ~he 1; poet~ takes a stand not inherent in),,_ ~ )-;t::J:;::Q 1!/,~:::. musicianxrs -tio,w when he commits his thoughts to paper. And 1 I ~ J,(1¥ft,,.r in times of r ap<.d. socia~chan,ge,or u ~ @»~ ~ - ~ e s up e110 efk...,.~~ 2iil11.~rilMip~_--.. ef~~:;/i. court, at '""1ich times his o-..n feelings -and sensibilitie:-::::tl!!'uetralized in:.,:;vor of 'ii! 7 a the 11 popul ar latex brand." JJe jerious critic,5~1cultural stabilizeJ; need; to exam.in~- 11 o n e - ~ 11 approac~lMA ro· 1n■ 1 ~;t'o~~irjl;S•iiii.W=iJli!!Jtf>O etry/ c ri ti ci sm, especi al-f:#~er the last 10 years. eS: 1ilu We mention this 1l!ll!i!l1 of the 11 11 important s i d ~ t h h ~ ; , , . , , ~ d ' J ~ ~ r y o ~ scene because its presence hasAeither crippled o~ destroye ma a budd. ~y -t"' ~ -·' ~ -rt. ~-1..n · - -,_case~, it_ ha~'1: talent. ' a rich n_.. 4iiiil'significant voice. Howeve r, ~ ~ • • • • • " " " critical ~~wru :c111s 11 ./!uJ)yJJ14 opened" ,a, 11;3:ilJ ,1qmpletely and honestly. PIT? \PM ' -~~.J.,~ ~ & - ... ___ ,, 4.f!!!iiiOva,YJitlilSmSilt&n It.id e --=:. @nly ~ougbr 1:&li\~ft-~1111~~.t'" 11 ,. ,.--.;. e Afro-American poetry~- continue t o b reatn~the breath of the ancestors. 1 ~ ( l'inally, as. winds of change shi ft.1,AMl-qbi speed up or slow down,~t:i,p designs Areader~ and poets must -as k about ultimate~•• •io•u and inherent I' ~ t r a d i t i onal missions. As tre drum stand s a:,t_~;{A~~uJ.~=frican a nd Afro~ ,, C(r,t,/di.~/ American culture, so the poet ~ t a n d at the center of ,t,fe drum.J.,~ , ~ p o e t i c principle':Jand the language associ ated w i t h ~ } c:fsound and music. Music is the most shared expe rience--the most I\.. music~s 1 £ t a l commoGity--among Afro-Americans. 'And poetry is~win•lli ~ Khe metaphysical and t he metaphorical s tem f ro m an d r~turn to the drum: life, love, birth and death labo r e d ou t i n m as ured rumble ~) 1 A 1/.o ~ an22-ous cacophony. Between t h e l i ne s a r e t he rattle of ch orus e s QtA.lU,14 / t h c:1 e sfiriek of trunbourine ~ f r ame d. by rivers that 1.nb ll no~ .i..·un away • And the drumvoices urgi ng us to cross them, cross them. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context EBRWritings_07_34 Title A name given to the resource Draft of Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, Chapter VII. Conclusion: Afterthoughts Relation A related resource Eugene B. 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In copyright. <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Redmond, Eugene B. https://digitallis.isg.siue.edu/files/original/76aae805eac8a7ad9e939902b2ec1b3e.pdf b5a47891b89423e6a2ffd984dcc1ce86 PDF Text Text ~ J CHAPTER ih: ~ FESTIVALS & FUNERALS: BlACK POETRY OF THE 1960s JIIII 1970s They winged his spirit & wou.t;1.ded his tongue but death was slow corning~ • • • • • • • • • • • • • 'Who killed Lurnurnba What killed Malcolm • • • • • • • • • • • festivals & funerals festivals/Z&: funerals festivals/Z&: funerals & festivals &IX funeralsx •••• -----Jayne Cortez I Overview: The space between festivals and funerals can be infinite or says throue?ti the twistings and it can be deathly short. So Jayne Cortez But s.in h er poem. f!'hatever the space, or the pace, we all slip, slide, soar, and between the polarities{assigned each rip as we make our way at birth) Mt:U88R :ene lEina of life we live and the kind of death we die. Black poetry of the 1960s have and 1970s often faces life and death "straight upf":a'hough, as we from seen, Black poet in other times not....__.. cring the breaches of racial nightmares, violence, sexuality, unbeautiful language, wicked or r eligious of them see each To attempt others' folkisms, and the demands of music which to hear--albeit 11 dift:tterent drummer-. 11 Black a discussion of contemporaryfi'oetry is to· tum tongues into flames: "Blasphemy!," "I was the first r," "We Started it!," "That anthology was incomplete since it didn't include me!," "It all started in this place or that place!," "His/her poetry is not Black enough!," and so on. JW..,.111a111:::.:1ua,1~_..,....,...., the "smoke 11 !6rom the sixties is beginning to clear �2 ~ - 1 1 \ , 1 '-" u•h mo r e and, whlhl :..Ji. .io!!!dtTJ=-:a-.1Nie'll!IMt9it:► is needed, there are '1 observations be made Hence in this chapter, the format receding · th a noticeabl~ de-emphasis that biographical-critical on individual poets. Most serious poets who began writing in the l a te tiIM!:iHJm fifties, sixties and muc seventies, still hav rowing and threshing to do. recent volumes to evaluate Black poetry produced over I ·able rends have occurred, and they look roughly like this: ~ ~ck poetry since the Harlem Henaissance(see Brown, Hedding, Henderson, Jackson) has had cyc}.$ng currents of "rage" and "fire " though not the sustained gush witnessed in the mid and late sixties; ~Black poetry after 1945 expressed a belief(see Ray Durem) th a t white liberals were not real ly interested , in mounting t h e chariots on behalf of Blacks(despite Communist-Socialist pronouncements); /Black poetry of the 1950s and early 1960s provided a Ci vi 1 Rights '-groundswell for the volcani Ju~st poetry of early sixties ttylistic, attitudinal and ~ Poetry; linguistic character ent B Black y, despite "evolutions" and "changes," has nota.1!1:~e-.-~m--ei11ta~iiiii.ii,,,a1-iWN~~ ii.1,,.-the bevt work of Hughes, Johnson (both), Davis, Toomer, Walker, Hayden, Brooks, Tolson a nd Dodson-~> i xcept for what ,,.--... ~ - illlR .::>tephen Hena erson calls "tentative II answer#s, Blaoc poetry defies all definit i ons (li k e Mari .l!ivans~ "Black Woman")--splintering off into ennumerable directions, st y les,~ ~es, considerati ons and ideas. his chapter, all above considered(!), ~M~~~1¢%2W o i F ties.~Thef sketch wi • • •'.....J -sS~ will <lli~~brief ~/ t ~ fropi t 1?-e .fi t; s i ,,...::::::c;r;:.iiii!- wt,# a~look at transitional poets(older and younger) as their work appears primarily in about �3 a half dozen anthologies(from I ~aw How Black I Was, 1958, to Kaleidoscope, Locke's and Bontemps 1 s divisions of the Henaissance) who came to recognition under the banner of the Black Arts Movement and who loosl~y fall into the c a tegory of New Black Poetry. Older Walke poets--Hayden, and others--will be briefly re-visited to see if••=- the ...... significant changes "new" mood wrought in their views an~eir poetry.• ThoufY:l.J-a critical history, this book is primarily a historical guide--designed to aid students, teachers,and , lay readersJ ?ll ■,in their explor'la-tion of Black p oetry. Only a naive person would attempt, at this stage, a full c¾itique of the poetry & J . r.f,e.. ~ . of the 196Os and 197Os. Howiver, th e re are ~ , similarities, a ~ \.thematl,9 clusters- wh i ch will be pinpointed and assessed from time to time. 1 the most provocative of recent studies of contemporary Bla ck poetry are Henderson's !iii "11he ill:Militant Black Writer in Alflrica and the united li11asch I s Helvin Tolson(l972); Dtates(l969, with Mercer Co~~~~ Un erstan ew ac'If ~e 4lb5 gn•s Modern Black Poets(l973)~ Shirley Williams ~ Give Birth to rightness ( 1972) ;I\ jg 71.i!J)] 11 Jackson I s and Rubin's Black Poetry in Arnerica(l974), lf1itdJ£11{ !'lnii;lalso s e e ~ bliography). d ·o �II Literary and ~ocial Landscape: ideolo~ porary period. world. ~ c • • • are - -· e contem- Revolutions ( of a.11 kinds) m'e>c:t-.,.(Vllaffli,ld the From Cuba to Vietnam, Harlem to Chile, Pakistan to Watts, Nigeria to Indonesia, Kenya to Berkeley, Jackson State to Kent State--t~e fac_..,U'P'l- """'-..t.' }:n~ kt. 1 d~ma~ic .~'). i...olent.i7V~ -;tJ, p,))i...,~ .~4'J ..,, ~e , was decli- ni gt-..and Jazl•s greatest living interpreter, Charlie Parker, was dead. Musicians and vocalists began probing new forms under the leadership of Coltrane, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Wes Montgomery, Duke Ellington, Ray Charles, Count Basie, Ornette Coleman, Billy Eckstine, Sarah Vaughn, Ella. Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, who died in 1959. Miss Holiday's name and fame again reached a worldwide audience when, in 1972, Diana Ross, formerly of the Supremes, starred in the controversial movie, Lady Sings the Blues. Saxophonist Coltrane, a major influence on the current generation of musicians a.nd poets, died in 1967. An innovator, he sparked new interest in music with his "sheets of sound" approach to playing/ ~ :,µ,"fl f)~l'-4 IJ The Fifties also witnessed the matlration of Rhythm \"0-010 and Blues, popularized primarily by BlackAdisc jockeys who developed large followings. :tJhe-iJ2 iii&Bl!6~~ 'n".tc DJ' a emµ'!.ej@'n! e,n!'l! MJ effl', 1 'e!ffl l!!PW~!. Interweavi lively Black social news and comme 85 li&44MM ', p• ,Ji,''- �theySii!m anticipated the ~'.Ear lbj poetry of the :Sixties. 61P the oral new Spin-offs from these MSSISi.ff..l,-lt)t., . . . . . broadcasting styles were programs like Bandstand (started in the late atched Blacks dance, listened to Little Richard and Chubby Checker, and tried to imitate it all on ~V and in their homes. This period gave birth to the first white superstar Soul artist--Elvis ~ de»~ Black critics and social historians note that the ne~cial music, and the dances accompanying it, freed white American youngsters from the prudish and self-righteous inhibitions of their foreparent~ • . ··~ ' ~" ~- Generally, American science and industry developed more rapidly than in previous periods. Russia launched Sputnick, ""h r'c-h a feat~was followed by an American-Russian science and space~/ exploration race whic,i/fontinues,clC!~!:r · Telestar paved the way for televised coverage of global activities while biochemical warfare and atomic research became the nightme.res people lived daily. The American literary scene was swamped with political novels, satire, writings on the war and experimen listic prose. The "underground II a major vehicle for-..illl•~ this new writing. 86 journa- .... newspaper -•••=::~lallle"-:£,(1-;'2'.:' ~....,,,... ...,_. �,e(.l..._L1e"' employed in~writine; is still present. of the writer However, the influ- .f %'~.~n na...n. .d. . .....w.,.,a r years ~i ~1) ~ w • i • .. the /J /B~rard , I Y ' [~C-ni. Malam l .._.....,....... ohn Hersey, ~ ; llow, Norman ~ a , -~ er,A4½fest Gaines, James Baldwin,111anner~•Conq9r, Albert Murray,~~n1A t~'¥1J.A i'2 . .i - ~~) Willia~yro, i liam Demby, ohn Barth, Wi~Liam Melvin Kelley, and Irvin Wallace. :J Black writers are included in the general listing because during the contemporary period mani of them achieved recognition on par with the best (~eed j 60...- e't.o.mph21WG\.S n,c,,-,ui,c.i'ted (n ~ o c4ie e s ~ oV""'\1-\ ~ N<M°t 10.(.. llo/\&c writers everywhere.AMiliiiilliiM.~~ ~ome important contemporary~ 01 ~~,.~L.-' are: Stanley ~ e r t 71{ ~ Hayden,~Eberhart, Robert ~tJ.n Warren, ,..._Gw ndolyn Brooks,~' ,.:f. 14{ (A..........,..,,..J ; Theodor~~~oethke, Karl Shapiro e . vin Tolson, John Berryman, I 1.'.fok~ ~~ , ~ , T,1'1'~:v,-) H e ~ : P t Lowell,ARichard Wilbur, Paul Vesey, James } Dickey, Imamu Baraka, Sylvia Plath, William Bell and James Ho.yd r\ "e' \ved. CL rn~T,bnat. 8 00 Aw ... ~ n On'\t ~ii> • 'l Wright. (\ Many of the Black prose writers and poets ( some from the pre- and post-war schools) died during the contemporary period {Tolson, Bontemps, Hughes, Wri ght, Durem, Dumas, D u;) Rivers, Toomer, Malcolm X, etc.). Indeed death, in one way or another, not only preoccupied writers {White and Black), 87 . ~J f-\o"'ne> �1 ~ ?v 'rs. ued • but waskomantically nB!l!S!i&at~.•~·1~1~1~:-~3-••s~i•aa• Beat poet Kenneth Rexroth ~ - -,.1111•1111 • "Why have 30 American poets committed suicide since 1900?" Those poets not concerned with death were investigating decadence or the deathness 1 (U c 1• The development of contemporary poetry cannot be ;;JI:Jd properly without understanding the "Beat" period. As y- product of the Be Bop era in Black music, Beat poets emulated the hip mannerisms and aped the "man alone 11 1liJlf' @:_rop-out imag~ tMIIII•.-~ associated with ·;t¥ musicians. 2'iiiii' ~·:::ec::::c::.::i::po;a~ ~a::rkma~ot·;~ playing "Something," in the words of Thelonious Monk, "they can't play. 11 (They, meaning whites). Important~ poets ~~ Lawrence Ferhlinghetti, Re:xroth, Allan Ginsberg,~nd Gregory Corso, among the whites! and Bob Kaufman, LeRoi Jones and Ted a Jo/l1fs among the Blacks. Another Black poet writing at the time and loosely aligned with the Beat i ma ge was Russell Atkins who founded Freelance in 1950. The Beat Movement, which nurtured occultism, rejection of the Establishment and an existential view of life, was centered in New York's Greenwich Village and the San Francisco Bay area. The movement died in the early Sixties. Kaufman is viewed by many as the unsung patriarch of the Beat era. Black critics say major white poets of the movement enthusiastically took their ~ues from Kaufman's ~ innovation_s : bl::3 ~ ~ ~o .ri JI!~ ::,;ai- , c in tf!G.h reco~ his a.,.~ ~~a:Pde ,teP.ln- Kaufman's poetry is 88 J ·• �in anthologies and in his two volumes: Solitudes Crowded with Loneliness (1965) and Golden Sardine (1967). As a kind of spiritual heir to Toomer, Kaufman is a complex, sometimes fragmented, but brilliantly original poet. , His work, like that of many of his contemporaries, 'i"nr1uenced by Eastern religious thought and the occult. Stylistically, Kaufman has the nsweep II of 'ci'iii) Whitman coupled with the best techniques of modern poetry. He passionately experi- ments with jazz rhythms in poetry and often invokes jazz themes, moods and musicians. Many Beat poets and enthusiasts later joined or were Civil Rights struggle which was intensified I Luther King,f.Jil!ll!Jrlr,Montgomery bus boycott in 1955-56; sit-ins and other dramatizations of segregation and discrimination; the challenges of Jim Crow in travel in 1961 (CORE); the widening activities of SNCC (1961-64) and the March on Washington (1963). Other significant activities J en.flamed and inspired the hearts and imagination of American youth especially. The Muslims' (Nation of Islam) growth to 50,000 members by 1963 and the Congressional action on Civil Rights Legislation were two seemingly unrelated but strategically important events. The growing influence of the Muslims suggested that many Blacks no longer believed America was Bv-M sincere in its pledges to implemen~m•fl!MIP'li!m':\:• law. became Abetting their distrust were the continued killings, night-ridings in the south and harrassment of Blacks in public places and their homes. 89 With the bitter taste of , �Emmitt Till 1 s murder still on their tongues, Blacks reeled under the killings of Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner, Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, King, the Kennedy brothers;and the three ,.._....,,.,..:r""."" ' / Black Panthers ••&ltli po By 1966, however, Black apartment) Power signs and slogans overcome- ~ in their sleep in a Chicago be gd.n to replace the ''We shall lack and White Together" exclamations. Young Black America) adorniht Afro hairdos a.no. African jewelry, attended cultural festivals, back-to-Africa rallies)Jllllfi poetry readings/and began reading community news published in revolutionary broadsides and tabloids. Rhetorical forays by H. Rap Brown and Stokely Carmichael, young SNCC officers, set off a flurry of state and national laws against inciting to riot and the transportation of weapons across state boundaries. Large and small cities i gnited in flames that set the stage for gun battles between police and the often "imagined II snipers. These conft:~9t}~t'l.~ns were repeated~· n ~ so.s:.i'n«.Te.J scores of cities after Dr. King was iiiliiiiiiB• in 1968. W oet Quincy Troupe captured the shock and horror)and chronicled t. ' the official reaction in his poem ttWhite Weekend u: 1 The deployed military troops surrounded the White House and on the steps of the Senate building a soldier behind a machine gun . ., . 32,000 in Washington & Chicago 1,900 in Baltimore Maryland 76 cities in rlames on the landscape and the bearer of peace still lying in Atlanta ••• ln the last stanza, Troupe notes with curdling irony: 90 , �Lamentations! Lamentations! Lamentations! Worldwide! But in New York, on Wall Street the stock market went up 18 points ••• At this writing, fallout from the Black Revolution reverberates around the globe. Black journalist Thomas Johnston reports Irish revolutionaries sing t'We Shall Overcome." Posters and emblems commercialize everything from African hairstyles to the raised clenched fist--tbe initial ~- symbol of Black unity and defiance. A wave of Black 'WttJ' movies--called Blaxploitation--beginning withAexperimental ' flicks like Putney Swope (1969) multi-million dollar theater patronage. Black movies retrieved the crippled movie industry from the brink of disaster. Meanwhile, the murder, incarceration and poli- tical harrassment of Black men and women made them heroes and heroines in Black communities--yet ironically symbolized the torment and what some Black journalists called the "genocidal schemes" of Americal..ae.e..-.a.""'4<"</. ~ J:ht {_). Criss-crossed by paradoxes, political contradictions, social revolts and reli gious ambivalences, the Black community%evertheless ~p;t.iicocEB~cr regenerated by its singers and performers. ~tt:12ai_:s;r..:Piiii=:r not ~~ only reached unprecedented~mo capabilities. Rhythm Blues, said to have died about 196.5, gave way to nsoul"-- nr ' m a Soul Man, n ixties. Sam and Dave announced in the late The Impressions told lovers that you "gotta have soul" and Bobby Womack reminded listeners that the "Woman's Gotta Have it 11 --pre~umably ''Soul. 91 11 Black recording companies �are in a boon, the two largest ones being Mo Town (Detroit) and Watte,8tax (Memphis). The current period has £&the . Black superstar--a ~" called "super Nigger"--in everything from sports to movies. Curtis Mayfield's soundtract alb m Superfly (1972) sold more than 22,000,000 copies and Marvin Gaye's What's Going On (1971) Rec.eml'lJ h6we~e., ~~v,·etik,;;d vi~ svl-"p&. d ~ a.LL ' set records for album sales.A Literally dozens of singing groups--modeled on the quartets and ensembles of the fifties-are releasing albums regularly. These folk or "soul" poets "conscious" in recent years and have b .,. and exaltations of Blackness~ many Much of this new wave came on the heels of severe criticism by Baraka who admonished singers for doting on unrequited love. are preoccupied with 11 ~ many my baby's gone, gone" Black consciousness activity--and creativity in g neral-- howflourishia_•fllla•:t. Related involvement - includeS: J'evelopment of Black acting ensembles; opening of free scho and Black universities; establishment of Black Nationalist/JJ . . t he number of Back l a.riJAf rican . communes; increase in bookstores~ boutiques; establishment of Black Studies programs on white and Black campuses . and, in some cases, quota systems for enrolling Black students; the escalation of Black demand for "cream of' the crop" jobs such as W announcing and1'he hosting of'• variety shows; expansion and creation of new roles for Black newspapers, magazines and radio stations; 92 �formation of national and state Black Congressional /aucuses and similar units in most professional associations and, finally and importantly, new engagement with Africa and her problems and possibilities. to the 11 Mother country" or age and social levels. Indeed, future trips to Africa-11 Homeland 11 .:-are discussed at all Much of this renewed interest is understandable in light of the emergence during the contemporary period of several African nation states and the 0-mohq increased fraternization t!lfA~fricans and Afro-Americ ns. Malcolm X, cannonized today by great numbers of young Blacks . t and Black i nte much to f os t er11iiscurrent interes a rally in Harlem in 1965, Malcolm in Africa. (El Hajj Malik El S~z~~ad already been expelled from the Nation of Islam/ f'ormed~plinter group . . , known as the Organization of Afro-American Unity. His Auto- biography of Malcolm X {with Alex Haley, 1965~whicb (as he predicted) he did not get to see in print, chronicles as Malcolm Little, hustler bis "Detroit Red", Malcolm x and El-Hajj Malik El Shabazz. 1 Malcolm was lionized by Carmichael, H. Rap Brown, Ossie Davis, Baraka and various other scholars, activists and (o.nd, C.oL T?lo,l'\e) Black poets, especially, have found MalcolmAa source of inspiration. A partial indication of impact on poets can be seen in For Malcolm: Poems on the Life and Death of Malcolm X {1967), edited by Dudley Randall and Margaret G. Burroughs. Shabazz 11 Robert Hayden noted that: 93 In 11 El-Hajj Malik El �~ He X'd his name, became his people's anger, exhorted them to vengence for their past; rebuked, admonished them, Their scourger who woµld shame them, drive them from the lush ice gardens of their servitude. At the First World Festival of Negro Arts, held in Dakar, Senegal, in 1966, Hayden was awarded the Grand Prize for Poetry. A major event, the festival was attended by experts, scholars, artists and enthusiasts of the Black Arts who gathered for 24 days to hear papers and discussions, view art exhibits and cultural performances, and give preliminary direction to the Black Arts Movement. Presiding over the ' ' ' festival was Leopold Sedar Senghor, Senegalese President, and one of the architects (with Aim~ Cesair~ and L~on Damas) of Negritude. Negritude is a philosophy of Black humanism~,(' ensc.on e.s , according to its originators, the Black mystique or religiosity. The term grew out of the associations of Black African intellectuals, French writers and artists, and Black Ame_rican~xpatriates. ,.,. v) African-oriented publications such as Presence Africaine and Black Orpheus have renewed their interests in Black American writers. Likewise, Black American journals and popular magazines (Black World, Journal of Black Poetry, The Black h(l.ve Scholar, Essence, Encore, Ebony, Jet, etc.)Abegun to publish more materials by and about Africans. The revolution in the Bl ck Arts was signaled by many events including the First Conference of Negro Writers in March of 1959. Langston Hughes was an important figure at 94 �-MiaSR:ie!'e'!',e,e--as he was at the Dakar gathering seven years later. The First American Festival of Negro Art was held in 1965 and the Second AFNA took place in November of 1969 in Buffalo, N.Y. Interlacing these and other con- ferences, symposia and conventions were exciting developments 1 and experiments in New York, Chicago, Watts, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Baton Rouge, St. Louis, Cleveland, Detroit and Washington, D. C. During these periods of social turmoil and artistic upsurge writers and poets often aligned themselves with ideological positions and regional movements. Consequently, Black Arts communes and regional brands of Black /onsciousness grew concurrently. Splits between older Civil Rights workers and Black Nationalists were paralleled by splits between older writers and younger practioners of "Black Arts. 11 The splits were not always clear-cut, however, for many older activists and poets joined the new mood in spirit, thematic concern and personal life style, while some of the younger writers retained the influence of the earlier moods. Complicating things even more were the variants on the dominant themes of each camp. Gwendolyn Brooks, Dudley Randall, Margaret Danner, Margaret Walker and .John Oliver Killens are among the older group of writers who vigorously took up the banner of the new mood. works imbibe ~~ /2./.Av.£.b ti mG Younger writers whose "tradition" include Henry Dumas (Poetry fLo..yl')&:~\iiC,7'/- For My People, 1970K, Conrad Kent Rivers (The Still Voice of Harlem, 1968, etc.), Julia Fields (Poems, 1968) Al Young 95 �(Dancing, 1969, etc.) and Jay Wri ght (The Homecoming Singer , 1972) to name just a few . period was dealt a severe blow Dumas and Rivers in 1968 . promise of this The the untimely deat hs of These poets are deeply influenced by the moods and preoccupations of the period @elf- love , racial injustice, violence , war, Black Consciousness and History) but they work along tested lines and experiment within careful and thought - out frames of references . Most of the writers of the period (their styles and ide olo gies notwithstanding ) have found t hemselves engulfed at one time or another in heated debate s over questions related to the "Black Aesthetic", the relationship of writer to reader , Vi Black 8lllli and the part At this writing, these discussions continue in mos t s e ctions of the Black Worl d . The flurry of ideological and aesthetical debate among the poets (and other writers) has often been precipitated or attended by critical writings, historical studies, social essays and public political statements. Some of t he indi- viduals associated with initiating the pleth ora of rhetoric on the question of a 11 Black 11 aesthetic (and related issues) are Ro n Karenga, Gwendolyn Brooks, Baraka, Addison Gayle, Jr. , Hoyt W. Fuller (Black World), Edward Spri ggs, J. Saunders Redding, Ralph Ellison, Larry Neal, Ernest Kaiser, Mel Watkins, Ron Welburn, Dudley Randall, Lerone Bennett, Jr., ~ James Emanuel, Toni Cade John Henrik Clarke, Don L. Lee, - 96 N,~:~tlr\ ~u,1 �Ed Bullins, and Stanley Crouch. A number of important studies, literary and cultural, by Black and white writers, aided in whetting or prolonging the critical thirsts. Some of the important and/or controversial writings er' tne;/4t1@ ~ tea,.Pl!P.~=;,3=~t:l=im~: The Militant Black Writer: in Africa and the United States (1969), Cook and Henderson; Black Expression (1969) and The Black Aesthetic (197i} Gayle Jr., ed.; Muntu: The New African Culture (1961) and Neo-African Literature: A History of Black Writing (1968), Jahn; Langston Hughes: Black Genius (1971), O•Daniel, ed.; Black Poets of the United States: Paul Lawrence Dunbar to Langston Hughes (1963, French edition; !ins., Douglas), Wagner; Before the Mayflower and ~ (1966), ~ E l l i s o n ; Understanding the New Black Poetry (1973), Henderson; Colloquium on Negro Art: First World Festival of Negro Arts, 1966 {1968), Editions t Presence Africaine; The Negro Novel in America (1965), Bone; Mother is Gold: A Study in West African Literature {1971), Roscoe; The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual (1967), Cruse; Native Song: A Critical Study of Twentieth-Century Negro American Authors (1968), Margolies; Dynamite Voices: Black Poets of the 1960's, vol. I (1971), Lee; Blues People (1963), Black Music (1967), Home: Social Essays (1966), and Raise Race flays :R,aze {1971), Baraka; and Give Birth to Brightness (1972), Williams. A number of Black critics, artists, and activists heatedly denounce whites who research or criticize Black literature, saying that only those who have lived the 97 �Black Experience can write about it. Another group holds that whites can report on Black writing if they are sincere and sympathetic. The Black Arts Movement, as the contemporary period J.!i ome..17me.s • • called, took place in the shadows of what many Black social critics have called the "second Reconstruction." Hence, much of the writing is a revolt against , political hypocrisy and social alienat·on. In the . ·"4 I?.& :poetry >tib:... pawa ca,. 11'1'1!n, w1 l"+Je~ shower* disdain and 1 1 obscenities on the "system" and whites in general. ~ "integration ",(if 1:l;llliD..e offered, younger poets derided American values and attitudes. "Unlike the Harlem group," Hayden noted, "they rejected entry into the mainstream of American literature as a desirable goal." Of course, more than a few of the older poets were writing in the Sixties and are writing today. Many of them, however, were sometimes laid aside by youni readers who were unable to separate 0 poetry" from the fiery declamations of Carmichael, Brown and ennumerable local spokesmen and versifiers. Often the poets exchanged superficial indictments, indulged in name-calling and, as groups or individuals, began rating eacb other on their 11 levels of Blackness" even though no criteria existed then and none exists today for such judging. Much of the dispute centered around the question of who "started" the Black Arts or New Black Poetry movements. in the Spring, 1971, issue of Confrontation: E~-tr'le llcdmo d. Third World Literature, A stated: 98 In an article A Journal of �l \ While it is true that there are leading li ghts of the Black Arts Movement, it is an emphatic lie to say one geographical region of the country is solely responsible for either the main (and Major) writing output or kicking off any tradition of Blacks writing about themselves . To take such a contemptuously arrogant stand would be to write off the Black musical past., Aggression has been the tone in much of the contemporary poetry. This is partially due to the presence of some who selected poetry as a medium of expression because of its deceptive simplicity and briefness. ~ Many of the ;tpoets II obviously have no genuine interest in --'--,,,..; craftsml_nam-,. ~ i , m..$1.,~ / ,. ~ On the other hand, the current period con- tinues to witness a growing and wide-ranging concern for - poetic craft and knowled ge . During t he $ixties and into the ¢eventies, literally hundreds of Black poets started writing and publishing--in J tabloids, magazines, broadsides, anthologies and individual · A.Lso ~ /u,wrosin..9tl.t. /l\.t.w'fva;:.),.~~11\.14-V'~>'l,(I: ~;l?LCA£.k Pi'a.~vt1 ~wl.ho11~ 4..v1J fu collections • I\ S ignificant r, clusters of poets aevelop€.d in hv1-11\1~~~ ~. ?o:ey-~y. geographical regions . l('[lhe atmosphere was enhanced by a number of African thinkers, artist s, poets and novelists who arrived to America to teach, lecture, perform and travel. The importance of this interaction among Blac ks from various parts of the globe cannot be overemphasized. ~ Black writers and students h'e:l=:a'l~read l African, 101 ( �West Indian and Afro-Latin writers. Langston Hughes acquainted American audiences with African literature in his anthologies: An African Treasury: Essnys, Stories, Poems By Black Africans (1960) and Poems from Bl ck Africa (1963). In 1969, Trinidadian Wilfred Cartey edited Whispers the Literature of ' ) ~~iw- I ~~~o~a~r=s~a~n~d~w -~riters also wrote critical studies or edited anthologies of Afric~~it:r~ture. Black writing received a significant boost when in 1971 Senghor o.nd A{:'t"o-Cvb~V\ Po t N,chclas 0viUen we"e --~nominated for the Nobel Prize for literature--thus fulfilling James Weldon Johnsonts 1922 prophecy that the ' fi f . r to B~ck u' d i! , · · · · e fr writers now publishing or living in novelist-poet Nigerian eiilei Oi!II•• Achebe,h3outh African poet Kgositsile, Nigerian poet-playwright Wole Soyinka, Ghanaian poet Kwesi Brew, South African critic Ezekiel Mphahlele, Nigerian poet-playwright Ifeanyi Menkiti, Martinique poett playwright Aime Cesaire and Guianese poet-scholar L~on D ms. The writers fraternize, exchange ideas and compare styles. Mphahlele, for example, has written critical studies of Black American writing (Voices in the Whirlwind, 1972) while Miss Brooks has praised African writing (•Introduction•, Kgositsile's My Name is Afrika, 1971). Mazisi South African poe~ f Kunene,t wrote the J:ntroduction for Cesaire's Return to My · ~merican expatriate artists and writers returned to America during the current period for either 102 �temporary or permanent residency. Added to this flurry of activities and changes were the establishment of :;i ; publishing houses (Broadside Press, Third World Press,~tc.) and hundreds of and literary journals. During the contemporary period a number of important <1Lso anthologies haveAbeen published. Some of the more notable ones include Beyond Tbe Blues, Pool, 1962; Sixes and Sevens, Breman, 1962; American Negro Poetry, Bontemps, 1963; Soon -) One Morning: New Writing by American Negroes, 1940 - 1962, Hill, 1963; New Negro Poets, Hughes, 1964; Kaleidoscope, Hayden, 1967; Black Voices, Abrahams, 1968; Black Fire, Jones and Neal, 1968; The New Black Poetry, Major, 1969; Soulscript, Jordan, 1970; 3000 Years of Black Poetry, Raoul tz B~P.,. J L(.1 \<17 ~ and Lomax, 1970; _New Blas,k Vo;i.cee, Abrahams, 1972;.l\~,~,,.;'fl) Kii-i~JIOlj Black America, Adoff, 1973. In addition to these and other nationally distributed anthologies, collections of Black Literature were compiled and published ~ vario s r gions: 19 ~ Watts, Watts Poets and Writers (Troupe, chulberg, 1969); South, Fress Southern Theater by the Free Southern Theater (Dent, et al, 1969); Chicago, Jump Bad: A New Chicago Anthology (Brooks, 1971); East St. Louis- St. Louis, Sides of the River (Redmond, 1970); New York, Three Hundred and Sixty Degrees of Blackness Coming at You (Sanchez, 1971) and Harlem: Voices from the Soul of Black America (Clarke, 1970); Philadelphia, Black Poets Write On (Black History Museum Committee); Newark, Soul Session (1972); 103 �Detroit, Ten: 1968}. Anthology of Detroit Poets (South and West, In many regions several components have merged to form cultural and performing arts conglomerates. It is often at these centers that white movie and theater moguls cv_,. ~-et1i find new talent for the wave of Black movies. At this writing, the s(ontemporary poetry scene i embroiled in vigorous debates and conferences dealing with "directions" for Black writers, consolidating publishing houses, and getting published materials into schools {especially into Black school~. Caught {sometimes unknowingly) in the midst of these issues and questions are the older Black poets--some whom have remained silent in face of rhetorical provocation. Others, however, have been quite vocal as in the case~of Gwendolyn Brooks and Dudley Randall. active'U Miss Brooks 1 supporf the younger writers by w, y of financial and moral encouragement. She supervises writers workshops, establishes poetry prizes with her own money and travels to read before conferences and classes. Recently she withdrew her affiliation with Harper and Row and began publishing through Broadside Press. Randall established Broadside Press in Detroit in 1966 and also bas set up poetry awards with his own funds. Hayden, who often shuns public displays dards .. # • He is recognized as a brilliant teacher as well as poet, and is known to work quietly with young writers and scholars. Hayden played a major role in gaining recognition for Lucille Clifton (Good Times jl969; _. Good News About 104 �&, Ond1n4t~~ Wt1w1<1 n.; \q 1'1-)1 the Earth/ 1972) A one of the most splendid of the new poets ~ Some new and old'(names closely linked to the current period are Pinkie Gordon Lane (Wind Thoughts), Michael Harp:{ (Dear John, Dear Coltrane, History is Your OWn Heartbta., Waring Cuney {Puzzles), . Troupe (Embryo), Sterling Plump (Half Black Half Blacker), Jayne Cortez (Pisstained Stairs and the Monkey Man's Wares,..._ Festivals I~ and Funeral-;>, • WA~~,;2~~ J• Dumas ( Poetry For My Peopl~), .,. - ~· Rivers (The Still Voice of Harlem, etc), Nikki Giovanni (Black Judgement, Black Feeling, Black Thought, Re:Creation), Reed (~atechism of A neoamerican ~ .,er, odoo ~hurc1tt), David Henderson (De Mayor of Harlem, etc.), Arthur Pfister (Bullets, Beer Cans & Things), Baraka (Black Magic, etc), John Echols (Home is Where the Soul Is), Arna Bontemps (Personals), Hayden (Selected Poems, Words in the Mourning Time)~ '/ Lee (Think Black, Black Pride, etc.), Sonia Sanchez (Homecoming, e t c . ) , ~ Randall (Cities Burning and More t,o Rememb~), Stanley Crouch {Ain•t No Ambulances for No Niggahs Tonight), Hughes (The Panther and the Lash,etc.), Atkins (Heretofore), May Miller (Into the Clearing), Austin Black (The Tornado in My Mouth), ~11$n Tolson (Harlem Gallery), Young (The Song Turning Back Unto Itself), James Vesey (~yory tu§~~), Mari Evans A,.; Emanuel (Panther Man), (I Am A Black Woman), Julia Fields (Poems), Stephany (Moving Deep), Etheridge Knight (Poems from Prison), Gwe~n Brooks +nffi2Mecc4 , ~Riot) Family Pictures, etc.), Roy Hill (49 Poems, etc.}, Ray Durem (Take No Prisoners). ~~~QiiliiiDi--far from being 105 �~M ~ exhaustiv'l",s:ii;=::•a~ is ~epresentative of the great poetic output during th~,=~~---- period. Many of these poets--Reed, Troupe, Young, Crouch, P\lt.l}~~~J ~ ~ EJl'i)--are also · .affl anthologists. Certainly the ~....-JU# list grows and changes constantly, especially in view of the continual unfoldinFZ..-u•••~' urpri es, e:t; i,i,e pieaenb • Suffice it to say that the contemporary mood of ./, Ct~- # Black roetry is multi-leveled and ~e~, ctfti'.ft:rl:ieated. are •••a generalities; There ,_ t,f• one is that -WAOf the poets w..-WJ~IAM~~ saturate their work with obvious Black references and cultural motifs. There is~nti-intellectual rlavor.lm •une u:P• as ~ o1ts turn their backs on ac demic or ~ PJ~b, Western forms. 'n · ,e general disregard for the esoteric, literary and sometimes secret allusions, employed in much of the current There are exceptions, or course--notably - - ts (Marvin X, Askia ' Toure, Baraka, Sonia SanchezJand others). These exceptions can also be seen in works or poets who explore African Ancestor Cults, Voodoo, mysticism and African languages. Evidence of this can be seen in the poetry of Ishmael Reed, ' Askia Toure, Henry Dumas, Norman Jordan, Sun R, K. Curtis Lyle, Bob Kaufman and others. Generally, though, Black poets are framing their allusions, images and symbols in the more concrete cultural motifs, as indicated in a line from &9et1e f!eci111n J •-'11 i:m "Tune for e. Teenage Neice II where being "spiced as pot-liquor." 106 hE.. ~.o A views• neice as �J.II ·11HE PO~TS AND THEIR TOTEMS: ,,,t A. tSoon, One Morning~: Threshhold of the fi&: New Black Poetry (My Blackn - ess is the beauty of this land. '------ Lance Jeffers ____...,/ ~chard Wright.-mlll called the Blacks and "ta ~t: fer e tb&m- · America 1 s metaphor" ~-'~ sixties and seventies. andiiii~iil;ii~ 11 "the beauty of this lana.. "~t1 taken-it; well in advance of~ her playmates in the Alabama iiill!!III- s 1,ancel:j ".black Pride" poetry of the l'1argaret Walker• s discussion of 1 11 1 ~If}*aa:••-•• dust or self-deprecating; ~ortrait_ Uwendolyn rlrooks•s j.\Satin Legs ~mith\1945) is far from geing unhappy. These are only four of Blacks viewing themselves ••me•·•••· randomly 11 selected poetic affidavits poa tively 11 before the advent of the New Black Poetry. We could, of course, bring up hundreds of examples from Phyllis Wheatley the poeury of~••.-s.through t~at of Langston Hughes. But the point, already -.......!'.ecent,. made, is simply that one is seriously remiss in looking a1,fBlack ~oetry without The poets who wrote and published between 1945 and 1965, for example, did not work in sealed chambers of -...-v tunneled vision. ~ach group/ <J concern, ev~lved from what had been written or said before. teachers, a ,d and tools were oft hese poets were heavily influenced by white writers, How€ver e best of themftallillB••~ applied their knowledge the service of a the Black literary tradition. Others under the direct tutelage of Blacks(Paul Vesey studted with J.W. Johnson, Joyce Yeldell with Hayden) and beclme part of a continuing l-ine of Black-developed thought and writing(~esey in turn taught Arthur JPfister). Whatever their make-up, or their mission, the poets as a group show great facility with language, depth of insight and passionate concerns for their collective and individual hurts:as Blacks and as humans. ,and that of their older pen-fello~ 'l 'he work of these poets can be found in several anthologies: �Poetr of the ~e ro 1949,1970); J. ingua Zwart Ik Was(I ~aw How Black I Was, 1958); urning S¥ear\~ Beyond the Blues{l962); American Negrn ~Y( 96) ~sand ~evensll963); r Negro Versetl964); New Negro Poets: USA(l964,1966); Poets of Today(l964); the bilingual Ik Ben De Nieuwe Neger(I Am the New ~egro, 1965); and Kaleidoscope edi tad Poetry of the 1~egro in (1967). Bontemps and 1949 ,"the first major collection smnce Cullen's Caroling Vusk, it was revised by Bontemps in 1970 Hughes's death. Interestinglf' I oft he 1949 en tries are has been doctored some table of teontents tom!~is,,iih&(tfi~sDudley Randall,..t Mari Evans and Ray Durem) coincide with their age-line. Bontemps, a Renaissace poet who did not publish a volume until 1963(Personals), also edited American Negro Poetry, a task which.J'l,J~•• him the opportunity to pick the best from the past as well as the present. The two bi-lingua published in Holland and England and edited by Rosey Pooi, with the assistance 1905-1973) of Paul Bremen. Dr. Poo a Ro ande~, came across Cullen when she was preparing a paper on American poetry in 1925. This disvovery a life-long UIIIIIM!lt!imBlimlMf interest in Black culture and poetry. During 1959160 she toured the United ::;tates on a Fulbright t r a u a n t , spending several months visiting and lecturing at 27 ~colleges and uni- versities. Dr. Pool 1 s work in Black 1oetry has drawn mixed reactions from cautious Black writers and critics. But her importance~ in helping to bring attention to Black poets, despite cries of "exploitation," is undeniable. ~ven more controversial is Bremen, 'Wilo appears to fancy himself as an English Jean-Paul ::;arte; he originated the Heritage ::;er~m:ldmxix "devoted entirely to the works of Afro-American authors"--with Haydend:s ~ Ballad of Remembrance ~~~Dbital"3Iltlll5I'IJIUllll1tl:nDll in 1963. Since that time Bremen, who edited 1\lnl~ Sixes and Sevens and You Better believe It: Black Verse in poetry. has released more than 20 volumes of Afro-Ameirican roadside Press services as the American distributor or the �slim booksx which have invluded the aesthetical and historical range of Black poetry: 1''rank Horne(HaverstraJ, 1963~abim':Dl311!1f:-._ ff:ffl Bontemps, Rivers(The Still Voice of Harlem, 1968; The Wright Poems,1972), Mari Evans("Where is all the Music?, 1968 but withdrawn "at the author's request".), Russell Atkins(Heretofore, 1968), Lloyd Addison(The Aura the Umbra, 1970), Audre L .... lipve You, 1970), Ishmae w. whom Bremen calls "the best Black (Catechism of d neoamerican hoodoo church, 1970), poet writing today" James 1970), Dudley Randall, rdet,:-bles to Rage, Thompson(First Fire: Poems 1957-1960#,,~.;{~), - Dodson, Harold liarrington(Drive ~uite, 1972), Clarence Major(Private Line, 1971), the "first non-American contributor" ~ ukh arr us ap a1Thorns and Thistles, 1971), Durem(Take Mo Prisoners, 1971), and Hayden(The NightwBlooming Cereus, 1972). Bremen notes that r-- aymond Patterson d both l"lari ordered their books withdrawn because ..__... 11 wer_:;. suspicious of the contract terms. 11 In addition to ~ "suR'icion i',. ~other Black poets, there is - - . resentment of Bremenis fritical evaluations of the poetry--which · caustic, ridiculou~~~ow, and reflect; a lack o~ general knowledge of Black poetry. lie calls Durem, for example, one of the first "Black" poets. His statement about Heed, coming as it did in 1970, does violence to both tp.e author J::..d evecy ay.r,Nevertheless(alas!), one u sh~ · wh~ch Black P.oets grapple ders where these Black poets may have gotten published if such ~ "healthy diseases'' as Bremen did not exist. - Negro Verse,~ edited by Anselm Hollo, has no introduction or forward, but does 1-=-.-~a eozen blues and Gospel song-poems. Poets was edited by Hughes with a ~rward by Gwendolyn. word "new" &:::iau:u :1 tan ti' _31) Pp 1 11 s-- exemplifies the kind of spirit that was in ascension at the time·. Miss Brooks, terse as always, is also her uaual definitive self: �At the present time , poets who happen~also to be ~egroes are twice-tried. They have to write poetry,and they have to remember that they are Negroes. Often they wish that they could solve the Negro question once and for all, and go on from such success to the composition -of textured sonnets or buyant villanelles about the transcience of a raindrop, or the gold-stuff of the sun. They are likely to find significances in those subjects not instantly obvious to the r r fairer fellows . fhe raindrop may seem to them to represent racial tea rs--and those might seem, indeed, other than transient . The golden sun might remind th em that they are b%urning. There is an attitude in this statement that~ the Gwendolyn ~rooks of 1968 will reject : 11,y:t M' ''poets who falsolh_ajbpen to be Negroes . 11 But she reflects Cullen in the "dark tower" and his ruminating on the "curious thing 11 of the ·Black poet . She also presages the twistings and turnings in Jayne introducing the 11 'ortes ' s 11 :B'es ti vals & Funerals . " , in Hew J.~egro Poets," she informs the reader that "here stars of an early tomorrow . are some of the prevailing 11 Walter Lowenfels 1 s decision to include 11 20 Negroes" in Poets of Today was spurred in part by his recognition(along with Shapiro) that .Negroes . 11 11 most general anthologies of American poetry elltclude An authority on Whitman Lowenfels shared an award with S.E . Cumrnings in the thirties, and has he numer of Blackx poets m:=ikEiiiiliiiiiiiilila-into print: Dumas, Troupe , Patterson, Redmond, Carrington, Major, Reed, E~rper, Hayden, and many others . Lowenfels 1 was the first new anthology stantial number of Blacks. Jilhere were 85 poets in all . One of the most im ortant of these anthologies is Burning Spear,- which : Walter DeLegall(l936-), J e f f e r s ~ , Al Fraser , Oswald Go ~an( ) , Percy Johnston(l930-) �Nathan Richards ( ), LeRoy Stone tl936- ) a nd Joseph White. Bui.j{n ~ Spear, subtitle An Anthology of Afro-~axon Poetry, was a ef lso Dasein Literary Society, loc a ted at Howard University, which rn blish~d Dasein: A Quarterly Journal of the Arts(l961- 1969 ). Johnsto publisher ~ . while Delagall ~was. editor. *ronnection with the olde r £ii¥ • group of and sch olars ~ . · Arthur p. Davis, Uwen Dodson Govan, Je:C..fers, ~tone and White served as --- l''raser, • oets in the ,, ue of the advisory board list: as a memorial to i.Wll Richard wright, ~te:li~~ Delores Kendrick, Clyde R. Taylor, Jeffers, Wi lliam Jack son, Vernon A. Butler, Robert Salughter, Laura~. Watkins, Govan, Fraser, Delores F. tlenry, R. Orlando Jackson, DeLegall, Johnston~§tone• l Th':;'e is no~ing thre_a d running either Dasein or Burning Spear but ~ Black influences andAQ~~,;;i:!'rn are clearly imbeded. Burning Spear, for examnle, is published by Jupiter Hammon Press, another connection--in name--to the tra~tion of Black poetry. In a the ei.~...-back-cover note, contributors are called "a new breed of young poets who are to American poetry what Charlie Parker, Dizzy uillespie, Thelonious Monk and Miles !Javis are to American jazz." After this important analogy, the statement continues: These eight Afro~-Saxon poets are not members of a literary movement j f in the tradition sense of the word, because they do not have in common anj monist view about crea tivity or aesthetics. Collectively, however, they are indifferent to most critics and reviewers--since criticism in America is controlled and written in the main by Euro-Americans. There is no pre face or introduction or st atement about poetics; these poems themselve~ fill the pages. Poems by Delegall, Jeffers, Johnsl nn and ~tone the Blues and a in numerous "little" magazines. �programs participated in leading up th ~;:,:;:~~~~wider interests iq poetry in the later sixties and seventies. hematician and electronic data processing specialist, published in many anthologies and quart erlies, and had re~d his) and lectured at various eastern and southern colleges. FrasQr~is a political scientist with a , specialization in African Affairs. Along with LJelegall, ..--.. h~ ~tone,Bllll Govan, Johnston and Richards, he,{recorded r e ading his poetry at the Library of vongress. Fraser cultnvated a coffee-shop audience for his readings and appeared before college groups • ..._. He is a phimosopher-mathematician. One of the older members of the group, with have credited 11 influence" on the Howard Poets. ~~ and rU"it· has taugn? "half a do•en American colleges and universitfiesf. ~ Blackness is the beauty of This Land(l970)_,...._.,, His first volume of poevr-~A~Y secon~iiai~!;!!!5!SDDtamil:Qmua•••mn, When I Know the Power of My Black Hand, will be out in 1975. Bot~ are published by Broad- side Press. Jeffers llllt has also written novels, short stories and criticism. Jo11~6lfl'¢urrently teaches at a college in ,New Jersey and with Stone ~ "co-authored the revolutionary verse pamphlet Continental,. Streamlets\ ,. ~lso a playwright, Johnston published a pamphlet of his poetry, Concerto for a uirl and ~onvertible1960 Wert ~ w , and was con- sidered the leader of the lhite is a native Philadelphian whose work appeared in Liberator, Poets of T0 day, and other places • .tie is a technician for FAAx and has written short sotries as well as successful proee-poems. As a group, the Howard Poets represent one of the strains i n * contempoPary Black poetry. Maybe the fact of their having such \.~-~~ divseree ~esvrr1u vraning aided in their vitality, virtuosity and power. �hero-worship--they present precise analyses and interpretationSof their world. Most of them grew up .ik in the bejBop era and so ttheir subjects quite naturally include Miles Davis, Lester Young, Charles 1 P·ardbird" Parker, Clifford Brown, Sonny Rollins, •rhelonious Monk, and other makers and contributors to that period. preoccupation with Civil Rights and the their of the 0 11 1ack struggle is merged with bomb," iHlli middle class pre- tensions, history, mythology, religion, and the various trends in poetry:modernity, Seat poetry, jazzJ poetry and folk lyrics. DeLegall celebrates the Black presence( 11 My Brownskin Business 11 ) and satirizes a prenti tious lWilllllllliBNlll!li!~ Howard coed( "Requiem for A perfo~ tloward Lady 11 ) who is "cultured' an mBl8. every social amenity perfectly. She wears 11 High-heeled tennis shoes 11j he hopes, near the poem's end, that the preisident of the universal Institute of ~ugenics will i ~ d a &BJ x New species of female who will be robed in clothes nA Wa>man." In 11 of "sincerity" and who can be called Psalm for Sonny Rollins" he announces. that he is Absorbed intct> the womb of the sound. I am in the sound The sound is in me. I am the sound. Rollins, the Harlem pied piper, will lead his listeners to "Foet~, 11 and 11 God." Aftej; 11 11 truth," "Zen, 11 1:'he Blast" (nuclear bombing) there will be •• no I, no world, no you. MAJ 11 Govan writes convincingly The Lynching": He was soaked in oil and the match thrown. ne screamed, he cried) he moaned, he crackled ~his fiery inhuman dance. I Gova.n.A-~~aim~---~ turbulence in 11 Hungary, II space explorationr 11 The Angry Skies �~ Are Calling"), 11 and "Prayer" wherein he asks Christ II for a new dawnis light! Jeffers is is a living example of AAa~sa;&w£ij.i.1 ilintz been writing of plight o~black writer. Rlthoµgh he has for several decades, his work was white-listed by antholgiess . book form until the seventies. and .his poetry did not appear in Blackness is the 0 eauty of this Lan~" stanQ.s as a rebuff to those who say "black" poetry was "inventedn $tt~nin ~ ''My Jeffers' s poem, the fifties, is at once definat and proud: My ~lackness is the beauty of this land, my blackness, tender and strong, wounded and wise, ••• Walker, chronicles the hurts, the happinnesses, and the hungers of Blacks. 'l'he se he stands against his of larger America. 11 11 whi teness II and the perversiibns Black i::>oul of the Landf 11 rA:IR~•e.s the same vein: rich reliance on the well-deep strength of the Black man"in Lreorgia is "leathered, lean, and strong~~, And ~ - • The "old black secrets that "crackers could not kill,: a secret spine unbent within a spine, a secret source of steel, a secret sturdy rugged love, . a secret crouching hate, a secret knife within his hand, a secret bullet in his eye. The poe asks the old man to pasa on his source of strength so that he, and his fellows, will be able to "turn black" the soul of the nation and American shall abase to be its name. Jeffers gathers up a fury of love, anguish and co:mmi t:ilent in other of his poems: "Her Black and African Face I Love, 11 "The Man with A Furnance in His �Hand, 11 111 iegro Freedom Rider, A New Day, '1 and 11 11 11 Her 1Jark Body I Cluster, 11 11 black Man in Prophecy. 11 Johnston echoes Jeffers, though in a different voice and style, in many of his poems. But Johnston's concern is with Black music and musicians. "To Paul Robeson, Opus No. 3" celebrates the muliti-faceted talents of ~,gam&ls(Pdlmna the man whose song "stood Brooklyn on its feet." 11 Im l'lemoriam: Prezn is a magnificent tribute to the President of jazz: Lester lfoungx whose music continues to 11 igni te the heart. 11 In 11 Fi tchett' s Basement Blues, Opus B11 Johnson wanders why wverytime I want Coltrane or ~onny all I get is Brubeck, ••• history contemporary everyman, is R~~ary of the of Johnston• s generation. Words for 11 unkinkill8 hair, n recollections of Johnston with the knowledge that nothing Has changed but my postal zone. • In other peices he surveys the current and past Black musical seene: "Variation on a 'l'he by Hohnston" 1 Round Bout 11idnight, Opus 17, o Bobby Timmons," ~ is My Reward" R~ards says, noting that Sorrow came, and I left the world •••• An experimentalist, his 11 .Uo Not 1''orget to rtemember" includes a "prelude." and an "interlude." Like the other poets, he writes plrimarily in free ~ verse(almGst ••~rhyme) and in the forego}ng grief and anguish, as does Richards in "God Bless This Child and Other. ,. ildren... Hequiem. 11 In syntax and vocabulary, it bears resemblence;}o thk beats and to Boa Kaufman and Russell Atkins. ia,rds and phrases like "matronymic diva, "sepiacenic martyr," 11 11 albumenic hawk," "womb-prize," and "black aegis" convey the mystical,i and eerie sense implied in the repetition ot 11 sleep 11 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. 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In copyright. <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Redmond, Eugene B. https://digitallis.isg.siue.edu/files/original/f86a2e0ff0f4102f28a765df2590c479.pdf fbcbd748f02eee580ba25faa70947afa PDF Text Text rl p .... ; 7 C rJ. ':; lettres n_y,•- · , ~~ ~ 0 .f .,p. "T' S. ~ ~"llalii....... o-t: ""', r f a; T r- 0 -f' .... .,...7 7; i ., l 7 r:, o-f' "< l" e +- +-' r 7 I"\ .!.- "Y> (' l i A . (' 'T ~ (' ~ , il . ,:, ,...,,_ i r T Q (> ()f ' 1 ("' Pl., 1e l "(' B ., (' 0 7 • f' t. 1 ,, 'Y> l.- Y' -; i +- A , , i f' Y>() --: ·1 JP., se,... 8.Cf' i s. II q " t f', t f' r> -j ,.. 0f' L·nn t:" (""111 (' " l'(' -- l..: c ., .. ,,,t C' l •"('i l t t1- (' g,.,'Y)t ( -·.,... b r, r,lr l t "') l',... ,,.., ~ 7 ,, rcnT'le ('() .r "'' nf ("I ()f' r1_,+J. p . .... , 7 ncl 'Y\ 1..1-, 1-i -~ f',-. 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(' - ' H e f" H ---r ;n ' u'- -1- cl r ' ,_, !--- ' -,7 ; • C 7 _e , • Although, as a poet, Hayden bas maintained a steady balance betwe en racial 88iS8EBiz and the modern poetic tradition, he is ,Ji.at Sterling Brown would call a library poet. Classical allusions, obscurJ!.tism, surrealism, and complicated syntax go with experimental blues poetry and " the term "Kegro poet" muted agner. Arna Botemps (fl "displeasing"i,to Countee Cullen; and Hayden particularly ) in Kaleidoscope, rejected being judged "by standards different from those a pplied to the work of other poets." The Black. pet should not be limited to racial utterance, ,t- Ha)den believes • ..- a po] > of Black poets a great many of them feel the same way--even thou ~ img of the contemprary Black poet1 Speaking of his influences in Interviews ti.th Black Writers, Hayden :".f,4 i'.11 to& that: When I was in college I loved Countee Cullen, Jean Toomer, Elinor Wylie, Edna ~t. Vincent Millay, Sara Teasdale, Langston Hughes, Carl Sandburg, Hart Crane. I read all the poetry I could get a hold of, and I read without discrimination. Cullen became a favorite. I felt �18 an affinity and wanted to write in his style. I remember that I wrote ) a longf:ish poem about Africa, imitating his 11 ,_, ritage." All through ~ my l[Ildergraduate years I was pretty imitative. As I discovered poets new to me, I studied their work and tried to write as they did. I suppose all yoiing poets do this.It's certainly one method of learn• ing somethiag about poetry. the point, inevitably, where I didn't want to be influeneed by anyone else. I tried to find rrry own voice, my own way of seeing. I studied with W.H. Auden in graduate school, a strategic experience in my life. I think he showea me my strengths and weaknesses as a poet in ways no oae else before had done. Hayden thus establishes himself as a poet of the book as apposed to the raw experience--vis a vis Sterling Brown, Langston Hughesjzouc, Frank Marshall Margaret Walker, and numerous others, although. divisi~ early poetry-- Most of the early poetiry shows rtayden as imitator of the older Harlem tienaissance poets and under the influence of the ~mmunist-socialist .... I --- af 0¥or,2:tea1iiam of the :ibNill1 1930s and 1940s. In",rophecy" he depicts destruction and the - people returning to the "ruined city" to rebuild a new society. "liabriel" is a about the famous Gabriel Prosserled slave revolt. "Black Gabriel" was · hanged for leading slaves From forgotten graves, •••• Interpolating italicized words and stanzas with colloqu~isms(likp recreates · )!.Ii ~ Sterling Bro'Wll}, Haydenrf ail • s: s the terror and drama of#\.tLs lm 1g· s Black and golden in the air, Gabriel dangles from a noose abo men who lever, never rest•••• Black �19 Black and white "Speech" is just ilhat--an harangue..._ calling "brothers" to fight the common opporessor, presumably totalitarianism, 1EFtf'.'.· 5 . . r+ism and greedy over-seers. J "~bit'Jil.ary" is a sensitive ~ and pained reflection of Ii J Jmis 1 father 'Who lived es tbeu@1:1 lie HOii epared for wings._. especially Among these early pieces(found interesting--for it ollects the new di~lect kind of social statement ~terling Brown perfected. 11 factory worker~ bacchanal 1 iiiiiiiMlllll into the ony ----·~ to desclr.i.be a Black getting High's a Georgia% pine to forget ~a.-=="""'"' that the factory closed "this mawnin1 1 i:e :ee!lling en • The Black man who, in "Lrabriel" aan never resia, is seeking Jlllllllil' real II joy" on earth. But, minus money and woman, ~s "bacchanal II becomes ' a weighty blues statement--not the revelry of ancient ,..@mi" Greek or Roman party life. One f.,inds none of these poems in Selected Poems. Instead the r e is the polished Hayden of "The Diver," and "Runaga te Run~ a e. 11 fl '51liH.1... WJAID.A. th e Mourn1ng . I ' 1me. . y et religion, nature and love. To be sure, Hayden does make his social comment, (Mourning) as does Cullen. But his "Zeus Over Redeye",.._is a far cry from Hughes "Dream Deferred" or "Ask Your Momma." "Runagate" and "Middle ~i ~ d allusigp Passage" a¥ess with I J ,_siirr~lle converns of Owen Dodsen("Lament"), Margaret Walker(' ince 1619 11 ) , and Frank Marshall .Uavis("Snapshots of the Cotton South"}. Hayden brings a fine and intense intellect to his poetry-regardless of subject matter. His oatput has been relatively small, considering his long career, but :t:allr::x .. ilh@ Words 1·n the Mourning Time proves �20 that his intensity for sticking to his aesthetic convictions and his unswerving devotion to concerns has been poetic craftsmanship. Hand in hand wit his interest in history, racial and general. His manuscript~ of poems dealing with slavery and the Civil War, ~ e Black ~pearl, won him the second Hopwood award. The idea for a book-length series of narrative poems on• Black hDlstory--:falal "from the lilack man•s point of view"--came to Hayden after he read Stephen Vincent Ben6t I s long ilarrative poem, John Brown's Body(l927). The Black ~pear never ,,,.... as a book, but remnants of it can be found in section five of I- Selected Poems. In working w.i.th Black history, Hayden champions such persons as Nat ~urner, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Cinquez, Martin Luther King and Malcolm x. He also inc l udes whites who have shared the burde11. of the Black struggle: William Lloyd uarrison, ¾llph \aldo .t.!.merson, Henry LJavid Thoreau, John Browa, John and .Hobert Kennedy and others. Hayden ' s history poems, however, reflect inherent· disturbance man•s 9m 1cii contuning struggle. poem like the "The Diver 11 the r e can be floating, plunging, piercing, blu, isillusionm.ent, wreckage, drunken tilting, "numbing/kisses," assumed, b e tween the shadow and the substance. comes through in poems of racial flavor. the same 11 feeling 11 1 :M.iddle Passage" certainly bears this out, as Blyden Jackson notes in ltiJl "From One 1 Naw Negro' to Anod:lher"(Black Poetry in Americ~., Jackson and Rubi~, 1974) ,._"in ~tf»("fL the rocking loom of history/ 11 "Middle Passage" isNfayden•s and Black America's achievement•• •ha so~~ time, Calculate~L;ar· "opening with the names of slave ships--Jes~s, Estrella, ~speranza, Mercy-the poem criss---accrosses the vast geographical., chron&logical and spritual web of racial horror since slavery. The names of at least two of the ships--Jes~s and Mercy--beia,r immediate �21 contradictions and are simultaneously reminiscent of the expletive "Jesus, 1 have mercy, ' and the attendant variations heard daily ••--in Black communities. But this Jesus will have no Mercy--and in fact will stand f Christianity as the albatross throughout the remainder around the neck of Christian slavers. >I J 1 g is exciting as well as dange rous-- finished quest. Hence the middle passage suggests since it both the horrible and brutalizing~ e crossing ~ •A.the Atlantic 6caan and th~ unalinfsl erience of slaves aboard ships "adventure" of Blacks• in America. tradition established by T.S. Eliot, Esra ~ound, Wallace Stevens, Hart Crane and others. "Middle Passage," in fact follows stylistically as Eliot's 1,The Wasteland, Pound's Aantos, Crane 1 s The Bridge and William Corlos Williams' Patterson. Espcially is it akin to The Wasteland in its use of allusio~, fragments of obscure information(old documents, letters, conversation, etc.), typographical variation, and the urgency and importance of its "statements." .... after its sharp and arresting opening, "Middle Pas sage" weaves together objective narration, potes from sections from a ship a slave ship is log, offiver 1 s diary, testimony at a court of inquiry , Cuban slaver a (into a slave revolt aboarn , th~stad in , the tale of an old ~ sailer who his bones, ~(i l ~ on slaveships because "fever meltedn paraphrasings of a Shakespearean ·textl and familiar expressions ,...--::-... from the Chrisitan Bible and live religious servic~s. The every imiginable__ disaster and conflictf: - ~ 1 , ,,\ ,~ storms, rebellions, suicides, a plague t h at causes blindBe ~~,, wz.u,, UJ""" the lusty crew members sexual exploitation of female slaves, the "nigger kings 11 who sold the Africans into slavery, descriptions of the smell and sounds of dying, ia,;~&l ■ •i•~ of ■rtr ■ i•~~i1y •and the hatred/respect i? s~ slave ship 1 ~ • rebellion-leader "tI1eAsiirv1 ving spokesmannas fo7XCinquez. Almost 100 years before "1"1iddle �22 Passage", James M. Whitfi eld had honored this same revolutionary in "To Cinque." The idea of the remade man, a - "voyage" which take Ii one "through death" ~ i n t o "life, 11 recurrs in Hayden's poem: here, again/ the sense of one meandering through a "wast~land" ~ sane environment. F ~ ight society, the ■ J Jil pdeed in much Black American writing, ~:g mirroring sometimes the literature of larger Am1_r ica, there is the assertion that the new man arrives only after and oppressed. Even i n ~ everyday)\ the dues of bein~ brutalized , Bllacks are o f t e n ~ h e r s who have not "gone through" the fire and brimstone of depravity and alienation. Thust, for Hayden, the "middle passage" is both spiritually and physically a"voyage" through death in order to achie,e life. In the tJmiddle passage# the slaves are half way 9etween their African homeland and America. They will not be returning to Afri~~-- ► and yet they kno w nothing of the life "upon these shores. 11 Too, the middle z::u sage symbolizes the~itiation of everyman into the a w e s o m e ~ t y of adultho od-and~~tality. The middle passage is where we all triumph or £ m perish, just as in the wasteland one must create a new world or drift with the caretakers~f debris. However, 'furejfslaveships crossing the middle passage are as acutely aware of their mission as are the reflective slaves(and poets). They are 1 go bringing life through death. They bear black gold, black ivory, black seed. A 1 i " t ~ n s t the pervasive irony of the ship names Jesus and Mere¥• -31 -~he double irony of ~ --- 2 ••• true Christians all, •••• ll 1 2 Wfff!e the "Middle Passage" places%B~somewhe r e in the middle of things, "Runagate Runagate" continues the irony of moving through death to life. There is little to be envied in the "life" of the runawJY r-.. slave depi~ted in this poem. The hound dogs, the slave-trackers, the aucti~n �23 block~, the "iianted" signs,the braadings on the cheeks, the drive r's lash--all re-live the terror, ~ nightmarish nature , ~f B ack 1ife after 1 ,....--.., ~he . enslavement .The a ~ is••· c:bt~A- · ety and - . "never, never rest" life of the slave e..,a:M.4,;- y1nea · by Hayden w;-j8mploys a rich tapest;Y.J: lan- guage, syntax, color, i":"f!rt, :~a¥tion,f\:eligiob., and "sweeF~ 11 atioJvi p Jb continues ~ t h e first deathf the middle passage. ~ e~ . 11 ~ ~olism :.w~- ~ i n to mo e m ~ -,.the dramatic use or italicis. The poem celebrates tfM. the ~ - slaved and honors Black and white abolition- ist leade rs. Ha7den al lows. the reader to re-live the experience of the ~ accompanying runaway slave an<}\ lllllll tension-filled b-k:rn::r,im hide-and-seek - • drama .. rv-pze:rt By avo:hding of language vary ■71 n We hear and see the runaway in the opening line. punctuational breaks, Hayden achieves a "rush" ~~ to the relentless 11 dri ve II of]oral exp ression and to the "never, nev er rest" feeling he established in "Gabrie"J/.." The runaway Runs falls rises stumbles on from darkness into darkness and th e hunt "many thousands" and hear the mixed jubilance and fear of the••• r•• sla ve who ':::l never otHm ~ts>,,~~e auction block a nd th.a driver 1 s lash • he • 'r : l l g ~ o . ~ Keeping with the trend of--;;fdern poetry, Hayden introduc/ea incidental notices and aata: an a nnot1;a~ement describing~ runaway~(including ~4 ~ agJe, dress, brandings, &ito,,%. -~ WR gj qj sr s 1 I9 11f ~ -IL,~Avr04 J] g that.A~ JiHHrnOUU I l I ~ r n t~selves into quicksan d , whirlpools or scoppions), wanted posters,K1ames of p rominant abolotionists o f the day~• Typographically and syntactically, the p o ~ g n e d to be reaa., without 1 significant pauses, so tha t the n o n - s t o p ~ 118 of t h e • slave, toward freedom ..Q actually occurs in the text; it is, Blyd n ~ uggests"-·l it repeaxts ◄ L,.,.,,., of "Middle Passage'~ "as~h1story• if .b:specially notable is Hayden's treat- �24 ment of Harriet Tubman, the greatest of underground railroad leaders, who was wm ted "Dead or Alive" and who wa s known to level a pistol at a doubting runaway,.. : D~ · Wt · ' ~~; (N\.e&,,e1,""'4.~~G,A.H. ~ • .. "Middle Passage" and "Runagate unagate 11 are-. only two of Hayden's magnificent poems. Othe r poems in the ~histor~cal vein are"Frederick Douglass" (an experimental sonnet without rhyme ) , 11'.1,_1he Ballad of Nat Turne1"" l "The fearful splendor of that warringt. "), 0 Daedalus, Fly Away Home" ( "Night is juba, night is conjo. ' ~ ~, (prior to Words) Ballad of Remembrance"(alfomplex and erudite poem). ay en poem -;;;,~ (i h ~ x m k ~ "T .. -J Z@ 4 ZIC J supernaturalismt"Witch Doctor"), folk life("Homage 11 to the l!._mpress of the Blues," "The Burly Fading one, 11 "Incens;:J_ the Lucky Virgin, 11 and "Mourning Poem for the Queen of Sundayx"),Afolk reminiscences("Surmnertime and the Living ••• ", "The Whipping," "Those Winter Days"). Words in the Mourning Time, which we w i l ~ a~.......119-.i~ in Ohapter VI, reflects Hayden's general and specific~ conerns as a poet. Again, he judiciously handles the spectrum& of themes, subjects and st¥les that assures him a place in the world of Western as well as Afro-American poetry. Poems like "' Mystery Boy 1 Looks for Kin in Nashville," "Soledad," "Aunt Jemima of the Ocian Waves," and "El-Hajj Malik El-i::>habazz, 11 mark Hayden in touch with the times and willing to share his poetic vision with revolutionaries, pacifists#, cultural nationalists and Black pride advocates. On the other hand he is at home with poems such as "Locus," "Zeus Over 11 and "J.Jear is Gay"--which m11Jfltmm mirror his reading, travels, still broad concerns and personal friendships. Hayden can/sensitively and delicately great art and discuss/flowers, as in Words and Night-Blooming control of Red~ye, 4 metaphorical accuracy and poetic poignanc is also clearly there. Hayden admits that the battle over aesthetics in the 1960s �25 jolted him. ~ c l e a r that the fight took place more outside of poetry than in(see Chapter VI), Hayden has not recanted in his Position that the Black po et -not be limited to racial utterance. Hayden, of ~ urse, has 'i his "-Robert Lowell, not been right to his own opinion. But, like John Ciardi, ~•.Lil- NJ~ and other poets of the academy, his trek has tksy1'. ~ Ant ~despit: statements Hayden makes outside of his poetry, poems like "Middle Passage" and "tlunagate Runagate" stamp him as a gifted handler of Black themes and materials • .fWt is not likely that he will be known, as a poet, for w rk that lie ~ ~ the as J t 111 JP L tt2 the passage, pace or plight of Black Americans. Much-needed critical attention is just beginning to come to Hayden. He is treated in Davis 1 s From the Dark Tower, Donald Gibson's Modern Black Poets{ "tlobeet Hayden's Use of History," Charles T. Davis), Jacksolllt and Rubin 1 s Black Poetry in America, 0 1 Brien•s Interview with Black and Writers, Barksdale and Kinnamon•s Black Writers of America,/How i Write/I (featuring Hayden, Judson Phillips and Lawson varter: New York, 1972)~ See also Rosey Pool's "Ro beet Hayden, Poet Laureate, 11 Negro Digest (Black World), XV(June, 1966), 39-43 1 ai!(IIIQ D. Galler•s 11 Three Recent Volumes," Poetry, r' CX(l967), 268,i■ ,,_. "' ;t . and Julius Lester's review of Words in the Mourning Time ftin ~e New York Times Book Review, January 24, 1971, p.4. Dudley RandelI•••t-displays good insights into Hayden in "The Black Aesthetic in the Thirties, Forties, and lii,fties" (Modern Black Poets). And there is a sensitive treatment of the poet in James the Thirties. o. Young's Black ~~ri ters of �- 26 - •sFijaving a~ ef the Harlem rtenaiss~nce, Langston Hughes continued his vast an thirties, forties ~ i ve poetic output fifti 1930s, three in the 1940s, P i mt the e published fo~ boo~s of poetry in the Qilill6. two in the 1 9 ~ n t o ~ a)lltobiographical and hi~ r dedicated work on 1ll:la. behalf of Blackt,eci'9B~EAS?Ci psaples sf ~. ~ "° uld ~it nj; • be "much too casual, "A.Hughes' s friend Arna Bontemp~ po distnis.ScAhim as "prolific. "fl?~) For Hughes ~~,D~ r. · 11 simpl · and a troubado111 int h e ~ s i c se~se.A,Hughes worked ra~idly') & E ~ ... turrf,ut · '')f~•!'l:Yrs i\ A.M ,t prodigious amo1m.tJ of wri tins.-) Blyden J a c k s o ~ us,'(feaused some Q.Rtioo hi'?l~ngside "serious was a "minstrel &R& u1!i.'8e!'a to~a 1'l111j12@1 like E1lison, Wright and Baldwin. Hughes always invol"le d himself in "contemporary affairs "--even lllt , during the Renaissance when Cullen, McKay and others ro fields of Africa or pined away/ in the -(io 11 ~d the Elysian dark 11 tower. But Sa~fers Redding Make A Poet Black) had complained that Hu~s .-.ae-:~ ythms in his ~ poetry but srZ 92d little intellect. Consequent-ly, the thirties and forties--with their step up in lef '1)st and radical activities--placed new protest weapons from Hughes in the position of having his "weary blues." About Hughes•s poetry was popular beeause it could be and back grounds. "II._ s i m ~Jimment O. Young noted: "His ~ad easily b~e?ple of all ages /{TlB,de of tbe pOC'I! J t- a I I II )lljl Black poetstllNlf Haki R. Madhub•tl(Don L. Lee), Sonia Sanchez, Nikki Giovanni, David Nelson, Arthur Pfister) and others. In the early thirties, however, Hughes's poetry was considered "decadent' and "unacceptable" to 6ormnunist critics who wanted him to move from strictly racial t ~ to champion the fights of proletarians ~a aassoa everywhere. Hughes the switch-over and Scottsboro Limited(l932) shows the iapact of Communist thought ends t· ibirr on him. The pamphlet was dedicated �27 It trial for allegedly raping two white to JSlack youths such prostitates in Scottsboro, Alabama. ·~ John Brown, Lenin and Nat 'l'urner. The effect-- revolutionar,: .?'111 I efforts of ~tyr-making poets of ~ t h e 1960s--was to make the boys, "ignorant pawns " though they were, "militant proletarian heroes." The poem-play "Scottsboro Limited 11 shows 'Red Voicesl"' convincing .Black youths that the C0 mmunists are on the side of Not just ........... lack--but black and 'White • Hughes ---~published widely during the thrties in Party presses. In Good Morning ~tion(l973, forward by Saunders Redding), Faith Berry has compiled;,i,...,.. . . .li. 11 uncollected writings of social protest"•-' They give many clues to Hughes social concerf:.~s during the three decades fol- lowing the Harlem Renaissance. - /l. ~ ' "workers" • 1fi c ~ iitl i ,. 1~ermanl,r, China, Africa, Poland, Italy)and Amer~hrough the pages of New Masses, The Negro Worker, The Crisis, Opportunity, International Literature, C0 ntempo, Africa S 0 uth, The Workers Monthly, New Theatre:i,and American Spectator. In "Good Morning, Revolution," that I e gonna pal around together fro m now on. A • ect~on titles of.._ Good Morning Revolution'!ow 1IB=llllt Hughes ; t k WMt acutely attuned to the problems and needs of oppressed peoples-- long before Franz Fanon, Stokely Carmichael and Eldridge Cleaver--and in sympathy with Third World Section I, .H.evolutj o:r;;i.; Secti on 2, r; Section 4, ~ ar and Feace,. Section 5, G e Christ; ~ection 6, ~eweP4; Section 7, The Meaning of Scottsha®; Section 8, Cowards trom tha C.2.,l J eag.nes; Section 9, Portrait Aga;in1;1t BackgvoJJDA; Section 10, Darkness ln Spaj_n; Section 11, China~ Section 12, The American Writ e rs Congress, and Section 13, Hetrospective(including "My Adventu r es as a Social .l:'oet8"). �28 e Iconoclastic and sacriligous, Hughes incurred the wrath of many Black leaders with his poem "Good-bye Christ" published in the Baltimoee I Afro-American in 1932. Addres~t~hrist, Hughes noted that You did alright in your day, I reckon-But tha) day's gone now. And "Christ Jesus Lord God Jehovah" is told to "make way" for a new deity, who has not religion, and whose name is Marx Communist Lenin Peasant Stalin, Worker, ME-heligious leaders especially condefIDe:d Hughes'A"blatant atheism. 11 But Melvin Tol8:f/j coming to Hughes 1 s aid, said that the youn~ t s simply showing thatf\.Christian~ offering of a better M':19' worlci.N1ad little meaning for the world I s suffering millions. Hughes was never a member of the Communist Party, but he was sympathetic to it as were m manv. --■ other Black writers: Tolson, Wright,Hayderf, Frank Marshall Davis, Margaret Walker, Ellison, and dozens of others. While communist-orient his poetry and other writings o ocial protest._ were ap p earing in radical ( iU t h Sterling Brown publications, Hmghes con inue eve oping and experimenting with ~lack folk materials. He painstakingly pointed up the contradicti ons in the promises and realities of American ~emocracy, assailed social inequality, lamented Black and white poverty, railed against double standards, attuked , racia1,. pegregation, satirized the Black bourgeosie, and immortalized the beauty of ev eryday Blacks. So, much of Hughes•s fight is caught up in "Let America ~e America Again," first published in 1936 in Esquire, and included in A New Song\1938). It is immediately reminiscent of Walt Whitman-- in its sweep--and recites, in the manner of Hayden's "Speech" and Tolson•s "Rendezvous with America," the multiple ills and ingredients of America. Throughout the poe tributions, lie ~ , as he catelogs the various ethnic stocks and con- intertoplates tha:I haunt~~ ( "America never was America to me."). By now Hughes•s interest in Black music and folk materials was �29 1I £iiiitiFMH • ¥ ueZb § 7 being worked more into his work. He carried his interest in Blues to his work in jazz(recording his poetry with Charliel Mingus and others) and the Be-Bop era is strongly reflec t ed in his poetry and his writings(see the music evident g in Mont a ge of Simple stories). Especially h . Jmrr :\a Q? & fi a Dream Deferred(l951) where, according to Jean Wagner, 11 jazz has strongly influenced the tone and structure of these poems. 11 It was from this volume, too, tha t Lorraine Hansberry would get the title for her prize-winning flay: Raisin in the Sun. The¢us poem in the volume is "Harlem," is likened to a "dream dleferred." A in which the ,... between :,. I 11 and the h1 ., explode•• ,, - Fl raisins, sores, rotten meat, syrupy sweet~~ heavy loads, ur e sent "dream. 11 Perhaps, Hughes notes at the end, the dream ~ Hugh.es was not\"perfect, 11 constantly on top of • gif -11!1!-. draw- ...,. a,...- .- .- .- ■ re explicit comparisons Hughes E.ve pre cise similes llilK iii'i:ii • Blyden Jackson points out, but he wa s , ,. . ~ A,,... ••111•••••111 contemp<irary 11 issues 11 . . , . : and ~ experiment~ throughout his writing ca reer. Ask Your Mama--Twelve Moods for Jazz(l9 61) was published after 46 years of experimentation in verse forms. It is indeed the attempt at the synthesld.s we weferred to earlier: that of jazz, blues and rela'!red folk idioms and themes. Con- temporary white poets, E.E. Curmnings and ~enneth Rexroth, had chosen to place all letters in lower case and Hughes did just the opposite, capitalizin& eve rything. Dedicated to Louis Arrnstrong--"the greatest horn blower of them allx"--the volume is an extension of ,.:;-•.deas attempted in The Weary- Blues, Shakespeare in Harlem and Montage of a Dream LJegerred. The 1 driving social protest is there, but the indig~ation is mutedf as in his earlier workl• A recession in larger America f'IIJI IS is COLO RED FD LKS I DEPRESSION• The work ia punctuated by the lin~ IN THE QUARTER OF THE NEG ROES and Hughes continues the Black poet's concern with history: h onoring Black . . ~ f heroes and race leaders, displaying the beauty of Blackness anu reca l lin~ �I/ 30 organizer of sharecroppers, Jftamatist,,.. ,,,--Politician,t( J gr,· 0 11 II El, poel,jl"tei:l.clie11 and 1 raaonteur Melvin Beaunorus Tolson was born in Moberly, Missouri,to the Reverend ~ . Mr.~aionzo Tolson. . . . Tolson lived his young life in various Missouri towns, publishing his first poem at the age of 1a in the "Poet I s Corner" Kansas City!.§. ,\ of the Oskaloosa newspaner • .tie gradualed rro~Iilcoln High jjchool~~f/J ranw fiij It; where h}.iJ_~ass poet, di rector and actor in Li-reek Cil.ub I I Little Theater am.d captain of the football team. Throughout his adult J\ life, Tolson maintained an active interest in sports, dramatics and ~ debate clubs. He attended Fisk and Lincoln Universities--graduating from Lincoln ~ ~---h-e~ll.111-M•·with ho~ors and winning awards in speech, debate, dramatics _,,,,,, and Ulassical literatures. He also captained the football team.a~ Linoolna In 1924 ~olson, continuing a rich and varied career, :auz:mp:eqmh•m began t~aching ~nglish and speech at Wiley Colleg~rshall, Texas. There he .and ,,,,,... 7 wrote PK pros: and poetry, . . . Airected d r and debate group4 · which established~O-year winning steeak. Tolson interrupted his work at wiley to pursue -work on a master's degree in English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University J Na ~v I h where he met V.F. Calverton, editor of Modern ~uarterly. :rarter;~t Wiley, Tolson•s career as a debate I !ti 12 9 coached peaked when his team defeated nat~ozw-~champions, University of Southem California, before 1100 people. q947, the same year Tolson was appointed poet laureate of Liberia by Prisident V.S. Tubman, he • Riiime i :b:nglish and drama professor ~Lan~tp!), Q:qiyersi ty, ~~ton, O lahomat_~A I.., served a •.N ~ # J 1=> IJtl'IN{ i ~ ' where he ~ al•~ 7 GCe:r"'..iayor f r our terms./\A revered an feared te cher M :-:~iii and organizer, Tolson became a legend in his own time. Hardly a student at a dee -south a I a Black college hap n<?~Aheard~~on' s WOfkJ:~-1-..., ~~ , ' ~ .--.-....- · (°IWAh!..'MJ4,,~ , T £itl\ ,fH 'f.l~ ~ ~~U,~ .. poet, drama~ d -~ , ; h an~ducator."'-U · f NJ ---_.,,. · ~f : O{Actn.published wo•!lrn ±110 &d:'1\ ndezvous with America(l944), Libretta ":-n E:' f t, ,, for~he ile~ubliaria\1953), and Harlem Gallery, Book I: The 8urator(l965~ :;;Jsei:!:5:1- •h!!' in The Modern Quarterlz,11,?ommon Ground, Poetry and other periodicals. He won numerous awards and citations, among them • �31 &~ /"' firat p l a ~ National Poetry Uontest sponsored.JIIII by the American Negro .t!ixposition in Uhicago(for "~rk -=>ymphony"); the Omega Psi Phi Award for Greative Literature(l945); Poetry magazine's Bess Hokim Award for long psychological poem, "E. & O.E. "(1947); honorary Doctor of Letters, Lincoln University, and made permanent ..,,,,rqzc# Bread Loaf Eellow in poetry and drama(l954); District of Columbia Citation and Award for Cultural Achi•vement in li'ine Arts an~inteA to the Avalon Chair in Humanities at 'f uskegee Institute(l965); and annual poetry award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters eluding a grant of sitfig in- ~2 • .5OO(1966),the same year he died following three operations for abdominal cancer. and intellec As a Black poe in the mid-twentieth century, Tolson wore the manypronged mantel of his eiah,teenth and nineteenth century predecessors• (Prince Hall, Benjamin Banneker, James Wb.itfi ~ Frances E.W. Harper and others) who ~ n.. u·......,. /td ander Crummell~ · abolitionists, revolutionists, defende rs of what they believed to be ,,,..--..... decent in the promise of America,and character models f o r ~ Black communities. Tolson•s predecessor#$ fought for the right to bef called humans; ii; he fought the battle of integration. As Tolson lay dying, other,younger poets ~ were fi. ghting the battle of self-determination-- albeit using the same tools employed by poets and intellectuals of the past two centuries. So, it is indeed ironi~~en Ji -- young writer like Haki R. MadhubutitDon L. Lee) complains that Tolson is not acces s ible to . . the everyday readerAsee review of Kaleidoscope : ~egro Digest, XVII, 3 BJ1ua"J; 1968);-51-52, 90-94J• ~Joy Flasch points out in Melvin B. Tolson (1972}{Tl 1son was aware that he was not writing for the "average 11 reader but for the "vertical" audience. In "omega" of Harlem L:i-allery, Tolson asks if a serious writer should "skim the millt of culture" and give th~se demanding immediacy and relevancy a popular latex brand? �3 =tij; J ?* ~ gU::c Tolson did not live, as did Hayqen, ::>terling Brown, Saunders rtedding, and others, to make contact withp ayo•eoJJ ta@¥@ bell oponents o~~,._ the "Black Aesthetic'• of the 1960s. But~ have continued to rake him over the coals of responsibility. oet Sarah Webster ~•abio(~egro Digest, XVI, 2--December, 1966--54-58), challenged Karl Shapiro's statement (Introduction to Harlem Gallery) that '±' olson "writes in .Negro." His poetic language is "most certainly not she averf 1 _, NegroJ, .,.., 1" noting that it is "a bizarre, pseudo-literary diction" taken from stilted h aditllBB!lt "American mainstream" poetry "where it rightf)lllllf and wrongmindedly belonged." ,el!5i> ite critics and writers joi ning --..!nglis~ in the MIIA assault• on Tolson included Laurence Lieberman anaifl'""aii Bremen( of the .l:ieritage ;:)eriesriab I l ll9'iAS "' ] I asti~J Lieberman takes e&ception to Shapiro's statement, saying that he teachesJ Black students from all over the world--) who are steeped in Black languag~ who do not understand Tolson J review of Harlem Gallery in 1965,,~, ~ ~~ p ~ of decades, Tolson became ntore difficult as he made adjustments i ~ • to fit h)U1~~'a tiMi::d::::wii. .c ~ c:z:c::•llte:~ oetry. The Pmmd, Yeats, Crane, ~ tevens,~ stara of ~glish poetry;l - e J ~liot, Tolson admired and patterned Y~ough.o~t his poetic life, he maintained an.fl "enormous love for people" -wh i ch was reflected in his everyday work as well as in his poetry. Jlt Rendezvous with America as a title indicates ~olsori.Acommit•emt to love and do battle with America. America has cancer ' and promise and Tolson performed operations while he feasted refle 'jj;;' His title poem, "Rendezvous with America," the Whitman influence and Tolson's awesome worK skills, technical virtuosity and musical ear • .l:ie enumerates ~ the races and types of people He sees how Time unhinged the gates to allow the beginning of Amejica, noting such landmarks as Plymouth .rtocj, �1J Jamestown, ~llis Island, which he juxtaposes with ancient si~es like Sodom, <iomorrah, 0athay, Cipango and .l!,l• Dorado. The "searchers" came to America which ••• the Black Man's country, The rled Man•s, the Yellow Man's, The Brown Man 1 s, the White Man 1 s. America flows, Tolsontbelieves as An international river with a legion of tributaries! A magnificent cosmorama with myriad patters of colors! A giant forest with loin-roots in a hundred lands I A cosmopolitan orchestra with a thousand instruments playing America I three 3 1s--"biology, psychology ••• sociology," or the sycmronizing of sight • His major themes Qiistory, Black presence in the world, re- ligion, hatred for class structures, and the plight of the underdo~ are handled in av riety of forms: sonnets, rhymed quatrains, ballads, free verse forms, Npecial two-syllable lines. Kno'Wil as the iconoc a lst, Tolson .lirlia••■•fitfitilinm.1 used h is poetry to de-stool pomposity and fiP!. J rnffiiiirt-.-, who J IM @:j q7 everyman's su~terings from behind a cloak of high office. Music and art inform much of"- poetry--anobher reason why his allusory writing has been criticized--as in "¼lendezvous" and 11 .lJark Symphony", the most popular poem in his first book. In "Rendezvous," in addition to his musical structures, he lists America's melodies' by associating factor ·s, express trains, power dams, river boats, coal mines,and lumber camps with musical terminology: "allegro, 11 "blues rhapsody," "bass crescendo," �3i}, ndiatonic picks," and "belting harmonics." "lJark Symphony", imrnidiately musical and racial in its title, is separated into parts along musical lines and terminology: Part I: Allegro Moderato; Par II, Lento Grave; Part III, Andante Sostenuto-fr7a~t IV, Tempe Primo; "-Part V, Larghetto~ patterned after the -•-r• "~ndezvous" and ":Dark Symphony" are Tolson would expand on re 01gru1ize'"' Ml!& in 1lilll Libretto and Harlem Gallery). "Dark Symphony" carries the same theme as "Rendezvous"--people pitted against their injustices--but the latter poem is more racial in flavor and subject matter. ' Located, temporally and spritually, betweem the concerns of Whitman(the "sweep") and John Steinbeck(arpPes of Wrath), 11 JJark Symphony" ppens by reminding Americ~that "Black Crispus Attucks 11 died for them(Boston Uommons) Patrick Henry's bugge breath asked for liberty over death. A strongly masculine poem(as is so much of Tolson~s work), .._ it movesr".,: "robustly to recite the deeds of "Men black and strong." Part II tells of the ••-m "slaves singing" in the "to»ture tombs" of ships in the middle passage,•lillllliil. the swamps, the ttcabins of death," and "canebrakes. 11 In the remaining ~ parts, the Black Amercian, speaking through the collective "we," vows not to II forget" lilllii~ "Golgothax" has been tread or that "The Bill of Bights is burned. 11 The New .Negro wears "seven-league" boots and springs from a tradition that produced Nat Turner, Joseph Cinquez, "Black Moses of the Amistad Mutiny"), Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman( "Saint Bernard of the Underground Railroad.i:"). Grapes of Wrath and Native ~on are invoked as indices to the suffering and the breding of slums. And, finallY#,, the historical concerns ofthe Black poet: .,>Out of ab¥sses of Illiteracy, Through labyrinths of ~ies, Across waste lands of Disease ••• We advance! �35 Brilliant, esoteric, complex, innovative, and able to span the world of Black 0 diom and academic intellectualism, Tolson always punctuates his undaunted lyric ·sm with ribald humor and thigh-alapping:a uproa ousnessx. 'J ?olson 11 reman desparagingly referre~sturing forawhi te audience ••• with an iml-conceived grin and a wicked sense of humar ••• an entertaining ~ darky using almost con4i:cally bmg v0rds as the best wasp,tradtion demands \,,;...,I of its educated house-niggers. 11 (Maybe, one might ask, Tolson W8/l!I too ~ " for the Bnglis( breme Nevertheless, the poets of the ~ academy apparently loved Tolson and more than one of them tried to get J:ltiiili; deserved recognition before Carlos saluted Tolson in his fourth book of Patterson; A1len he died. Willi Tate wrote a now famous int~duction to Libretto; Shapiro introduced Harlem brought Gallery, launching Tolson into the same curious fame that Howells rrt 1 3 81d J ~tanJe:J 8a to Dunbar lillllii8ili 70 years before; Robert Frest,~dgar Hyman, ~elden Rodman, John Ciardi, and Theodore Roethke, all tried to "bring Tolson to the general literary consciousness, but with little success"(Shapiro}. Libretto or ~ fl ta· z P .Tolson 1 s severest critics usually jhave Rendezxvous has been out of print for several years and many of the younger Black poets and scholars have not read i t--as is the case with Sterling Brown's Southern Road(l932} which has just been reprinted. anj casual look a But, coking a olson 1 s work · will confirm reports that he is not digestible in a single reading. ~en before the erudition of Libretto and Harlem Gallery, Tolaon accustomed himself to the allusion. weapon is the literary Indeed, his strongeet or historical reference - -the mark of the library poet, the learned person. In "An Ex-Judge at the Bar" Tolson is at his finest~,"f,? phil<is6p~, :;(,1o Po!!••oi. 1;e hwnor, allusion, ~ twabise and social commentary. • i.. ,_!;he juxtaposi._... ex-judge is at a "drink- �L,Q 36 ing" bar.';jic in oral powers, like most of Tolson's poetry, surveys the history of a . returning home to ~ 1111t ~ who, after q JI tS@Rl serving in the war and ,,-:-.,. become a judge, i s • guilt-ridden in a tavern where r-.. he discusses his life with the bartend:f_r• The opening couplet: Bartender, make it straight and make it two-p One for the you in me and ~ the me in you. • •• reflects the Black Arnerican•s dexterousness with oral language and Tolson 1 s rich background a s ' storyteller and debat e coach. The couplet contains the kind of musical, seemingly non-sensical statement that Black men love to exehange during fierce ver~;rr.ang rnatches--even though the judge is prej· ably white. ~,e-1-liiiitlee-~udge re-lives his war experiences and, in a vision, sees the "Goddess Justice" whom someone "blindfolds II as the lawyers lie and railroad defendants before Hu 'ti • jl!l!&f!o• ,-....._ But Justice "unbandaged 11 her,_ eyes and a Black man judge's seat," in the last war to "make the world safe for Democracy." seeking consolation and implying that no...,..one is perfect~ inally moved•--• self-evaluation, orders/'anoilher round of drinks: repents and Bartender, make it straight and make it three-One for the ~egro ••• one for yol.1% and me. "An Ex-Judge at the Bar--•--with its ironies and double entendres in the vary title--is a poem that slips away from the reader. One ~hinks, ne is never sure, that one has the meaning under control. refers to Ceasa•, Pontius Pilate, the Koran, the Sahara, 11 September Morn"(a painting by Paul m ~ e Flanders field and · ~renc or a ideai Macduff in ~hakeaspeare's play Macbeth. Certainly these are not t!ie,tt~ediants for a poem dir~cted to Chabos) ~11!11111:.,- �37 the 11 people." On the other hand, for the :ireader ready .._ do battle with history and world knowledge, Tolson proves quite rewarding. Dudley Randall( "The Black Aesthetic in Thirties, li'orties,and Fitties"--Modern Black Poets)states, with a strained air of s eriousnes / that: "If the reader has a well-stored mind, or is willing to use dictiona ries, encylopedias, atlases, and other ~ referencex books, 11 llll Tolson' s work "should present no great dif f iculty. 11 Randall had in mind, specifically, Libretto, a ppeared in Poetry along with the book's pre face. In this long poem-const1meted loosely around the ode form--Tolson celebrates Liberia's centennialtaillll2Jli~~.;...~~119'1!!1!'!1!~~t,tr~~~~ . t, . :,.~~~~,:;:m:cm=:;;a..~~~...,.~Dli:.,c~n Accordin5 to Randall, "Tolson used all the devices dear to the New Criticism: recondite allusions, scraps of foreign languages, african proverbs, symbo}.ism, objective correlatives. Many parts of the poem are through some private symbolism of the author, buy obscure, not because of the unusual words, foreign phrases, and learned allusions." Randall goes on to point out that Heading Libretto is like reading other 11 learned poets, such as Milton and T.S. Cit& Eliot." g However, rea Tolson is not exactly like reading other ....,.{:J:;tf.,:'e poets, for hi places Black infor11&tion in fron~: the reader. \d nethe ode into a musical struc t ure and celebrate~ack past. 0 0 btinuing a patter set in poems like "rtendezvous w.. th America" and ".JJark Symphony~ Tolson separates Libretto along lines oft he Western musical scale: Do , Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La,~i, Do. ~pecifically, Libretto acknowledges the 160th birthday of Liberia, founded in ~1847 by the American ~olonization Society 1ia for free men of color. "tlooted in the Liberian mentality as fact and symbol, 11 Libretto travec:t'es the kaleidoscopic range of African • history: the magnificent anc~t and _Medieval t· li(R &K kingdoms, European exploitation, ea.son for v a rious theories as tote question-mark-shape of Africa, the origins of Black stereopypes, Africa's contributions to the world, the impact of Christia.nit �38 , Islam and other religions. All this Tolson does with what Allen Tate calls •~eat gift of language, a profound~torical sense, a •first~ u e l and Gross(Uark rate intelligence." Tate also pondered, as Symphonyj, 1968), "what influence this work will have upon Negro poetry More than slightly reca in the United ..,tates . " o e in his 8Riiii¥ar tr of end Dunbar'9, ·J."ate ....-. says 11 For t.t,?:e first time, itf. seems to me, a .Negro poet has ass5.uilated comp letely the full poetic language of his time and,by implication, the language of the Anglo-Ami e rican tradition.rr M& t g Relentless~posing the one-word question "Liberia? 11 and re- existence in"fact and inforcing the ..-._ erudition an Libretto with The fifth stanza of Do, after rl J a ;r opens az•r•·•••• the recitation of what the nation is initial "Lib eria?" and accompanying w, addresses its citizens thusly: You are Black Lazarus risen from the White Man's grave, Without a road to Downing Street, Without a hemidemisemiquaver in an Oxford ~tave I Later in the S$.In.e section, Tolson excerpts a chant from "'l 'he U-ood Gray Bard of Timbuktu" : "Wanl;awake wanazaa ovyol .lia.zi Yenu Wanzun&!,I" 7 Ro be~ Hayden ha• been f.J.hJ ♦ (P\J (j .Q'iiAililiittiin e,,Eil\ the a. most skilled Bl::ae}E poebi&. crafts~n since Countee Gullen; but Tolson without a doubt has, f •■• sustained the most powerful poetry which adheras rigorously to the teneils of - moder~ .. His Libretto is the drama of "The Desert Fox" and the U-erman "goosestep 11 across Africa{xm£ Mi); of the snake, "eyeless, yet with eyes"(Fa); of "White Pilgrims" and "Black Pilgrims 11 who sing "o Christ" that the worse will "passt"(Sol); of "Leopard, elephant, ape 11 and 11 A white man spined with dreams"(La):t}. of a "Calendar of the Country" to "i'ed-letter the Rep ublic 1 s birth!" (Ti); and of "a professor of metaphysico- �39 theologicocosmonigology" who is also a tooth puller a pataphysicist in a cloaca of error a belly's wolf a skull 1 s tabernacle a ffl3 with stars a muses 1 darling a busie bee de sac et de corde a neighbor's bed-shaker a walking hospital on the walk) The symbols, the syntax, the grammar and the language tumble on placing Quai d 1 0rsay, White House, Kremlin, 1Jowning .:it re et• ••• in the catalogue while Again black Aethiop reaches at the sun, O &ree~.(Ti) The history of world wars, the gossip in high circles("Il Duce 1 s Whore"), the concontion of enumerable languages and book-buried erudition reveal Tolson 1 as a complex and difficult modern poet. The tragedy, rlandall and others have pointed out, is that as Tolson wrote Libretto and Harlem Galler:y:, white scions of the modern verse were turning their backs on erudition a more common, everyday language in poetry. Trapned in the middl~(he ~ Harlem Gallery for ~ Tolson continued to labor in the best tradition of the modern poetry to the disbelief of ~ ~ ZIIG) like Cunnnings,.-.. Hexroth, and Hughes,~nfluenced by Be-Bop and a free I l a n ~ s o n s sustained scholarship and complex allusions are by the addition of scores of footnotes which cite 81111[ the works of such as Br~den, ~ha.jlespeare, .c.merson, Tennyson, Lorenzo Dow Turner(Africanisms in the Gullah Dialects), J. A. RogerstSex and Bace), V. ~'irdousi, Gunnar Myrdal, Aeschylus, Boccacio, Baudelaire, and ~rs ~ Tolson I s care . r~"-"l.l;:.:'"fr"L~~ ..~ ' " 'tMl~~tLt"' • ~::~:r., AI/C;.;,t,11~'.,..., .... hundreds ~ltYm.-a.. ying example of the confusion that -sG·me ~im:dl! tA..-t occurs in the Black literary artist. When he first sent the manuscript �40 of Libretto to Tatetwho whiae 'l'olson was J1~11111111111J--,1sir ;:;;;;,;:;.1, he was note interested in S;a!Qier~~f!wn~th the 11 Fugitive 11 poets at Fisll) Et 11 g J:. ·r ate rejected it saying pro:saganda from a Negro Joet."(Flasch and Randall) Tolson then diligently re-wrote the manuscript to subscribe to the high , technical,_, intellectualF scholarly demands of the modern poets{Tate, John Urowe ~~~ ~ ound, Rober,.t Pe~ren, J\.in 1920, _n a~avidso Z'c and other~;• stumbled upolj. a cop}t of Sandbur 's 11 0hi<l3. go 11 but wa s Tolson h . warned by a professor to "leave that stuff alone" ( lt'lasch). ~ ~s" (Jaturathon : , ; poet, then, was stUJlted--causing him t o , . . . 30 years ~ Jt f i ~ h i s own voice. • .le r~- ~-~·"!..~"~ Harlem Gallery(the first of a p1anned~~••M") provides another In 1932,..._ he compl~ucript in Tolson 1 s ra1 by publishers. \"Jh had puWi13hed two ~ of Harlem \111\f'l..,_ s II ~ ~1lery was Iii · L • finall~~aa;.;66 as turned down 1966, Tolson, r manuscripts: Rendezvous and Libretto. Harlem Gallery 4 aced in Tolson's"tr tt during which he switched from the Romantics and VictQrians{and ~asters after whose Spoon River Anthology "Portatts" JX!CscL mod.~:-:-:~....;..;,.--.-~ the 20 year; period Tolson s~d he "read and absorbed the techniques of ..t:!.liot, Pound, Yeats, Baudelaire, Pasterna~ and, I beli.-.e, all the greail moderns. God only knows how many "little maga') zines" I studied, and how much textual analysi~f the 1iJew Uri tics." ,. A staggering poem, Harlem Gallery "is a work of art, a sociological commentary, an; intellectual triple intellectual, scholarly, and ~er~a~lasch) !~meets dai:i _ ,~ of il)I modern poetry, but at the same time is "impossible to describe." Yet it is Tolson's crowning �41 achivement in more ways than one. First it continues his fascination ,,-........ with Black and general history. Second, it t 1 pursues Tolson I s intense (\ i n t e r e s t ~ psycho-dynamics of the Afrot-American character and a.a:i►-,r:; he is particularly concerned with the pligb.t of the twentieth century Third • , provides one of Black artist,hencex Book I, The Cu.rat~r). the most powerful and authentic links between the Harlem ~enaiasance and the Black Arts Movement of the 19~0s and ~70s. The Very : ,. t i t ~ r l e m Gallery gives it a Bla~k ~ i n~ and the f a c t ~ 1 J . . ~,ij,ceived and initially drafted ~filOPiLsi launm ea mzif:u;i:;1111 Renaissance indicates that Tolson Wllr labored over the years-~rom the stand point of memoq, technique and subject matter) in the after-glow of the literary flowering watered by McKay, Cullen, Toomer, Hughes, Fisher, Johnson,.;and Locke. Fin~lly? \ the characters in Harlem Gallery are Black: the r, Doctor N Guy Delaporte:t{president of Bola Bola ~nterprises), Black Orchid(bluee-singer and mistress to Delaporte), the half-blind Harlem artist John Laugart, ' Black Biamontf(ghetto-promoter of the Lenox policy racket), and Hideho Heights (the light-skinne~ poet of Lenox Avenues). The Curator of the Harlem Gallery is an admixture(continuing ft ~olson concern beg~ in Rendezvous) of races ( 11 Afroirishjewishl"), m octo roon who passes for Black in ~ew York and white in Mississippi. He ms a digestion of the humor a n d • pathos Blacks see in those of their race who attempt to "pass." Tolson noted~ that since thousands of lightskinned Blacks passed over, there is a standing joke a mong Blacks whi/Ah asks "What white man is whiJe? 11 Harlem Gallery, then, is designed to parade the Black " l ~es 11 (ultimately . . eve ryman types) through the gallery of life as it is..-~...- - ~ t h e ~ of the literary geni.us: Tolson. ::,pecifically, the book is a huge answer to Gertrude Steinf's charge that t h e suffers from nothingness. 11 All of his poetic life, Tolson ht pbsli to reconstruct Black history; t2 sh1u ~• 1 peep) e tbet :liiiAo 1'5186k f'.U:!fi1 tag• ,Kare • Now, in Harlem Gall e ry, he was coming with �42 speed and poetic precision from his corner of the syntactical and sem{)itical - ~~~·ing to do battle with Steinis charge. In the lntroduction to Harlem Gallery, Shapiro explains in part the reason Stein would herself be so ignorant. Whites do not get a chance to read about Black achievement since"Poetry as we know it remains the most lily-white oft he arts. 11 Libretto may have pulled lthe rug out from unde r the poetry of the Academy -los:ztme ., , but "Harlem Gallery pillls the house down around their ears. 11 ssaif~~ iot t fl ra.c1d others for "purifying the language, 11 f7) Shapiro peised Tolson forfJ. "complicating it, giving it the iift of tongues." Tolson certainly gave Harlem Gallery the "gift of tongues. from the range world He usesf languages; but· sustained.._ and coherent than in Librettot• and 11 4o\4'll:r-:~ story-line t • language are more accessible in Gallery--with its interpolat~ of rich Black speech and musical terminology into stilted langua e aa UC• academic , and...,_ form. Set up musically, with each section bearing the name of a Greek Alphabet, Gallery shows Tolson again displaying his amazing technical virtuosity related Black merger of the ode form with ~-=••~ orally-derived.• ~ blues, jazz, Spirituals, folk eJdcs and~ oral narratives ( see "~atchmo II in Lambda) or " The Birth of John Henry 11 in XI). The verse pattern in Gallery owns some debt to Do in Libretto with its tapered typography and irregular line organization which either._ forces the reader to speed up or slow down to catch the rhyme. Alpha opens describing ~C(...O.., the spice of Harlem~ · "an Afric pepper bird" before the Curator tells us that I bravel,from ••x•••••• i asis to easis, mants Saharic up-and-down. ~ 1 h e grand sweep and.- intellectual storage of Tolson~thered from line to line, between lines, i the margins, around and throuQ:hout the poem. ~'-'Curator Recallingch the verbal jousting in "An Ex-Judge at the Bar, ..,18-ss sses his �43 "I-nes s, " his "humanness" and his "1/, grone as" a n d ~..- ililllllli-111o mixes with the pepper bird's reveille in my brain, where the plain is twilled and twilled in plain. The academic stilts or the ~ f ~ understanding{Beta): are short:aded one needs the clarity the comma gives the eye, not the head of the hawk .wollen with rye. Like Hayden' s"Middle Passage, 11 &allfery views the FF-■rilt·-••n· physical and spiritual predicament of the Black man: what has he gone through, I ,,t..O how much more can/will he take, how long? how long? The answer~~e::a::ml!fild~ .f that man m~y have to endure suffering forever--b~ to survive. The Curator is ___ §' 11 Ii@► others ..,,.... have suffered and survived. The Afm,o-Ame rican a· Ox and their suffering#. So the "Afroirishjewish Grandpa" of the 8urator tells him that: •Between the dead sea hitherto and the promised land Hence looms the wilderness Now: although ld.B confidence is often a boar bailed up on a ridge, somehow, the Attic salt in man survives the blow of Attila, Croesus, Iscariot, mid the witches Sabbath in the ~atacombs of Bosio. Certiinly this survival theme is close to the heart o f the Afro-American and the artist. Artists are often among the first to plea for c&emency, for ,,,.,,--. free expression, for ae-vtruth. The ~pirituals and the vast body of Black folk expression reaffirm the Afro-American ' s f aith in man an ~ uest for survival. �44 Acknowledgii:ng this aspect of Black expression and strength, Tolson(and Hayden••• ••:;:Jli•••"---•••••~•-1!'.•"Mean mean mean to be free. 11 )in• corporates the rich blast of Black folk materials. In heaven(Lambda), Gabriel announces that 'I'd be the greatest trumpeter in the Universe, if old Satchmo had never been bornl' And the birth of John Henry is an .epic birth--akin to that of Jesus, Buddah, Mohammed, and others. t John ilenr and a hammer of thunder the ea les and ~ ,titReciting a soul-food menu at birth, a John Henry ™: want . j~.QIUe::rfM¥2 hocks, 1_I ,.a a . }}o..t...Qf fiJ?Sac:ffi:§} jolts, > cabbage and green; latter of and beansJ 1 -'atTolso~$ in synchronizing the Afro-"'merican and Westem heritages."J/li.(,, ort is still the literary all,.,ilion juxtaposed with history or religion(as in Libretto); but he loves to a s c e n ~ u n t ~ n of academia and then suddenly drop into the midst of ghetto-~ as going(~ from t thoughts that tilt like "long Napalese .Jeyes" to a "catacomb Harlem flat" grotesquely vivisect::.~\~~j•j·m~croscoped maggots) •••• 61':;t;tie r-:- "Elite Chitterling Shop 11 ~ h e "variegated dinoceras of a jukebox" (singing the "ambivalence of classical blues"). Mean- while, Doctor Obi lftmmo, "the alter ego" of the gallery, speaks '6!> Across an alp of chitterlings, pungent as epigrams, •••• ~~. ~octor @n I ill, sun, the theme of survival and fr ee expl'ession: �45 'The lie of the artist is the only lie for which a mortal or a god shou dBi □ Tolson•s ever-present biology ingredients of mm<•••bioloy, sociology and psychology--extending into the artis s the three S's--sight, sound and sense) recur in the poem(Eta)-.as the seven panels of man's tridemenAiona~ity in variforrns and varicolors-since virtue has no Kelvin scale ... since "mother breeds no twins alike, ••• and since no man who is judged by his biosocial identi~y in toto cab be a Kiefekil or a ta~tufe, an Iscariot or an Iago." I ' Hence Tolson extends, sometimesftamouflou/1,,., his ideas about man's similarities 1111 -. differences. To be sure, he is saying that black men abd white men~ different: but that the ~ifferences are not significant enough to keep them from working togethe r for the mutual good. This particulr stand, which laces the work of Hayden, Tolson, Hughes and early l.l"VBndolyn Brooks, to the i f is not one that ~~ remain popular among poets who subscribe~ Black Aesthetic of the 1960s. Nevertheless Tolson dug underneath the hysteria and the ideological neatness to probe the time-honored questions about man. Psi(a much-anthologized section of Gallery) finds Tolson doing battle with anthropologists, the D.A.R., the F.F.V(First Familes of Vi~ginia), Uncle Tom, 'fhe Jim Crow Sign, the Great White World,and Kant, in an1i.'attempt to answer the question "Whef is a . .? " and "Who is a White?" Tols~w~ains great satire; and great wisdom in satire. To be misled by his incredible and dazzling word play is to miss the essential ~olson who warned the coming �46 }] ~ - · n tha t , although UncqJ~s genera t io ~ 11 dead 11 , they should beware Suspicious o~ fame and wealth and desiring to of his see no man placed over.(in ~~•••••,••s~pril"dge), Tolson remarked after JI.John Laugart 1 s murder, tha t among those things remaining was , ••• infamy, the siamese twin ~~ ~ ~k, 0 fJ::;£L-~ (3o-'(.t.M~4 ) ~'3 /..::::._do not b6w whaf would have been Tolson t s fate as a poet had he come to his o ~ was comfortable style as a young man in the Ha~em Renaissance. ~ I ie fift7• when he sent !a: T a ~ ; n u s ~ o r Libretto, .tt'ifty, of course, is q u i t ~ r a poet to be/('b • ; his craft-- I MHtt or to have his work over-seen by a critic. Nevertheless Tolson, not admitted.f (as Shapiro noted of Black poets),to ~ i t e company of had to get f his voice 11 together 11 a:Mt · J 2 I II available to ci wale• &f "Fugitives 11 attempting Tolson 1 s feat-- centers for modern poetry. Few poetry among Blacks had, in fact, declined in 4lerest during the forties and fifites--and there is much evidence that Tolson generally intimidated other Black scholars and intellectuals with his vast knowledge and great talents. QS] part-time 94 ' Lik~'Y'Poets of other generations, he was ~spendin ap.poe-r: o---1. -lCIDi~students and eohool-relatred workm. Randall has pointed out that unless > influence OJl Afro-American poetry. , ~ ~, (.k,.·g,,-.~ IP' Criticism of Tolson is sparse. Joy Flasch 1 s Melvin B. Tolson,i~ the d interesti g--he will not exert am ·o I )l,. w~ ~e.t.pot. fl": Twayne United States Authros Series, offers good insights into Tolson 1 s techniqu~ l • Barksdale brief criticism in Black Writers of America. article on Black poets of th•e• Randall decades following the Renaissance ttPortrait of the Poet as Rancont eur, 11 is -c Negro Digest, X!l, 3.{janua ry,1966\f54-57). '.J, C Se also "A Poet's Od:is§.e-Y n an interview with Tolson(conducted by M. W. King) . Anger, ano. Beyond'-\l';lbb~. �47 poetry and life provide# a rich and rewarding jolt in the wr~ctivity of this perioctf: was the first ■111•.. ,. For My People(1942) of poetry by a Black woman since Georgia Douglass Johnson's ,_...'jj,.-cili...... twenties,,1-:1fp~d in theme and technique from the prevailing mood of poetry by Black women; and she had the rare opportunity to hobnob, during her most furtile years, with such )i,hicago-ba sed . ~ riters as Richard Wright, Frank Marshall Davis, Fenton Johnson,ALangston Hughes.rn? J! J 1 I l •• Like other writers of the era, her ex- periences included the Depression, World War II and McCarthyism--along with various racial and politically radical perspectives on contemporary life. Margaret Walke r was born in Birmingham, Alabama, the daughter of a 1•1ethodist minister father and a school teache r mother, both university graduates. She attended church schools in Mississippi, Alabama)and Louisiana ~ before-tliiplll!!l!IJlilmma•-=•~ receiving her B.A. • from Northwestern University in 1935--and then going on to work the next four years as i"typist, . ,-::,, newspaper reporter, editor of a short-lived magazire,and with the Fedelral Writers' If Project(like Hayden) in Chicago. In 19JA she entered the University of Iowa(after short stints as a social work e r in Chicago and ~ew Orleans) whe re she received an M.A. in 1940, her thesis being a colle••tion of poems. She finally obtained the Ph.D. in creative wr·iting from Iowa in 1965 after submitting Jub i lee, a novel, in lieu of the dissertattmn. Jubilee received the Houghton Mifflin Literary Award in 1966 . • ,h_p~ and ha• been transla t ed into several languages. During the :im&i:i2i4%o L:: k in her work at Iowa Marga r et Walker(Mrs. Firaish James Alexander and the mother of four children) was ,.professor of English at Livingston College in North Caroling, recei-wd the Yale Younger ~oets awa r d in 1942 (For My People), was awarded a Rosenwald Fellowship f9r Cr~ative Writing served as visiting professor a"t' Northwestern University, (1944),~and became a member of the English faculty at lackson State College where she is currently director of the Institute for the Study of History, Life, �(since 1969). Arthur P. Davis says and Culture of Black People that "Miss Walker is a better poet than she a novelist, " and one can hardly quarrel w i t h ~ him. ~ddition to For My People, she has sustained a good quality of poetry in Prophets for a ~ew Day(l970) and October Journay(l973)--both published by Dudley Randall's new Broadside Press in Detroit. Although some of the poems in Prophets for a New Day were begun in the thirties and forties, "most of them, 11 according to the poet, were written during tre sixties. So brief comment will be ~ t h e m in Chapter VI, "For My People," the ~ boo~_p:rr1zzbl5 poem of •l t~:::.,~J !coked a•9 was f i r s t ~ -- in Poetry in 1937 while the poet was living and working in Chiby Owen Do in 1942) that she was winning the Yale Younger Poets Award, Miss Walker recalls that she "had not even sumbitted my manuscript and I just thought he was crazy. 11 Of course, she had won and the dressing included a sensitive· & i('._ Forward by Stephen Vincent .l:3en,t who . . . pr\')sed her ":::itraight- forwardness, directness, reality," and noted that such qualities are "good thing':! to find in a young poet. n Ben~t also observed that: It is rarer to find them combined with a controlled intensity of emotion and a language that, at times, even when it is most modern, has something of the Slrge of biblical poetry. And it is obvious that Miss Walker uses that language because it comes naturally to her and is a part of her interitance. Indeed "inheritance" is the key word orns?atr 1 9 1 I and juices of Margaret ~•alker a I unlo~J~\he fruits p o e t i a ~ H e r own vxperiences, as the daughter of a religious parents, of growing up in the South, of being nurt•red on the oral tradition, of fiaveloping a ca reful and sympathetic ear for the foihk expressions,~ served up a.gai~ through the poet's �49 "honesty, 11 "sincerity," "cando~• and !tremendous technical abilities. Margaret ~ ~ f;.lllPl~ ~ Q,, Walker•s verseA» notAthe oblique, obtruse,~learnedAEgV·:~ sometimes ~ 4 A • / ),. - - i n Hayden and Tolson. And she is quite at the opposite end of the ~ spectrum from the lady-like lyrics of her predefcessors: Anni Spencer, '.::J Gwendolyn ~ennett, Alice Dunbar Nelso, {ii. and others. Indeed her work is startling, as a womans poetry, when measured against the tradition established by Black female poets. She certainly bears some kinship to her furerunne~-sisters--especially ~Frances Harpe'l in t.llllillll!!!!ll~theme and usage--but her langtiago/-"' luz:. line7and narration ~ore .,.J,k'. ...,. to the work of Masters, Lindsay and Sandburg(on the white side) ,,-..... and Fenton Johnson, James Weldon Johnsonl,,..._ 'Cb-lifgJUe Hughes, and Frank Narshall Davis ( on the Black) • ._ Nikki.; During an exchange p with~iovanni (f. Poetic Equation: Conversations Setween Nikki Giovarmi and ~rgaaat Walker•, 1974) Miss Walker AQ&i 11; But to get back to this business of language. In the twenties and thirties, for the first time we had the use of black speech from ,,...., the streets. We were responsibl-e for that particular urban idiom going into the American language. Nikki Giavanni answered with thi ~ e arcement: It was the first time because we were becoming urban. l think one o~e of the things we forget when we start out critiques is that we could not have had a street language earlier. Speech had been plan,- tation and southern and rural • • And as we moved to the cities during the migration period, we developed a fstreet language. "I think that• s an important point, 1' Miss Walker noted, moving on to indebt her~elf and the whole modern Black poe~ folk tradition to Langston tiughes. So~1 ~ at Margaret Walker, the southefrner, gleaned from Blacks C, South(North) the kinds of rich linguistic complements neaded to draw magnifice t port»aits in For My People. 11 sets the tone of the book and establishes the poet i s �50 ,.--.. intellectual, aesthetical, philosophical and historical considerations: and em loyment the acuis ion owledge of her past; the exhortation of her people "'l' ~tru 1 ers Us" ·( out of th.Jr.is blackness we must struggle fortbf, 11 ) ; tl::e celebration, specifically, of the Black folk heritage and language; este:am for her ancestors("Lineage":"Why am I not as they?"); and the embodiment of religious ( especially supernatural )c tr in both its style and its content, 7[ '1ii:ii7' 11 e and spiritual needs. Revealing For My Peoplett is a majestic poem cont.aining the now-famous Whitman sweep of words and ideas • ~~ orderin~he disord~r: For my people everywhere singing their slave songs repeated; their dirges and their ditties and their blues and jubilees, praying therr prayers ~nightly to an unknown god, bending their knees humbly to an unseen power; ••• I Continuiing from this first stanza(note the similarity to Fenton Johnso~As) the poem §p&W views "my people" adding their "strength" to the" years" and the ,now years. 11 It sees them, as it a ~ a the and spiritual history of Blacks, as "plamates" in Alabama "clay and dust~"; as "bl.a. ck and poor and small and different 11 ; as youths who "grew" to "marry their playmates n and "die of consumption.j"; as 11 thronging 47th Street in Chicago and Lenox Avenue in New York and Rampart Street in New Orleans"; as "walking blindly spreading joy"; as "blundering and groping and floundering"; f as II preyed on by facile fo r ce of state and fad and/ novelty, by fal s e prophet and holy believe rni and ttas all the ads.ms and evea." ~ l l y , in the last stanza, she give a «_ringing cry~ ~ m,,f'll ~~ Let a new earth ri s e. Let another world be born• Let a blood~/ peace be written in the sky. Let a second generation/ full of courage issue forth; let a people Ia~ing freo/dom come to growth. Let a beauty full of healing/and a stre~gth of final clenching be the pulsing in(our spirites and our plood. Let the martial s~gs �be/ written, let the dirges disappear. Let a race of men now rise and take control. For My People is a small book{Only 26 poems) but it is one of the most ~ influential by a Black poet. 11 Dark Blood" follows the opening poem, "- reafffirming Margaret Walker's belief in the "forms of things unknown"-- as Wright might put it. "Bizarre beginnings# in old lands II constituted the "making of me. 11 ~ sands, trast 11 " ;-i"' to suns": 3 --••• bscious, succulent imagery unfolds: "sugar fern and pearl," 11 palm jungles, 11 "wooing nights, 11 in con- the "one-room shacks of my ola poverty". But the "blazing I::,r of the poet I s conjured up birthplace will help reconcile the pride and pain in me. Strongly reminiscent of the Renaissance poets• infatuation with Africa, but ending on the realistic note of the poet's localized "poverty 11 , ~ Blood 11 certainly meets with Benet I ~ 1 s ~"reality. "Dark 11 T h e ~ the doubt, the scent of sacrilmge--,dtl found~ from Dunbar forward--~IJl't'1.4-'tV"f''' ~ iF Have f3een Believers": JliMJtils&1~ ••. believing in our burdens and our demigods too long. 1 And now(recalling Dunbar s "Sympathy"), the "fists" of the believers 11 bleed 11 against the bars with a strange insistency. The strength, ,li L begun in the first poem, is carried through "So,uthern Song" and Sorrow Home." With incantation and incremental refrain "Delta" tells of the colledtive "struggle. 11 Strains of ".tielievers " course through "~ince 1619 11 where the poet again re-traces the Black odyssey: f. How long have I been hated and hating? The speake) illon~o see the rich "color" of racism, poverty, ignorance, violence and - 1 "- "brother#• s face," assails laments spiritual deselation. War, poverty, disease and other iei;iii.heirs of ~he Depression are the themes of "Today" which speaks of "ch ildren sc a rred by bombs," "lynching, 11 and "pellagra am silicosis." A di fferimt "stride II of this poet is seen in the second section of �52 11 For My People. 81 Kissie Lee," • "Rall uh Ha.rnrnf "Teacher," 11 f"Molly Means," "Bad-Man Stagolee," "Poppa Chicken," ," "Two-Gun Buster and Trigger Slim," Gu:a,the Lineman," "Long John Nelson and Sweetie Pie," and "John lienry" are fresh treatments of authentic stories Black communities in America. "A hag and a witch," Molly Neans had •n-•••11110••& ~even hw bands and Some say she was born with a veil on her face •••• The incremental refrain,#( 11 0ld Molly, Molly, Molly,"etc) gives dramatic and psychologycal power to the poem as Molly's -work with the "black-hand arts and her evil powers 11 are catalogued. Stagolee, ap uarently "an all-right Till he killed that cop and turned out bad, ¢ssibl had killed 11 mor 1 n one" white man. The "bad nigger" Wid date blade he wore unnerneaf his shirt. ••• isappe . . Stagolee, s ysteriously ) though his "ghost · still 11 stalks the shore of the Mississippi River. . ~Poppa Chicken was a pimp who, in the~radition of Black tr··j#-Black ~ , "got off light" for killing a mal)fJ Bought his pardon in a yearj; ••• ~7-•M~~Black prototype, he had plenty women( "gals for miles around"), .expensive rings and watches, fancy clothes, displayed a coolness l "Treat 1 am rough"} and when he walked the streets I 'l'he Gals cried Lawdy ! Lawd ! Kissie Lee i s ~ a throw back to Hard Hearted li,mn~ld water on a drowning man.I •.:)z "pour trim~ • She could shoot glass doors offa the hinges, ••• Rallph Hammuh recalls ~ Dolemi te, Shine and others. He was so "bad" that ffe killed his Maw The cul~ural folk types ol f~ight •••• ~;:,:.;.,.·~•.--...,.1 much after the fashion of "'Slim" and other characters in Sterling Brown 1 s Southern Road. Margaret Walkeris contribution, �53 community. Margaret Walker places her in Mississipp i wher~ h~/,A~ 1 As a Big Boy type(Vlright/~ . . feasted on "buttermilk and sorghum. 11 ,... ~ others), he assaults the wor1d through pr:j!sical ...,_ proweas.ilt ! e i . . , . ~ vz t I ; s the best cotton picker, stronger than a "team of oxen, • ~~ champion boxer) anchor down a steam bo8ftt }'li th by the~ ' . II II one 11 the A)O • and, A,_taught ,,,r (/N-iJ_ A,,::J ~itches II how to 11 cunij.e r, 11 "-.until a 11 ten-poun 1 hammer" split , appropriately, open. 11 T h e ~ · e p rf.m.ary form of the poems in this section. The third sect!bon of the book contains six sonnetsl, ~, stanzaic pattern and line-stress ~ ~ ons to these pieces. 11 Childhooil 11 recalls that of all t ~n~stilences that invaded the lives of the poor, ~ including the "hatred" that "still held sway" • 11 '>~ • • only bitter land was washed away • Hhdr~s II are to ld that their labors are indi@ified { ~ h· of deep-woman concern ••• feminism?) they grow old~ they will find that their bodies, in this world of turbulence, will give 11 peaee II t ~ "leave them satisfied. 11 re, Ending, rightly it seems, with .'-, "Struggle Staggers Us," For My People reminds Blackf that there is room to "stagger" but none to halt: Struggle between the morning and the night. This . . . marks our years; this settles, too, our plight. There a~e few volumes of poetry published since For be considered as Black--mn My Poeple that can sense of the word. From the red clay of the children•s playgrounds to the teeming treachery of urban fusilages; from the quiet fear to the piercing cry of the hungry; from th to the iconoclastic and the heretic; from the , healthy racial ohauvblb.sm to the good dose of modesty and naivete--it is all here. A wonderful sensitivit and a rich bank of poetry fo~ all times. �the Renaissanet:1/ P A,,1ink to Walke contact witb_»••-•~•-...WiilliN'8P )• Mt Margaret li k e Hughes, Bontemps, Fenton Johnson and Gwendolyn Bennet~, as well as with later ~•:11 Dodson, Hayden, Gwendolyn Brooks, Margaret M Burroughs and ,.,z Danner, Margaret €""2 ·~ Tolson • .-. For My People . , i n the end, the rich digestion ~(synthesis) of the main currents of the Renaissance and the aesthetic considerations being debated by Locke, Cullen, Johnson) Brown and Redding. . . Margaret may have .-1:ttu. A'.Jl"W~~,.J the volume ol poetry ~ - many of the olde r writers want#ed to write. Without "unrealistic" about her plight as an Afro-American, being st b lance~ pictures of the she ul rown, avoided even a,. in • Southern Road, Africa-- Hayden> ~ both -<>rilliarif p poised in the wings ~~~ the eagle I _..,."' uired fortunate a. signal from the sj claw. " More critical assessment of Margaret Walker's work is needed. Barksdale and Kinnamon make important comments in their anthology. A Poetic ~quation tGiovaimi and Walker, 1974) is extremely helpful in getting to the grit ot the poet•s ideas. Ther e are seminal comments in Paula Giddings 111fA Shoulder Hunched Against a Sharp Concern••: Some Themes in the Poetry of Margaret Walker," Black World, X.X:.I{December, 1971), 20-25. See also Roger Whitlow• s Black American Literatu r e, James o. Young•s Black ~riters of the Thirties, Blyden Jackson's essay in Black Poetry in America, Donald Gibson's Modern Black Poets, Emmanuel's and Sross•s Dark Symphony, Negro Caravan, Arthur P. Davis's From the Dark Tower, eg. ~ugene Redrnond 1 s "The Black American Epic: Its Roots and Its Writers," Contemporary Black Thought{Chrisman and ,,-- Hare), a.rSte}Dh.en Henderson•s Understanding the ~ew Black Poetry, and Addison Gayle's Black ~xpression and The Black Aesthetic. �Friend of Margaret Walker 1 s,anli the most celebrated Black poet of all times, Gwendolyn Brooks rontinues to make her home in Chicago where presides as she t h e ~ - - - - matriafJ:'ch of the New Black ¥oetry. She joins Tolson, Hayden, ,..--...... ~ ~ Randall, Margaret Walker and others as poets of "transition "--those who helped continue tp.e li terat,,p: light of the Renaissance into and through the Depression, World War II,alli Civil Rights and Black Powerism. Bom the daughter of labofiaass parents in Topeka, Kansas, Gwendolyn Brooks was reared in Chicago where she attended public schools, graduating from hnglewood High.I School in 1934 and Wilson Junior College in 1936. Wilson represented the final step in her formal education and in 1939 she married nry Blakely for whom she had a son and Brooks early(l3) and by the time she w~s in her late teens she had published two mimeographed community Since the early 1940s her poetry has appeared i publications: Poetry, Black World, Common Ground, Saturday heview of Literature, Negro Story, Atlantic flilonthly, and countless others. Miss Brooks jolted the literary and academic circuits when she made several significant shifts in the 1960s--one primary one being a move from tlarper and How to Blac~ Broadside Press--but m about these matters in Chapter Vl. Her fi17st book of poetry, A Street in Bronzeville(l945), won the Nerit Award of Madamoiselle magazine and her second volume, Annie Allen(l949) as well as Po~ir&'s ~unice Tietjens Me~o~ia Wad garnered ror her< oveted Pulitzer ~rize~l~~o ecipient of \19 6) $1000 award from the Academy of Arts and Letters and two fellowships for study(l946 and 1947), Gwendolyn Brooks : s eae, M men,- 'eba--. is so long it would take a special pamphlet to rndt over a dosen honorary doctorate degrees, and ai.. tations She has received r..•••--i,..;ili,Q_ special arts and culturtro uncil.$ been named the best this or the best that(and ilila among the JW:k 100 influential this and the 75 most important that) in �.56 compilations, :art regional) and national acknowledge:gients. ,-:;lllfif She has won the i'Lt +J-exiiliCJiUUTZIDPN• .JI A at Poetry Workshop Award, given by the Midwestern Writers' Conference(three times: 1943-4.5#), the Friends ~ t r .......-Litera ture Award for Poetry(l964), the Thormond Monsen Award for Literature(l964), and in 1969 she announced that she would award two prizes of ~250 each to the best poem and best short story published each •year by a Black writer in Negro Digest(now Black World). Institutions where she hast aught ~ C 0 lwnbia,v-•au 11:lmhurst, and Northeastern, isconsin, and many other public and private schools. For some, in 196e however, her crowning achievement was her selection s Poet Laureate of the state of L11inois(suceeding Carl Sandgurg). ~electe.rl foeJU[J(l963), Other volumes of poetry are The Bean .t!iaters ( 1960), -!hthe J.'J.ec ca( 1968), Riot(l969), Family Pictures(l970), Aloneness{l971) and The World of Gwendolyn Brooks \1971, · 7 LL poetry and prose). Special publicati ons include A Portion of the Field: the ~entennial of the Burial of Lincoln(l9b7) and For Illinois, 1968(1968). The poet has alse written some and much-p · Maud Martha .-C.ove1(1953)J Bronzeville lx>ys and &irls(l956). JWli,,.~r work as an editor has been equally impressive: Broadside Treasury(l971) and Jump Bad: A New Chicago Anthology(l971). re-Black ijpyeroent: He~ oetry is most readily accessible in ~elected Poems which contaias her A three earlier books and a Nvw Poems section. Selected~ Poems shows Gwendolyn Brooks• brooking the stream between the integrationist-plea-bound writers and firm, acrid and adamant voices of the 1960s. 1 Sometimes called the "most careful craftsman since Countee Cullen," she was(and to some extent remains) indebted to the modernist school of Amer ican poetry: Eliot, Pound, Crane, " oyc,(influenced, as she says, by The Dubliners), Stevens, Frost, and Auden. Reading these poets and the Black ones (Dunbar, "a family favorite, 11 oJt ' .......,-z,i, Hughes., ~Johnson, an • / U4 provided her with significant development and significant choices. The results were a bewildering �57 ~---' ~~lML array of technical proficiencies,Ailllt thematic and psychological overlays Usually f 'in her poetry. M::im:Jta~orking with lilhat George Kent calls ip p ropriate "distance," this poet carefully sculpt4.,i ll91l poetic gems from the granite and the cheap rock of urban Black ¾merica ' s experience: tenement housing, .returning unsung war heroes, joblessness, consumption, murder, end poverty, love, man-woman relationships, womanhood and motherhood (especially), nobility of the economically-pressed and deep religious devetion. C0 mmenting on the effect of the distance and what Miss Brooks (Blackness and the Adventure of Western Culture) 1 was able to lUinx perceive and JUI.% achieve with it, KentA3ay~t a she ~ ••• such modernist techniques as irony; unusual conjunctions of words to evoke a complex sense of reality( atin Legs ~rnith rising ~ "in a clear delirium"); SEtUeezing the utmost from an image ••• ; agility with mind-bending figurative language, sensitivity to the music of the phrase, inst4ad of imprisonment in traditional line beats and meter; e&perimentation with the possibilities of free verse and various devices for sudden emphasis and verbal surprise; and authoritative management of tone and wide-ranging lyricism. ~one is struck, in reading, watching, or talking with the poet, dlS by intense, yet relaxed love-afftrr with words. Mer prose is poetic; her manner is poetic. In Report from Part One, her autopiography, she discueeas her life as poet, mother, wife and traveler. There a r e valuable insights into the woman who shifted from "Negro" to "Black'' in 1967. • Report also provides her own explication of at least a dozen poems. About poetry writing she says: is involved in whe writing of poetry--and sometimes, although ®iW¥ing 1.·t 1.·s a magic · process, 1.·t ---~~ f seems go into a bit of a trance, self-caist trance, because you really have to 11 brainwork" seems unable to do it all, t o £ do the whole job. The self-cast trance is possible when you are importantly excited about an idea, or surmise, or emotion. �58 Certainly the ''trance" Jlllali ty is found •-~~wendolyn Brooks_ One has only to compare ~ a poem like "the preacher: ruminates behind the sermon"~ Street in Bronzeville) to "Malcolm X"(In the 1v1ecca) to see the staying power of the q mystic, the seer and yet ~ ...-pj fluence of the poetls ~■ a the entrancer. Bronzeville r ez /~pture. It came in rxtf+s• reading a ~f}:,aant 1945 under the in- and experiment~----~ James Weldon John on had helpfully critiqued her w:>rk and the results, she that she became a precise and critic. The acknowleges, A.1TTO r~urer, more couple in the 11 ki tchnette building 11 are products of involuntary planf:" who smeil I- 11 dry hours and the "yesterday's garbage" in the hall. fifth child has finally emerged from the bathroom We think of lukewarm water, hope to get it. The memorable poems in Bronzeville are "the mother," "the preacher," "of De Witt Williams on his way to 1'incoln Cemetery, 11 BJEiJcil "T~ StJNDAYS -.!,!the baJJao ~chocalate Mab~e OF S.A.T-IN-LEG£ SMITH;A~'mooe,BJ HEHB, It elections from a series of sonnets called GAY CHAPS A'1· THE BAR. The mother recalls abortions: you got that you did not get,..- and pledges her love to th •e is a.l. .!:!:ven though she knew them "faintly" she "loved" them "all. 11 Taken from their ''unfihished reach, the aborted lives "never giggled or planned or cried. 11 Rw.minating "behind the sermon" the preacher--revealing deep')tJ ning levels of concern and psychic distress--wonders how it feels "to be 9od. 11 The 't god of fflo.e world the preacher discusses from the pulpit is perhaps not the god of the "real II world. Consequently "ruminates" on whether anyone will Buy Him a Coca-Cola or a beer, Pooh-pooh His politics, call Him a fool? Being god has to b:. 1.~1rY., ~ i , J a hand to hold." De Witt Williams i~eJ?iPctefi. ,the refrain: the preacher 11 �59 sw_eet "11 Swing low swing low sweetg •• t chariot. f Nothing but a plaing black boy • ..-.- we knowf he may have been anything other than 'e)p1amn. But if he were just "a plain black boy" we will celebrate the places ~ he ,rte f I 1 71 ( r hung out(pool hall, show, dance halls, whiskey s t ores) and was 4zr:iriat knownl47th street, under the ( . "L",)v'M t fo~ De Witt's journey is the Black Americanl\odaessey depicted by MJ B Wright, Baldwin, Claude Brown, and company: Born in Alabama. Bred in Illinois. tie was nothing but a Plain black boy. Satin Legs Smith is another cut off the block of the Black ~xperience. him, Miss Brooks Ill joins a host of Black bards, known and "unknown", who uilili•ilB!i...acknowlecfged the importance and ..l✓.J ~obably like_ inflV~e of folk £ulture.,c 11 i De Witt Williams, ~th comes from~ "heritage of cabbage and pigtails." He is reminiscent of Poppa c.;hicken of whom Margaeet Walker sings. The anal~gy, in the opening lines, is to fa cat wh o is "'I••"- . "!awney, reluctant, royal." Rising in the .moi;:ning Sa tir:1114& S:::Z *•• i 1Ji Legs relives himself of '',shabby days 11 " ~ when he : "sheds" his pajamas.Jdt tie bat~, puts on the best body scents,and goes to a wardrobe that, when listed, sounds like a replay of the whole era of • the ijoot-suiter and the Be-boppefAdiamondJ, pearls, suias of yellow, win' "Sarcastic green," and 11 sebra-striped cobalt,"; wide shoul-der padding, ballooning trousers that taper, hats t h a t ~ umbrellas; and "hysterical tiesffl He is enmeshed in his image and blots out the reminders o f ~ poverty and ugliness. He "hears and does not hear"; "sees and does not see." Loving his music and his lady, he takes his date tc ; tw:m k "Joe#,1 s .ri;ats II affter which he retii.res ( at home) to her body•--i"new brown bread ••• so ft, and absolute. 11 It is a moaai~-=-study complete with the down-hown versus Promised Land theme. �60 ~ The ~egro Hero ( 11 to suggest Do:trie Miller": a WWII Navy c. white meni 8--' cook turned hero) 11had to kick"4'ilfw law into their teeth" before he ~ "save them." Being Black, it was not safe, even in the I"'. think and t~n of battle.when t~e ship was going down, tog come up from the galley and save the white sailors. Instead of jumping overboard and leaving them to their fate, like Shine, this hero invoked their "white-gowned llemocracy" Jd11111:prldrax~ and ~ a t their side despite the statement by a southern whiteman that: Indeed, I•d rather be dead; Indeed, Iid rather be shot in the head Or ridden to waste on the back of a nood Than saved by the drop of a black man•s blood. 11 ~ 1'gro Hero '·f\reflects the Black American doing his duty, believing in Christianity and LJemocracy, to the best of his American self. As a theme, it the idea was loosing ground ai among Black writers; b u t ~ would be some years before resentment of such ''heroics" would be blatantly. a I!! ~ <;Ctsa11i1?: I itJ ; t &rti c 09h4. Experimental " sonnets' ec ~ ,e 1 ai:I; in the final section of Bronzeville In "gay chaps at the bar" -Wili-.;f;i;;m;i=ti=.a-.-m,~!ff!Pe-~ the soldiers• traini~~ref)them-~ ~ ~; To holler do-wn the lions in the air. In "the pro gress" the pltrase is questionable when the soldiers hear the march Of iron feet again. C, The Pulitzer Prize-winning Annie Allen shows Gwendolyn Brooks rustain~ laising her balance between the modernist influences and her own intuitional 9 pJtrasings and interets. Mldlll•llli Some might call it the least Black especia of her volumes since it contains the enigmatic and diffusive "mie Anniad. 11 And while her "children of the poor 11 series re-states the plight of the • �61 "unheroic, 11 she is nev e r t ~ withdrawn than in Bronzeville. continuin Yet the titles of both volumes signal her in erest in, and empathy with, llDl 11 every day people. 11 In ft about women( "the mother, 11 : her fi. rst volume, she had written extensively 11 chocalate mabbie, 11 "the hunchback") and she opens Annie a11en with NOTES FROM THE G:IILDHOOD AND THE GIRLHOOD. Her neat llOrds and stanzas deal with a neat life in "the parenta: people like our marriage. custards. 11 11 Behind a "white Venetian blmnd" sits "Jneas ant -rm••""' M•tliir"Sunday Chicken" is a humorous D¥Q2 comparison 17 isr carni11:or~s who eat human flesh and those who eat _ excavati.ng. chicken. Her fin." 1- o f poetic jewels from.,ai.•n•rwAW between the death of an "old relative, 11 and " the ballad of late Annie", too "proud" to find a maif' good enough to marry. The reader is encouraged _..._, to avoid easy solutions in •tdo not be afraid iai of n ,,.. It is brave to be involved, "' To be not fearful im be unresolved. ondesc An p eople in high stationsiJae bro gh~ lo~Jn "pygmies are pygmies still, v~ /t. S -Hitef\. sometime though percht on Alps. 11 l\ r others JI nthrtsHzjJ,p 11 feel they are better than g and Pity the giants wallowing on the plain. But unbeknowimg to the "THE ANN IAD 11 contains 11 per: cht II indi vi.duals they have 43 11 no alps to reach. 11 seve.n -line stanzas, adapted, so Miss .!:)rooks says, from the Chauc~rian Rhyme Royal. As a mode rn poem, it places the author in the middle oft he mode rnist tradition with other black poets: Hayden,EII& Dodson and Tolson. Any claim that Uwendolyn is totally accessible will have to reconsider wo~ lass, 11 11 11 faradisaical," "thaumat,~gic theopathy," "Peophesying hecatombs, !9lato," "Aeschylus, 11 "Seneca, 11 11 "Hyacinthine devils sing, ' 1 ''Mimnermus," "Pliny" and Dionysus. By the poet I s own admission, 11 THE ANN IAD' ' is 11 11 labored,f a poem thatls very interested in the mysteries and ma gic of technique." ,,..-.._ With Hayden•s lil1lm 11 . The Diver," the poem carries you deeper and deeper �62 into the underbrushes of self and psyche. Annie becomes Anniad, the poet•s way of giving another unheroic character in her work the stature of the heroic--this time the Iliad. When you think of Annie\Anniad) you W ,(,"xa7' .mi•~- Think of sweet and chocalate, ••• . • Gia ,.........__ Hay d en I s ...---d.i ver ._ t"""'I . • and percep t.ions 0111. is again Th e b lurre d imagery ••••g!l&:rJ.:1!!11111•.~1 anticipated in the line What is ever and is not. (Remember ~atin Legs hearing and not hearing, seeing and not seeing~) ~ Full of magic, history, lore, mythology, ~ supernaturalism, "THE ANNIAD" plunges through the II mental and spiritual spheres/~ "cres<lndo- comes," Surrealist and cynical • ..---.., Anniad is Reeded, hungry,Jllllli courted, and won, as she descends and 11 ascends the demi-gloom" of life, of now and then. Just as you were to Think of sweet and chocalate at the beginning oft he poem, you are to Think of almost thoroughly Derelict and dim and done. ~ as the poem closes. And, r;.;;.. l1t:it~all--after ~ all--a dream as Anniad stands Kissing in her kitchenette The minuets of memory. APPENDIX TO THE ANNIAD includes the now-famous invention, "the sonnetballad," in title and in type. The traditionfsonnet is enlivened--given a ballad stance and temperament; the young woman whose soldier-boyfriend is dead wonders what she can use "an empty heart-cup for." The achievement of Annie Allen, however, is THE WOMANHOOD and especially the five sonnets on "the children of the poor. 11 Childless people "can be hard" since they will not, like those with children, Hesitate in the hurricane to guard. I In-~- I ~ .,,, a mother asks what she can give to poor children. The fourth �63 sonnet, seeking perhaps to resolve the surreal dream, advises the poor to 'First fight. Then fiddle. 11 There is nothing wrong with rising "blood'Yj" For having first to civilize a space Wherein to play your violin with grace. It is the same• unmuted~ caii(I'enaered by Margaret .lker in the fi}lnal I"""") .... stanza of 11 -- ·or My People. 11 Beverly Hills, Chicagof" takes an interesting 1 .1. look, through Black and poor eyes, at the pe ople who "live till they have white hair." To 8ay Bev erly Hil ~ anywhere is to evolte images of splendor and richness, of glitter and high life. The denizens of Chicago's Beverly Hills "walk their golden gardens" as the poor sight-seers drive through the neighborhood. Here the "ripeness rote II though "not . raggedly. 11 Decadence is neat, says the poet: ••• fNot that anybody is saying thav these people have no trouble. Mvrely that it is trouble with a gold-flecked beautiful banner. The poem's theme is one that is dear to Blacks in their daily comrersations: that whites, especially rich whites, do not really live; that they are mannikins, freaks for the well-landsc aped~; that they are inhibited and not free in their expressions. These people, the poet reminds us, also "cease to be"~m~ ) Thei» passings are even more painful than ours. ~ y often live corpses, 11 ~ as it wer "till 1 11 their hair is white." The1J.also make "exccellent among the expensive flo wers. 11 Nevertheless the poor sight-seers have been changed, noticeably, b~ what they have seen, and the C change is noted in "little gruff" tone of their voices as they "drive on." The Bean ~aters finds the poet leaping back into the transitional breach where she does battle She gathers of II with probelms and enemies of the unheroic. ui the pride, passion, despair, disillusionment, joy and anguish ,, bean eaters and related gourmets. The book opens with an elegy to her �to her f a ther l "Ill HONOR OF DAVID ANDERSON BROOKS, MY FATHEfl 11 ) and, - . ~. ~ 1 reflecting debts to Margaret, Hugh.es,& J lb~l.e:ck musi~the Beat tumultuous spectrum of Movement,moves through ~vignettes and perceptions!8111E1i. "MY LLrTLE COOL, 11 BOUT*TOWN GAL," 11 i MEN, RIDING HORSES," "WE REAL S'.UB6 "A BIDNZEVILLE MOTHER LOITERS IN MISSISSIPPI. MEANWH ILE, A MISSISSIPPI MOTtlERN BURNS BACON., OF EMMETT TILL, 11 11 "THE LAST QUATRAIN OF THE BALLAD "THE CHICAGO DEFENDER SENDS A MAN TO LITTLE ROClt, saga "THE CRAZY WOMAN," and the powerful < 11 11 Tlfis BALLAD OF ) RUDOLPH RESD. 11 The death of David Henderson Brooks has left • A dryness ,'-;P.on the house •••• 'JJ11t,A.beence o f ~ man, who ''loved and tended, 11 gives the poet pause, makes her recall h ~ r i v a t e charity" of the old time religion into "public love. 11 The narrator• s 111 bout-to-wn gal II gallavants with "powder and blue dye" while he waits with the moon. Watching the western movies, the speaker in 11 RIDITNG" (not reminiscent of Brown I s poem) ~TRONG MEN, realizes that the westerns are products of hollywooa, that the strong men are 11 saddlep.~" Meanwhile the sp e a er s to deal · th real life-~~ .)Mfr It ~ 4 - l , v-,J ~ -r. ~ .. the fears, the dark, and s 'not brave at al 1. "k_ating beansf "mostly,f' 1'00 ~ the "old yellow pair" in 11 "TH£ BE1\N E~ putter around their apartment~ recalling their lives "with twinkling s and twinges." D e s ~ t h e r kind COOL" in which the poet comes to the dramatis persona of "WE REAL i.l.!Pf g ,a employs a Hughesian jazz pattern -----:') jagge d rhythms reminiscent of Beat poetry,.-.it Babs Gonzales and King Pleasure ~ ecit ~f the "live fast,Jdie youngn pattern of many uban Black youths: We real cool. We Left school. We Lurk late. We Strike straigp.t. We ~ �Sing sin. we We Thin gin. Jazz June. We Die s:> on. The longest poem i n , The ~ean ~aters( 1'9RONZEVILLE MOTHER LOIT~~~ I N MISSISSI PPI• MEANWHILE, A MISSISSIPPI MOTHERN BURNS BACON. ~ 11 ) .. is a ') ,I\. of jounalism, day-drearniW, farry-tale history,and racial horror. lynched 1 The mother of slain 14-ye a r old ~ e t t 'l ill( n 1955 in Mississippi after allegedly making "passes" at a i..ihite housewife) toys over the rethe same time white mains of her son and her D111144~ dalpflge fai t , "mother" ( victim) . , ~ recollect!~ childhood a-.-a.t~ "Dark Villain 11 by the "Fine Prine __, pa.rauing the "milk-white maid" 1'dC- e,j. The white €escued 8P dares to doubt the need to l y n c ~ t t as she c.a:';i;;i,-~~~i...a.l..OiilciiJl!lil:r.i: sexually assaulted by ".!;ark Villiam. 11 The poems includes news reports of the crim S1IJd- the lynching ) as well as accounts of the trail and the "acquittal. mm I 11 In "THE LAST QU ATRAIN OF THE BALLAD OF EMMETT TI, LL!f .l.!Jrnmett Is mother "kisses her killed boy" while sitting in 11 a red room '' and "drinking ~ black coffee. n Unable to describe :aim the lynched boy 1 s mother• s grief, the poet gathers up e;, iii I Hp'Pli' -es e ~ I the blurring pain Chaos in windy grays through a red prairie. ,.-.... Again combing journalism, history and mythology with the ii: "contemporary fact, 11 Gwendo lyn Brooks portrays one of the high points of the Ci vi 1 Rights era in "THE CHICAGO DEFENDER SENDS A MAN TO LI'l'TLE RO CK." (rf ,1) People in Little Rock, the poet tells us in the opening lines, have babies, othe .,...--..._ etches comb their hair, and read the p apers l i ~ e r i c a n s . ~ She thenAkl!l"n!I~~ ~ontradiettbons and ironies in the "Soft women softlyrt who "are hurling spittle,rock." These "bright madonnas, 11 like those with "eyes of steely blue" �66 in McKay•s 11 The Lynching," become "a coiling ......--..... storm a-writhe. 11 The last line of the poem, The loveliest lynchess was our Lord. ✓ . has since been repudiated by Miss Brooks who feels that the great traged$ 1iJ" slavery a nd continuing dehumanizing of Blacks/ makes for more important • and urge t "news II than the J/r. tp;.__)IW\ ~ a•lffln...!lllfl cruci fi.xion of a white cJ esus. A~, A woman who refuses to sing in May because she feels A May song should be gay. is admonished., after she choses to si. ng a '' gray" song in November• 11 call her in ThAJffilll bi% u1:,tot11022 F 'fhe Crazy Woman.~' One o f the more well known poems Bean Eaters is "THE BALLAD OF RUDOLPH REED" who, along with his w ~ "two good girls 11 ,was 'f~DiJ.l:,t 1baken." Reed,, se eking the ~4 Rudolph Promised Land in the north and riding on the crest of the new push for integration, buys a h ome in a ~ i t e neighborhoqd because he wants to avoid falling plaster a nd the p-oaches · Fa lling like fat rain. inter not quite right for >tffi ~ housing ~ when thex moved in: a rocks and the Reed family experi 1:. nC6'j\ Jt vlholence)tAi firob ni~1' fit +lbc ft&t:1!8i But the times Jig riX?ilWlu are thrown through their windows the first two nights. The repetition and incrementation are almost ironic in the ballad as Reed, filled with grief ~nd anger when one o f his daughters iB finally hit with a rock, goes ••• to the door with a thirty-four and a beastly butcher knife. m#e attacks four white men before he is finallyLI: slain and kicked by neighbora who callf mim "Nigger. 11 ~ an unpleas~t story; but as a chronicle of the themes and consciousness of a poet, it places Uwmidolyn Brooks on t h e t h reshhold of the new militancy, some of which is unveiled in the New Poems section of Selected Poems. Poems like "RIDERS TO THE BLOOD-RED WaitATH" and "LANGSTON HUGHES" show her concerned with struggle and the �spiralling fury of social unrest. At the same time, she salutes a white poet, as in "OF ROBERT FROST",and conttinues her practic e of mining the unheroic for poetry in a section of variegated stylistic efforts like A CATCH OF SHY FISH• The 11 ftider" (perhaps a parS.dy, of the purple sage riders) lurch into the breach of human struggle and social chaos. They are t he freedom riders--seeking what is "reliably right"-conducting sit-ins, wade-ins, lie-ins, sing~ns, pray-ins and voter registration drives. Stokely Carmichael has called them "shock troops 11 of the current "revolution." One states: My scree.ml unedi t ed, unfrivolous. My laboring unlatched braid of heat and fro • I hurt. I keep that scream at what pain: At what repeal of salvage and eclipse. Army unhonored, meriting the gold, I Have sewn my guns inside my burning lips. And* he goes on to ••• remember kings. A blossoming palace. ~ilver. Ivory. The conventional wealth of stalking Africa. This rider recalls his p a st, projects his f'unure, and surveys the state of the world, from China to Israel. He is going to make the KX asked by Margaret: Democracy and Christianity Recommence. with me. And I ride ride I ride on to the end-Where glowers my continuing Calvary. With his "fellows, 11 he intends to see the battle through, To fail, to flourish, to wither or to win. We lurch, distribute, we extend, begin. u 11 bloody peace" �68 Yet, "TO BE IN LOVE" is also to extend and " fall 11 along a golden column Into the commonest ash. Diverse, explicit and splendid, the poems in thi s section achieve balance as Miss Brooks salutes two senior bards--Frost and Hughes. l<'rost has Iron at the mouth. And 1.n lm1 : llilut With a place to stand. ~)AJ r110w, much more than 'W' immediiate physical space, but ~ ~ a permanent position on the world• s poetry totem. As "merry glory," Hughes Yet grips his ri ght of twisting free. His "long reach" encompa~s ,,-... II peach, 11 11 fears, 11 "tears" and"sudden death." Hughes 1 s job is not :t done, A..a s a "headlight" he must press on, Till the air is cured of its fever. AtlliG=:G~poet returns to her garden~ on-heroes in poems about garbage men, the sick, ojld people, st e ra women, and 11 Big .bessi!" who 11 throWB heEr son into the street." Sculpture, precision, explicitness and terseness are key words too reQ t,_he poetry of member when approaching~ wendolyn brooks. Not primarily of the academy, but often sharing some of its virtues and f aults, she has been free to deal primairly with pictures swirling a~ound her during bhildhood and adulthood in Chicago. Sometimes her po e try about night life and the Bouth carries a forced feeling,pince these are not things she is in intimate contact with, but she is alway:s skillful and economic. Her world has not been "wide" in the way that Tolson and Hayden h ave been "wide." But it has been deep and multi-laye red, complex and womanly, tra gic and profound. ,,,...... Her poetry has not, at this writing,• inspired a book-lengbh study but she - has been the subject of much critical mtm~xrri treatment. Selected studies . will be l isted here since bibliographies are widely available. For example, CLA Journal, XVII(Septl!IITlba:' 19~3),{~~SSi\ltiesHn Brooks, Hayden and Baraka), lists a 12-page bibliography. She is represented in �every anthology of Afro-American poetry, beginning with IGlll!illllll,llll"Poetry of the Negro{l949 ed.) and in many general American anthologies of poetry and literature. Helpful are George ~ent's "The Poetry of Gwendolyn Brooks 11 (Black and the Adventure of Western Cultu r e, 1972); the critical entries in Black Writers of America(Barksdale and Kinnamon); Arthur P. Davis 1 s From the Dark Tower; Blyden Jackson 1 s essay in B~aak Poetry ,.._____ in America(l974); essays in Donald Gibson's Modern Black Poets; Report from Part One, Gwendolyn Brooks 1 aut~biographyll972); and numerous other sources to which the r eader will be referred by checking any of the above items. �70 Owen Dodson's first volume of poetry, 8owerful Long Ladder(1946), fl. j I was one of the casualties of the dis-interest in Black poetry during~f~ta-~~~ --~war ye a rs. The Goo k did not go enti r ely unnoticed, however, for Time magazine described it .B. ot :ib I .km as standing "peer to Frost and Sandburg and other white American poets who are constantly recited in our schools. 11 Powerful Long Ladder O the midst of Dodson's suceessful} career as dramatist and te a cher. ½ His interest in writing if« youth in ~.brooklyn, .New York, whe re he and drama began in his was born and attended public schools. He went to .bates College, obt aining a B.A., and Yale ,..zhere he was awarded the M.A in drama. While a student at Yale two of his plays--Divine Comedy and Garden of Time--were produced. ~ince those years Dodson's work~ drama and writing has been prodigous. He ,-.. taught A drama at ~pelman College in Atlantaf; was I' tJt commissioned to write a play on.-the Amistad mutiny for Talladega vollege,~..-e. directed summer theatre at Hamp¥ton Institute, the Theatre Lobby Washington, and at Lincollj. UniversitYf• Dodson finally settled at Howard University as drama instructor, later becomi~g head of the department and remaining there until ~;u1 retiri'mi'N:~ in>1969. In 1949, he took the rtoward University E1ayers on a successful ~tate ~epartment-sponsored tour of Scandanavia and uerrnany. His novel, Boy at the Window, was publi shed in 19.50, and his short story, "The Summer lt'ire, 11 won a Paris Review p ~ appeared in the Best ~hort ~tories from that publication. He receiV:ed many other awards and forms of recoga General nition; ~·-•a111F111ii~rlosenwald fellowship Education Board fellowship ~ I a uuggenheim grant # travel in Italy(l9.53)•~ Maxwell Anderson Prize for • ,u I ~- to study and verse play. He alro wrote the libretto for Mark(f Fax 1 s opera, A ChristmaJI Miracle, and collaborated with Fax on the Howard Centenary op e ra. He has completed a numbar of manuscripts in poetry and prose which have never been published. One of his most re~ ~ ~tl::llllll!li9'1S 1~was The Dream Awake\1969), a cultural history of Black Americans, �71 released by ~poken Arts, and consisting of color films, records, textbooks, illustrations, and other mat e rials and interest. In 1970, his second which show the range of Dodson's talents VO 11:J verse~, f The Confession Stone: Song Cycles, ~as published ~a;:t"•••~the poems were written before 1960. About his work as a poet, Dd.dson reports with some dispirit in Interview with Black Writers(OtBrien): I have written three books of poetry. The first was-nt gg JI vPuld say--somewhat propaganda, but the third was filled with •••·-•stories, diaries, and remembrances of Jesue. They are really framed st · ■ in diaries by Mary, Martha, Joseph, Judas, Jesus, even God. This, I believe, is my most dedicated work•••• I have written and fought somehow in my writing, but I know now that the courage and forthrightness of writers anioets will change something a little in our di~apidation. That 11 first 11 wolume is obv:i,ously Powerful Long Ladder; Dodson does not have to depreciatea "rose?& for urjtii::a@ i:t;~ since it will hold him in r-. good stead as a poet. There is not one poe_fm in the book which cannot not be aesthetically or stylistically called• "poetry." And this is not a claim that many poets can make. Dodson 1 s influences can certainly bet traced to the American modernists. ¾d there is no doubt that, in his recurring despair, he shares sentiments with ~liot, Pound, Auden and Yeats. Yet, in his lilt and his language, he also pays his debts to Hughes, Dunbar, Cullen(whom he eulogizes), James eldon Johnson and the whole web of Black folk and spiritual life. Dodson•s note of despair, which pervades the book, is sounded in the opening poem\ "Lament 11 ) where the lynched boy is addressed: Wake up, boy, and tell me how you died: .,.--. What sense watJ alert last, ••• �(2 Belying heavily on his experiences and interests in drama, Dodson section he gives detai~ that recall other • In an poems on the theme: drank itself. one night, the Mississi the bridge from which xou hung th~ arms 1!.P, folded into mud like an old obscene accordion, the crowd_ dispersed one by_ ..on.e •••• The invisible Black viewer of the ~ynching , going beyond the actual act to the nature of death itself, gets curious about the last moments, and questions · the dead boy: ~ell me what r o you took, What hour in the day is luckiest? The narrator wants a sign( "the acrostic, the croms, the crown or the fire"), something to make his own way easier, bearable: • O, wake up, wake! ~everal strains of Black and modern poetry ID can be seen in Dodaen 1 s idiom. In "Lrui tar II he · rk, not the least among them reminds us of ~terling Brownf. has a "lonesome" wail and cannot "hold its own" against the Georgia hound. And the guitarist-singe:tr Ain 1 t had nobody :di\ To call me home From the electric cities Where I roam. An adapatatmon of the blues motif ...--..... in style and theme, it employs incremental �73 and the ambivalent drive-sulk of the blues troubador. somber tone of Dodson• s persists in poems like "i::>orrow is the only ..1;1'aithful One"("I am less, unmagic, black"), 11 "Black Mother Praying" {"black and burnin in these burnin times"}, "The i::>ignifyimg lJarkness," and there are tinges of it even in celebratory poems such as "?earl Primus" and "Poem for Pearl 1 s Dancers." But the grand statement of poetry is always lurking or leadingt 11 .1:'ea:l~ Primus " ): shawl on their backs," and 11 11 the sun is like pistoning her feet in the air." In "~ome- day We 1 re Gonna Tear ifhem Pillars LJown" a woman They ttook ma strong-muscle John and cut hi manhood off •••• The Blacks in "Rag Doll and Summer Birds" sit in their cabin(like "The ,--. Bean ..,;,aters") "waiting for God." The,. fire in the stove gofes out, the 4se,,,,,,. newspapered walls, "telling of crimes 11 curl I up and In the Blackness stars are not enough! Included in Powerful Long Ladder.,...are three verse choruses from Divine C0medy. D0 dson was the first Black dramatist to exploit the meanin~ of the 1''ather Uevine movement in verse drama. When a cult leader is gone, the drama contends, Wh~ people are forced inward to find a re a~cement. Divine Comedy is bizarre, with shifting uncertainties, horror, violence, religious extremism and racial intensity. The 9irst chorus asks ( ,c.,., ·.,....__.,. ,.. .H Cancel us. Let Doomsday come down ~ike the foot of Go A character called 11 on us. 6ne" notes that ~e are clear and confused on many issues: ••• A 11 Girl" I dance without legs. �74- "One II reminds us that War, war will bomb your eyes.- open. In the Star Chorus, .ta "Blind Man" others ~ Don.j,t leave the blind to wander Where the wind is a wall! Uullen, one of Dodson•s heroes, had suggested that Blacks were not made "eternally to weep"("From the Dark ~owera 11 ) and LJodson has a a-c "Young Man 11 say This shall not be forever. .., delicately_., for My Brother Kenneth, DodsonArecalls In the section rother. 'fiie somber tone and weightiness returnt as the poet) address',? his brother, a s ~ for some answer to the 11 11 11 ,, long tanks" that creep" and the "dark body of the ruined dark boy. • There was no repl¥: You gave me a smile and returned to · the grave. ~ In Interviews with Black Writers Dodson/'8fAa!!!!• that Culle did not die from disease but "was pushed into death 11 by "us because we did not recognize the universal (il& ~his Review ~erila) quality of what he wanted to say." ln his eulogy, "Coli::~~~lJ~-:,' Dodson bids farewell toll< his friend who died in 1946, ~ CO'!Kiff-r/ tn/-- • We h ea r all mankind yearning For a new year without hemlock in our glasses. Later in "Drunken Lover" we find that this is "the stagnant hour.'' And • Dodson's interest is seen in 11 Jonathan's Song": Jew is not a race Any longer--but a condition. Finally, Dodson closes the volume appropriately with "Open Letter" wherein he asks~ for tolerance and understanding in a time of war, hatred, domestic violence and racism. In "Jonatha:b. 1 s Song 11 he aligned himself with the ijews �75 being massacred in Germany: I am part of this: ••• "Open Letter II c a lls on the universal brotherhood: Brothers, let us discover our heabss again, ~errnitting the regular strong beat of humanity there To propel the likelihood of other terror to an exit. The war is almost over, he says, :t:u: a -as "planes stab over us." -- The word "hallelujah" can be understood in the langaage of All the mourning children and The torn soul& and broken bodies will be restored when war has ce a sed forever. -J! #Jc. Signaling~6".'brothers, 11 a tone and posture quickly fading from Black , poetry, Dodson challenges them: Brothers, let us ente r tha t portal for good V~hen peace surrounds us like a credible uni vers•. Bury t nat agony, bury this hate, take our black hands in yours. It was the "We Shall Overcome" call that would die in the mid-sixtiesm., though a few(Hayden, Hughes and others) would continu e to walk the r-.. difficult tight-Dope of liJ universal brotherhood. There are fine rhythms and keen perceptions in Dodson's poetry. His technical skill surpasses many Black and white poets who continue to backseat him. H onfession ~tone: ~ongs Cycles, though published in contains work done in the forties and fifties. Dodson has described it as being of Jesus. 11 11 f i lled with stories, diaries, and remembrances It is a strange "cycle,~ which moves among 11 ·r he land of the many written to be sung) are "The Confession ltone, 11 "Mary Passed this Morning,'' "Journals �76 of the Magdelene, 11 "Your -=>ervant: Judas," 1t1''ather, I Know Yoll%•re recast Lonely," "Dear, My Son," f and , 11 C,h My Boy, Jesus." The cyclesi\::... .111ta;=_ ~ , Biblical stories r~osastt v: { ~sus Christ and the crucifixion, updating them by adding contemporary langaage(Black idiom at times) ,,-- technology. In and 311K poem I of "donfession ..>tone, 11 Jesus is quieted with the words shushhh, you need the rest • .ln III Jesus is asked if he knows "Lazarus is back?n In V Jesus•s mother vows to save him from the cold and icy J-erusalem ground: ~et me rock him again in my trembling arms. "Bary Passed this Morni:gg" contains "letters from Joseph to ~rtha." Nl:IDber I is a411U1a poetic tele gram: Martha Mary passed this morning funeral this evening stop Near six oiclock tell the others stop Raising bus fare for you stop signed Joseph It is clear after a while ~n Dodson is reliving the life /'(! f Jesus through Black character'l ~•~the old search ~ for the II Promised Land motif(c.f. Wright, ~llison, Baldwin, Brown). In number2 I of "Journals of the 1"1 agdelenef" Magdelene vows even to "crucify myself" in order to be with him. Amen. Writing a letter to Jesus in number I of "Your .::>ervant: Judas," Judas Bays Dear Jesus ,I killed myself last night. The "cycle" is complet e d opening poem: of the 11 as Dodson ends the small volume with the 0h My Boy: Jesus" and the mother saying, in the manner preacher in Johnson's "l.,;reation 11 : I• 11 rest on my breast~ J �77 Of Dodson's freqently anthfologized peems, "Yardbird 1 s ~kull"(a tribute to saxophone player, ~harles "Yardbird" Park er) is one of the most enduring and poetically powerful. Parker(l920-19S5) ~ isAsaiuted by other poets and writers; Cuney and John A. Williams• ) ~ --... igur in to name just two,. is z 1 wa, a major,i;iiiliiil•IEl!s.illilL the developjazz ment of · , American musicf and rontempor a ry jazz *1 literauu~. In statement and style, "Yardbird 1 ~ r e s the pllychic and :rhythmic layerings and •anderings of 11 Bird 1 s" horn. When "'Che bird" died, Dodson thinks, so did "all the music/" and "whole sunsets" were deprived of this @neat musician·s voice. A skull become11 ~s~~ the metaphor for t~Forridors of .Kliil s fingering retra •e Bird* • s journey to greatness: to air, to a birds soaring~ to Atlantis, even, and Pl aces of dreaming, swimming lemmings. which sired the music, �78 Gwendolyn Brooksis winning of the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1950 ~ momentarily brought new attention to the peetic activities of over Afro-Americans. But, though her name hung like the deacde of the fifties, the period in fact was dominat~d by fiction writers: "specially the articulate expatriate Richard Wri ght, halph Ellison, and James Baldwin. Wright had established a tradition, and many were attempting to follow in his footstepKs--including John Oliver Killens, William Attaway, and Cester Himes."(i@:ftfjjaleand Kinnamon)~ yfffxaof 'l1he the fiction writers, and their accompanying dialogue with Black and white critics and each othe«>, helped #develop,••• 11 8111i national, almost global concern for the identit:y problems of American Blacks. 11 were writing and publishing, in various places, during the •• fifties,..,..!11'9!!:l!!:!i, the sixties and ground swe],l seventies. found in such antholo gies as ~ Negro Caravan{l941), _T_h_e-,-...,.....~----..---,~~- 949), American Literature Authorsll Blues{l962j., -.))~~ AF-~-----=;___ ~ ~ /!:!),.~~ ~ul:H~IC..J~~~(fl' ,w _..;;;..rn_1__....:,~-_;_:_~:;:_;;_;='---"-=.::..::....:::..:...::.::;:;;._--=~.:...::..=...L-_.:z:..!:.=..:_--=l~9-=-6=-2 l 19 6 3 ) • As individuals and groups, the poets continued to make r}{, av a ilable either to each other or to the Hughes, ~ poetry reading audiences of the perio J Hayden, their W> Cr.~ )'"' small Black wendolyn Brooks and others, who had established reput a tions in the forties, continued writing: Hughes published his highly exper~mental Ask Your Mama--12 tr'- r.esser.. , -lm. this Moods for Jazz in 1961). etyounger of ransi tional stage(Wright, Vannell', 0 1 Higgin~, Allen--Vesey~~ Randall, Durem, Holman, Jeff ers, Patterson, Atkins,Evans and others) either published through 1 little ma gazines or won various regional and national writing contests-C) primafrily through schools and colleges. L:,.; �79 Opportunity, The Crisis, The Negro ~tory, Negro History Bulletin,e~~~➔ ~ume:irous college periodicals, continued to provide forums-f·2'!,~g~ who appeared in The Crisis during the Some thirties and forties, for example, would include: Grace E. Barr, ~dna Barrett, Milton Brighte, Sophy Mae Bryson, Clarrssa Bucklin, Lillian Byrnes, Polly Mae Hall, Alice Ward Smith, Paul A. Wren, Walter Adams, Ethel Collins, Edith M. Durham~ tieynelds.mSJIS:: Other/\.4!J l :;::a II who published in regional magazines or brought out collections of their own works were: Noy Jeseph Dick e rson (A ~erap Boo~, 1931), Thomas Atkins\The ~agle, 1936J, Leslie M. Collins\~xile, A Book of Verse, 1938), \'Jilliam \ alker (who published 11 volumes between 1936 and 1943), Olive tewis Handy,, Claude T. Ea s tman, Nick Aaron Ford(Song s from the Vark, 1940), Maurice Fields(The vollegted poems of Maurice Fields, 1940), R.F. Boyd( Holiday Stanzas, 1940), folklorist J. Mason Brewer(four books of poems), William Holmes Borders('fllunde rbolts,1942), Anita Turpeau Anderson(Pinpoints:Group of Poems and Prose Writings, 1943), Aloise Barbe•r Epperson(The Hills of Yesterday a nd Ot her Pdams, 1944), Mary Albert Bacon(Poems of Color, 1948), Harrison Edward Lee(Poems for the Day, 1954), Willie .cnnis(Joetically Speaking, 1957), Paul Vese~(Ivory Tusks, 1956), and Arthur Wesley Reason(Poems of Inspiration for Better Living, 1959). Among white poets, the fifites were aglow with the fel!'Vor o: ,at movement: Kenneth Rexroth, E.E. Cummings, Lawrence Fehrlinghett i,,t A1an Ginzberg 1 "PlRd obhe1 ,,._ Hughes, and Bob Kaufman especially, played a great part in introducing the beats to ~ i c s of jazz and the jagged-lined interpretat ion of post-war blues of the "lost genera tion". Another influence on the beats was Russell Atkins• who, with n elen Johnson Collins;, �... Go founded Free Lance in Cleveland, 6h!ho, in 1950. An avant-garde little" in the development of ideas and magazine, it played techniques of the New l'L.itt,31 11 W Americ~~~;;o~e.da":;:,,of the sistties, r=the "style" life of Blacksff~erta-E.s,t' I i]Dw) as it always had, in the pacing of the literary and cultural concerns. The Be Bop poet Babs Gonzales,;;;ii'along with jazz-poetry narrators like . Pl ea sure, ,t::@'§eltae ;-~ 1_~ proroa . : P en-y 4-, • 4th e s t ance o f poe t s wh o rea d King i:ilhe their work aloud as well as sifgnaled a call for re-examination of the "ear" tradi tiona:t-~sed in the silent writing of a poem. As the fifties closed, the predise passion of Gwendolyn Brooks and the troubador's gait of Hughes hurled a dual,iet to be wiifie':Jchallenge at Black po ets, --- ,---- � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context EBRWritings_07_32 Title A name given to the resource Draft of Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, D. The Extended Renaissance: 30s, 40s, 50s, p. 1-80 Relation A related resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource For digital rights and permissions, see <a href="https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml">https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml</a> or contact <a href="mailto:library@siue.edu">library@siue.edu</a> for direct inquiries. In copyright. <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Redmond, Eugene B. https://digitallis.isg.siue.edu/files/original/1b2eca3d97643eccdd4f741f94d5da5b.pdf 06f049679a071232c73885d958d7ca8d PDF Text Text V ~ I C ~ PTER V: A • ice a motherless ch·1a, Somet· es I fee lnn~ ~ ra s from hor1e; A lone; 1-mys from home . ---Afro - rrerican Sn · ri t, - 1 I OV i'RVIE ,J ~r~ r-~1s~·uption of chronology will be r1ore evident • in this chanter because urPceding ones . This is so alw,,ys a chieve* ame age do not N uoets oj_.he th n in reco1sni tion at the sa.r1.e time We hnve 1ooked t James eJ don Johneoon , mention him a ,ain in thieo for exqmpl e , b t we - ch2nter. In fnct--for reasons to be s O'm- - ,J 0 hnson overRh"'do rn alr,1ost the whole of BJ, ck noet,,.""r • and ·ur-)1e /\., S,,J 7 en , ,.., Melvin B. before ..ill be ViA•idd afte t- t;hem in ~e Ro st -fanaj_ s nee period . Since the primar, airi. of this st d is to "cite" the r1ost names and events in the n0velonment of BJr c ro ch to t~i s chanter Jill follo1 0 oetry , the others in - criticism -r.ill remain minimal , a, _J .s ~,Joml ""Orts-- oft he rorld . A..,nraisals of Black 1)0Atry, tl-ien, become a bit more diffic1lt since the Pl" c, noet c15r] ,,, 6 h21ro Pl[>ck iritA 'f! ~ u1n F"' til the second dnc de o f t o 20th centur, s 8een ar somewh t " CCQ,;JS ta either dt;\ to n f' '"' TI °'- "frgplr ntil the 19h() 1 s , ho.d very ~ e arnrr11ent 8 clc • not,., . '710 Ie :nt")t0rci~11s ta to fir,ht criti c,,1 or literary 11 J.ynchings . '1 bee t 1 .• ·J Jadtb 01 rith s he hich rJodels 1 ere ec-se ti 1 1 a, ,e,- co t · nue In tr.e ~9~0 1 ~ "exotic" esc'"' e ro ·ter- ~ '~), - (Yr•ecl "nd �~,; t1'rjlloeking whites ,-..:. o 11 en o_;age their ne·r Freudian a m ~ and forl-_get the horrors of the war . .___,, skj 71s uere often ~ 11 In the nost - nenaissc1.nce l • a;a. dire ted to mrds V'!lliii• intei:;ration '"'nd ,., v"'rious '\soc1_al nror-r ams . •1 is annroa.ch~~~ftBn scientifc and fiact - finding . The most incisiv0 and contin al b~pw to the Blac~ is a disresnect and rejecti0n the aener'"'l d:lli"eatmmt of BlGcks . Q.u120 parPllel' oet BJ::>ck ,-. ~ riticis~ of . noetrv is invariably politic81 snd !''lCial in connorn - -,i1Jst as most of -sb.C' _ oetry is' forcPd to be. Some poets ] Pment this- .....t'" J(ff •• rotest and ,., ger are the ·who le range of h :rrJan beh,.,v:i or is someho,-r m:l!ttLXlffMa.H. Dlaced off-limits to the 1 "-., bl H\1i~ I ~ critj_c1zed/\ 1'or not bejng :universe ] Afro-American poet I 11 for not being " 0 lack 11 P11.0 1.1ali. l'le 0 dless to sa;r, it i 8 r, di101rn"l.8 of "'Omo magn::i.t 1do ?nd no amount of -ilJ anr,1 ~oJvc it her • VJe d0 the P.J "Cl~ o'T'lment on oets: fro-rn this period on in our st, ords or Jamentations -1;1-,erc r1Ptt0rs , tho 1P-)1, oy_ Tn trd s ~v ns , Lenee i effArs , 0 RusRe]l "" ~ ) Atlrins ,,.._Pnd oth0rs) nere p blishino_; in . _ 196n b 1t <'lid no-s brine,: 0 11 t Ariod::icPJs befo~c sinvle voh1 es lP1.til then. Like-Fise �C /Jj)fa. o c.vi,iov J.;Ld/AJ - - ~/\ ,d '"• ... I<. Mo. .t '1 L In 1910 the population of I Black America was 9,827,763; Langston Hughes was a boy of ten and the NAACP was one year old. By 1930, however, the Black population would have increased to 11,891,143 (or 9.7 %); a major migration of Blacks to northern industrial centers would have taken place; racial riots would have scorched more than half a dozen American cities; the country would have engaged in and ended its first national war, and lynchings would continue to be among the most fearful prospects for Black r:ien . Booker T. Washington bad chronicled the hardships and bitter disappointments of Blacks in his Up From Slavery. The new 11 freedom 11 was short lived and illusive, Washington observed, because the ex-slave had no skill, no land and no place to go . '~mancipated" Blacks were not farin g much better than their fore-parents. DuBois had begun to raise some of the broader, global issues of Black oppression and •place the Black Experience in its proper perspective in The Souls of Black Folks. During the second and third 60 I �j II ., I l_, decades of the 20th Century, Black scholars, activists and writers continued to record the Black Experience with telling 1"'5Uncr accuracy and drama. L~ague;- '"the"' A~ssociation ng'ot 'the 'tbe trr1:ran , r the Study ..cr: ,/;;~~gro Life and .,, ~#f \ /)JJJ,, ..,1:.-P History (Carter G. Woodson, j ~A.;_~;!', 926).4P,;,The Crisis and Opportunity .-; -..;P magazines, the literary jou~ , Fire; the flourishing and • , -- ! prominence of ragtime ~itf~early ,~ z , the development of ,, I Black operetas and, ~sicals--all h . # \ and the Black t~inds of the times. . ~ ..tl" ped establish the mood \ I e three publications-;.. ~ ~ was sh9it-lived--published some o:f\ the most important \ Black J:M;,;;rature o:f the Awaken~n1,1 and _o~re<j. a)'ai,d;, ea in) ce~if ves to writers. On the general American scene, science and industry were developing rapidly. Indications of this were the radio, wireless, technological warfare and the automob ile. The ttnew Psychology" was taking hold and the realis m of the previous literature was bowing out to naturalism. This new mode is seen in the works of such writers as Theodore Drieser, Evelyn Scott and William Faulkner. Interest in local color and dialect, which had domi nated the later portion of the 19th Century , was also dying and the Black American was "re-discovered" by white writers as a H1'e± a1:r ~ · for realistic fiction, drama a nd poetry. White writers-Jo pu lished popular accounts of Black life included DeBose Hayward, Sherwood Anderson and Carl Van Vecbten. Revolts in interests and manners characterized American society . Black crit c James A. Ema nuel points out (Negr_£ 61 1 �as enviable but mysterious primitives, s~vages and .,.. Popular accounts of Black lif~, were written by .,, 11 known white writers iqcluding DuBose Heyward, ~ Anderson, and ·Euge~~ O'neill. I ; l It against th~ae and other myriad pressures and \ _ y,"t'I' \'~ \ \.J w---:~~.:..:-._:t:,:b~at. the Rl:1ick. ,A~aket;ti_ng o;f. th~ l920'.-~ took place. I [Add!;ional~;~- a n~~b:~- of ch:ng~s and _,dev~lopm:nts in Bla~k communities set off a chain reaction of cross-examinations, intense debates1 calls for changes and the charting of new directions. Accordingly, the student must understand the ~ood of the times in terms of: 1. 2. 6. 7. 8. The decline of Dunbar's influence among poets Failing su~port of Booker T. Washington's "accomadationist' philosophy. The continued disillusionmen~of survivors and heirs of the "Reconstructionf~ The development of white hate and intimidation groups (Ku Klux Klan, etc.). The continued presentation of "stereotypes" of Blacks in the mass media and creative literature of the period. The ".Jim Crow" laws of the south; job discrimination and general segregation in the north. The splits and confusion in the Black community due to the "new" middleclass; the appearance of West Indians in America and class alignment according to color stratification (i.e., lightskin, dark-skin, near-white, etc.). Much of the literature of the period deals with the theme of passing or miscegenation. { I n t e 1 e s ~ e ~ ~ " ' ! :t'rltt'""mt!t!'rf "'ffi.'a"t§Tlffi'r'• ·~tr-"tl'.f'hf Stld j'€b"t ffi? Mre ~i:11·~s~~i&B'i~~Uffl!~~~~~~""'-. Race riots in various parts of the country between 1905 and 1917. ~--, ~ ~ ~'(l!/.1ifl"1''" ''''- \~Jt~l1ere were "negatives fl . -~wwi;u·n·~·ve impetus to the ~ ~ ~~~, -~'t~ ' • - • '.,~,?- approaching rev9;J,.,~ -"'~ff la.c'R'.... ~o.a.,eJ.._Jand literary circles, ~. ~,4;j: , there J,j,~,.<M'also "positives." ""'~~~;.:4'< '!'-i.t~~,.';•,i;,...h ,._.. �, I I , Digest/Black World, Aug., 1969) that during the 20 1 s, many whites went to Har em to "forget the war and engage t eir new Freud an awareness by escaping into exotic black cabaret life." Hughes records this exot c indulgence in his auto- biography, The Big Sea (1940). Numerous other Black writers dcKay in A Long Way from recorded these white 'diversions": Home and Johnson in Along This Way (autobiographies). .. also Johnson · in his novel In tl1e • ,D rarila of the peri"od was dominated~~ by Eugene O'neill{lffwho ............... • ---- The Emperor Jones and All God's Chillun Got Wings featured major Black characters._. America had niSJ' efore a first~rate dramatist. ------- o•nei l, tJ~:la ib eodia- pro uced Ironically, t olgh, one of the vehicles for O neill's ~~••was a Black actor, Charles Gilpin, who starred in The Emperor Jones. �/ ,,, I ' with the exotic trend that had continued from Jack London (The Call of the Wild, The Sea~volf) and the white writers of local color: Page, Cable and others. IQiil. Shan~~ Harris, However, many of the writers, e@ rbhe !'OI i:ul" like 0 1 neill and Dreiser, had begun to shake off the mystique of the American Dream and deal instead with "illusion. '7 Such was Drieser 1 s theme in his novel, An American Tragedy (1925). The founding of Poetry: A Magazine 0~ Ver~e, by Harriet Monroe (1912) signaled the birth of the New Poetry movement in America. Most of the new work, including that of the Imagist poets, was showcased in Poetry. In 1915, the anthology, Some Imagist Poets, appeared to rival dissident factio~~,Jh!c?~~~ted to dispense with traditional forms. Imagism a u s ~ • E'lra Pound's theories and • French Symbolism as well as Oriental and ancient Greek poetry. Chief spokesman for the Imagist poets was Amy Lowell who was joined by John Gould Fletcher and Hilda Doolittle, among others. During the next two decades the group waged a successful battle against the dissidents; but they also re-worked traditional forms and cornered a new reading. market for poetrr.4-n America and England. e_!:.J:l tF tu • iee ,O"f~achael Lindsay, ~vocate of~th11 and the reading aloud of poetry,...- is credited with having 63 «i1 �, 7 ndiscovered 11 Langston Hughes. Blac~oets who participated• ~~141, .. , in this "revival tr of . American poetry r.,., ..,j_ ereA enton Johnson and~m,,uw!t-ct.iMJ William Stanley Braithwaite. The most significant development of the period, however, was the Black cultural flowering, principally in Harlem, which has become known as the Harlem Renaissance, the Negro Awakening and the Negro Renaissance. Central to the 7enaissance 11 (critics differ over whether it should be called such) was the migration of southern Blacks to nort ern ,.ban centers. With the working-class Blacks also ca~~~ack intelligentsia, artists and activists. Current Black creativity or scholarship cannot be understood unless the Harlem Renaissance is placed in proper perspective because the Harlem period is the most important bridge existing between slavery and the modern and/or contemporary eras. ( 4€,. .A., ; and second decades of this century, ~-~ ~ n 11 and prospects of the "Reconst /';,,' loose hold on Black Amerj.,eans just as the ~· American Dream s diminishing among t-l· declining influence , ny whites. The Dunbar (am~rlg poets), Booker T. Washington and submissive s~type of Black leadership, ., I' allowed room for experim~n'tatio -~and new voices. Most Black poets discarde.d 'plantation dia""hects and senti111ental themes. to America Marcus flarvey, in 1916 and '\.iho founded the Universal Negro ''Ii· ,, Assoc.j.a"tion, had reached the height of' ,,/ ~2. Considered the most influential 20th Century 64 by ack �I l "' . 1 ·f f'· ¥" ' A ..vvQ,~ ' / I r.., tfe l·l./('...Q- i )t .,W .,.,,,.,,iQ~1;,.~ ~ ~-~ wt,_ ••ice i,e sketch out tqe impRrtant ~litical and artistic (C"'l-fePJ;it,.JW .{l.u.,,~ developments whicn led'bp toAthe( enaissa::;. A partial listing of these developments ~PIM~include: I. Founding of tbe Boston Guardian by Monroe Trotter 2. Founding of the National Association f<;lr. ~ . , .,,,,./.. r,_, ... , Advancement of Colored People ( 1909) tJ-~4,fl~v,,,,ci:4, Founding of the Urban League (1911). Vo Founding of tbe Association for the Study of Negro Life and History by Carter G. Woodson 3. 4. _5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. (1901). (191.5). Establishment of Tbe Journal of Negro History _ 1 11 by Woodson (1916). - · . ., . · ·· ·" -..,,,,_!ln1t'!-W,,n,1i-,f, Black troops · in World War I.(sbadents&!a """--~,......, "'/ .QoU:gl!~ Et, m~tHf~!'l 1'!~!"]Sililti::¥eJ!, ~-~ &a•~~~l~~~ • , .. Great Migration of Blacks to northern urban A . centers (1916-1919; but,,~be )imq ~ntinued '!~f/t~<l"'-~ · w.t1 tu the ~4 ■ @ntJrj s ~ . t'J.'4 71.N t . . ~ . u The recording of Black achievements in a'k. areas; Black scholarship is brilliant and sustained throughout the entire period. The writings, especially, of W,iE.B. Dul;>o.i~;; Ch~rles . S. Johnson, 11111M.- Alain Locke~ J-A.t,~ W~~.w)UifV The high point in the influence of Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association (Garvey, who came to the U.S. from Jamaica in 1916, preached a back-to-Africa movement. He was imprisoned in 192.5 for mail fraud.) Founding of Opportunity, A Journal of Negro Life (1923; Opportunity-..t2,_ublished much of the new~ ,...,.~~,~"' work of the Renaissance -p~s-ana.- pros-e- wi~I'ters and offered annual prizes.). The flourishing of Black Music and musical dramas (Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake do Shuffle Along, 1921; Louis Armstrong , with bis own band, opens at the Sunset Club, Chicago, 1927; Duke Ellington opens at the Cotton Club, Harlem, the same year.). The post-war Pan-African Congresses (Paris, 1919; London, 1921, 1923; New York, 1927; DuBois was primary organizer.:)=oil? the Meet· ;gg ,) --- T h e s ~ some of the highlights of t h e ~ b . . . Q u t at least a passing kno I . "" ,. ..,_ -~ ' , the student will not _ ....,...,,,_... ---...-._, be able to,slfl~:~°-~•<11:t;h:e""'poets of the Awakening *~ ....'il~,,,.,.1t,'9 " . . ·""" 76 ~~-2.~_:_ �;/ on \_:ames,., V Weldon .Johnson edited the first/( anthology of • Black Poetry, The Book of American Negro Poetrri1.922I • .Johnson's work was followed in quick successioli~y five • other' poetry anthologie~ Negro Poets and Their Poems (Robert Thoms Kerlin, 1923) AnAnthologt of American Negro Verse (Ne an Ivey White and Wa ter Cl1nton .Jackson, 1924) Negro Sonfls: An Anthologi ( Clement Wood, 1924) Caroling usk (Countee Cu len, 1927) Four Negro Poets (Alain Locke, 1927) Of not~a so was F.F. Calverto n 1 s An Anthology of American egro Literature (1929) which contained 60 pages of poetry. Cullen and Locke were t:t/o of the major fi gures of the Harlem Renaissance . along with Claude HcKay, .Johnson, Hughes, and .Jean Toomer. Locke edited the anthology which heralded and chronicled the new Black mood and achievements: The New fogro: An Interpretation (1925), which remains a classic today. He also wrote the equally important A Decade of egro Self Expression (1928). ~bodes Scholar from Pennsylvania, Locke received a Ph.D. in 1918 fro m Harvard and is still considered as the foremost interpreter of Black creativity of the Renaissance. Cullen published Color, his first book of poetry, when he was 22 and was instantly recognized as one of the best young poets in America. 65 �I ; I .Cr,,.~.~.-~.· ~ . ·~ i!il ~ . . t i k r ..( , t ~-?tiSW<~O!WC ~ ~ Q - ~ ~ .~ ~ ··•~-~ •· !i 'l:\,,c.,. . . -~..i.',,t,o~'.Ch\ ~~t.<rt;.',:"'-"4•t,~"t<,.'.~,~~~;•,;,~(l ' f'_.!,t,••~~'.48, , ~ ~ · Cullen wrote in the more formal tradition of English poetry. meticulous and careful in his poetic workmanship • .fl,1W-ifilH""'-m~~-~w.~:-Mlt' l s a . D ~ ~-&C.Q~~Q~ . ~~ . ,.1< ~~~a,err7e~;$•,.ffi'f ~ 1:M' ~~6-t,· ~-.ail!~ ,, th · · · • l ~ I .. ri1~~~!J:ptm:e,.,,:r~ya1:.1J~'-r:rr·,A1ne·rfeli • · :,,,-.'l; Cu11 en, Al'ma. ,. ol!rt:--emp'S't,·r{"I'tlie-1'Mtt~t:t·on','•'" A.me'r.t'e~M'Y'ff~:@ ··,.~P..oeit'!""'}!i-.,(;\ha~ 1 ~as among those Black writers of the 20's who went ~b to Tower fl to brood over being called "Negro'' poets. . ,.,,ae,h~e?e~~;t,y• ~ft~ · ij~ . ·~ '-"'flot"'l'i"' rif"u "-t:'fie''"B'i:tt't'tk: •kpe-1r4-en~... <•ut·""s t'trt1fdw~t,l/;;!(tti•t "-•~1a~·,.~;;d•!l:;~~~;:r:~r"'~; ~¼it :t~')•it'.=Ch a~ acti·rt·~1 e,·<,' ~ ,,;t;:;.r ~= ,,. however., .,.o£ ,,l}3t,S;,€idNfntt1f ;B",,;·t,b~~r'"'a:tid '• 't'l.~t-t1'e'tHl ·\,~iif't',.,4e ''t;•b e,.,t·. ·• _} f amo.~.a,,. . •,Jiilllile!#'~- · " · /'.1 ... -~, - ,, ,.., .... 1 ~~._'11,':.~{~ -~·•···~-,: .. ~~'.\ What\ is Africa to me: Copp~ sun or scarlet sea, t' Jungle star or jungle track~ Strong onze men or regai black Women fro whose loins I ,, ·'sprang When the b ds of Eden .;sang? Long it;f"'use of poetic devices, Romantic homage to Africa and #' -~. pical imagery, the poem probes hidden fears and question~/ ~f think at all, Baldwin says, ar ~*'11 constan ly on the verge of insanity.fl Cullen, howev . ', is probably known for his sonnet, ,1' flYet Do I Critics -·~vel, o not 11 which has n both praised and castigated. seem to be able 66 agree as to whether Cullen �"""i-,,· .,... s saluting-; ptt ing or • ~i,·_kiu;,,t(l;)L •. he Black poet. at this curious thing: Black and bid him sing! .,......,,,,.,. . . .~ - , . , , . ...,___._,,......_...__ _ _ _~_:JO!l_!~,- ~ · ' ·- ,..,,,. . ~ Cullen, other key ~oets of the Harlem-Awalwning ~ ~'Y Crt. a+c.~~'l.J&wl important Voiumes~and ded to the~ritical flutter. The Book 11 Johnson said McKay belonged its most powerful voice. He to the post-war group and was was pre-eminently the poet of rebellion." sonnet, 11 poet If · native Jamaican of nature. dialect (he came to the earned him the title of Robert Burns of cloaked violence in many of his poems, as "The '\·Jhite House": Your door is ut against my tightened fa And Iams rp as steel with discontent; But I po ess the courage and the grace To bear. y anger proudly and unbent. ~1:cKay use to Russia in 1922 where an attempt as an anti-America propaganda in connection 67 to �~~ ~ f1'f'r"•r~, ~ ...~~~"N ~ f;._~~• J ~~~~ 1\'.:•1 _'i;,4li'1.~ , ots and America's racial problem. 30' s McKay hobnobt::~<k fjrt-:tt,{;;k:-~ 7, ff,, . as Geor ~,;,-'1fa:'x ~. . . . . . ~ ·. · · 1s ~:-...tp~~~ons:t t ~~,~~'i"1: es ' ~nard . · · ., --:z., Dune an, , f - w. , • • Isadora Eastman, who wrote a ' J ~ ·.;;,;;•·=~=-;...;......;..;.. ...,_--,Hughe~ and Cullen won nat onal recognition (and poetry awards) at about th.e s~me time. parison ends. ~ There, however, the com- Hughes was one of the widest traveled of all the~naissance writers. He was also the most prodigious and multi-talented, writing successfully in all genres. Hughes, who when he died in 1967 was the widest translated American author,J\:Js■*- <•••me known as the international poet laureate of Black people.J ·.W~~M'-i!~~~~~m•~,-.i~~-141Mal...~w~~ ~ Al'~~•~ ,-'lf,.f/(QX,·. Mli'S , s of Rivers," in which he the Black worl~ e was to becO):Jl,~~ d read Black poet--among ev · • ~....,.. , -...,,, Known for his mus . I d ~• his famous poem "The Negro Sp <, -i quality in the Whitman-Lindsay- ~ ~:.:,¢it e. ~ ~fBi::ks. # :: . I 1'1~'-" and ~j ..~finenta -ff;{e, Hughes · o 'J-ij-.,~nd was one o:r ~~;; a:r most promoters o~iJ Jay 1:fright (In#duction, Henry Dumas ~~~;, -.,1{·. l . fore- ·· ~ f Black poet" {itic { 1~i9r My Peopl · . t ,1 ~ .;,J:,.,~,.... ;,,,!., :, • 1970) noted1~hat not until the appearance of Duma~'frwa.~ Hughe ·~.,_~4 , "·?rti~ . know,\~,~ of Spirituals and Gospels was rivaled. Hugh~~.t,. ,~ike Du~•; was to do later, haunted Black religious and secular . ~ •sh;,i,l,"""-~: •- ·,. ~~1!!1,1 •(l!5 ',,t ~- s, th. er~~ere ".&~,R,,,9f!,.~-;.t: __.• ~r-<.~q"~,;lt:!";p:1;.'!; p,<· ~-. ( r ' ~~c•N. ~~~t:; ~lac~~J 1us1e, · ·~.. :i:r- wtb • 68 aJt~'i;my .,h ad · b'e"@, · ,· )l ~ -~ "-~"-,'Q/1('$1 '<,,' ,:,,,: �carried on the on the rich, spontaof the new urban Blacks, them with the natural as in ".Jazzonia 11 : sights and sounds Oh, silver tr Oh, shining r the soul! Six long-h A dancing Li.fts hi tree! rivers .f published volume, The Weary thes to t He was one of students and h ndlers o.f ibed realistical y, genuine 1 tradition--/ i legorically and /P ,,.ff! ,l'~'t';r:'J/; As a ,.11'' scholar, known for his anthologies and his seminal interpretations of Black culture--music and the Spirituals in par/'/,2. ticular. Of great importance~ his,e_ntholog:,.- lt'l•e ioi)e8'r •iw• ..., !iitn:..:~ Nee, : a 1m-;;;w.where in an illuminating Preface, be 69 �cited-the four major Black artistic contributions to America. 1. 2. 3. 4. The Uncle Remus stories, collected by Joel Chandler Harris The Spirituals ("to Which the Fisk Jubilee Singers made the public and the musicians of both the United States and Europe listen") The Ca~ewilk (~ich Paris called the "poetry , of motion ) .... , ~ ......_,_,...,....,.._ ... .,_.......-a. The Ragtime ("American music" for which the U.S. is known all over the world) Johnson is also noted for his work with the U.S. diplomatic corps, his pioneering work with the NAACP and his brilliant employment of Black idioms and psychology in his poetry and discussions. "Lift Every Voic Black national anthem, was wri~n in 1900. ,~er:;::;r: ~~ ;.C..~hneon"-e""~ B=~""1:1!1 &,--,~ 0 black and u nown bards of long ago, How came your !"ps to touch the sacred fire? How, in your da kness, did you come to know The power and t beauty of the minstrel's lyre? •••••••••••••••• •••• ••••••••••••••••• •••• ••••• Heart of whats ave poured out such melody As "Steal away · o Jesus"? On its strians His spirit mus have nightly floated free, Though still a out his hands he felt his chains. Who heard grea "Jordan Roll"? Whose starward eye Saw chariot II ing low"? And who was he That breathed that comforting, melodic sigh · , ,,_,.,..,,, "Nob ody knows de trouble I see"? ,.~~ ,_...- • ·' ~.,~ One of the most unique voices of the Harlem Renaissance, however, was Jean Toomer, who along with Hughes, Cullen and McKay make up Locke's Four Negro Poets. A complex of person- alities, talents and racial mixtures, Toomer was a constant 70 �enigma to critics and fellow writers. Although he admitted that he was of seven racial strands, he acknowledged that "my growing need for artistic expression has pulled me deeper In 1924, Toomer's Cane and deeper into the Negro group." Set primarily in the deep south--in Geor g ia--it also deals with the urban impact on migrating Blacks. Love, racial conflict,. sex, violence, religion, nature and agrarian themes are all ~ lored directly and allegorically, !. f(i(i'' ;.-. (s • .· ·~~~fi;~~¼~l.t..~M.;.,"{"'~a-.....-,.,,..t"'i'J.':;•,:-•r;. rt,-,,.1\!,,lf~l'~ a class ro-ALJ,n . "" ~~ -Today Cane is' rega ~ . . , V,,;.tti:~~. - is exto"'i ie~ b'y 'Black intellectua:J,Jit·, '"writers Bi i and teachers as single Robert Bone, in The Negro s~~i~ ~ · was the "onl:' ~ ; ~r -~~ J 9J;.-i.? P "-~ .,,,.,.... 1¥,'.t tPr~pated on qua-1: t~ffis '' in the creatio m." Bone was, of course, comparing ~o Pound and Eli'ot in anza prologue as i~~roduced by a 'li ,u_,,,, .,-t# , , ~f!IJ" Her skin is 0 can't you s Her s k in is . dusk on tb'Ef t''eastern horiz it, .p...,,e·ffn• t you see it, . ~~- dusk on the eastern horizon sun goes down. . , ,,,,;~ ~-➔ts•~ Obsessed,,, .,i:t •rff·s eem . ,, onate intel :'Ii:~•)'.,'\'.•"-'( 1-.;'i;i."" . gence and li_?J~a:tstic virtuosity --Toom __. just as com:dortab~ : ' .. cTtm'$""§'"'7.,,t a with beauty and natur~~~~t,1.';d wi 17 . ~It J'. l.;n ~:r.e~ 'f!'•""' 'fff th S<;,..Q.n.et.&:"''"''""'~"Ifo-;e mber Cotton ....,,.,.,,,.....,. the followin g couplet: 71 ...~w!'w,,, . . · �~!:-3-~~~rc:a-ret-:....rij~~-t:ee:a:a::1W:1il.1:E~~~~~~~~~:1·ii~~~;;; -~~l:§.!:,., Brown au or"t1'ffl~ 1.me _...la of year. .... ·· .,J<f'J,;'....,. ............. ~ ~ " " ' Rae pride, the lower side of g:tack l i f e / ~ n t i c ,;. .,.~~ were the m a i n ~ of engagement with Africa the enaissance literaturef painters, musicians, scholars and activists. Garvey had set up a regal court reminiscent of ancient African Kingdoms and had infused his followers with visions or returning to the "homeland \ His "court" was resplendent with hierarchical titles and lavish regalia for parades. his rleet of ships. Black Star Line was the name or The prevailing spirit or the day was one of Black indulgence and many whites sought for, and got their share or, it. Th~ Black Awakening was not the exclusive pro- perty or Harlem. For as Kerlin points out (Preface, Ne gro Poets and Their Poems), the mood or change spread to other sections of the country. Some of the regional or community anthologies published were: The Quill in Boston, Black Opals in Philadelphia and The Stylus in Washington, D.C. Important, too, were the collections and studies of folk songs. ~ 4.'.&Q 4St: 11 1/oteworthy" collections for the period included: Negro Folk Rhymes (Thomas W. Talley, 1922) The Negro and His Sonr (Howard W. Odum, 1925) Ne~ro Workaday Songs Howard W. Odum, 1926) Rainbow Round My Shoulder (Howard W. Odum, 1928) Wings on My Feet (Howard w. Odum, 1929) American Negro Folk Songs (Newman Ivey White, 1929) Other brilliant and exciting poets and writers shared the Renaissance scene--though they are normally over-shadowed by Hughes, Toomer, McKay, Johnson and Cullen. 72 Some of these �writers--most of whom did not publish volumes until the later G~ l' be--~ ~ ~ ,, G~ r ~ v:tt;' period--were: Arna Bontemps 'A Warfng Cuney, Robert Hayden, I Sterling Brown, OWen Dodson and Melvin Tolson. Prose writers of the period included Eric Walrond and Rudolph Fisher as well as Hughes and Toomer. Bontemps, anthologist, critic, ~ ~/ poet and novelist, published in leading magazines of the period and won numerous awards for poetrY,. ~ J,,,· _,-.~ r.. ._.., ,.,,.~,.. -~~.... I ,.._~ ~ -- ' of poet:ch :2e~oal~. -wa ~, ,i.84; Cuney is ,Mmii•:'ffl'RJ!.'~~~ known for his brevity and preciseness,aNa-~i~~~l~1i~e~p~o~·ecmm~ll~M~e~~~Mii...._ past ha ..,.DJ}~ .~.•mJJ,&1tL~~ett~!"'~~-~1!~~-,tr.!'l~fT55!liffla:~~1'-~~.-eiG.a~~~~ ~ I , c ' 1 : t i ~ ~"'""""· ~~-. t h =: r~~ ~~-- p~l~ t; ~ ~~~-. On the street, . ' <-=-,..u:aakd4£ , ; ;-· '1\.bd ~i.ra}l.,f!}t.~.l~t*~ ~~ ...... , .,.. ., ,. ,:,_ ~ ~ Brown,~!!iTI.irii1iliias, pursued the folk tradition while cultivating an ear and technique that rivaled some of the best modern poetry. His debt to folk idioms and characters is ob- vious in such poems as "Odyssey of Big Boy, "Memphis Blues, 11 11 "Southern Road, 11 and "Long Goner'' ~1? ::e.~~tfe.T~-'%.:tB~;:J:l!Y·~~~~;,: ;"'=·' Brown.:,::rtR!: contributed to periodicals of th~..k . ~ perio141R\'P"Wrote a regular column for Opportunity, lished i mportant critical studies. la~ pub- Dodson wrote verse plays and collaborated with Cullen on at least one writing pro j ect. He too won numerous awards for his plays and poetry . Hayden and Tolson, both si gnificant modern poets, were to be beard from in succeeding decades as critics and outstanding 73 �)1 ~~~~~~~~~~rE~!m~ market crashed in 1929, white patronization of Black artists ended·. Black creativity and scholarship, however, bad grown up during the first three decades of tbe century, and important writing and musical development continued~ Migration of Blacks to northern urban centers was stepped up before and after World War II--with many Blacks being attracted by shipbuilding and other war manufacturing industries . Afro-Americans have participated in every U.S. military conflict since Colonial days. ) During World War II and Korea , however, they were used almost exclusively as fi ghting troops (between 1943-45 Jim Crow was abolished in the Armed Forces). Nevertheless , Black soldiers, returning home from European and Pacific war theaters, still faced unemployment and lynching; and in some southern cities were forbidden to appear on the streets in military uniforms. 74 Baldwin is one { �I of many perceptive American writers to note that Black men, seeking the fruits and the realization of the American Dream, tried throughout history to adjust and 11 fit 11 into American society. So, in face of official American contempt for his ~ humanity and his welfare, the Black soldier marchedl\.with an "equality" or death into the Korean War.:,. James Weldon Johnson had opened the dismal period of the Depression with Black Manhattan, a social history of Harlem. Black Manhattan was one of the dozens of studies on urban BlacK communities which had been begun by works such as DuBois' Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study (1899). Like Johnson, many of the poets and artists turned their writing skills toward the recording of Black social problems and artistic achievements (e.g., Johnson's Black Americans, What Now? and Charles S. Johnson's The Shadow of the Plantation, both in 1934). Some of the writers were subsidized by WPA grants while others managed to obtain jobs as teachers and journalists. like the common folk, walked the soup lines. Others, It was during the period of 1930-{t, that white schools of higher learning started accepting more Blacks, as students and teachers. Generally, America witnessed rapid advancements in science and industry. Radio drama became a cultural mainstay and the motion picture industry provided a new and exciting diversion • .:fop Arneri~ Baseball continued as the "national pasttime 11 (for Blacks, it was the era of Jackie Robinson). Jack Johnson had alre£";......: azzleJAmerica with his pugilistic skillsleft was the prize fighter Joe Louis �(the "Brown Bomber"), however, who captured sports-minded America with one of the greatest records in the boxing history. Louis's defeat of German Max,Schmeling (1938) came at a crucial time in U.S. history--when America's rising might among tbe world of nations was being challenged on the battlefield by Hitler. Two years earlier, a racist Hitler bad refused to acknowledge the feats o~~ star Jessee OWens. In prose and drama, white American writers continued to straddle a thematic path between realism and the American Dream. A distinctly "post-war" group of writers emerged. Dominating the period were Dreiser, Sherwood Anderson, Sinclair Lewis, Willa Cather, Thomas Wolfe, O'neill, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, John Dos Passos, Katherine Anne Porter, Erskine Caldwell and Carson Mccullers. Using symbolism and allegory to attack war, decadence and tbe atomic bomb, American writers often took as models such Russian writers as Chekov, Dostoevski and Tolstoi. Many employed the stream of consciousness technique--a style influenced by the "new psychology" and Irish writer James ce--which allowed for uninterrupted explorations *on~~-~-•io characters who "streamed" their references. A similar mood prevailed in the poetry--much of which dealt with social decadence, war and the mechanization of man. E.E. Cummings, known for his typographi- cal trickery and general linguistic and syntactical experiments, was one of the most relentless critics of bureaucracy and war. Such themes had also concerned T.S. Eliot, considered one of the greatest modern poets, in such poems as uThe Love Song �of J. Al~red }f~" and 'itphe Waste Le,QSl ... The Ima.gist poets -eie-•-~~heir development via such voices as "H.D.," Ezra Pound and Marianne Moore. Other modern poets were Conrad Aiken, W'illiam CArlos Williams, Wallace Stevens, Archibald McLeish, Hart Crane, John Crowe Ransom, Allan Tate, Riebe.rd Eberhart, Randall Jarrell, Robert Frost and Carl Sandburg. Crane, Eliot, Pound, W.H. Auden and Stevens have been called the major voices o.f the modern American Poetry. Historically, Black Music had been marked by white imitation and exploitation. There always exists the need to create a "white" musical .face that can be digested by Americans at large. From the minstrelsy of plantation days to the sophist· operettas and musicals of the '1,t'IN""Uf'.~i-1,,,rf- , this patter"r,e,e,,.,e,t11~.,..~~~ During the modern period, Be Bop became the musical heir to Ragtime, early Jazz and Tin Pan Alley. While the big band and Black composers--Basi~, Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, W.C. Handy, Eubie Blake, Noble Sisle, etc.--continued their important work, different kinds of experiments were going on among other musicians. From these new formations and probings came some of the giants of modern Black Music: Miles Davis, Charlie ''Yard Bird II Parker, Lester "Prez II Yo~nny ..;..R~llins, Gene Ammons, Art Blakey (who studied drums in Africa),~Ch~Pozo (A.fro-Cuban), Dizzy Gillespie and Babs Gonzales (Bop poet and singer: I Paid My Dues, 1967). From the musicians and their supporters emerged an underground "hip 11 languae;e. This tradition, of talking in metaphors and encoded cultural neologisms, had begun during the/enaissance. 77 Often, too, Black �vocalists were featured with the musicians. Some of these song stylists were Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Billie Holliday and Bessie Smith--who died in 1937. The mi gration to cities also saw the continued rise of urban or bi g city Blues. By 1900, however, the Blues had gone through several i mportant periods of development. Some names associated with tl:}e modern (31.J.l (J,:Ui1.~'.V">YIY? period were Louis Armstrong , Fats Waller, Cab Calloway,~Pop J Foster, Eddie "Son" House, Robert Johnson, Johnny~e.ple.-..,.L . Leo..dbeL.Ly, lit · · Roosevelt Sykes, Elmo JamesrB.B. King,~Jimmy Reed, I+ ., w Sonny Boy Williams,~ohn Le ~ J :ne,:~ : · ,-,~ lilll),{..(AiJ osh White, Hooker, ~g~tnin' Hopkins and Big bri!.t'~~f" / ~ · ;'e,u Several~ table Black literary explosions occured during the period between 1930-6f0, Important were: the publication of Native Son (Richard Wright, 1940); the publication of For My People (Margaret Walker, 1942); the appearance of Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison, 1952) an~nning of the Pulitzer Prize for poetry (Gwendolyn Brooks, 1950 for Annie Allen). Native Son, a novel, featured a Black protagonist named Bigger Thomas who symbolized( and in many ways contained) the anger, rage and pressures felt by urban Blacks. The book was the first by a Black author to make the best seller list and was also a book of the month club choice. During the same period Wright, who died an expatriate in France in 1960, published several other novels, short stories, books of essays and miscellaneous prose. appeared. In 1945 Black Boy, his autobiography Wright is significant for many reasons, foremost among them being that be was the first Black writer to deal, �"2- t.. accurately and on par with the best rictio~he day, with tbe philosophical and psychological complexity of the Black ur':J..n~te . In doing this, he opened a new range of possibilities andf\_f ee• Black fiction in many ways. -Se~@l!.!!!!,. ~ ly -: ~ h : ~ ~ i o n writers during this period: Rudolph Fisher, Zora Neale Hurston, Claude :McKay, Hughes, Arna Bontemps, Ann Petry, DuBois, Frank Yerby, Eric Walrond, Chester Himes and Sterling Brown. Wright, however, was the first to forge and sustain a major Black art piece out of mythical ~ac~al mater·a1s1.Uin'IMaUll'\w~a had. win, that no er writer ~r, domi On the Mo~n, n~d ,,,. J;;Oq""' , . ;:;.. Miss Walker, teaches liter - ture at Jackson State Colle ge, was 22 years old when she wrote fl r•[f21_, II Jl,_ For My People --one of the most faiGo"trst--poems~~=Gi 11:. Her book by the same name won the Yale Series of Younger Poets award in 1942. Rich in cultural folk refere nces, Black phono- logy and social history, the slim book br li ntly traces the hope, humor, pathos, ra ge, stamina and iron di gnity of the _ _ _ __ . . - - - - " . " " " ' "~ -~ - · - · - race. ~ . .... • ti ,. -~ 'l' the daintiness, ba~~~~ t ~"'and-, .,l_.ifi._b;l-~Sjj,S~anc e . ,. . . ,.,[... "' "w,.::,*~•W,t 11;~,,!<,-"'!:1;</M:~1>\\,;-,~,: .~ ~~_""·~'H .· ;.1~ 1!1:il -~ ' are true-grit experience~J the religiosity ;.t_.. . :g~~ks. ,.,;' 1:........ : :1.'~ Yet, along with these The poe1s ~pd to~: -,v 6nations, Miss Walker presents excellent sonnets �~--::...E= llison, who bas not published a novel since Invisible Man(lfS2.) remains one of the most controversial figures in American Literature; much of the controversy arising from what he says ( outside of fiction (see Introduction). Communist-oriented papers generally condemned Invisible Man when it first appeared. They held that it was a 11 dirt throwing" ritual for Ellison--who combines naturalism and complex symbolism in the book. Black novelist John Oliver Killens also gave it a negative review. Generally, however, the work is considered, by Black and white critics, to be a great novel--perhaps the greatest American novel. It won the National Book Award in 1952 and in a sub- sequent poll of 200 journalists and critics, it was judged the most distinguished single work of fiction since World War II. The winning of the Pulitzer Prize by Gwendolyn Brooks (and Ellison's accolades} told the world that Black writers had mastered the "ultimate" English literary crafts of poetry and fiction to a degree which no longer called their abilities into question. Many Black critics feel, however, that there were excellent volumes, before Annie Allen, which should have received the Pulitzer Prize. These critics say Black artists, like the Black Experience, come periodically into fashion �(e.g., Harlem Renaissance)--to be tolerated at the whims of . white literary ba ( s. ·~ ~~4~~~~~rfllJl/a~~kM4~) The citation af M Experience, however--despite the fact that the prize was not a major announcement in the Black community. Blacks, caught up in the post-war mood, job-searching and a quest for social equality, were not reading much poetry. ·- ss B~o.oks- ~is_ univ-ersally ~.e cognized for her sparseness~ : .,,p· I and comple.:t.~. c~ntrol of poetic d?vices. I of her effectiveness within •spaiial limitations is the parents 1 said she loves tb; ·"1'nus,h ".• o:t' tt{e people . -· In one interview she language_.,~·A itne example "' / rom "Notes From the / ,._., ..;. Childhood and the Girlho f ~ ,:?' Clogged and so~~ and sl ppy eyes Have lost th,e, light tha bites or te~rifies. . . . . . . .. . But. one by one 'J,mey got things done: . ;.--'Watch for porches as y u pass And prim low fencing nching in the grass. r [ I l ' ' i t / Pleasant custards sit behind The white .1l~n ti: el II.ff ' :-i;... I' ~~lamed by the spirit and example of the Harlem Renaissance, Black poets of the pre- and post-war years continued exciting experiments. Miss Brooks recalls that a brief encouragement from the "great" James Weldon Johnson when she was a child spurred her own her way. Some of the poets of the /enaissance, ~>,Ji~ howeve~~ writ·n r ~ i g ii~n~r, genret ~Poet Bontemps also wrote novels--the most famous of 81 I O'-f' 0 �I , them being Black Thunder (1931, an adaptation of the 1831 I Nat Turner-led slave revolt. He edited and wrote, and some- times collaborated with others on anthologies and biographies for young readers. With Hughes, he edited The Poetry of The Negro: 1764-1949, considered a break_,..through in modern Black literary activity. One of the handful of Renaissance Black writers to survive into the Seventies, Bontemps died in 1973. Some have called the period between 1930-54 t~~the ~g~ ·~·f Langston Hughes in Black letters. Indeed, Hughes remained prominent and productive throughout the three periods-Renaissance, 1930-54, and the Contemporary era. During the pre- and post-war periods, Hughes continued to turn out everything from newspaper fiction columns (Jesse B. Simple) f~;;~: ~~:~-~d:ii~~~:::i::~ ' " (1932), New :--::::: Four Poems and a play (1938), Shakespeare,,.,ifn,, Black writers continued to Negro writers." Per~aps the pe~d currently amply capsuled in t~ese lines fro g I! i \ ciated iscussed ::th ( i\ is Hughes' fa .t / "Dream Def erred" .,;What h~ppens to a dream ". . . . . . . . J and esp·>+ in their works, ca ~...... a tradition, as Hayden n~;-es-,~ i;:t"a.d.~t~ionally as li \I \. (1932)~tsboro Limited: j f f I t~· I ,. �II zc- ) i l .' Hughes in poetry, like Wright, Ellison and Baldwin in prose, faithf'ully recorded the Black mood. Like the others, he also predicted the social violence of t h e · • Q+Jhez• :tt1tpo1 banit dfAk and ,Yolumes 1? i1,.0ets f- of the. period. inc'J,...ude \,J]terl}ng ,1;.;;own, ·,H 1 { M- Southern Road (l932);~To s -e~ ~ 1WP~ ~J,- D~,l'r "-'!) , Rendezvous with America jl944) ,,, ,I and Libretto for the Republic of Liberia (1953);ANaomi Long Madgett, Songs to a Phantom Nightingale (194l); ; Selected Poems of Claude McKay (posthumously, 1953); Hayden, Heart-Shape in tv~ h'tf!Uflt 0' Hi.¥i.~ the Dust (1940) and The Lion and the Archer ~94~); Cullen, \' , j ~ ->€r''.' ~ The Medea and Some Poems (1935) and On These I Stand (post,hu. C~fZ iit B ,,, Eg u~~lf(,O); a~ 'll;.z;;;,/a..J~t~1L~ ") mously, 1947); f\and D6tison, >owerf'ul. Long Ladder, (19q.6~ Also writing and/or translating during this period were D u ~ Randall, Samuel Allen (Paul Vesey), Margaret Danner, .....-a~Wrigbt (who also wrote poetry), ~.Sl,., lh i •-~'A4,ll!il 11 Black and white poets exchanged ideas and socialized, as Black and white intellectuals had done throughout most of the history of America. Many of the Black poets of the period, consequently, were introduced to publishers and the reading public by well-known white poets or critics. Such a practice was to come under fire, during the late 60•s and 70's, by some Black poets and critics who felt that whites could not judge on Black writing. Reviews of the period were generally favorable to the Black writers who showed great finish in their work. Hayden, Walker, Brooks, Tolson and Dodson were among the poets who received high praise for their technical virtuosity. • wrote the forward to Miss Walker's Stephen Vincent Benet For My People, Allen Tate to Tolson's Libretto For the Republic ., ~, # ~ f �, . . ,. , . ., v, srj , ~ / ,!J:w, /Jiau ¥ llfl/a (/_9_ 6 ~ .,....;:;---...~~a~ .7) • ,,-I ~~~~~ rJ 6 ~~~~~ /?-)f)~ 96i • ., "- - !Cl (a ~~~- Lq tao ) ) t (!. _..J �l i from Poetry: A Magazine of Verse--regarded as the white / American olympus of poetry. ~1-,r.b, · • C: A ~1>1i,. One of the most important anthologies of theAperiod was The Negro Caravan, (19~ited by Brown, Arthur P. Davis and Ulysses Lee. The ~•••- inclusive anthology of Black /Mterature, it remain~ of the outstanding textbooks~1"(;2t:l,• tiaek w,Ii,lfj,iR~v Brown also published two important works of the world, the Supreme Court decision of May 15 closed the book on one era of Black Americanfistory and opened up Pan- I Wright's Black Power (1954), a dora's box on another. commentary on bis experiences in Africa's Gold Coast, may ve been more than ·ust a hint at the what was to come. , corn's box, cs hir d "th 1,., +- lld FO -i ve "n, a ne re,-,~ of l ci r OCCl l q "t o I"' "' .,.....,, r 1- P. k wori ., · is 1a,... .., , , · . -inl ,"1,,., .Jr. , fo 1 f esr. -fl '11 "' "- - P o ·dA , " of oun < 1 of' h-ite , Ch c1 i vo-ic t0 !-: t' II r , . C " 11 n _, ,., "" . f' l, ri ,.. . on C"' C, oth .,,, .,, "' +,:,7 1 ' r n ('\ r 0 d +-o tr::p Q-,- Tn iVA , .... • f") r cl V b y "' ~, . I ~ K • re l T .,,, t 'Y ) �c;'ood mo r' n~, nJ bLveJ1hl11e,tz(lwJ~r~Je11 - - I.ea.ti beJr III cont; n<_;:u;..l,e;:..a.......,._ As the ?0th Srntury onena its be1-ild..erod(qome say eyes , 11 sort them !!!!!D~ of c nnri;e j ere " ~1s n Blac k noetryl- and the 11 Pho c ' 0d 11 ) - -not the lPA..""'t • a 1ong .._,_j_ncrease in the_ rt • \li th theN1 mber of f publicati.ons t--- ldnc t1' ir ,m rk(due to the n5 oneering 0 ~f Dunbar, Corrot'"l rs , Camyibel 1, Cotter, Sr., "nd ot 1"'rs), Bl . . cl,. oets could t 1eart •-lll!lh!!!k anticip te h ving their ,m rklt re d by ''.-ii te ed.i tors . "-41:11(,ljll.e 0 /t-m.y of the oets uriti n in the first "nd second decades of the cent~ J.".J wo ld never be he~rd -~ fron again,A_ a few of ~ , , - - . would become · minor·'l lio-.rits of the ~-~ harle ii.en~issance . he noets 1,rork!-}dj\Jilf.._~rnrisin div rr · t-,.r of styles , lin~uistic - bents , themes , te perrmentst end -=ind C""'le from nract;c lly f-e ti . 23 ,i;l' the •est I 0 verv corner of' the U'l1ited :State5JA.AM dies ...,nd 0 011th 1 eric"I . ~ Ies ie Pinclney n'lJ.(l e cate ories , Kel ft" _ ler(J 0 AJ - 1939) 11 )n 0-19{0), Charles Bertram Johnson(1P80 - ), Ben 'amin 13rr:1 1 rl.e7,r(lR'.)'2 - l 39), i\:1.YYrlond f}nrfiAlcl lJqndridn- (l't'~-F'J ,, Jrun.es Ed1 ,rard T cCG 1 ( 1880 ) ot o Le A -qoh "n n ( ) , m elina Ueld "'ri rn ( 0 -19,S P) , Jesdf°' &P,JJ_Se'ty~(l e~ - 19?1) , \falter ~vc,...ette r ; ,--- ,rrs . ::;areh Le01\..t?leninr;(' ffie Lne 1 e~some(1 8~ - ~va Alberta Jes~ye(l897 - w,dns(lf'i3- , Leon~. ~2rris(1e86 - ) , 1/al ter Adolnhe Roberts (l8R(-. - 19(-._s"), ), ~ eor~ia Douglas Johnson(l 0 86-l9h6), ,.,,Peodo.,,.,e Henry ShacveJ.-"o,'.'d(l88e - l923), Mrs 1911?) , .J! 5 BTRij. Oh!'lrles 1 lilson ( 1°85- oscoe C. J8mison(7°P? _ '"pe ~Mith Jo nson(J8ao), /\ ndrea Ha.zafk riofo ( 1895-Ddgar Baily( r ) , Ui 7 limn ), .ToseDh Sea·.,.on Co ter, ,Tr . (7 95 - 1910) ClaJl'i ssa Scott De_cney 1 ( 19 O1 - 19~7), ~nd ~ scores more )' �29 ..:.,.-~~.;-~~~.;;;;;~,. Jrunps were r1cde by ,.;- el don Johnson dev&aon his Cotte r , Jr . (cut dOi•m to e""rlv to a fe ~'ft others ~ ow · ., d is i~nort...,nt Pi.rt ne at le~."'t note I\ terling Bro m. g •a~b~ ofl this SaundP,rs F enton Johns n , <. gs iuc1t1 ff°' d J. of in Dorte.n c e, be.,rond eddinrr the Johnsons, o c c 1 red in the fi_rst t; o dec8des . ~ut , fo r nuroose s ~ and cont;inufu t;r , 1rp f\...no t e that this 1- as not:if a period ina c tivi t,r n!llone; noets . '~'e chnicall , t1-i0rc ~ ex -as ,.__.....,...,~...... Prit!lentation . ,:{ost ol the helned ph co out the dialec t vo ue or ,rrote noots ei th"'r :» hprmless -pieces ')"'.rd.ens , death and human sorro T• Others urote on natt re , love , h rshl.,r "nd bi tterJ., of the 'War • .6. .___ e - s ~ , wa-s a leadinr; ':l.J ack s n olrnsm n of the day occE>sional J. v :r,..,ote noetry . 1 i 0 nd only f' rose - noern nr See "'nd 4m Soti "'fi ed t1 ?5 "ten z as , it is reminiscPnt of ~ provided f eJ ~orr: ,,.,,, c ial isf'nc •• ConPir-tin17 of ( il.-,j .t<'enton Johnso' ~ reel II) "no ~ri 7_7 "'1rndt. ccd ~ 01,e-,~ne: "'r,.,.. ret la 1 crr .{ t11<'or ru1y r:ood st dents '11,-,"'jnin, Sc 001 fo,-, ~eaci-, I, 1 0ve rt , r·e - - A lJra__ma ti c is "' J.shii, oy L . 1 i 11, noet rind educ.,tor, rote e of the f' enior HD.Hf -l-ic, ,ijfa12!11 :ehi&Ls:mu feeJ s t:re Af,-,o - American 'cons tr j ned or,r:,,-, es· on to c-j ve r in ,rino·s . t1 fee~·nrrs abo 1 t 1 is noet,-,y hri s a ~ treng th r0~~ r~l...,tions . P ~ 7Js 9~/!"-fffM- ~1 1~ ~~ f -t.J>~<i • t,,.,f'va · 1 o·f · i~ ; :rnc· . ' f.!.1-": rJes .Johnson • b ishec'l ·na J 5c 1 1 isperinP- (a pa111nhlet , J. 900) , The _____ _ �30 Johnson tt ~,,.,d rd.s noetry and 1 re$ N(_he r"'fl<lnr ~ t s an e~uc to nath of oas mw:vb I anrye rs to be a i r onic II "life"f is ~ JI 1a 1 hen he .a•~ some tFj"' 'jill . 7%) i Qil621%11!1!1J!dM.l For hi T'lw, An oc~aion"'J po e~ttended n 1s d Clonr . "7'..--:i,ra·wley ,X bs forchourn , .t rva d nd the p-niversity of CriiCf'go , [Ind for YPf-lrs tau,,.ht at so thern Bl.., ck colleges n "--'n.'7 ] ish den rtrrient s . his nioneRri'1.P' work in ~ ~ e ir nriTTJ." · t"'r"'t1.1re nd for 1 •• • ne nubJir-hed ~h9_Ft T.risto ry of. the Ar1 0-rican Ne ro(lOlA) , A 0' ort Histor of .l..!Jni;'].ish Ur>0r1 (]921), A 1~eF urvey of BnC\li.sh Litr>rot1. re(JO:::>S'), T'rie_1 er:ro Genius(l937) and r0gro Builcers g.nd J.iero~s(19.37) . It i'"' to BrauJey ' '"' "'t cUes th...,t we '11.U'"'t r,o for vitRl infol"!11::it5.on on tho develonrie'1.t of ol,,cl• AmPrica.n noet r y . ~ rrote stor>j_er- and nooms thnt ,._.,, cl not been co lJ ected /~ no.Y1.rlri de;o s poetry . , ,.. rich I ~ '1 11 nd sometimes fncial 1 n ~ e r n . T·rme :.-o v·10 ., · ti .Jt ~ 1 a d vise "I l. J... for some thin • 11 .,econst.rJ.ctjon Or ccn j t Ap.,.,arently cribi tt1Brcd by ·che o >ortcd t- 'Dct . l_ l. f e Ve '~,.. c nte norary viGlencc , r_;8inst ·31...,cks , he asks: 10 .t!.no r.)1 to 7 i.ve ...,nd die a s12ve ? Zalka Pestruza 11 '"ecal J s re ay ' s n~ rJ.eri Vane r 11 in t} f"'t everv prirt A n...,tive of Ginemnatti, of tl c Hom a n is daneinr, 11 -- s2ve her f2ee . 1 ~ ·:mdridr;e suf ored a stroke 11 1 rh n he -ros 30 yecrs old "'hich left hi ·1e~s 'l.nd rig.ht arm n'"lr...,J.i~ed . 0 nhqreefter -riting ~o"'t of his nootry from hiR bod, hen bJi~hed \1 a.~ri ·n 0'ton , D.C., '"-<oh"n0n ~.liw•=-•••••not n blio:h a voJ me . Pei+her djd TeC:,,.Jl ,r•,o ~ ' b e e 111~*cHtor of the ndi=mt �31 A o:el j_ns ,xxx1~im].re nl1 blished a three - act poetry remains mcollected . lay( 1ric~:iel) in 19?1 but h"'r orn in Roston , he "res ed c'"'ted in ~~,._•...,•'"•" •1-,. ,. , vririous schools of sevPraJ states , a.na l...,ter t ... u ~ 1)10-4J..,; veprs at Di nb'lr '"ir-]:i Sch~ ¼ ~ ,C . ~ " " " - l . n~ ~ ~'fo r P than "'lir:;htly 1 61 {u~ rendo] ,m Broo l rs , 1••1ss ~~ . GrJ.l . - u< · f noe t r,r~ nt! A..3 0IDC O )ri 7 i "nt;, oir;n,...nt , she 1ritAs of love, reasons , darlmes"' and hie:h snirits~ " the 'e 1 1/er-r-ro . mat rinr; ·Jears -- t:rnified in the nhr:1se Alt"ourh she h"d been 1)ublis11.in'3 noetry jn 11 eriod5 cals her fi rPt b5.g breal, c,.,me 1-hen Bhe ~!!!!!!~~C~11~lJJ~elln~1~s~ an oJo~v f ""CaroJ~n:, Dusk(1027) , <hflinc th@ r ..'...hilJo of tlao until t oeo t, f th e di st; J Jed lanr,11aG"e in modern Americ rin Ji te-r>e tl re . ureciC!e and uenltt ~'ii e sixties "0 ld eov ch ines 1 as inc 1 uded in I!! ot I 'as ~he foll 0°i nrJ teke on their fulJ nnli+ical/c11Jt r2l 8if"'l'nif'ic8ncP : 1 Ana r , B t she i::i inrJ11dPrl in th0 br,,...t r,ntboloP'.ies of' -fro - .tl..·---u"l ..... i.can Doetry au::i et desn:::ii r~") . F'. [1 as ?n innt;c fo-r the t.,ir Du ois - irisnired 0 Pconrl .c'un - African C0 nvress in ..-•iiEf A n .,ti ve of Ne" J e-rsey, she ..,tter1 ded Cornel 1 ( :?hi Bet2 hnpa) and the u11ivP-r>C!ity of PennsvJvi:i:r,ja , an0 Dl.lbli ,...:bed fo 1r novels: Tl1 r i~_·' nf11!"j0n (1°2!:.), Plu,,, Sim( 029) , rn~e~1-dn~!Jnr_r7_Jr8e(1031 ana C0 medy , A ·ric"n :Sty1e(1°33). :rer noetrv s ~ ner5 odicaJ" durin('l' th0 t1 en ties nnd thirties., ~ h~-r> "l'Jo~t f "l.OUs 0"-rr;d i-n erotis 'di-w~t4 . ~I "erifl..,.,, noe!.ll . J5n s"lired by o en ot,.,t;i on frori ;::;o io11rn 1 e/ r :1ruth, �3? the noem vie1rs t,he Blacl- riother "seared with sl vory ' s ·,1ortal ~cqrs" M ~ ~ows that her sons qre ?.lack f oet btill visionin~ the "tars! aDriarently ~-~=~•~-~ snAnt tiMe re fle cting d1rjn~ the erlod between bee-inninr, o .. tr1; c nturv rind. the rlent1iss,,nce . ~ o 1"1.Ucb of the • t ares l • t O ,,- ~ us in ,..:::r1va t C ] lVC • ii 2& I) 11 1 ~ '.;1,6 - " oetry ,?:~, P,-- some t • • le,,, Fa set I s vers 7Ariir:ors rccial tones and sometimes not . So·1e of ~'II:~ her vn.oul.er1_re of French(she taugrit the nn u~P-e Dnd t·,.,anslated into bnrrlii:-h sevPral ~lest · the seen · n l\ra,;;,. t' it 1 es of s 0111e of ,rhe.,,,e she iriterDoJater the oets) . This is <'rench words into the ·exts . Generall her tone is mdet, neat and ell 1 -rritten . a native of Nor~ G,,rolinR ~~..:.._~~~~~n~r:;-;o~n:;:;-1-;'.",f1it-.;r~e~ltJ~C~o 1 J e r;e in 1 q OJ. ::md -ro r ke d for many yerrs in +;he rail',ray -rnPil service . In '' G redo 11 he nnounced that I ani ar1 IconocJ ast . 1 Jitli nbvious irony, S adC'H rus of "nn-1 f-' is "an .1-'-norchist, '' a/-ins c·oes on to clDi.:ri , "rid "i e eath of e and bold~ess of subject r1attc-r, To ~on . -·:is C'1ords nnd Discords ~T 1 ras nubJ idled · n 190G 'k1ll.XJ~l/l,V 11 r1,ii ch incJJ?~f"l critical notes . d(~P~'J• ~::1rris, Jamh·on, rs . F'leminc,, 0 . 11 In his n11dns "ntic~patcs merica(Adoff, 1°73) ~n y ti nd h:i -Or{: 1,..erJin ' s ,L .. j: ~--·--ok~nZo(l'I''-'~ f?Vll'-"'.,, t ~11 ._._.__,,,_. ) rr . j_'e1,-rsome, Itoberts,~hl=lc 1reJ.f Tilson , '. rs. ,Tohnso'n, .rtazafieriofo, Purr0ll 8nd B"iley poets contributinr- to var-i ous neriodi cpls of the day . rere R"lonrr lliB '11he Steel 1'•a:kers n.nd Ot:ber -~ar Poems in nc-rn hlet form in 1918 . t,e served as ecli tor of the t(ichrrond (Indiana) Sla~ ond bJi:ilhed short - stories in ~h" 0 entur_r. '1'fhe Steel l n.lrers" is P"T'OtionsJly '""nd tec1--iric~11y a'dn to sone of tho 1-orl: of J"hitm::in(~l=llt) e.nd Sf'n<"h ,,,.,i:r. It nrrci. Pefl thP 'fll6 steel ,o,....ker, --amonr; Ofl ~rris hifl~elf 1 �33 film numbered 2..t one t;_P'le . In 8...YJ.oth"r nl8ce , asks the •rh5 te ~"rY'iS r.in to e c ce-nt bim '"'in c e , desn:hte color " d fo::,t e differences , 'l1he .i..errro s the same as the rest . " 1 bli"'h(;d C..:Jo ds and c;U,"''7.ine ±R (J,. q?O):in RoPt n 2t ":;h8 inception o f ~wt.n~- . -. ~ ~' . p~ ...~ t ! J ~ IC/'-l~c,M-:4,~) ~ tb~ rtJ n2,is<1 ... ncc .A..a nonP- the " earli~st l'le<Troe art:i sti c eff'e u ti encsr contrib it · ere to er""lo-rr f-neP - vr-rse ,ith \azaf·r,,,ri fo "'nd :i 0 11 ;j oYton . Sexton ed to v::,r;o1's periodicnls ,.,s did .1.aze.fkeri efo 11ho<"P 1 ork t e anne'"' red in '.he Crusader rr a i:en fro 11 1.'he 1 e I e t'l'ro ai:rrd n in V" rio s nJ "Ce ".LJark SymY)hony . 11 11 1 Pl1tiiWii!ll!Mi!.lll!!P!l'll!!!!ll!'ll!•.._thi s rind ternneraP1onr,s incl Jn dj n.) in Tol. on 1 r omb T:b rover " S(')xton "America: nlr-iys line wi J 1 be s en C" evi 7 i:,-en-·, s 11 "nil ~ rnp "PS en a re . '. nay,ents , only , d an P}e e ta-ny ec1 ,, c ·- 5 on . e 111 ' 1. sks , in 1 ecry,o Ch 1y,c· , " "'!!!lliiliiiiiilllil;;llll•~l!!III!"!' for . 11 inanlv ~ ' Anrl not ""--ontin(T rnonev - ITJ."'lrprs , ll r;n the m nner of l'(tokelv CnrrnichP.el , - ,,. he 1,rarns , rho11J d For t"l-ii 1 world 8 '::i m rk to 11 re 1 7 f's h0 fi t the 1 e ro n "Ven . In addition to anr.er nna i·"""natience, thi r noet , 1 so e:;·presses r'"'ce ,,,,......., - "The ' ,,.ro 1.JoMo..n . " Tf it ,1ere 7 ride e ft np to h · m to 1.. l)ir-lr a t e0'-rO -,oni~n . 11 t;. · ;n -;io 11 11 P, T( ' ld se1ect the wonderful eon of the hall of fq1e", poet -rv 1r:re l 7 , -' O con ,l ed to fil'"' ryr zincs , E"'C 9e --{fizaf eriefo , ~ ·JO""llan for .. nry,o n 11 /J othP):i' . '1 1 ·1 fo1 r 05 f' t - J i ned <'ton "'a"' r~ [)ri.et r)~•=-,., • �3h Burrel] celebrates the 'prace snd forti t 11 ~e" r , ..,tn°sr of h.ti.p,cn] 7 i-r1. th!ltk~....,..., "Pl nclr . . . . hi . . torv ' K sk of the Blnck rnoth r. xl:re: e~rth mother to Create nor the c.,ntains of the st; · fro- tr'ericon 1-0I11'1n . is ' c f· lson : . . JJ asn . a ohm slit :1s0I11ebody 1 s Ci,iJ d" iP not rood uoetry but its s ibjAct . 1-ie and ser•rod tiine i-n the e t togeriter ,rorkcrl as 2 nrint•er "'nd th atrical uerf'ormer iss")uri qt..,to Penitentiary d rinr- which time sI11alJ boolr of his Prses . Shnckelford '·T s a n"tive st· dicd Bt an of t.lillia Csnada 1,-rhol\.•t J J 11, ;nnu'"'tri tr..,ining rcho---1 nd "'.Jhe "1. 1 J:ni ideJ phia Art 'useum. r · s ntry_:__a Other i'oems , wss n11bl i'"'hed in PhiJidel·-,hia in 191e . Jamison uublished l,earo .Soldiers n.1'1.d Oth~:' __Poerris ;"l South S~ . about ncnstles in tJ-,P, ldr, (Tl:b"' 7..,+-ter noe:r1 has and ,--.. rry 1 er.hin s" 7 "+;PS t e bt"'Ve --y r:rsndl.r r::i se . 1 11-i!"'.\SP, Jose,,h, love, .is'"'o ,r·, in J 9 lf' . Jamiron -.rr:ites Hope]i::>rsn"'Pf' nd coura"'e of J nc tr')0 s, J" T>'isonf uoint is~ouri, BniJey ' s 0,1 V'1.# vvi~•~ 1r s rcleas ':)d in 1 c 1L! . '' L1he ~l rrro 11 A nntive of l2.c 1 ririrl 11 l"lcwro Soldiers . 1'1~0 of the fle} r of D nb..,'1'> 1 f' "Colored i:::>oldiers" 0 troo s 1-ihose r 1 ,t, fonrrjit instePd oft! roe 1 ·inF 'venaenace for r.heir Fronrs. the hn,.-,dshiur of r f'o'I'> 11 s')uls A ,., ica 11 o~ noeMs( he ,. l llr.r,ame "TI ir t tlin~) 7 oc_;ous to lifr: ej.l , ue 1 r..., al 7 Rt the b"t -:=ind uarn. that the "bal 7 may bP. '\-t' 1 rl0d" as a plea . bot b t ( " r . Self .. is at the 11 �35 ' Jf5 ss Jes,..,ye •·rro te ovi n"' no tr~,r but i~ mu ch bette rork in devclonin · and e dinr ~ rofes:::ional choruses . 1orn in ?nsas, she received music 1 trainin• t •estern Uni re--sity in ovinf to new York hanf'2 s Eind Lan f"J"Ston Frij versi ty in n 1rih.ahoma . Cit~r in the t1-rentics , she contjnued -10-,.,ld.nci- Jorl I R c o .,nosi ti ons "nd thot of t e >nen to ( ilton ' s 7 ,:, c rdtlq oi 0211 i . . ted ribove . r:sap::;uur Her "'onas #., 19311 ) ' "'no. ri'hC' _u ronic l e ir ,J noted in o 1 r d;_ . . c ssion of' A1ex Ro ers , es ye s11ccessf lJ y c ombined tho -roeti_c ?nd the 1"1""ical lang u2g~ (t , "'il".lilrir to str:irt 1-ri th I). Her noem, "The 01 r-)1. t e;,r are so :::i-· naer " rec . . 17 s t 1-rork of Co,..,,..,ot' erf', Dunb,.., ", ,Toh..nson ( J"ries) , noetf' 'mo m for he,,, 0 e rour oth r n' rho 1,,.,vc brj 0 ·en thP g Ein bet rePn t-he t1 o art f'orms . 8.. 1"0 :J II nne i TI • j S"' J eosyP 1 ~ "ior8bucl 11 rlnd ,,,. . i l 8 "'t'n is riot ' • 1· f'e :rirl •-ro,..,·rn(a 7 onc:- vi+-n tl-1 "t of 1 pr r,on+-erin 3,,,,t1 n1 l 9 r7 r 0____ ~_:::J c of' l_:'£__.,...,, ri r,0ns . F1or P. i e::') sec c.'-~ ons , �Dl ring the ueriod of the Renaissanc e , ,,oet~ such as Georgia ( i£>c,c, Johnson f"r:iuset, Anne S enc er , J i c e Dunbs r - 1 el son , ,..,il 1 , §) ci ay , James ~1 e1 don Johnson , .Uandridge and Cott er }m.:bu h"d scriiew d recop;nition before 19?3)) ~ontin ed their o t ut 1 \) I either throur,h me,...,.,zinP- or book · • Hllch of this I! 1-1ork i :G. ~ he i::iook of _.,. '"':"'------""!".""~.it' r • r0corded in Johnson 1 "' _ can 1 1\.erl in ' s '~ . c;J_l ,o tee;ro Poets .-.nd The:i r°'!)oems nd C Poetry of the Negro( l q?l ) , and in other such comnilPtio ns and periodicals . horn in ·~8f't V· r inia ..,nd studiAd et the Virp-inia has Seminary in LyncQburg •r.h 0 r she ~ s ent nost of her life . he re Anne ~pencer F'.1S cent y relocr:i_te d in CaJ ifo rnia ; but .,J s for a 7 ono- time li br'<ria at Dpnb2 r Higr ;jchool in Lynchburg . 'i'his noet ' s 1ro r1.r r--.. h<1 rdl mrer reflPcts r2cj8l or noJitic 1 concerns but she is one of the most technic~11ysure of a 7 J Bl..,ck the oets . She Trites about ,;romcn , love , carnivals nd Jorkings of the •·- - mind . In · ts brevity 2nd conciseness, her noetry m1ticin t~s the work of G,rendoJ~m )rooks and is JooseJy' akin 1 to 'lngel ina Grimk ( trioue;h the latt<'r t s work is re ciaJ _ y - fl::ivorAd) • .-., Fer poetry also be<. rit~ r in the e"rlv yeors of the cen+- 1f! 1 r-ut, of _ _ ~fch 131001'1-i nn., Y'] :i C _ cind st~rle c'- n be seen i'l. Cnre1s," ..,ncj:.her-s) . SJ_ ements · ayden ( 'L A D-i nAt r1i_e Cny,nival. 11 1Te PY:1.el i ve r, 11 "Hi ghl!;;- qi:qsa0'e and -r. }in. t "Dd <J,y,9 told ( jn on echo of the ro wtics, th..,t Rl8ck poet i11. the same ""Oft •lma soI11e k:nshi.n to the 'l'l'J.OV:l 0' C]"Sf' noer1, it E"eer,:.:-, 1rit11 \J , tte-rto11., 0 jc, lln i:.>1--)n]JPv rid h.0"ts. "YJ.c,J<tion'j ·rJ:-,ey,e;n t 1-ro Jov rr nevPr �37 ~ advised, in 1 17 , t ~ be 1¢201{ II col A 197)1, no one STI!"l of ye pro ifi c . "sen"'jtjve,~nd lrnenly ~ t her wider oudience . o mf s,-ucm l x 11 observant" Put as of cvm Pr , e tion . Con::- j d ri n"' h0r 0 f' Y'S, 0r· od · c a ls Fork c·n be fo nd in sever•r:tJ ant11olo,.,.ies nnd Tp,.., of tbe t1-renties . Criticf'll ssse'"'Sm"nts ore,,...--:-,-. n-iven by KerJ·n , rmm ana ohnron • ..:rari.ns \Jelnon Tohnson , ~ , e noted e r j_,-,r , and Other Boe~ ir J917 . Tbe ~,,.,k inc~1ded din l ect •el AS standard .t!,nFJish cor, 8mor"'tive ni Pees . 'ot higbl..,r 0 1 1 f' conventional "ir:inal , the 'ork was one ri.ore ste..., in the lon3 r:tnd frui tf11l dPVPlopm,mt of nerh ::ps t e most i mnortant fi~ure in th hi"'tory of ~""'was involved in ar mriny thinrrs as c o Afte,,., his se e m s ~ d h 0 ve been h nnrnl:--r no "ible . 11 ork on Bro2 d-ray (with 1 ; p:ht operas), he 1-romked for the re -: e l Pction of p'- 1~ck poetry . - -~ t beodore rioosevelt, served as d for his nolit5c<>l 1-rork) in l 1 nit0d 0 t~tes Cons1 l(a re - i c qrarrua and Venezuel ., ub7i:::;hed of Anx ~~ - Colored L edi tori a s ( for r,o· e than 10 ye rs) for the years . A deeply P6'"YCholor;icn.l -Jo rk , l~pw Vorl{ in 1912, wrote ~ r:e and bec8.rie uto b,:ior:r~inhy de" 1 t 1 1i th r 1 1 ch an exDlo!"'ive contenpornry tonic- - tbe theme of ~sint -- thst Jo1nson 10' ld not sffi"" ri"' OTJTl nn:rne to it ti it ~ • "" reissued n i.ntrod ,c · a 'rinr OYl hy t'1e , rl Van Vec'"ten . e.:b th,.,t ,Tohnson I s II rotberr II np ,'h5tfield, Di.l~oi s, -ra,,1 ins flnd oth errs nas ri ;bly Draj sea by Jere just as stronrr rni th. T j 1 ,h.it an, nd if'o rC' ofl' • te ( 11 intel 7 ect ia:J_ sub0tancell . , s r ndnr Bt 0 s �38 ( should be ..,.rn ned -ri th the noblest AT>1ericc.n c,,-,nn1e:rnorati vo "Joems), and 1 1 other jnf1uential crit;ics . "his first book mows "'trenr,th, ,-.. fl 11 virilit 11 and rob F'tne!"s thrit wo11lcl marl{ Johnson 1 s futnre , ritings -- erpPf cially 11 God ' s _ro~12_ones(l 0 ?7) . jiH mhc noems 8re natriotic . . cornrneYrJ.orates the 50 Fi f't y Yorirs 11 wllich anniv1;rs ry of the J'.,,-n_cncine.tjon Procla!'18.tion), nost lr;ic( 11 0 S01 thJ.ana1 1 11 ,descriptivelv 0rr1orous( 11 'l he Glory or' the Day:f 1 ms · n Per Face 11 ) and didncti c ( " 0 rothPrs 11 ) and fundament'l l The J "st ~ i ...,portPnt for for wh t it rncorn.s oem, t;it?\lJ:.~r;t; is as,.,embled, is an ::irtirti c n. le ck 'nn Unkno,-m Bard 11 ) . of the rmkPrs of the inr; actual -rortl.s rivid names from SnjritunJs , ,Jori..nson st renrrt Lind h"'n ho -r :it ar,..is-sry chqr,,ctPri:=itic of the s e sonr-s nirituaJs . reaVPS i n t e hPj. loved !!' i :t?sls\sliWl-- I""""") and to 1 rhich he a"voted so rnu<"'h reseo.rt ch "na J istenin0· ti:r10 . I,.; roouced by he "ays, is ':':hose sirroJe chiJdren of the s n and soil . 1 ~th~ .Johnson 1·n ir,too , that ~ ~ ou1d Dot be • 1 O blcc 8Jnve sin~ rs , ~one, forgot , nf cd , if 1:.rork rl om he d t1--Je torch . AJ tho igh "'ift,~ Yen rs j s a "'tronP-, col 5.d lllW:l '!Ork, r.,ce-r,n,,cc-: nu~ lyrics, es.ten i Yl h · • ~ Ce ws end dll pj n I ti 2 t: Are tnnes that reD at ~hn cry of the hn, rt �39 Jith a woman 1,ho is t intAd bAC'lJ.sc fl C' is e the vj ct ; m 0f One dro p of Y!J.idn; r•ht in the de m of Ji fr, b1 ,rho finds hornitality i n the 11 11 "8tin "t,,,eam 11 s ~his n oem re c nl Js Cott e r ' " ",,he ,,1atto to His Gri ti c s 11 -rhich de icts the preclic8ment;=q:a;n5L( nrobably CottP r riim" J. f ) made up Uf Red 1-12n , but c, h rnh l e fold - - presumabl~r the "9la ck COY'l unitv . rn. 11ti - r ... c ial 1 ll <> cl.r Hr.ln , nri ton , Gel t , nd Scot , ho lo v es tr e dark - s dnned , cur y hai r ed " u ts SF8 t music :in 11 sj ,.,., i la r tension in Y"v :=:0 11, . 1 ti ·rs . JohD!'lOn To l y i::lon ." w. he to ses and turns betuecn n.dvi . . inp; er son th t tri0 "d, sk,_r Dal l o f sriedo s rcrAPn the hirrh,ray o-f Lour sky" :::ind enc o 1rsrrinr; hiin to 11 storrn the sull en fortr0ss :1 fo"Lmded on ra c ism . In additj on to -rritinP- ruch nowerf 7 ~n.d J.r.stin -..,ootr , r·s . Johnson rns of u.•illllll!il;;""1.- "'er'd ce to vou.nrr uri t rs for sev"'-naJ. dAc<>des . bosterl A 4"ernale co mt r - nnrt tn L'Uln-ston lar 1 ~ ~ nna spontan°0U ¾ Me t;nn-c, _ .; 0 Johnson , noetry of the T,. :..\inff'.1 D:i_srnond(]A91-1915r-) rDo did not ntil 19'i-3( 1 J~,,,.,_o__\n_1 l d DiP- ). DisT'"lond , Ji 1 nany -rriters of the p0r; od -1ro d 11 rinf the hen,..,is"'Pnce . Dj_sr1ond nf 1 -Jas not 0 ne of all .0nvis e h:,Tsi c 11y prPsent in nrJ eI11 born in V~rri;inia ::ind, a trock s t r / 'Y)hys;cal thPr>ap_ a f tPr 8tt ndin"" ton , he c1t R, "'h I ecical College 01r~rd lJ"liversity •~c:.demy "'Y).d t o lmivf' r sity of C icar- • �0 Dis ond , 1 ( crisp and noi. rina t poetr ftl o urote some protest , i_s ore im")ortant to us durinr,; 1b.hiirn rr ntcrt 1'h~ \for d I s onthl"" 11 of ove And eriod for his jo rna i"'ti c 101h) for several years . rhey also co-edite ( 11 r ____u orit~ gazi~ d ere they botl-i~ n,,bl isherl poems and ) articles . Tohnson ~ 11' d sPvoral of his nlays performed in C icP l""O ,h th Pekin ,..,he..,tre ~-•llll!tlD==:i111111111Wl!i--l9A.. ic 8nd the H[lr}em ink be+- eon t e noetr o ~ 1 :=, enn s nee . city ' s n Tiesake ni V"r::-i ty 3Dd t,, rr,ht sc:tiooJ for .., ye r in the Sou+-h . Y>7 V ri +-. "'T .,... , b 7 ; " ,.,d noet-r~, one( TittlP D-reaming, 1017) in C ica~o, no ~ y 1 07 ._; • ' ~nc onr'"' of .,_he Soi. l, ~r:inct1 0 - tiP1e . Tr"rr1.o., - J 911 e .. vork e+-;r: ,;p..}-' d hpr'l. 0 Pnetr: (19 ?) - ----r--- pi bl; "17"'0 ~_:- s of iJ,.,r,.ect ~:1e-r· ca, ::-hort ~torie" . A narticinant in t.11."' ''no ,tF-r re"Ti val II in "iiil!!!!!!!ll!~ r for P'"le!:0:Z., 0 nt.hoJ or•v of I and Tn sn ing that he 1.'78 A i lii<"' , orlr Bccented nt1'ol0rie 0 0 ~ ..:_h_e_I fprri foA-';7tr- CPn a c..,,i c<, J0' n~on h A t..-t .Toh son •JaS C Arn.,,,,; f:. Poet-r~ er J t.. '0 -] cna,:,: .. If 11 O"'t of dP-spair nd Jtirnately the S the only noct nriting :.in e: ch ve:.in(as Bro,m , Hedding, ,--- -T0hnson , h ~ ~)!.1'.~i..+-,ics T as+-;~ I-indSA"' 7 aclr Ttlf HOY' CS "'""he and s~ndburg, 7 -- 'A,T)rovi wU ' d~ a,J~ n av0.nue B t in nool'l.~ ~ such as . 11 'Tli red 11 , )7 ~ycr, n mo-re t "'n " dcsrmir .. 11 11 'Tlhc Scarlet omPn" "nd 11 n, lers" he d. s .deflecting, as 3ro m noted , the 1:ree-ro noctry after 19 L~ , 1 resent, 1U s PYnerir:ent,.,tion to Pn_t or into the of \"njo I'O""try only 1 11 II ro o:; n ch tre es of Johnson can de"l ,,ri th either the br Flin rb,,n blues or the do :n- ho-rrie , 111 e sl7all OV"'rcome 11, 111otifs . Ac,, 1ro his �1 ---~ wo T'k do es not contain a cons is tent sni ri t of hope , ,J"mPs ,Johnson 11 ~r~ is m0:::sar:e nirrored ide s 61 ' 11'11. .ll@lllliiijlo_.-s foT'ei.gn to any philosophy of life t 11e 111 e el d on ts no ·ro in Ayrierica h:::-d ever Johnson thou,ht this w s uresched or precticed." bout the s"mc time a R 1 l< enton r- OP7J -l958 G Johnson 1 s ,rork , of the bl es erq -- and ~-is ometiI"l.es f a. l led its "father . " iM!lM"!~me~mml!lliiiiiliw:m~ iR 11 11 riT'0d 11 of,., civilizati0n .Jhich h<>s riv n hir1 0 ~ _ · and find 0 1 1.t th t yo up ore co lorP.d. .. JT'i_ tes about roustabot ts, nror"ti tutes,. 1 laborere ~ 1e pro~oses crr • • • i t is b"tter to die thnn it is to grow Johnso too rnanyll children c'<inricc fn.,,, ther.i. to SJ'1".,,,,.,. in the Ar".ler · can drearJ. . and observes . hat st :vong ri.11 and is , as JFy ·' tli.e p oet of the d:i snossossed . and Fenton Johnson V'"' n-rFints , 311Dt ,--.; ht said of Henry D1 "-J;/:s el so r>J" .... , the noet of the bl 1 es ; San Greenless hris noted"- "the blues "re a freedom song . 11 In br0alrinc a my fro111 tr,.,di t-i onal Bl ac :e ------:-, noetic dic t ion and orm, Johnron not oPJy received influenc0 from the ,h5te exneT'imente r s ,-.... of free veT'~ 0 ; he horro.Jed heAv il v fro~ t~A bl 1 es and , at this level , nmr"t sh"re so~e of the acro l Ades usuall~ rc 5erv d a] sole l ~ for I,anr-·n ton It is no·w re si nn7 M .... 11 o~t '3h-es . idely "CCented tbat the b]ues do not pre8 ch v"A a tion . To t},e contrary, the b J es ) telII\Af:>o onal f~ilures ~ r r'ret 1'18 1 ,er ~ -' I~ ho~e i n the s-i_nD"i_nrr b only one of tbe man~r no et nd n.~ .:'h? .[ o-i11"" on'4- ~~ ~.A-O sA..t.'• •..-•...,.lllliillil••~ Do 1e r0slly beJicve thet Johnson meant for the c"h.il_dr""n to be thro m jn take the bl es dno- r 7 it r"' r ;r uhen h + e river? '1rom_· ses to n;y,no-r>e th n ,-re II y my heR.d ~ �do;;n on some r ilroad track " ? Tohnron ' "' "note of de:::T)air " 0 d·stillation of cyh:i.c1:1l 1..reb the djtties , ( 11 st. rhi_ch ".)l"Oc'li1ced the sorro soncr , the 8nirituals , jolrps, rl ymes ahd blues . At the time John on I,n 1 i s ..., l es, • 11 .,,he 1 II e1'1 his Qlue , " . 1'.)l_A,P.8 and arr8nrin-:: tradi ti onaJ b ~1es ~ --• l . l ].{0 lip 111 eJ 101, .,,..,, s ~aJ.£, -1 .ote JJocr 1luesf ") AC · - 0m~n, II 'It ' e Us Che9r tre tnis Jist " fl] ne is ct Pl> - i th rruj tars BJ ack '"' Pr 11 in reali tyJ nJa y0d "r" ITt,j me t nes of the day . 11 C1e 0 rly this if' ,_, ld be . Tfo n:rPsides 1-.rorl 8S a nrjnce of the bl es t;: • t • 6'7c-tjme")! Johnson '~ is in rrior t :=mtt,oJo "':i.es of Afro-A"leric< n no etry ana cri ti ca 7 ,,eose"'srients of l i" hRV,, ril e"dy been notAd . c sions of th ~or no· e thoro 'P-Jl dis 0 "Oetry - bl e"' c0ncent sAe S+;enhen nenrl rsnn 1 q Unc1erstandina; 1 the Ne -r 'RJ " Ck Poetr:r, At the of oetry b.., ¥ d- m bi b1io,.,.ranhy~ n , h";)+-,er VIT . of t:b0 Sea on Cotter, Jr . r1°a5_ 919) , t;he Drr.:>c-oc·ou::- son of the Cotter already disct ssed . vo1 ' ich ct t st.or i ne hnd to And hie, co le ~ Yi a-vt,.... ne: C/'"\tt9r died /\; the rnoc,t rl t, br->rc11Jic,. c,lim volume DrleT'l ••el"l&issance +- er c an eared e carnc in1ov,,to-r, r,n +- _ _ ~ denth nr0mi::'~t:t.~ o r - Ar1er•ic"n frril from chi dPood li:e. D,nbar , Cotter at Fic,lr Friive.reo. ty ·hen he d vc 0 U"S hj_c, fnthe , Cotter Sl'OF"' peel �- I , f a sh::1rp ...,.K_w=irenes"'- ( in rhe "3--nd of Gide~, 0 8nd an evAn s~..,~ er abi ity to exp~es sentiments Pnd fPelinrs . i~ J}id 1.'h t Shall .l J•nn • "ll in I' rni c" uah,:,s i s nio c os - -thin s i.., 'fhe re of +-11n t~~t nli ht a l onr e c '1.o e s mu ch of Bl" C c A Be"f 1P1'f ) of the pJirhttf1 of B [' Cks ith nther 1 oetry ' . . concerns anticin Iles ear.r 'Rlues , " Jaz z oni" , 1 'naisnl'1ncn , Cnttor ncv"'rt~el 11 ElSS ~ y M• o-nf-- "'nd eoo secs jn the be!'.'.1 t of tre 1 rl re i 1VAIJa t 0 0 1 of i fe an orde r ed by uod , Cotter bofsa.ri 1 -rit i ri~ 1v)AP1 "the Lr r n t M .lf' ic. "11.. 11 ±oeil pllljilllll...liliC'~ - • Hi.s toc},nique , ' s , combines t:b~ bA~t ...+¥"'!!1•~ raditional WentArn ne 1 oetry f r e c ve ~se . ~ · 1/M .r~is n en ~re" b o t m v e of ovc , l~J~• ·. n. , A."'l Becriuse I Am Pl a ck " se 1"1S 7 to h" re berm lookin Somnthinf" io boldir,/J' 11e forr-rard to a - hr'i I c, II '"' 11 7 ,I ,; nong ba ck ! T a ·d , f f' Ll;~ it DOePl o c use .... , 0 ~~t ~ ~~ 1 ;~! 1.rhy whites "re so amazed th t he c n 0 i n the ir i n0rt9nt f 0 ce, II tan d 11 oo k them stra i_ ;ht in tl1e ,..nd ''sn ak their ton~ue ?" Cotters 1,ror,. an e"ns in o.!:._Ar1e_:--'ic..,n JEwro Poetr-rr , ~ o Carav_12, crlin '~ st, d:r( " 'l'he st"MP 0f thr> f icnn riind j s u pon 11 Jott r) , na ,.,. . ""Ofl S ' r Fork nd 1p1-,, b] i '11 ed nor,l otr • ,. I, �" PRO -r.n--rrs: The H rler.i. Renaissance A- ~""" ... ~~~ - -fl.-......., n,,c K~ ': Rert2issan c e(see PActton I of thi::- ch"per) is norn,<>=1Jy recn ou'b-~0 1 rin,.... of cult r"'l ,..nd artiPt:;ic "2 s gl 4 i :ri Jhat Jmros 'C'l don Jorin on act;ivit7 C'"' '3 P :l; 'a" -a2rts 1 E'd the ,lnerrro / 1 tvra actl'aJ 1 y b o-an nnd hou 1onn- it 1 8 sted . Some s y it ti Y'le 19,.,,..., rind -ran un-'-i 7 F'J5. Ot'--,0-r <"'j, e the fi : r ~ ,,,.,mt· oned StiJl G p,,i+---a ;j+,.,+e ) ------------ -- - - 0 ~, fo,,... fm:trln 6if Jiil!lll!Jllt hnve . Ele si.,. nte v 1--,·"' theater, ~ ,,,A· ,, SAd in tho con::- e,,...va.ti ve the ~donted s0n of 2 triornh -rp of a • e-si,odi Pt parsongg , Lan,.,.rton (1on? - lCJ{--7y Ministe~ .~ ' n-hes Gnent 1uch o~ the orc~re ,-...... of thP- in·ent; es trove] jnn-; so did rand0 instances , and h 11 R ov,.,_-, 11 ~P ~o- 191, 8 Claude cn. ayfho orth Africa 11 -- in r1any f _c.u-r ne and lone 1.1rite 2 -rn-;, "teri.ous 2non7r"li +- ~ several ,:;, b ,f"re • Often neither "enaissanco, StArlin 1 11 -ras born in Hew Vo-r1• • ._. , le·thnr Jed C<:l 11 minor 1 i T" 1re uho died ot' a yaoc:s; 1-rit rs of t11e ) nor Arna Bontemns ( foi.,""'l"t!-. ...,._.,. " n 1b J..·,.. 2 l8Jfte 90? - 1973) 6 book'"' d r· C1' th t ,~ 1 J..ri " • e wen t·1 es NT �e Crisis lsbeled the renais of 1,;r_;~or an rebellion , i_s chiefl,r i ..,~1!1!¥11~""~!!11!1!!8!!11'1111'!1~,. for his df 1 Je st Dio 11 ) ~1 f a 'Yl"lo s sonnrt wr i ch windr do1m ( u f ) to the fdlfulo ·Jino- co nlet : 1 Fo,md "'CribblC'<'l on · l'e , ql ls after th 0 Attica l nrisi rr of 7 07'.;)·• r 2fter a s0ries of cs tre bef>in~jn~ of the· arlen 1'12de ,is entry into the 1rorld of 7 Pttors t 1 :o ve2 Y'S earl i.er (1 °17) oeris ( 11 '!C1rlcni Dene er" and of two i~e 11 ri th the publ ice ti nn Invocfltion 11 ' ~ to 1-~,.,,..erica in 191? frol11 arleri ) in Spven .ti..rts lfo.P-R.zine . is nati7e JaP'laica , h0-re h.e- ~ ~ 1 uronean li tor ture and ntd loso hy , State CoJlo e, he f"na7Jy, ent on to Harle~.~ ~ ~ - - - ~ ~ ~ - • ~ '= flnd ,1 , · ~ he worked as a r,oy,tey,, "ai t r Jtre c: t urant nrou · eto - .Tam8ica, oet of a_;a ect 0 cfay ha e"tnbJimod hi s reput tion as a 1 roflec+-i_Y",.,. r; s onP-ti CV~ Voy,k , ~~ ~ )rncvm i-,,. 7;tr:,-.- ~ry nr:id ~ , ro -e ,. 1', d:!:11"1t-4w b; or,-r 2 eavin e nl OY"J.ent ns a no 7 j ce an on the isl<> d . hPE0]-9ct J['ta1:>1;"'lino~ '18 Before :iife - lonrr fr "end~hip 'Tith oljtic 1 circlAS, 0 ax :Enc,t an( rho hi cal note for • c:c;:::::::1:±:a•1z·NN!• c ay counted nrionc: his friends some �to A Pric VO l 1 7 03 1• fn~o 1s critic ·arle!"' .::>c 0 r'liere ~~ •ITe 8 ( 7 ')?0 , I . A. Richards) · do·rn(lq-,?_ ~ nn __ Son,.,.s of-----,Jrunaic8 ""r 'Y'd ""'Ued in 19 1 9 __,;__.._ CookP , 0 pe0 # tro~edy , by th0 .,.''fl!lll•-.m:..llilli~ of' '1 7 ncl s . in his l i ·e • "11_.1 t it ,h re :-1. T~ neT,r vol 1me of' nrose 0 ind Le•non J" ef ferso,.1:, 1 '>,ou~ he l 00 hed o, t 0 nd Fn s t n~c 'Y'e ot er cont'Y'aditions nd -~ e,rs to rruch of rN' din .,. his a l to bi o f"t'" nhy ( nn I,eroy G..., rr , 1--ie denied th t tf'P ' in ho rev r , c·n b0 ~~ine1 b T,onL__ __ __ __9r,e, 1037 , J 70), his e a)"o 1 or o· C il"'" ..., C ,J I"\ l •. 1-ie best "o ·rco �; ronic that · c av'---- i tt: ritban C, c 17 ed tli.e "Y)n';t of ,,r- ·n"'( arr_om__He?ais""'~..:)c"]l9 hi...,, k hlricl, Prome si-ce nont of his noe~e clonl 1ith ~~~~~- ~liPt t uics c,uch eus," s (' '- 7 • 7 1· ~ " - J_(.,/{.~~4"'/7/ n1or.her, nature, rio"·,,n_ ,.,.io, _one incs", I\.:. ) C, "nd dAscrinti0nr 0r Of noe~s he nub]t"hPd onJy about 1 jternrly dozens of - can be c .11 Of co rse ~he-,.,e is*Pethin.,. 11 eel nngry!' ~ m w'- i, 0 And ,: ar.t ..,r8rp f'S steel with discontent, •• •, Auch in much of t:1e TJO violent. · • ~~t~ ...._An~ most Arnnrican lif8 4'.ClTPpnrloare,~ -~n th·s sen.e ~ locks tr,r '-:;:b nt is not overtl is tr e of'~pr,rclay In,-,c· co' ld be l..,_bP 10 c miiild:m 11 .,,i 1 :·tant 11 or ,.,n+i "'m"L, nolarizinc ten"'i oni37'iSh,..,t ,.,,a!re nno . ., , R" I •·i7 1 c0r1e b ck to 11 violr=mt" --h"rhori11 , "n r 1 ri thin 2 f in-er.xf rame • ~ s it~$, orld of tears, . h3st influ ncos on P .ack thou3ht and art of his d 0 T cKqy -n0rha1:s did nor, 1 no,r:I thflt hi , Fri tin'"';s insnired vo.rio~nokesme.n ror Africnn notinnalis~: Leo old ~ed r Senr,hor, J ~mane Soce~ Aime ir toda Ceso·re ~ial• ~~::::Wl.w;-,~~iiiiila betneon h0,\..,,,i~itnnt •1r,i+;nri-s of the t.d11 .,,ro - 'ln 1- ~j ~ seen , JO(Q ' c:i ,~'3 xH) 1;, d 1 rino- this n0.riod, · nter~"'ts in _. n some I he f'n l. ']--d"::-; Phit,e" 0r01 nd ·or lin $@Pf i BliPP/W. Jl st ated ond ~ rif'J'Jerns U')f.JU.L r c;;." c5 noted mi tos . I•'or ere indic +·,·nrr a ne r ....._ n--tj on lnclT"', inf' ired b: tho --·ro 1 -rn s 1 nnr ro..,ean co,,ntri 1 M[' d cha:rr1on n d Emt rtn ined sc·nlined anr:;er of his l2c 1rn , ~ iti the r- 0 , h ro nd rec worJd r~ f 101 "nd 11ronn anda in �, . 11 non'"Ct - t,.. .., rAc:'lies 11 and D""'M;on in ~ i-:'1.err::t . ove n.]7 n~ f is a noet of prission , tlfii"'-1-., di. efore in 11 , sa,rs exprn::::'"'ed 11 0 iord in jq n·r e"coJ n0W1'"' 7i 1 •p to 3ino-, T L0ve 7 II 11 1 .t'olnrit"'T~'. 11 in the h" rids of whites- -or as a prod , ct of ~ct:ence, 0 ther 11 ~~•----i- ite Cjty, ..,,~ger !lnd hatred . no0tF1J(D, ois, :inc' ence the ryoet of h8te . hr If nlled e]<'lnn ,Tot>n:--or1 J&iJ'lC<" 11 fee jn.-- is S,c L1l::1tto,' B t , es tern ri cl·nP.s" ~t:~ .~ ~ t h e ,,'J:/tJu.~£ • ~ ~-•-'!'lt t.,o,...1ec; iri the Hnrv of' c ;r "re t'h "" in ortrnce of tl--ie e"rth( nc1 ~· e c,-, intry'"'ide) , o.i."i 1 lf'iOrunP. t(_ lith 0./ Bl c 1 v5rtuos c i ~ l:la c e -r ri dA r c e 1 e b r 0 ti on"' ,_,.f~:;;J;.....o8-.-~~~~B•1·iiiir..12!2.ia.M""'' c • f . , "F < r l em Dancor 11 ) , a P fric"n cro'"'rroac, /\,:~~iPit ali::::~ 'nd re 1 i ("ion.:-1. - ri"'1ti id T'l "no ~ m n ~~--~ii.i.iii!i8"""'1'~~ Afri c..,, 1 Tarlcm as (; d J. _, P r,[ kP son ..... et f'orm.• vse of the . . ,.., , ct '"S .., "Jolitic...,]/P"ciaJ ,ro::iDon, he P'l'lrt be i en c redit l:),-,i_nr (jn"te 0 0 o:" t(1 :isp·1ra ed- -c.f ., form ; n+;o D T~,0' ins) for ~ v~hj c 7 e of protest, Jove :=ind re ce +, Dride . rnin •P tl•dr 11 hfute" b b"'P.rvcd th"t �11 ~atdns Ol')ened hi"' "'Onrrnt to Tbe l~ew er-ro " 1ith -ut in no othe:r' m1JtI1:tr:om nu"'rter, before or since cJ: y , does I cian Fe thinks ; n bJ c 1c. Bl..., c k R. C and trPp;~ ; rony --1-1i th the f:'o n net . G'wnndolyn 'Q '""' .ri 1 1 11 er me""lor'-- ble " so l!lter invent 7 And C • len I s 7 -:-!... ~n01 res -1i th 1 7LAP inconcl rivenPSS that vPr es on /\1 1._ ~ c ritics 'el'l into cco nt . cKa, ''b. , ,, 1 i 7 f u o ~ ~Tohnson . For - C ay he sonnet i"' r.ontrolJ od an,,.er . 'is i,.. in the "'trait - j c 1ret of -t-h0 ,j' ... 8 loose form of theropy -- Bc ~tir1/J'3 an,.,.er of n"ti ve f-1 ;te liternry J<:irrp:d C!l menitics . i.re c <:1 ,.,. t Ta nts to be freed . is open - endedness r-r:ro rn ,7,uc 1• n , J!f. ~ r centlh.ries 1-1'1en I-"'c ay Tr r,edy , u "The " As a c orrect and c aref 1 y II <"$ id §PtiP n1' iJtl're<i dP rJ inr of ~es t0rn l')O etr""r , the " 1 f' n.,..., t sed it . lv-- d beon in the ~~ /('."1;11,i,~,..."""IIP., J.ines(in varirn's stanzaic natternr) , it is de jr:rned to nose so irm in i for " ...,,. - h1le , an d close in a of • robl em neat ans' ~e' # .s nt-.,. e~ ' te t ine nine) or tl--ie se"'tet . Presto { ~ "'t 1 i in ''bo J vi ng •I I, ,.... " r1athernat:i_cs 0r c"'lc ,1 -µ • /\-'JaA I,]' 14 the 'race prob e l- o rover iq not c annot I (' ite so e[•s:r . oner .Crfl..Y fr· .,____t "solve 11 a lvnchinrr . ut r'e paces it lyncrinrsit1 the rnoRt nne,"'0r1e, ,..r 'esorrie context by er:_u 0 tinp- the A.: ..,- pj V; ~'t ~ to t e cr·,c5_ fiy-:0..,.., nf' ~ ,...i:--t(ro0 C1 ~'.~ p ~ f..., i in ,...esoJ ' +-1,-,, n.,.,8 7 And_ ·_t-;le t lad:::i, lvncl"'P,...s t -0t Dnncen r01.ino t ~ § . d f C PsrJ.~r -l- i_q is not !\r"l0 7,, or Sant- ll 7 lert 1 s he 1 ,-,a rcli; us p,.-,,.-, 1 1 cl~ Ghrist , :=c,...;Si'1 . lt 1•½ ~ to be , th.~nrr ;.,.., fi endi rh rrl "'0 . "' P.tr2rc0, Sl- f'Elesne ... ,...0, Snenf'r, 1 'nd .- Pverl _.;;> • J ton , ro1 Pn C()"TlG �50 ,c r.i v 1 "' PO being rk. 11 nr"'"'ti r:;e II ant:bolop;:i es ( orton, renresent0d even i w,; -e vlnrren , t, .... · es in Lit0rnture and others ). The mo"'t c""lb itious '"'tud 'he_ nnitcd JC an of Hclhy tn date is by ro S e s, >1 incJ aes 0')'1 P ,-, ( 1 T lroo rn-Le1.ri s - Pl .., C lr p O e t rr:.i. tin r• S 1 t ·qg,rl\ S ) • ) 2 1q~ i~ Arthur P. LJavis 1 s ~rom the -- ·- - - ' ::mnendixes to nost antholop-ies , 1 tbe biblior:-r:-,phy section of thjfl Fork , and e~ ec:iflJly the 1:i"tingc-; in Blnck fl re bl oodeo '')J oy, ceven rnciq] "trains "nd looked re· P,('. ten .uvidPDCC to r ' ,.,ort the fact tl1nt .oomerl\ · - blood and 11 n"'",...E'd 11 C'"'nnot be fond in his I'l"ior neith ' ' 0 NI'. 1 ' Tork --Cane(l0?3) . ,. ':f.lhe 71ue written jn J93A and fladly 11 rirlilln, b ' overlooked, i-r 1.·ric:1 he tries to unite ..-., the disparate eleY!l.,,nts "'OD les"l-ii 1 -ton, 'TlOt"l r " 0rtJy " ·tor l::i±R he 1ras born in hif' mot},,..-,, e co >1 n t 11,... ,_-: '-'f ter of p d_,, .s. ,,,ently -:ncrbac ' Pil c ' ' rea of iap 1.-i nn-ton . It ' rit "'1d robl'"'tness:"r,o,..-,e found sr:f) ore color , >no-r-e "'8iety. 11 Af~er ). c: OQl11°r ' r. T?")"t 11.t Io' i"iana "na re- 7 oc to ; n 7 mhri pv in rr, t .,oo'ller s her0 t 1 0"'1otion , more rh:rt11 , t t andin,.,. local lb}-ic ~chools "'1 'includinr- D111.b2r> i )') another , nPver becomin ~~!!lrU P!"lr0 1 1 o ~ c in on0 colle e v <"'Prio"s dor'rPe ,., nclid....,te . l'rol"'! ~ rent t' r0 fin. 11, ft8r ~ 11 ~·li_ ., ::'Pries of jobs , d ·nuttin J.E'1f' in "'"VP,....a] "vqrt- a,....de J.ittlr-> T'1."rra7in0s . l'oomer J-, J J 11 • stories JS gj b? �l'nf'on, A}f'red Stie"·litz, P Gorh"Y"l P . ~o"enfeld , I{enneth Burke 1 0 T L ter , ana other" . fn lr months) of a sm"l 'i'oomn-r 1 ~ j fe -ret, y,rierl. to " nsvc,...,olor;ic"J disarray" r-el f - ·n· fyin 1 ...., a 0 nd he turned to mcthodolo,.,....J • . USSlf1n, ,. r1ile :be also J-:vcd A.,,,. 'l'o mer 11 I dn "'1'1 'Y>Y'-i ,~,,j osflxuo1l e:·o,,r-iP" rt:=iJ co "lune . :.rn ou · cir p11~ces ion ,in ' ; l; ~ fter r.b S8C"'Ylr1 pned: ed -1-,iro l,Th; ~" l 0"'1en . not Jrnn•r ! '1 VP • r • 1 7 i •re O 8 r ' ns. II 7 l f lf'iO c1"'nyi n er othPr, J }"l'"'VP- '"')UP-ht to let th,"1 Ji1( i, h -rr."'10ny . ••·t ·n t;he Arirl ~ S ,, y,onPr" of' Y'l"'Centi vi t:r i nc-rPc f' 0( , I lfi'o nd riy~ elf 7 ovi n it. iv " +- J co,,lc nev r love th0. oth r . �Al thourr)l .Tr.iTrJez •eldon .Tohnson comT) eined tb"t i'oonier r~f sect.( 1 le edly o t of conte~pt for reciaJ ca+-erorizinr) to be incl ( c0nv r,uti.on b0tire n 0t r iri ..,..~!!!!"'!"--"!~<~:~r~~➔l'.""'""'":"!'~C~'~' .._.. . . . ded 5n the c:oecond h ,r,n '3ro·m EJnd ,Te n ·11-feeJin s ~ the t o rPnaiss"nce f5,.,.·lre on +-he ,..., !'.'.1Ck intelle ct als of the otrrr , rj t r ouite the r l' 1 rim E'""'1 t 0 d 1 ri tb lit rat"re y he cli_d . "l"!cmviniw:rimrfl:':m?!Pl ~ er8. o denicted Sl<1cks_.,...,~,.,,'°-"- Ol!l'lit - ut al · 11fluence t eer11s to ~ ve ~:-,-x occured between hi.'111 and .1",,...t ::;r8ne . And Roh0rt. Bone( ec,,...o ovel in .Americe 6 "ne on iir7 e~e 7 T~ir is all P-Ur --,ri sinp; si "1.Ce :iall C"ne so J d l As a -rorlr of art , unit, 01 'D J ou1i. with ~ s t ~ s than ever, it ,,...0f'Jncts room r 1 iot. 51n coufues . s ef+>ort" to acriA of both c:oeJf "Dd m1.rnos~ . ~ C"lled V",,,iousJ ' a novel, a coJlecti n of def' er rnJ:.e S0nr o-P {o:,"ri_i, Craka, and tbe rhvt 11JC' of' ..,d ot,hmr, onl · ld d by l"cl ""1iritu'litv fro - ,,1Pri b 8 11 ritual . C8ll!le h8s three b"sic movP ents -- ---- oomer 1ad be An int ,,...e,,.ted ·in )OtJ:. musi c cmn os5. ti on Pnd nai nti n .,--wriich i D.VO l ve ( 1) llAor i a and +-he 0ovt"h , ( '"J) C ic r;o , lPslingt-o~, D•• and the .,,..-iYJ. whPre Too'11.E"'r ·mxe" In thP first prirt of C:-;:;-fl many 0f C\ectinn, ~ . · +-h0re "re Ul'YrI"'r0l'S nj ctl1 res of vonien, ,, 1 ~ , thc>vriA. Jike 8rin+-b<1 , poned to0 f''Jon . 11 In t 18 sec 011.d vie1P rban ~oome,,... r ?i0QC~ 'orthern ec~dence t·•~~~ "nd c0rr•rytion ano no,,...thern I\ ~ , �53 ~ ed,· c tor o 8 ot,th(Georgi a ) to find h; s f' frj c an roQts . lie rather ~~ ~ cl 'rls iJ.y /\t-,,,ro11f!}J. a Peries of :rite s dur · ne: uhi cr ; sm to Toomer uses rw-~--~. reirrhten the ~an ' s fer and co~n l ex s " f:'bnis ", is airii 0 r to n l ay . 8 -r>intha 1 s "''dn " is l ilrn d sk on thP. Crstern 11 horizon nnd i I d.1 ,, ·,. 11 o rdP in t h e •1. es ays the nlirr,ht rnc 11 east0rn . ·oys of 11 ro gh out tr _ b oo:V , 'toomer r e s thy,ouph ti ~ t nd "'ometjmGs eni C"'J']."ti c DOPtr'r • e ven P1ore J e" XlR , 8S 0 f aIT1 crorPs b t 11 i n t,.__ IL"'auer II sh" r ryenj no- their f' cy t ~es for Jso ,~Qoi•_.~, fbr a P1"'S'""qcre . P,l~ck beauty is onetime"' su~,r:5 sin° in -!-;he con text of 1,rhi te be r rennesf' Pnd b1· t 11 1 ovembAr C('\ it ton ~,t_ ov ,,,., ri '"''1cd . .... ri.,.,,P f'::i 41 fJowr: r ~ ' ""' nrr~< t;o,,.. and nine ne d 0 • T")J"""TI I ... n ()O>TlflT' ns 1,e co1 J.c~ ,,..e"'t i t.. ,,,J, - , , -11ri - -of the :::PVP-r>e l both1~1· , p _ ,..., ck roman in f',,-r> 0 ·e -r>' 1 .;n a S0n , II of PY>':::lc:<,ns 11 7a -f' o•J l if'e) . In the ~netr;r .::'nom r ·rrites l ;n' p. . -rnenoed, rome 11ev r b 11 Fact! " is nn old , tired p · c-' r"'l(r:i,....,i11. r11ral vs -y s n, 11 i t:r : 11 "'nd t e cane scrmts ·,o p0Pt c-pi l the li ves -- bro rnn, dama 4ed . t:,ncl1,., .;.• PrJ.or m aues rion . ., d · r0PJ.en 1,rho , nd +:1- r-. con cent for C -2.1~• �'1'he "'OD "inrs : Po r O po1 r t1i. t ,,qrtine; '"0ll l in "0n , the trRdi t i on is j n tact .!Xn xm x ,T st 11 -oou r" the ~on I nd let ~11. vrlJe CBl"'ry it a1ona . And l et the •r~lley c rry it ::- J onr . The "'onr-s of' · n the , e ,...8 11 "' v0rr 11 ,Jill be tranrforrri.ed into bril] i ant dirr·es , n""'ecr-rij 11 a the birth of bi r- R 7 ck ,i2 sz b"nd ( 2nd fol 7 o,Jiri('1' +J,e b 7 1 Pr( i?;J. a ndy and oth r T ). h0 oni c co,.,,no,..; tion , "'ti_ 1 •Jl J · np;ton ) plaintive "'OllX ,-ri l by ,,., o t J s ~ I." l{rmnd 1,y "OTie to a C"eries of "'tri"tj . s 1rntc11.e:::: , S"VTI'p' sie , b - otrc>t"J to nbe "'"'TD CO "t ttaf 3-t_blendin s of Af'a,0 - Arpri.c":1 foll,. rm si c , Cane -- "cco,...d"nr: to one critic - -" " at 1e"st t ro rlr>c"rle"' ahP:,d of the era in nhich i_n rork of "rt, is :omm.mifrm ' . e "RJ ue eri rl. i. an . r s rr · tten . ea.· i 1-y i 11 ri f'1 ,,, c cd by F.ane , overlnolu,r f'or v0·1 sand XN: i.-. fina11, "S X C SC f PGPlS nd to be 100'111''r 1 e "' q lot to 'i:.:iJt -· tm~n ; its s· ·eep ..i.tiW -=::::a...- ~~ e " ' of Sand urf" . nur"l a de n°.,,...-fj rial 0:Pfort to ~Htti:Jfrrd?J:m .... ,,, t ' , pJrmt: t" of rill1S"'J f P dli ff0rent 11 lj ve jn h rljlOilY 11 . ot h"d )-neJ led tlie do0m p"' -l- 0 rri ci vi 7 izati rm in J 9 ??. ( n11_e • aste_l · nd) :1nd 0 f.1\1;:, -l-' ,,_ . s. otJ:, -ritPrs er,,r-3 , •·0.s intent . nt olo iz, d in Back -- y c ourc: P, ½_rd h d PrococlPd '""l i ot . ·it]:, t1i.i.s , 0€\d h j "11 • .c~nnton rocl,, 'J.<>tion . ohn!:'on, of Toorie,... h d �55 :Sut it i"" in 11 1.e.,,,i<'li qn 11 th t h t r1Jch fatP ~rrl~~~~;~~irht not be u1de erved . "c rving ~en end h·rrl 1 - 1 t1 -- et me? ite n; "'f""Prs ,--trike -,rour choice. ir e r'"'ft, ese orif'n'"' nf dooI'l come in the first "ecti.on "'3 t the fecono rec'~i Prh.,n"' , ,n lvral<i::,, +-11e co-rn-inrr of C ire lrno -r a] d 8 1 t 1ese 1,T tr>o bled 1 r,hi'Y]_r·~ 11 • 0-_rl.~JJ~~'G ~ -N . ~'i\thefvno!'e l Pttf'rs . rp-ec,ted . For S omer . red thf!;!-A~ ..........,~ 1' 7 re l C ., "t I ..t.. curio 1 s student, 0f 0ne of' t1--io m0st cornp7c x •or'{ nd cross between 8 nn;-cent sex., it s ., bo-•P 1-iotr. s"'X nnd rr cc if 7 i fe -i b l ,i te P1"n, ~ven sex 8.l cro"' ses ., r e s ., te"'nri-et• .,bo 1 '°'; hiR JC' orimer , ' OS " e uoem . ne r n:n(for thP 1~ plp vqted abo•e race and other pro bl em.::-- . Bl f t nd,,,,-ixt,t e 0f r"ces .,nd co1ors) 1-iho i"' spirjt qJlxy l'.l Rnd nsychir he orJ. d or1J.en 11 and We tre eJ7 nigae s no 1 r-tl8clr ni ·rrers, 1.e 1 ,en-i_ures in A'Yt e1 i cf-ln 'r0omP.r '"' is an a ch iPver,ent to be •"l"' tever t:b e ov.tcome , recboned ni th . A f'ro--"- re a 7 so r 'Jr or · "'ms " - - i. n 19 3 l • obio ranhy, Drir~h ,·n,p of l oc1r ~C o'd:,.n -/1:1 ·< ner t P oo'l"l0 no,=,tc of' t 0';1,-,ey, , ,. it;C,.. l1 l"'PY)" i « "'"T'Cf) ~ i t if' C"l")Od . 11rn 1 rn , rte de in , c1in Ur'"' 1 0 rr,r-r l n roy,lr ill V"rir:,•"' 9 i. 7 7 I c 11 ,T .... n r00r1er: An An otqtE'd ChAclr7 i. t ~-• •=~~::::ip- qnrl h 11 1n ..... () 1 n ()f 1 -]ri t; ci , ,t "'CT nf' r h;h1·,.., r nrv. ��S7 ~~~ , r 18 • ,.,_ r C, 7 7 en r "' ,.::.•._ · i th : o < ,re , - p f" ■ ~ ,.rh hi r re ,co~ a; ub j_"'hec ~ t a r o _ f'Dd ~ ..._•~-,c,i~•----- ,, ~ Sil a s 2 laiilr? a , ~ ,, st,,<'lent ~ 1 4 n,oetr his f " rst hnok(6olor, 7~?5 J. of n1i,-; s "'1" fj rst ti"llc, ::in e t·mc in ~ nJ.,,-,o t r·· rst "'.'lnet . It nl sn rr.flrked t e Pl "Ck rlrod the ~ p'.Pn P'Y'::l,] 1 • r \T Y f: trrrdit-;orf'o r ~nry75ctJ ,J ats :-,n(l Shel~ y. rrri. P-bt h r b,-,0 ch "r of 1 00I'lflY' 1 To} ou. "!"'1'1n; " live Black noet • c oetry. 4','1 . ~ e e~nP1c i ally ~ 1 · "ck' " • - t t ,,., () t i r i t ..,, , ()11 ' t hr rhl or f. hJ q ~ ,-, n n6~ .-0~~ oet"'. n1 • l\.."ri n +- !Cl "IT n~on, -rwt re• ~ riJ--~ • 'v,'\ not , ~ th "lr'l"'i ti 011, for " 0r'"' 7 e i ?n Y)C, 'hlp • ll • +-0 ~ "' rin occnsion h r, 'ch,.. t- 11 ~~ 1, l l .i,.., o,__ l P fot""'l of " ' f'o ·r"rd +-0 C'Ol"'l nrn +,i 0 i r tl P )""'O bP bi 7 it t1~ t Cp olinn' �, I ; "vn 1 .,sA by r ;rs r 1 bscribe to tt,j o "'l"rti c ,1~ As the tic t 11 ~ ~ for T>111ch ~ ri+-nvi.stic ye,..rninr:s t01 8.re'S ~~r i r verre ." Tee;ro tJoets ratl:ienffl tllan an antri'"' ogy of found in ear },i_!=l S0me Poe~s(J 0 3~)Pn~ his ~ley--=--!3-:°ve s r of h1. s ~ f'2 0Ptry can b e <1U vol r nr f-r>ic a n i 0(Co or) as r ems , On ,e I g+ .... nd'l047 ) . C len ' ---::::::::::::::::=-;::;:;tj,,·1~~~~.,.,~;;.:_:=-r.~ , transl8ted n_d_ 0 el in his l a t ____ 1 rr to m.l.I'19rou and s 'IFt o r l~.,,...ics for nusic "O-r>rnd on ,.. d.r"TI"'tic 80" ( "Saint I,., is ,Jo'11"n" n0 _ o~ ,.. = ___,__ __ ~0 eFvan. -· --· .,. i·ith trP Inrd nr to t 0 '}nd , t½.at: r:.odlc Yet do - 0f Jo11.te 01'")r novel: l.:rod 8 0 0 ('n'"' In ) s1':s God tbr .Afro - "'1.P:rican poet , occurs . c0nc~ 1 oinp , after hif:.h Y)rai se of ~nrrrl "'t this curious thing-- ~o m~ 1 ea nnet bl'ck nd eu "nd Unusu,..l r Pre erroes . And '[\ s ~ oet J"'VOS \ If soi n h P r:·o. e ·-1-v,m ' freor beauty . is true but C,, 7 1 en 1 " Fh it o ,. . r 01 1 t of his obili+-;""r to ,..,ndle �a 11,.... ven ,i. o.,. o trjr 1-s 11 b 7 n_c·- ('. C!erv2n+-:3 Prl, ~ ' "- ~11 o ~onl• 11 P1· c"1i d Cf n E'"'ti"l ~1-0,.0° . ' e of Sac~0 "nd "Arterican no~t,fjb 'nnzetti , eo~ f!,; ,, Q," ot 'defen<'lj,,,r "Rlnc'~ boys l{an •nron 1 d A.~ Pil A]ab:?!'1.P Co,·rt . Colord" tre hanced The ~ 11 reir cP.·1se, _; il:len says , is '"'lf'o 1 ~ 11 sL(.)rt 11 ( _ devi""lely i .e., (J I ,. on ::. "ne"er Cal vary . 11 "'n1p . ' 1 Tn lac') i~•-rr umd C , J~n I s Jon,,."' s t -0~f ~+-~~ ,___,--:-,_e_ _t,_'-,_-e_w t~nt~~~P,~Il~ _ · '-' nck Cririst ( I' bJ.; she· in France) . 0l"'"n . Tj "Pl • to the s 7 ynchAd, ~ ar south"r'f'l ~ T O "". ~ ;i- lynch-~ng, nn thP rt0ddinr c"lled trE> ~oem • c,ildic;h J.1'--"·"'t · is>"'l. of or, dll m~-rc< ~:i ci n-rn ,, . E' b8d dream . " ~ndeed., des-rite f~ -}_-I(' /\f •T'"' f'; "~e VE''1.f' S"' n ccn ,,,~J 0s"' 0 ·~h r ,,oerr's)., Do 1 t'VPl . ll �, f9 . 1 I ~ ~lec1-:: pnrrer) ~ i_n ")l' ck grief ntinu"ted noet;c clothjn~ . -,i.11.-,.., noetr:) 8re r'"'ce nride , encl r"ric,.,,, ~ PrevaJent thel'l.es in Cullen 1 P be no r 9e? 11 cynicism , rnd t v~ I Afr;ca( t o 1111 ) , ~ er5.tarre 11 8.nd m ny o+-hers), reli"'.ious and 9,nd psvcroln •ic8l conflj ct, love rnd death , sniri t :t.12 " Ql ' A " ti '8.] freedo , feri ori ty , or !J-f ue -,,,conri 1 or r cial i 0 thP tensions craat ed h;:r bein roma tic ;1n:\-tive ~ 1- ite"' ,A,C l--iric,t "S a fl,mbol the n 11. ,,.l-1 t o f of c0nfl.; ct 2nd c0nt:y,ndj cti on . Cullen c,aw A_re faJo-Arrieric ns as J n a Ch-r>5 pt-j w 1 ~ as t ruP t r rrpav( • ,h · s l'l"'S thr01 ,.,.h in "Tlany of his -noer1p , but roi"Tiantly in ~ .. 1 Sot R r-ck 81on,.,. I "Bc.yrit...,Cl'e": e rn i~Je boaet ; d es , s o f th e tm c e - t,, -r.n 0 d ch e e r , /it 1. mouth thus, in my beart -rr Do I .,, ";/ do1JbJ e '1 ,...,ck A'11ericrin, traprn')d iri Christian attirej b -r:ior t::be .Z:ac1r o:r. d 1 C'"'t;on r~.:1--~ 'l"\T ' rit,., a finrl _.,, 7 J .:l rr"O...,<"'c'1 ..., rr,.,,,1'18 ,,,... nnr 8 8 J.-7 f1Cl i"' Jj •e,,.. :d 11 ied to C +-1--,nt C 11en ~ ,7 i i r.}i tuous 11 5lbe.,,,t cel]s it i"' in<" Br' d" tr~ co11.t0 ~ ...,rt. ur::::P. 11 1 1 ,'1t'...!r(iAY 2_ ,.il~~ .T.'oOI''lE""" t/(~ r~c- 0 nirrht ," ci e T"'n~ed to II,, in the- de"'ol "tP nc' inrido '"'0)11 ci i ~- :• L4av ,.(.j} timAs d "'0ftsczm:xr'1ig: ''"'· 7JJJ1t10. ,Jild•l'."noss of J f'Il "hook . , ,.,cks 11 �i"' nnblP. to l e •tl 1,.. . 1 r>ey "nd I d.e:::n · t '"' 'h A" rt nd hP,"d" lrno -~ ,_ t,..._ .l-' t arc cjv "lized the :runremitt1nt beat" of hi"' 5nnres<1ive i".l ~·-de "1......-rivi 0 r .=__..., tetr metc1r A-c las.,.;c '"'t~tem0nt _, on t h e ~ i n r s of' a"' the mind nd of' a a]ien -ror1d, 11 te-,,jt...,,..,.e• 1 h C1 i "' v0t to be s,.,en ~ t11.e ·"1.anv ," f,._ ;n an svcholo icul ~~ . dir10ns i ons +-1-,,.. t rPJ ated 7 1 en . his a:ncl t,.j 43rr themes nlso ~ervade ot. r ioems by \2._~ C i mi l"' r rvv,~-~i " ired b bis _ Or-Dortl · t"lr • C' ...---,_ Al tl-io11p•h ~l"C { a-y>t; csts •1nd thi to ree , 11 t y 1{ rs 11 ,rprc not 'mt 0.i !-;h0r f, ce destr ction 1"1"00 cte!' r:illy their ~otentj al 01' -Jenr or ~ m" S 1?" r'Ild "tenc O r "nd n. t""9 e) ~'"'Olli zinrr needs• ,t C 1.l en "7 'Pd. the ecl:rn of th hu.'TIB.r1 pnrt . - o Cechnfoue c t=nr ift'"' 1 ; J 7 n-T H s . ., J 7 P-r> ,.., 11 1ritos 8S 11 J-i 0 ml ~eel!n " • :nc1 : t: ----- . i or-ntif · es f'J' ed r.d n. 7-'"' to nsn-P irls s . h-':; tie co0s 0 c 1 r 1 i 11 • 11 St r 7 • n ...,. ...., ro nn II bolt ,lock force ·nd i~tel!ectuol verac;ty ':,c~jc•s ond d -'-'dn::, ::;~ . V; ..,cent his 1 'Sc½ -·.,,"",,.,, , ' , , d ~ ed n,,bStc" !ones 0 f-1 ens e-'.)j-+-.anris to them , nrrJif'h verre :f'OY'l"1S is 11at as ·',,,ta.rtl;ngn as brin~ a 11ri -res k -riro t titutes , abo t =any :m ny 11 bro,:rn 11 d ~ 80 do , the rorrif1ntics out . , l h s (~e_ �ed F0nton Johnson , ~nd others h d co~e to kno r neddinS th A Ayes of a .. into ,1- b 2.• t t er . ·'1 l n C, 7. 7_ en 1 s 11 t i Yl e --~ ..,, ·or:ir-in ..,., -ri f 8 e. o ' C 1 0 .... t 11 OD I S critics aJlude O rlr • o is ct once shrinlki ng Pnd bold, s1rnct at . t ic . 11 or vis c not re :i 7 7,r th r-ort ,,,G 11 nd . 7 pr1m1 t i. ve ' DlPCe s ol"le f ee_.s • • 1--i_jrn'"'e] f - - r.mch lilfe 0 11.e feeJ s in r0. 0 ing i +,p C·ll Jon .,,.,oYYJ.ain"' one of ho br5.J Jent Metea,,ri tes of ~le. cl- noetr"T . c-- even - is ~ -pa"<""lon h s Y""t to ½e su:r·--2.sSP() • 0 1 mon("J' illlllllr c0ntcnnoY>[1-ry A-rro - .B:r>i. ricfln no tr . ~ ~ our:71 he does not convi n e e the r"' der -r,hat he ,.o, lcl "'ctu 17 ,r "Z,... 1 doec (ijc:<-:;n J ({) . d11r1n/J'-J T l aclc i f r, '7n "strip! ;.,.,-+-9Jl0ctu'<] . ,, 11 2nd do tho "I ovrr 1 .... d2ncP ! J:.-, Afy,icens j 11. A . ' . ca C"t 'u"dns ( ...:"E' em he'lo.iz oncc J, 0 · l~er1s I\ J d"tc ~nd incicive as"98flT'1Allt* of Cu:iJen . Soc , cJ.so, critj isrn b-,r Rcri.enib red,, the o f1r-r Fhicb dh roni W Ps the ne..., th - . -OM9-~'') vn-rteJ< I:.,,_, t PO . '1q_n7,r oetf crin+;"inr the "TlO,t un to~ ,Tnhn°on, 1 efrlinro , - _._en_ onte•,"" ~ i"'t5.n""s in the Ch llen sectjnn of 1 1-,,01m, J.?cl •rit rs of A 1p.-rj c -.- to0j oi:rr• nh"'r - -------11 , "S --·o - i"' 11 • ed i_p 1927, the e"rJier nse 11 do ym ..... ,---, n: 1ne . Pp~j Il"" ',t78 ,wentie ~ tion" of H"cl ,To:bn.-.on A r.-ric �I.? ; ,;_ d0velonment ahp. O'ltnut . wi tJ:i his r'O etj c "\It err r o Poetr:rr( l. q?? , 1931) ·ms nne of the hirr)l point s ~ the J no:"t"'nt f'o r r1ore th8n the ~ntrolo,~ of a ul c1 111 Jo(Tro II olern.en ts in "'ince Dunbcr . Tt W9S ~lso the ~ir3t ~ntho l o of Blac 1,.. cri-i--,j_cif'TI h"'s to bqrin •-rjt :ht t ,reen rlif"'"'rAnt the DO' -1--~ j n c uc1ed, r of oetry , r i t~on fro-A eri c an Ja1'l.es :1 ldon Tohnson . · ris5.ons of Jn"'lnson 1 s concern i,., the 2'7thol Ou • ri 0us in ot e d dj tinctions bA - di ~ E' id~1tifird e o t::, r 0 nr0rr.nt, U . the f'irst rust 0 ined effort on the n~rt cri J~j c to i d 0 nti-f::r the · "t the inds of di lectq ) nr! rrave 0 the .Ji '"'C - ,., ' s es s en ts of .,oble1 of dialect Jo~nron de cl~rer th t it -r,ossocs ed only t,v> e 1otfuo:rm--humor a nd pa t h os,_,'3tc 1"1 5 nn- rlro·:n , ch a :::tcte-rnrmt .,e..,ctjn- 15 ;TC"rs 7 ..,t0r , ~ alno nri" is<"u ed +,he fnllo"·n,,. cri"llpn ·e to ·~f't c f')1"'1'1 h 1 l,~~ '"' P"' t1~ 'oJs fro!'l 1-dt1"~ 0 10 ..•o sti 77 'old t'l.e r:,_ an b,r ;;;1nb0Jr f'ro.,,.., ··itho "util..,tion of +- 1~~, 1-I-; , nrl n · on1 nc i ati.on . 0 of voic:inc tli.e r!.eenes t rrd aJ J ow th0 'J::i do Pt nrrlj_sh snel· i.nf 1 f'si J f "vo·" ; o. form exnressinc· -she iriar-ery , rri.or ar.d n'"'thos , too , of tre c 1;C'ble J..,c': poC't3 : +hrt vrill e·;:press t1.e ., . . . cial "nirit ~ ·ril l out . ) J orin~ nn coJ~red noet ir, tho Lir,ited St . . . tes n ed s to do js +-'l.P i3 n0 ru ch s co rrinn-0 of oP-ro , but ~,ich wiJ <> l "o be "nd hi ;h"st Am0t:Lons '"'Pd 2s-,,i rations , Sl'D .i c c ts and -1--1-10 , idAst 0 c ope o t' tr<:'at ent. �It •ms a ,.,.i 7 9:nt:.:..c brothe:, J. 3 0 sa~ond, Tohrison also 79"7 , C,i:it tre, , rs rublirhPd jn A I ·= ---=: eJoct0d noerrs(:,t. P te-r , l"'lt f'0,,..T'"-i ;n -·_p O ; C"' ,c- ·, ...,_.,.1;,;, el"t~s ___an Ircic1"'rt ' ' -· y~ . Tntn·oT J.']0. riebl ,.,. " t- q.) \.- 1-01 ~ -•r n Al f' :::'r'Ol;f~c ,..~, by t-h0 time he as 'dJ hes 'l""'ection DP,.,. o.r, -1-1-c >'l" !1,..., "J. <'~ -~ 7 "r'l".,.'Y, P~'"' "'cl 5n ccn'lbine:tliona n ""to""lob-il ".Yl P "'C"irl nt 1938. T') r lr s f'o .,., ,., 1 q r ,. r c hop I"'lllch of h-" s o m c' ,,, lP-P""O ( 8(' , I .-, Ph0ve ~ or C1'1'.l. 1 'Il~ •r"s ~ , i~d~cnt0d by Jn~11.so:r1 ' s ovm 1?,efPce n "F e ( the r-ne8cr-erJ strodn the pi•ln5+; 11n " 'i ni< n th P:amut of hi~ •onc'e-r'rl vnjcp," a0 OTIC0 • m in rl-ij T lft ones r'n0 _ in rict,,Pl y fitl 'I") t ch~ 1iJ.1.,t j c:; r~ A · ves "PS •rery .,..hythr:d.c nance, ~ncl he bro1 (l'hti11.to rylay 01.c" - - hat "'ri Jl J sa_r?-- �o,...r~I'\ '1.0t of' on or a tru'Tlnet, b, t 1'.'nther of a tron1bone., the the -ricle "Yld v"-riod r"nrre 0f 0motions encornn"Rsed by the huni. n oi ce--nncl .ri t1' ...,.,,.eatr>r n1e"ded--he bl pred, hP crashed., hP tr,,,ndered. T sat f"scincted; eP1ntjonal effect - Thi,, scene C:ity. rile II th.nt he +-bEl p'Y' occurred "Cher t cl- urch U: ½nsnn ... t+-e"lded in r,..nsas p ae 7 iverinr:, Jnhn"'on recalled Tes str ttiY1[1' And ,.,..-- jott-ed II v.dn m note"' ~or "-1he 'Jre 0 ti on 11 • God ' s _:i,,,0P1bon0s co11.ta:Ps fron a te .xt i tre Rib ±noluc"e x 0, j, "Go Do m :>ea t:b - -A Fun ral Ser d1d 0 011, 11 IheCre--tion, 11 11 tr 11 + 11 ld 7 t fl~ 'l'he Proc'li 11'ql So-r , t thri r if"'l-t '"l0int 0:' t!" r"thnr ~ar n -er~f,.. trPn o ts. t} e:rr P r., '"' _. 'Y' 1l # Ch O f <.:.,.., the ~ 'rnson . to . . . . ,~J Y,(<'CrT1~• · <"'£'l"J.e was, ho• 00try--b,,t r0nE' 0f . P 1 021 J_ ,_, 'ii r To' "'1< o:r rp· noe-t 1""1."'t tY>"'nrcrnd th[lt f0rn. f,C'IlPr[>l 1y r,J--pt of' ~ jSe 1--np;u"n-e @P'1 • s ;;..- whitA AP1°"iCfln or Ln,-.J.isr:rnnn. Jb,t "'Oll doe c"r--!l']"t,c(ot "'.'lie is in"'"ji:J rrrcial f0eli"l'"':~'.,0ur.".'1PS oy P1:o· jnr· f'o-r' r 0ntnneit7,"', Buil<1ir. "li,_,r ,n re otiti')n, ancl or,,nloJT:icnr- free J npctCl t-nn T l{"l"l-inc<u ',p_llrpr\,rrnct Ster I 'r I r:a,:rn ~""c,•Jp r tente·~t--aJ tbo' ·'b 101 1a n1r>ced fl] 1 ro,:n "'; 1 J int r ol~tc bl "t['nt .;; rel i...,.io s 1 c· II �65 , ~ r(. '"'Yj n J_ v s, use ("es ~ into the tfx-1:; of the serons. It a B]ack r nd o the· r~s the fir"'t time ~ tic rl i om tr . . t 0-c h . . c T' n0t to !'le11ti0n fl r,):-,nj r inforentiaJ. Kn.Aeled d0 ill ~ I I DJ_r c' enin in trn durt It se TIS 0nl; n ,, -l:;,·r l thr1t ?nhn"'o11. J, ck 0 0 l +-1-)_ ,..Il t i S• II 0• .... .,- t 8 A"Tl ~ E'S 11 p "() l .... /'"" 11 ' ck 'he iP ris r- f, ce 11 ":1he · e r-ro tor r1 y i C1 , �'re old til'lle nre"r"ler 'rne nore thn 11 T 11 secrets ' tl:'9 i j - i'l1nato ,.,.,,..".lncti ln0110nco of tl-iei r oJ.d Afri c'"'n tonrue<=1I . 11 ...J2ecp~ ,li.e'""e 11 -1~0:ri,...11es ,, nd Bibl j cnl ] nntTU V,P~ - - "1 ''rntificd a :birrl-ily rlevo]oned "'rmce of s01na anci rl-iythrn i'l1. hi_-rn,.,eJ:!: '"nd hir ~Anr"'r>R. 11 r 1 hA~e tr •er0 the I ~and 41~.;;":~ rod ' s ---, ., ' :'rornbono s. D0 btl0ssly, t"l--ie voJ. •mc 1 iC" one of tl-i0 !"'0~t preci011s iri tl'R ro.,..i,-11s of' Afro-A'1Arjc--iD ff 1 "'e.rrions- -and yet thei_r of nl-if'tf'Vl.,., j""~ 1")0 anfin"t.;on PAt r ,1er nnd thPi r intuitive eT'lbr ci 0 nd fo71o·r" Q''J' 'lf'. ,..., e a t"'Pd.: ti. '1n of T,y-"\C1' in C, ISIAililiiJi!I~ D· •nb" o -r a 11 anrl : 11 r r r- ·o "'l ~ Ju, 1 n ' ,.. n, ;,... ( .., :irie ' ,-...,. _ c0 +re dPsec.,...,, :;-·')n of '::hri TJ.l"I' 'omrn:m:kmro"J.R Y\l:,W..•~- ICT'-""U\Y~•ff ·T":.iti11.r.' II ~~~~ to tl:iese nerson FPO can 'l b0r>e is h' rdlv a ~ undAr whicl-i Johnson J 2bored u ~ 'he 1] ac r c 1r "''l "11.ity Fit'1i-r f th -· r r ncl ,,.. -; te nT'cl r-- '1tl-iP.rs vW ~,... i"'"V s, to,vrAirA frn J, crn •ded hoat ( r(',riini cent of a "'J nve .,.. ; T>) ~nd or ~11cJ udj no- 0r 0 cri. ti ci 0 1"" o ,, i te 'l'lo~vi rs on . ., modern J iner . onte '"lS �1rhen hn wrot e iri 1 el 1, son +-el ~ 1 11 y:o : Iife f0r MA Rin 1t b~Pn no crystal stair. reco - For uri J e hotb r1en folk t:r•nuh:: do r "i th h i s uc;!.1.es fin,.,.er on tr, 11 pl·lse of th8 pPopJe . 11 - th \ vPrse ~0rn 5 n .Jo""J in, r isrouri , tn_an a rlozen bo')k~ 0 noet:ry, sevAr~.J vo1u.rnes of nrose and pla:rs , "nd s,...e:ri his 01.-m draT'lPS of hi,., rPr>1 ~ i_ n h cl b i i l."t r,~• cJ~rr, ~oAt . l ive •,r:it' "C 1 to 0nA o f t e fi7r:: [1,'l~ ..... ;,:, ,., ..., ro nn t r'Drl, n 0 !l rrH·, y, 1 0-n C 1' 0 C, i-> .,..,:,~ , "V lnno •rl-t "'8 (;'-t')n c0 nl1ti0~ ,., i p 1-;f' •iiilil~:L'-..,r,~---~~le 0f' hi f'Xi CO, l '\at._ "i:n.-i,'~P!l. rj,}1 r,-l- r • .,., P...., c e , "C' 007 a N,_ ) Y"'Oll.tl'S , e ..., 11 c- "' , "'fl( "cl- ') re+-l1-rp~ 1r• Tnhn -"p J... T ' ; 7 a ·'-Ja A to T j i e11 ' \ St t E'llt",X J. ~ jY1 )r-l•1nh-l..-, ~/,Jst O'lt i.n <1re0n11i c. tb Ganery Vi lJ !l ..,.e, :9lqnrs, i.:z:0 Qn • 0 1 -r Vor'•, 7v, 7_ef't ...,r , nrJ-r-in ..,TQ~j,-i'Yl 1"e9 -r.r tr.e ~•Ast Cc:1rt o:' co"ntry ~ :;:..;lill!"I 0n on iob<', 0n to l-ti i fy,ica . {(eturninP.ft s ?~nd bi rt1,fqy ncl TAnt to �. nuri.b "'r of va-riPd ox,,,...r; ,-.nce" (see l'he ~::i r- See j rntu-rned to tli.e ''"'hinp-tor, 1).C., ·r'l-i0,ro 11:ils '11otl1 r ir ·he J ournRl of tr e office of V "'• Carter fl,i. J i "tnrv• r-ir J/{ JJ., l\J P. 1t3rnss SY)ittoons") - . at the \J'rdrinn P,, r k a busbo_r('see ~ TT, ro'7d "r as__I "a11.ne.E_), ~~ l.'11."r;cn. filf!!lllllllll:' of and I chance to ., ,, eone of hiP noe~R to •nchel Lindsny--~hus o 8 o t e l J:(dril!!!!!IK~3f ·hes c::>reer tl,-r>o fh t'1e 11.eT,rspnpArs. H .,£-..!, of -noetry incl de ,.lie 'Jcar"IT <Jnes(l<)BA), F'ine ,,,, 7 othe~ 1 Jrprnat::i~-~cJ..t..at.ions(F'JJ , B.c.o±tshn-r>o ,-;,,,,;+-en.(Jo 2), .,'.be 1/resm Keen r :5.,,,, 0 -e_. QDd"'-r>( J. 0 l1-7,, Sol,--.cteo 1nemsi 70 59,, ont,..,re ... of a DreP"U ) fe1_>:>AC141°~1), As 1r r,..)UT' l'omf': o en, 1°' .3) , (a Jone Qro11 Is Lf' 9+; Sten,d.[ 7 oJ,.J)' .l:''iAld..5 0 ]? ooa« !:or Jpzz...(_Of-J_) rmd ~10(7 col];ect~( • ,,7 "'0 I }ilj()~ l .e__:,•~7rf i'Pv::✓ ~ ~ ~~<lqri) ! . ~ ;" - nn<l t1rn J;,..,a.rb· £Q""" of sort rtor;e~ ?n~ nov~la "",y:0.t.P~ (inc l ~:krie; c-·'-;o ie" f'-ro-n tl e .Tes-:o ~. s 1 1ple :110ri8s TT1_5ch ~~~;::;;;',f;::;;~f.:;~:=t} .. 8 1 er l :.,1P . . rin[·} ".:_ f Q l _, ( 1 , _i r n.: .::r,,tec'). -'·,r, . c'.:; 3 ) , . : :_""J.,,...._::-ri.o..n~J=e....::S~+.;:,.;,· i ':....rl:=e 8 cJso for yolm,.,. rearl :::>s ,.. s , e 1 J A,,,,,,y To 1·rn!Ll, I,;"lfi"'OY, I', - Snnclburn-, of suer T1.ho1n Tn8t 1--.e Y'" t'()l ld nrid s)<"Y)d 1,,1r0". spP'.'l.. 1<'.:,~l... Tl-to T{c l'RC, ,.. ... "Qj,,.,. :::i0~, "'Ci"J]y •. "f' l if' u,,.uidinv u ·res �(-.9 1T.; th c. . . , rlie l i.r. l'!C\, ~ credit ~or or.; .,..ritererti'?'1,...l • in chr-i-r..,tPr :"'( ..,,....,] d•Tin , f' i;hi '1 ff1'10Ur'l'h, ~ ~he r,...nctice ji' o-r r adina poetry to i.-.zz • ti.-r !'."i""l e 1 r n i:1 >"ivPn ~ arnonP' 0tl'ler jflzz rreats . And in~er-urcvinP" of Yf1l1 S1.C .--no ""'oetr 7'\ <"i~c• ssed 1 b13coP1.es a vertt1 "l back1 one of '17 ,,c'{ ar :1.itec~ol:"ics • or ('",<t=l"llnJ 0 , ,... o-f' ( rene,,tPdJ,r~.; "tf'Y).i_n>"j to +he r corr.f' 0fllr in 1 i 11 p"Y>n~e. of 9essie S..,,,ith to raf in rh:,·tl--.Yfl .., _ (..!., GArt·;,,...7"'T tre P -rrJ.8 -f\•s.;on o"' rt:rle 8.llr Or)irit C 0 , . , 0 r , • C he Po,. d ·n :l ,7 1 .;son , 7 •ndC\r"'t,..11.d tri s pail :: j Fo 11 C, lontp no E' t ;:;;-r t0,,,,p0_r"rv :.::._..-.;"O.:::._l ·r_•i G' tr...,ee st"ITli tic ear.n b]UPS 0 "'1 1-'o_ct,,.,y • .,.,,,..,icrJ y QY>-"rs : • u •'..,0s "' A di le~t(ry.,,,i""lc'l.Pi]-.r O' f J l '1. 1 "')1':l.Ct·lc,,~J:· o r;· book 1-iP ntiblir_P-d. ~uc• ~0rr e-rf" 0 t·ve n Redrii -r.r f'0cJ f', fri_c.,_r : •is 111u0s < Con - intn T'b n "'0r ), n0 tr ai~i.o~al - .,,.,.,,,en ve~re. ~ · ~~J.ACt,~·-•i!iii;!n is ~~·t or c- 0°n in nc'l f.,,,ee - vpr '1 �I I ve kno m ,,..; vers: of 'l.l1r-nn hJ ood iri h y srrJ h· ,....rmm flee C, veins . 11"1.?ri Jilre the rivers . . . . . . . . . . . .. I"'\ Y"I '1. • • r•· n 1'.;tr. Pl nc 1c ...o ::i 1;.lry e 110 1 t r t t· , K R f'nrj tun 1 ~ --;f,·e 7 J - " f D:iri....,,.,.s o.., 11_; c COT'I}"' . -n "v~i~r, c-tp.,r. on,...r-v • t-r : 8 t,,_,r0 J!:e l h t 'lf-lE)DG "nncj nt II 1 ;Y\("I" yr' 7 7 • pu into 11 'Poer,'' i'i-, f' i pot>t Pt to e"'ro , II to E>hout 7 c ritr -'-he/,~ 0 11 Jorer rt,,..nte 11 ":{, hlve::- f'orrr- by '<ro1:'"'l., or 1'.I)i'n-~r:.00 of l'"'c'~ life anc "l"'')bu.lt "~·--rc-!;r n D"'<lc'ly , 11 11 rnre be i a,.,il more s 1•c h ('VT'P-ri"'11ccs c? 7 J s +>or tr 0..e-.,.;_nE'!d c,tanz..,::: ; 4- i rc'I 1inrr to co e to +;' ~-h0 o rl\ '--, e i ne 'he Jine ren "tfl.eo. rA00n~ 0no- 1 ·i no m· ones. ,,r- '"'S "Or'"e • t-ri.« J"'Pd.;, :n fo-rA,_ ; .i.. • rq"' lV) -rl:Ih ictic �71 m. t-.v-, t.,,., ·ody, 1ri_07Pnce f'll.T'10r, Ot' Ir> coT'rppsr;on . y I'lc 0" u '1es i"' able nr,,..rs, "l"ck n'"',:>ty P.llC Pi('l'•t 7_-ife p½_-ite "'1.9n 1 r rn(l n·t l•enp u6 1i >9d . 'e roe i ~ si,ittoonr , - ~ ~ 0 -1-hA ,,..,_~l:J.Y ....:.,_ · O, "ilver tr r-! .., ..; ri ,.._, ' rj l , ; ~ Cl')Y'lt -' ri .,... r- t.,... " .l "·-f ,"' rmr::- i..,_ 11 h P 11 0 t l')f' 11. t n .., , 7 ! 0 .(' •1 7 ,,+t0. •1 'Tif-• s th fr, n.r : r"cia""', t..,, H' T)"r. l ,., /1,< 7 -: 8 .''rte "B' '"'tnrd h--Y 11 ·i., r"' i ct 0. ql:iich rE>.,,,.,'5r-or· ,ritri hir tl,-rnu I '1 c_.al ,,,,.,;ty, r~ce n-r>i(0(tl0 ,....,.1i. ti, <i -ifrir"''Yl ~· ntqq ~ 1 'Ch 8 C ,7 ~ All ().,.., c ffn7,r) , 0 t 0" '-tis �,,.f or Fork . oft Tn nt 8";"'0 _t<'..;c1dlell 18 f'Yld lJ,:,nc,Y :;,., tr Jn"IJ.9S hef. e c " l"' s ,T. "o r d A 7 l e n' s trffhe S0 C0 ..,;,(1n1n_ 1s Y"'DhE'l l 11 ~1ob il e dnnce . And C0 nb91:i 1 -17 p rhv+;hr1s Of ..., c r>"lC P. ,,,,,0 "9 7 8ck i 1Y')..,..,OVi88..tion, JI1 '1S c l ajr>'r; ~1-t t 'e~ waht r •10 ,..; ,.. . excit5 1" f-"l l 0d ... • ._, ~ s 8"''1 lifE' , c . . r tri c 'o de·· 1· • · •pr . .; t· p~ _I _ •nc1 r ~ - ~0 1 , 1 r '-vhi to ,,.., r - • "'! cl-iurn' rr '"U'c0 in ~ .--yd c0 7 J Zr tr" Y ;htfi '"'1d l a""raid ." C ,., ,...,h :ues · · c: PJ'.1d tr V led t'hro·· 'h"' 1 t n-.,- ~ · :icl-;: c c>n ')rl d . ct 11 n·i - i·~,"!'·,:;c-,:1~;""'.""1""."""-:',:":~~.,....."""='~---;;..L ~ .•~•--r.L!l::f-1-..; rp +- 1 1e,r CV>Cfltlvi ty rrhe':1. 1::>lcn~" • '1 11 A Jen ~ ~Vo f1'1'ld /.,b:•-.•~~~"'"""" n,t ·ru hnP .--1co T..J.,.,otn Y')Oetr;r "bon+- h e i11r (_ 11 t lP k n o 1 -rJ r-0re +-hnt :;hf'ir own Y'8"Prvoir of ::'1")ontrne~ to "'ice-"'ton or- rmnoy the • ck . r e nroduce::- . ; n Poetry -:,., n'h "s tr • '.) 3"' 0' d Ylf Off hr. 8nd hj 8 b"h ltpra"''" I Bl_"CYf" C"Yl talrp. rnti c,fncti on jn ,...z,c:t trbuc 1 the...:. p lei? ' { fJ. r 0' r 0011-l-;h e rv 1-, ,_ r pnclin~ "''oulclers �73 Jn an Prticlc jn ':'h~ latjnn ~ F' f' - ~ cloclnt'ed t 1--i" t t',9 11 voun1?:o r II dar'• .,.. sl{in11.t=>d r nl 'llf' s . "i ri cii v-i_ rcua 1 n_q ror,ncon I S c'1 n l } ro "rti, ts ... 0 11 f'11. .; r - ror ... , ant IJ/ll!J. P, . ' 1·0,,Jd e.xnrc8s T,'' If t=>.; t·wr ,....± Jnckr OY' Phi_ tes true t· ·t l1 ,.., ~,.., ,., ·h,,. c-n11rce or hj s na!Lvete. i.c: t ' i r 11 .........::.2_ t0y,i,yn-r _-, tn;neo a ~ . n.; ,,t he fee78 nr tr·" r q ln~ ,¥" Cl --R-,-,1;f-ilB 9- A •rid II rl 0 E'.,. '"1 C "d riot "" ·r 1.; n · 0... 11 ; c, .... 0 ll" +, r11 e. ,.., =n s~·c in E'l.,. ·9nr,", f ri,., " T() "Y'! ~1..,-e., • • nt; '17 0 c, • r 'r e -,.....xu.~ J clr l() n n ,..., •p t"'i '1 81"1 "I")() r' F t rC ,,.,e r "<T "' C"' (> ' -" ,...,.l -nP.d • c, rn )Pnf' rj '-1 [)11 '; to C, +-' 0 7Q C, cX 70 l:b.i c-o : <:'I on in A f' t l ] .c ,.. , II ni:-vA.,., ) hrtt r 1 . I �7' T ~r0 Jr', 1 nr]~n, Hrc di>1"", ,Tohr'"'n'"' bj o g,-,ah:y �.,. e , A' -r>o • Ana .i , f't ,.. r . .,...oA'-,-.y "'ceno is c nnot bo "n0.erstoorl. 'm1ess r:1_0 I""if'::'8llCP. r,q_rl ~~ .,1.,,..~!'l(""'T ec,tob j :r' 0 ( "'lt;"tfuon~ hefp'l"; ., 0 ~ lh,1,Th~11'14(/90J.-lr?J), ~ r-' ~ r ~ ~; 1.i. n~l ~;tt:;;) .- rae _.' ,:;_ 0Y1cp,, I\ C, t ,,.. nl 0'/0 7.. ~;;;-~J;)do7vp e,c mined. T)l-;"11~ of' tre Rs - , .,~. G9 ()l:- ) nm~, Gr,o ~011 ,1 '"" T ri~ on, ::) 0!1"1d Jeff'rA;r .-."tt'ef'f9oc.t) (17 { \U~ . y (!_'1 0 .s- ), eJene ,Johnc,onl\) cr,iy,~ lcl.Pe~, ,e"'i::. 17 -,-andnr( ono -1n1:.,Pi · • Otl'wr C"n bfl <'!i f'Y'\ 0 ~L 00tf' be ""Onti oned cit t:ho 0nd of t r"'ed -~~.,., wiriely alonr: a spec tr I'o n;r o E <, '1 e,n ,.~n 1 • o ~:i;it:::' r r-nc, 6pDortuni t7r _......__.!!l@i...fiiiilll~~ ; no 0"1S a "lr>U 0 -'-l- ri" ,..,_j t , r e '"'0ene 1 '"'. f 1 tl- 0 / rE:'erlor>1 fir .......... ,..,j ficrnce. ~c s of "'he C ri s ·· s cont::ai-ri"' ~} e bee-it; ron,..,e"ert i:;ion 0f ajor ~i,_.; of r~l..,t:: ve, d 'he i:1rrie'"'r"d froYll "' o"'e di.ff'e,,..ent cn.r>00rs o .... #1.:. C.-r0 7 inr Dusk(J'"'?7 ~ r" 'I\ 'er~Pt;:,.~t:r~o~-IYt# or_ • rt. f"Pn-" r ,-j l}pn ' "' cqn �ln O et r-,r O f ~'b f' e +- of ~he l~sscr ~novm n eteo Pre in00ts, 7 g71 in RaY\dall , s transit~ o o et,...y( 1969). lack ,._·"i , nc:IP.rson do es not 7 ist one of t e" e And 0nly res t ar- .,.., "ck A ,.,,he roetry • nnPC! tr0 FJ.r0rf\: a]l T"" of the I O poets ,8Y' d ryrac t; • cally :t1P. i rn a nf17 J ov0r T-rn book. i: of' e lorton series d I . ~ l'J.lll0 r '\_ • c:r P 7 on ri nc rlerJ. In "Frnnk ,I'' (~e fon,... d ,_, P.M S n S i Cl C, • oh .,,,... "C n+-0 r 7) ,., Y) ., en:.=iissanco 7 A"1 8Il ; and the TOI'l"le ,, rn ,,,; eo ,., T'Y ro c- cri +,j "':5neo the O"-'--r,-,.,./ ., C' 7 0 r r7 r,ri oets. ,,,. , .. ----- --:-- · ·h s .- a n r f'na 1 C! sance 11 cal 7 s A.TI<l. wn fll so secs cnnti.nuin qy, 11 r1 ien-nnd-exiJ II t:b11r1e fro1'Yl nnte"l'l s. the 1 ° 1 O I C". �3 <)3 t,., and D'h.P. s,, 1 a&o. ~ --.:aWI::nili t rio-r•e j 1:i:;1wo incl, .d0s ..., iE1t :::rw lfi -u,xn~~ Lo1Mmnvm~ n1.U""e...,ous 1,0 1ks , pa'l.T"rlets 8lld "'rticlcs.~·ii.__!i_.M.....,.!!IIJll!!ll!!lllll!!~:f"!:~•~ ~ . Yi s novAlS iYJ. ~ ( 7 S 31 ; ,. . . _f¼od -SPnds - - - -Su"'c'lRy -- - dra:rnriti zed 1 ' A 1ericP11. An_ ~n-~~ ~-"l"~<:_e t_~ o( - - Tl'ore tl qn 'JQ C0l ,ritJ:, ...,.l rios) , dA_n_~J}pn r"': Tl-ie _~ool- of Pr>rrtivrr.fll9 E-.9) , G-r,e,.,+- fi]nve ond_j, wor'rn iPveniJia, c ltu,., ef Tis rre 07')<""..; ..-.3 1 ~ Fi." 1 r 0t or nnt' o~2!"~r .,2~_ro Po0tEY__!o,,, '51 .1n0' Rnf'rerq(J 01 ,l ), · errro FolkJo-r,0(1()_5C f., et ~J. ur1r f' t n 2v - -------- ·r.,.,0 r - lea r0v0J f'or rr0y,e I YJ.r th.~ ?O 1-iistor y,-,, • e rorved "s tl ivereo·it i "Y"S~ ~ Dw ~ t-1- P f'nc1. Jib r rian 1ti"'r of ,r PArrona ~ s r'"' e..r ti-..ror~rovt ~~ c j i:~~~=:t; de0 - r 12 trir> -, ur::0 11 I 11 or 11 .e 11 o.c"en ' s ) ft111i1 Con,iteo Cu 1 "Us . " TTi'"' 0r en I s r.l p0,=,+-,rv ; 9 W,.~ . ;_,Ju..- �• ~ A co c~,,,. cnMf'nrt ar r,p al'l'lr)'•')_,,. '1"80° t1--c ~e~:r i of' f"MC 'l'00!'1f"r 10 -oe-1-s (> C' "C f'n 1 -1-() C, ~ont '"'"rf)r~, 11.o nl; 1 e n, 00ks U ,1' ; r "r ')rP.1"8 r c' , b a! -1- T)S •rri tfl r 1 ') -f' i lrl,..en II 1 f'eed on tJ-, .,,, . .;... C'/"'C C-n.,o l lP-11.t y +) .,. ,.,0 7 le 0 n C, "qllrc, of p. e 0f f' e11_7y that n J.-,ck ~ "a C R tj '1f.! l ,:,vf' ( 17nvf>'"' b .,,..o • m t o e ~ , de enonbJE' tr ( ition of' ~1 t ~ ·,t reco:;ri t.; nn or ; :r."' ,....cr--t ,,... 11 end~ co fo~t of' "'t"bi]i b t 1-1 0 S "nd 0r~·b•Ar, s t t'ft'Y) 0 n 11 "' i f'-y,..; cnn rveY-~ Jnl)nr "'Ld C0'1.Cl1•d,:-,.-. t at i t+er f'rui t. 11 i l 7 i"' 0 ia• V WO ld ri..stinn'ty nno tli.e . . ont€'\"'1'1""'"' 8 Y)O n7 so ~ an"4.f it the tas+e of sl v.,,, t' c d"'n.l"ct t:r~ct;t;on "'tjll bi+te,,.. on the-ir ton["le O'r'te'l1"' s does j u t thi.-. is 11 i.:rie lip.tnrn" 11hi.c C}')"'ely r 0 A:"l'l°bles Ct len'"' "!Ierit,, e 11 "' d ~ one1"'ln 11 "Pfl"V"' 11 0f' d8nce of ri:iin, ~ et u 11 reme 11 b-r>ed r"in, jun,,.7 e c-lryi, 11 11 11 M go b,., ck into t:hf'! d·• sk . po0 +-,s. T'k l .. e-•n,., / •dne"'"' are 1 Sf) re 11 the friendly p-l-,_ost," f.flE'!d dr,ms, ri f':"'i "', 11 11 10 ... nd then "'' t .;rr.t'"", .:r e,.,t 11 : ••• 'mbol s or .; "n.a,,.A 7 ent in . ., nc 1 •rri t' ..... C"". vi .; bi l . t �s a , • · rou-l:i the con~tri"1.t n-r•0ssure ( c. f ., C,.11 e11) to "'UCc0ed -!_:;he r..,ce, ontE:'mp'"' d conrentional ed ,- stro11, Vf•]o - ., 'f\.p,..,i-tn~ s 1.-:ith occPsirmal free - verc,e eY erj Proo :"lal l'lnd -,,o, erful, n sta ina(t is oetr . t l 00ks ahnrid to ontemns I T r o te:rre he ec12 ted) lC ( • icl - n.\,~l,,(l,,t~'-'f.1- , : P-j s r:,f' ~ Sterlin()' B,..,0, onte en1-;y,n7 +- ~"~A unt...,in 11 , st ,ry, o11r•J••-••rlil'r~tl. 1 "' -,ef"Y'O CarP M2_. Fo"t' "'' ½li~ 1 )~ 1 "or1rn Pee "11..c'{ ,lorld, XX(Sente!'.rber d 8r Lb 0 l n 7• 7.,... ., ,...__ "',..,ks- Robert • erlin' s cri tj cn.7 -~ntho 7 ory, A on"' ·tl+-h An()'e1_:.n2 Gri"rlke, Le·Jis _ " ....l·orr t ,_r·e A Tork car be Art' ur F. Da is I s Flro"'IJ. t:he lJP.rk To er, and rrhe_ 1·stinr lar h0 GoJ rrotha . b,..,ief reactions ~ i I ui.77 Crt.:"11.bJe T th irk it ·ri (ll? i f' f'-i .,.,oim in r rialect) exclai~ed by Sterlin~ ,:;, o~r~~~~;~n~t::e~M:'.:r-~p~, t; e 11 s us in "Go 7 ,,.o i":b. a One d.., a en+-..,t-ton/.. " ~on~ ·· 1 ,· ~ 0 ~ 7 ,, 7°' - 79. lexrlnd9r, Anne Spencer, Arna -•·•• ..... n_ .,....0.,_1., •. ·· "' rt t-:· e of' etA _- Sc, onterrps, �... Vecr Vor1, , ma "'l:11=1 i:tt•nded 2f8Cl-iers 'Jn1 erre, Col 11 mbin r....,iVfrf..;ty, +'or tro yeflrs ...... "'"t:?bl i::-h-; st11died in t,...e Fine Arts :!Jenr.,,.,t"'lAnt--tre oafte.,, A ' nc_:.. L a dual career as "l'")OE'}t ,.. r'l ortist . Sre lri~rr attrmded Pratt ;_ ~+-· tl te, t.auC",ht ~-'-[l ff' of Onn')rtun~_:trmxDU[:mq1111ll!.21l!m!m ,r11_ey,e SAvnrel of 11'"'.., n08Y'1S ri:>n ; er h9rfi11est ems ne rAcn l s depth of "'">.lack rori..,11. ood reven.led · n t;l-i.e no etry of Frances crp0r, r.-30,,-.n"-ia .Joh"lson !'.lnd An('"cJina "!rimlrf . 0 To A Dnrl! Girl" o eens." l-le r 0 cf11J the 1 ord nforn-ottAn 11 fro!I' "Sonp; 11 ; but it abounds i"l the sor,,,ow 1 s rnate 11 but if she foy,r•"'ts r er slaYe bec 1 r,....,-,0,,nd she tir.1.e and another ...,J ce -- f0r n~tural Afr·ica -- Y'PC' ,,,:K: Cfln stiJJ th rot r-;r-rn.t the"e 1"')0'11s �7 nootr reeE 11 y, 'J'i ~a. ti,,-, 2arn.e duality in her "sad l")eo....,1 t .so, l" nn.tred 11 is ohar:r nnrl_ st"inr;ine ri~o a d~rt of "inr;in~ s t~il are reminded of Ri dd1 E" of t1-ie Sn}:,-l .i; nx . n 'JI .•or C "r,sr ,. r.i 0 II • , r oeris on ~ c "To the Du ,._; P ' th~Me; i tr..e Fi "Y' dr. II cott D"'l ~ ne""s .,_ "n,..,y <, , lt L-o:r _ 11 -'-· ,., +-vo tirnrie t t ,T. Seo t t, tho V01TS to 11 f'bandon 11 -1,.,t>self to i11 "n e f'.Po rt to th t of Arna and endurnnce . AcadeY11y -1 n l' v0 id theA 1 onto~~s fince it is deep 'nd f ows from tr?ilition, stslllin om in n-..;.skcP-ee Instit'l.te, Alnbarna , , ru .t!;nr.-J and 'nd t' en t:3ur·ht three yen re, the fanio s at / D ~ber ~ she ell ef'ley C0 ll e,,.e , • fter i('"h ::i cho0l ir 0 ttBndcn nr".ldford Ph ich sh.0 Ji:, "Dinr--r,')n , D . C. Accor~ .; n~ 0rco-rti ve and �l ~ r o not 1'"'c'- 1',. · '- o ,:--f\disnJay ..r, 1 • 7 -~ .P-+-" Or R ~1~~ 1T'O.,,.., • , 7 7. ,_ '"'On, •+v ieo A fl] . O"t n. 7· a,~~ pro"erit i"l +heir S• to h;m. rJlris 11rrtic1,1ar asnect of' ~~1 0 try r-iv~c ri"'0 tor- ch "nAcu atinn cl,. p<'] "ince noer.,s devoid of r..,ciaJ or nti..r.; c flavo,.., t"'ko on s· ·nj f'ica:rice nren :O. rwa " 1, o 1 on ~.s. Du'1ois , ur i te 0 ). 11 ·L':r,o irank 'orne, t did not r uhl is:b a bool~ ) Colle e of the City of 0octo,.., of Optome bry. ~orne Trornc, 11 -roes ,sse"' Jnrleed ~rorne is 1 i ne s "nd ~ 0 c"'r-rj t}v=• ~ orked ir Chjc8ryo ,thPntic rj +>t of ontry," Pccorcli:Dr- ~o Tarnes cf"'l, c'rnT'tic..,l, rr" e-.,, eii "Drl .-.7,,,.,o""t b"re i , his ~hot>t conori c 1" n ;ue. ~c. "Joe co r">ue of hi i;!i!a Y•y rnv"' 7 ve s ~ot rd ost o+' CPll vie ti..., l'!" s it , nciortj fi c inr,uiry adanted to tho n0t' s r,"e,,ti'1Y'line:, r . . cial iri 1 ,c,tico, �9. ~nd v-;ctnry as fact or idea. - --- · ----- 1 ";1Diba1, OtreJJ.o, Cri"'r. s Attucrs, ' and ~dcs 4 fo"', s ~ 11.erir· rte end. 11 - t~rlinf r- ·tE'r t;or, .-,n-1-icipatin: 0 " 11 TQ -f-h,.._ OAtn ' ,,,_,,,,,.,,,,,,,.,,. 111..-'I, "Scotts' oro, .,..,8Cfl 71 S fl I1 t II, e led 1~o"'t:1n'1.ri s" i11.to the e ' e; ·vi ""r dj d ye 7 acber, rr ·c,,.l,r ,,.,... ; tre ,,n e nl di"' POY'l d but ,.,.; ve Jesl" • !'1.8 o VA 1 ; ri,..,. tinn .J d 1 ri n fl c,-•n inr- j.,... O' II nrn0. 1 r ~'10.c",..,.e of sc·iE'nce 'A \J!,,r.-S:J:J:;;.f s a !Cl ~ csODC"S o trt ta i_.,... R for C!"'IYJTrf'rl. r-1-s ort I"' l'-c~ide or.hPr r.oetR for "'ir~inr, rne C9..D. ' Overt re, r-., ~~ or.l ; Sonl'l''r. ii ) 0U"'"aint I 11 'Tlo II V.:W.n . " ·vo, tt~i.,e P.X e -t- ;PE'"' t l 1 Q t e r ti e ; ,. . -· n VO 1 E' d i n ''nriJ,r of ber. T T() ,,. <'l 1 ~r E' - 11 A ,..rr ; '-, Ce 0.,... • A to tl o al tr:P" -1-ri'l'l' a nd 1:1-len ,, d.ri . . . i , 0-f' " 0 II 0 -.,,. .... c nn.c1 ""o l" 7 a TT-• r) i (' t 1 ,.; t 'Y"r\. 1t G,. • r 0 nc b• lo~y nd 0 ite _..,.,u ...,::.c/ .,...7 ~ . . , , "'· 11 ;..,_ •• 11 o <..: -rolin"' (;,.,•,.,7• s 1-iis 1 A ,rrs ·f' )"' "C' t") ; ~ ..., ,., II C'lY) cl h1 ,')8 -fir, T * ,,.. • 7 i f'e .. II () II 0. ~r,letl in .,,.. .., ..., "' re 7 -1- p r., .: ~ 1~ II -r>ec It ; .., 7 .n .1- f' i 1n tl 4 c +i "I' Tr,..,, ~ r....,, n-P -1- ..., l..'), t":'\ "'0 r.t- -1-1- 0 ", e -r tb,..J 7 in ,,.,ao '1 1 ~ ()l .,,; Y1() n. '() J II i n.,,t...,,.,ce"' t.re ne-'· CY')<"' ' i ('T' "Ad -1-:· "Y' ' " V ; C, tn1tfi{\ · .<''(V'lj' 1.;n0, r, " n ,-.-'- 11,:,-jr,nn rr -1-'~e n ; tn r:,..,n-1-·i.,., jr-rr ' . n/:1 II !'.'l co r 1--'- on 1 �JO 1 AQ].. i"' t q'10 "body, oAt-r>"<T AVE''YJ. t 0 1 ,h i::: solely i.n ~ 1 • • bl Y one,..,"ces 1-nvpr~n rJ..7 t - 7· ')l" ! f Gh8 ppnc,0n °ddre"' ed hR."' 11 i::irid, 11 p J (? 7 ve 1 s. ti~c"l"l'l n 4;r 'Pho-nn" "'O"l. "T)"r"e, hie J.--,-i 1::i.n-e ".'o '"' .l:'ers1· _ n. . f'te....,t . < rords th;_~ovrh 8tic c0"'lr,etitdi.on; 1rJu,ncr>d nt,,-npd rn,..,r..,.e Le0.-irrd ni II c'1nplicntinn- 11 th"' riem15nn- of ..-rguPge '"ld flctinn of' 'Y"lel0d7,-r :;hr:it c Rll 0 f,-,Ae-v('rse ~ orne it w"s tl18 1 o·..,.,e, le:r .~ oct 1.·ho lived or.Jy J0 a.e re co rrni ti 01'1 b8fo re hi ~ QA"t'i' ),,') rever, for 11..: s ~~ e octy" 1·on f; rst pr; ze ir is oeY!ls " a ~A"red in ""'O r ti rnA, a trodi :;; on!CI 7 theme ~ ------ r · :be I.yr· c West. 'l 11 rn ; "' "'tq+-e - iri<1e uoetry n J-: ] ' t , lo j od rn A 10r:i.c" . ~ enu,, "-~n('l" Blq c 1{ s1lf"f8r nr n'ietry'p 8 . 0 0 r' 1 "' ::cj_i-w1('p) r t e c -r>0 10 ' s. ,-7 j onl-:,r remote 7 "<T ',i . . n.,,,iv tP "'l P,(i 11cn:;ion, 0 C ' ;Tl1ich "?f' 0uit.e eytPn"ive, F s +- c'l ~~~~~~~ , r"' 1 Pd ts..: tarPft~ j-n r,on - �] l • r in ent · es 'nd th.; r'-j "'S. ,...i......-.-~~ ·w's n1blirhed Y"lt"'i.c; ard nhi~_0ek . 11 e 11om...,-i5 10 ~ ~t:::::::;=;:;:::::=~'-" S0p - 1 b0dier 'nc Pnrl ·r.,...eaJ im"c-ec, "ncl C" ol'l"nn -- s l i'l"l- fi th PI'10 "".,,..ii,1-,e-t.... '!!I!_, £ ~ - of [" vi_r,rr lo"'t I ' Trr'")"'r ' s Prznrr Gnod AripoP-~iat,.ra 11 - - e ··1iu'"ical teT""l'l -- rl tovorinP- roe:rn f\ 11 of' 11 in Y1 : C, · sons bet·peerm ro· inds of ,; c fnllsE''~1:2_!1-P- 1•p Ji- i +:E>..,., . ..r,r'~ IJ.~ ,.__r 1 o·r . a C, ti natc v ·ercd- P~te-•• - tr .:nr1: • • • II or 9()TI8'.:;hinP' "''i"t'.1€'~Il0 ,, ..... ,,.,,~,.c'lf'"' .• 7 h ~- 'l"\f"Ptry . _q~rpc, I A 1" ck C"' nP r..,., •,y,t..:,.,1.f' A.fr:ic2 ,.,.,,.. ~-""P 7 0" / -- 1 rit-:,r lqY"IPYJ.t-"'a. bY ot1~.,.., rnnn;rsf!nce T)0ntr, 11 ·~e...-edi<'4:i5on e u 1 () ny, tr p not,-.,« -+;y,~d nr tl1.rt t0 tr0 ,,•-1; '"'lnPt 1 :- ft <ie" 11 1•icsf Rj,~ i cs ~ U8S f' T t. 11 • <t:..:i ot bear/t; 7 <1 "l"f'"'sed t-· " nn"'.,.,• i1 ,.,,,,,~Fr forI'" • tle Y')()(}~ ';ho c:npp 1•0r fw-1 c;_U-U . "lnrio i:iftnr \Jia •- 0,r0d wr1M.l i:;J nef.,,...._- . ,-70c- 1 If 8nd <;OllVf'.,._t..:,-,n,:il r.-ictq E'"'l ; ) ('. 0 0t-i onpJ P0~ J - h"'in ·, bPt i'or the t'"n"~•1t of 1 is ca 'E.'f'mience" r :t ~, 11 ''Poet 11 Rri<l 11 Pr,.,.sci0--ct'" 'l"'J. l e r' jpsl., s: e tnA 1· i te" 11. mot of'" f',.,p.e - vrr~e ,..,Af' 1 ~i,11~11: rr1Q 'cc ·":a;ts • l(Jott'tro:i -Tenr-cr::v:)n "'roo '{) p,-.i tes rJi th a:i le<""o.,,,i cpJ e l ert "'nee . us ,·ork is deenly ..,.,e 7 ip-ious; 1',,·-; j_t .;s rot """'-~r-1:>olJ.srn .-nd 4:;:-J es C11.r-i ti:_m ,..,,r C' jt i,D ,,.1,r Q Cfl'1.Ylf'd r,.... j lio-~ 0 snr-ss . for "She n 7 nc.1~ C 1ure . e ~ Til•e A.,_H cYr1y, T'P l ; ,... ' n" C di[' Jo c"o'lbt as to i t 0 ' n.:;P1t . I',,.0i .....'11+8i' uith l:>oth ho e 8nd r'h11bt, 1,-i·'.:;h "my enre l 11 1 11 le,.,.f1ir �from the s~ ouJ, ers of Blr c1~ A eri c"ns. But the an e1, 11 1 All ni h+;, j t s ".nabl e to 1 i ond "'5Dce ho str>1, rr led 1 T c"fer. • • • Careful y l'nd stnr~l:in,,.ly, '<-roolrs ves in th reJati~rely ne'\· BJ.ace toqords poetic t!'.le,.,,_e of inaif ere c (ana 'tiistrl'f't of) Christ:.i" i ty . 11 ln ck necAssi ty" j s 11r2t trie an ere interv nes on behalf of ; but r.d'ter the all ni ht C"true;,....le, he ne"rilv fl-lee off the nArr tor T hs leavin "th 0 S 2 · i' no et'l, one Fh i ch b "tP t other ~roo~s niec s . bi c tri etnr, "nd 1 sin,.,. fix-1 ·ned rt 0 "lzas , tetrnTieter "nd i 1 a:1 excitin ical tee roo·cs ent v 8Cl:d rith an 8 b c b rn.s born i 11 a b rhyme sel er:ie , "tAve n·d 7.e s 0 e was 1 1 uhen oney 0 •rent ~n T"'clm.on Jnl 7 e e for fo1 1 r on hs h"1.s ntio11.r1 11cnn hP- tny d in hir "'"' of' it nd '-.if' 0 +;y, is lni.ys ·rel - rnfted. c rr 0n "'t-,., to be.,. l • 7 eel in ct:i Oll • t ·· v tion of 0 i, an rf'n. e 'Bo cl. t "" 1-i_e J...'1"' i (if\"' P, f' 0 vl• r TIO d , r,,.,~1'··'1""l o ,_,,_er .p. al J t ·o ~Tn:r,en Y'( .,.I, p. "'T ""\A"' hereoe U"'t: e ir 7,...C,.. 0 -i-r:r • .I, f; 1 en 1t e 1 I' C' s nt , j f n �J co""lte nr)r' r-:,r noot, rd s eJer•:rr on Jc'b 11.d P"t~P,rso'lli:, prAsP.n-i:f( P ri'Y11i]R"" "'i-1- 1,-t-;-ion ;n 'l"yr aeqt· of'· r2. ~ <>rt·n Tuthet' 1 in,,. Sr. ( ~71 nhinr-s bid , 11 Se terrb8r, --Jess, c uci~ied? '-fricA.n · sl"ls and thP A-rreric:"n Chr" s ti anit , £"X">")ff"'"; S1{epti.ci2'Y"l "-rc'l c-rn·~ are rP .re r>f i1'1. -- 2c'I- ieves ti ninr: the S'1ldj ""r 1 "" d .,,., th to t'-.e C')f>'Y'O rR. 0 s- -:c-nti 011.ce of ,.. 7 very, r,~f,i/,...-.ii,••~i4-f•. fP.sus r "7 0 7 "1T Cl"ic.:.ficcl? ; n<:1 tj "" 0 mn Dorlsrm ' s 1 11 l'lrl.0Dt 11 --"nd re at inf p acP - Il"'l11P.S of · nort nce . 0 Te a:1!!!!!l"'!'t--- er;tab1 ·""-.es .,_ r·nd ni"'rt -r>"'7_;):/'na n0 t 11e "Gprden" bRttl rrou-11.d ,..,1...,. ertj 81'.lc --"l on of e ri.sinr,. 2et the stc cr0 -Por ,,.,,..tly +;re n"r,,a+-ion I f-,,ee-VAl"ne ~ i s ciet 0ff~t"l · cs -f'or t. ose "'ectione ~-;. occt1r in e thP t, , Hi:'.1. u'bich ~~nd. :=:.roo{s is C'"'.,,tf'inly 17ortl-i "'11-1c'I-\ 0rP st-;ud • J n ene T0hso'1 .J..., .L. (°'"'\ bP co :l:ecten. PO t. 0rr, Q-r in d "'°'7; 'r'or J-;on, "'1- nd i'l'l n'1P'Y>e r>, 'ho0 1 {~ fo rr'1 ·b (!Yid ~o~~~+___...._1...._~~......-oi.: "'be a+-tp,n(Pd locnl r- ·'hlic !!"!:±1 1 Bivir;on o~ C07u•b5.a Tn;vP.rrity "nd~ cl"\me nne of tl-i fir 1ref' of the l:'rJcr'l Ro 1 P5f'r"nco. ; ortant e 7 Pne .rohn son nort,11.t "your 0r 11 Ter noeT11S ·-J0...,e m l>Jif"l ed in terr"', e"nr-1.,.,,tic "nd dive.r"'e il'l f'or. .... , st-.:Tle And 7 "11.,.u1:1.,.,. • ~r0 i"' at rorie p; th'1Non.,,@t, free-~re. rs e, c ..nv"n t · on:=, J ,..,: "'T'1J.e ,..,i ec "'e, or 1ri. th TT, "t n.mf'l c:i • le 7 d'">n �14 roi--ns 0 n cf'l 7 s 11 cnl loo i.al styJ e--o st,r e ''hich r.u.,,.,b:er e'"'s noets this ne" a,·A[ 197~9;,9] have as~uJ11ed to be e::i...,~r. n ( he tril''inr, t ~ e t s of the current nn e:rn 11 ne": nC1'e 11 Tol-rnson sounds ::-s if (J nt;0-J97i.;. t}.) And ,Tohnson rri t ten i,... tho 1 h0 r:i nt ]110:i t +1- crow::' nmetir•1e!" neacocl ish) dre<'S ~ · 1 r1 i +-,,.. s " ro c ,....., r s , i ~ .,,o 1 i 1 o "r [> r:u, ,, " tenc1 in~ nf' l.tl(' "'l."11 ir, !i I rbi-1-;f> c0 77 "Y) d .; n''YJC)'J'."f' t0J d to I\ i,.. ' ::.:'' . carries H!"O Bi A l_e. I ') ("\ nn n1 r to t:he rirlcll +;n 11 d '1.ce ·' h" c011l A ·')f' c:'}"'1"-;'")(> ,l'J 7 nn, ... 0 n ne 1' -- s,'t0 ·1~ Te 'an+;ecl d no~ +;hrop off +;' P cJ oaR ni' \ A" t rn Prl"r." ~ i ,,u, aral11: ~,'1ey1e :ir 'Sonnr-t to A MJ@ l'-"1 :JrnC"J" 11 0 ('1'.,0 :i_r- "E-r10r1 11 ~ ~<1.0.ocns of T'l00I'1S i-r. T.ri O (8rr1 reca•l:in ,.,,.."-;c,r-ory), 0 h8 �nn-""o ,J dP-"'iiCt"' -\:;hP ~!!1!'11!!!1!'!"' ,_ o thP. · s no t e.,..,nj,...on:'P,,,t ; ..... b(dnr· l)fl"'ITCr olo; or ""he •rich PP ] T --nd rP ~[';i')1 1 s So'TT'e~1ou, -!-;he ~~ ~ ~lfJ . T <> TI'"'-r>t l<>c'r '"'nd inf exibJe t~ou ht . A, p [' C { • tr f") C, / i,,, '1 i s ~ t=i r b n ri " / e o1_ft--o>n y') , de..,'!")i efe; ;s o½..:..,::-1n:r sePrr"' to is the an"' f0r e,.._sy one ~. "P. <'1'"'i r i """' r; . . 'Y' ,-.._-r>o B:lti C - ''tfot - ed, • r tf~P. l"') nl • nd c"h y,i c .• ~1 ll er <lrpn Pd fit to f'V T r-1 C iJ1 11 .,.., nri ~rd n - . . rn] terp h"'d~ f-.1· n"',, . 'I t'ri "llr' tho/ li."T'"', e"tion ; T' ,r ,..,od ic, f'V~d nt al so 'hj S bC'cories ; rfJ_-- - c· [) >'l CJ.. er o ,:, 01- f\•::Nl r'"' r,r , rorrRr · 1 C0"1.CrAte I\. ad and n ther s . A "r0-·n rr con · c r t: o Pt;, 0 r 1 t P 7 ()')() t ,.. • "lento't"1 Q"Y> ~ 1-l,c, �brick. ti.rrss TI ,,,----...._ ..,..•o iiilt r-ind -· :i3lack lyini t hRt ;"'l ,.,..., C' cu 7 tv °1:l-i he~ 1-ig i f "nd"'rrri neo, ~lrn: ·e1 r.,ne ,Tohnron scer1s to m~'ke Road" 0 811 u'1P,..,e ...,..,. phe linlrs in rind Sinr 11 Sun, 1t -rndo er ·-,,..,; 11 L1rod1en beauty, n is P ti 7 J their fi -~t. C f'Ild ., 'Pntrm ,Tnhnson I II fl 11 ri E'. ' 1 Reri 4 ni scent C1'i -· JdrBn o+' +- P, sj~A cclvises lier ne0nle to Rise to ~w ~, OilP ')ri . in,.,. '"oloen, f'ni l J ·.nrr crv ! P,]1-ieoJ ' . to the noA b ry of n y,-i Il'l' -rn},Yl CU)"!') Is r 1 : i_ <::! -TO (\,11.e: t' - , r,({_!"J onr f' i i •i. th 1 8 r, ~-n 7 an l' p T ,, hes "''1(1 .C.c •p E''td +-J--. "-1"'1'3, u0rd $i l.vn... 0 l_ on, :'.). C. 1s1c 1 •11E=>re 0 Bonton Co~Pe -vnto,..,y of f' ~ ~,,sic rmo. in 'lol'i'J.e ~ T½P tFins h"d si"ili.J.2r ;.,,_+,er "'ts::Glll!!!!K J ,,... hAJ d Sec "'o :--- 11 o"'{C8~ t::i.onal urorniso . T"··c0lri ts ~ ( "ey, c.Cf~ .! ver"J f P,'"'"TI.S +-~ TTn~v-rf'·H:;-.•11 1--tes, farin0 1s beinr 1r, p:ns 11 uon en =" :Jame 9 Ueldon Jo1'n~on s+,"ted th t Onnortvnity vork re rtt ended 11 ~ ·:o, ever Curey nAve,.., bPcn-1T.e a prol.; fie ~ n0.ts .. ,.-'1.Ps, J'J~l ) .,nr' .,.inc ln -c-d~versi-1.;,r cH. rrJ ...,rl'CP, Jy, 4 r·,,..+;, 10,.,, ) . 'ur es C"l;ed ~"r.co n . 7, CC' of bec:q1ty 8l'in the to "l-ia re bPer cnr.,,.,ect. A..I,,,,..r:r -roA";j c idPnl (-4,.rr >-c p,re . ~ · · ·.~-t.; -r r-t,·rocl epl cnl_J e-o .pol. . ,.. TIOC't. II anc'l G-i 1f a1( ~ T.5.nc,,ln. Sco~;t- eron r re "s ,..,-r1J~r Pilt of �7 6TJJ a foll'sy note. 'l'1 1P,,,C is a.lso cynici'"'M ;,, F ~t0"l Jn·,.., ofte11 u 0 e8 and 0 Ic 8.Y, S'"\n 'r\l~in, .1-r"'P B ria ffi['>"P7,i:re 0 '1Tl.c' c-"A' civ.:: liz,.tior1. -ir. r,,..,() e~'"' 1 rd ove. -1-· ,.,::h '2 ·"" r0od to .,..., 0 J,,. clr 'Phni8' 1 orne. ,...--..,. ♦ C11ne"'r. ' r.: ,,,.,; s} nnPm (C,-,po): th9y rJl see 1;;: to be nies ru1d coricat1 res tl-ieir li 11 rn'"'ni ty. C1·ne:-_r.~-·1oman Has no r.:;1 a rk'\jor ve· ic1E'. hieo ., o Tn·p:H··os 11 --n'-,-':c ••(")'1'1 e noet:.c trel"'Je of :-~e ncnf'ieo~ance: ~•1,.t 'Plack - v:._ ty , 1~ " qrtho:J0 ;~" ')-" th.0 ti.PS. bP~uty Jen cli rr-ct follr "T)Gech "'S Ol r - 'IlQ c,, ~'•eptici 0 m of,__ "11d 0 t;hp TT,, mchle in/? "Orld th!"1t def'-: :gur 0I"\J. 1-iou be~ut·r ~ e is. - rt civ; 7 5zRt.::0n corrodes the idAn of trees Pnd natura]ness !IC "1c,• f'" ·1 X:J• nn , 'I 1 ~, .. funJ 0 nd, nd "D,,stx") �n,,"1.1,F-,, ~ "'rr! ~cl'."J.r:ii-ns"' c'10rnin""7t th "1'1.C ..:.,.,_ c1q,r l I'Y" 11 .1.'1 o D !"It'-. P€>df -rontr7r ]"cl 11 "n+-jl trjf VArJ l tJj. ~ ~-o;.,.-:nrs; T'l"n "'t=mcl"' '; tin f-'.,...o,.., his b,...d . '1'1' ' " prn:r:.r("' r,n"f' ~ ninnt h-i"' n; 1 1 • c0nt--:PUA ~r :tine,(fri a ""'00 !C!CC",-.S"' <:lP~V o r c , ~ f' tr . : nl , de 0 th 5s iriinE'nt , ,r,,nr'rps I OS t pl J thAy "fJV r hn d. A s;mil~ii" p rado;r ""ln jr0n~ ,.;- is contninAd in 11 -y Torc1, hat,, ",-..,.-,ninl"" 11 "'B lr-i ck 11 '1he..,,o t;",10 r.,.,ea 1·0.,.. is ncetr:itj_ c ~ Tohn"'on I s J f :rri e s. Adrd ttj 11"' ~ to the '' C1rie7,r [l_ Of T)nEPl --: :: f 0 ,-.a_ a thnt 11 Pj P-htinr, j s Fron,.,., 11 the S"'e '·er 0 -recall s John"'0-r 1 s fent iP lrod 1 f' r-iror,l'ones Prpy,e 'rod ir 1·1ron0d to "riamrriy . " flh8 defe"t of "'rhi tf' 11 Jiri :-"0TQQi'0 .. ] ,, t, 01::---Anoi-hf'r il"lro ~tc•1tRCr;r-VA'lJOl1G ,-,,, de un Ao fb linP'"' or 0n"' - t11.,,,oe f')""lf1C! ~ Y>OU'"'~ t}:,e 1J'Ce _,_, Qf' c,,n,,,..,rfc ir ~ 11 C11.8r 'cif"l iP ,.,.ivPn CY'edit ~o ,,, ,rj tA ~ •ro.,..,ls "ilc' ~ T'8~'1 .; " f'f' ,,,e- zin IT Y)'·10n" i c rende .; n s �19 ~ •1::-o Lwri.s A.7exe.ndPr "-h0hant""rnt 11 1.rhic1 P. "Y)" entJy~ wants ,,,--.._ to "S 0P1hodie", ,..,,.~in, tre 'lir+.en" +-l,r>"l"IP. of' cW)- m:• +-.o his he eYn~.; c nnd bPeutif11 r-" ri n,.,. "A f'rican Tn £-art II t o ,,,.atlic-ine 0".Y'cer ~s nJccP.d in reliP:' "C"'ajnf't "S 1--ie ",,.otf'3"'tque Pye:ria-f~ced onstn!' 11 who(seeninn; to ~ ep,..,oi:,en.t 1hit0 . . ) is dri en brcl,. il"lto h·is oV/rl f'e"r ard t1.e +,pe "ilderne::s" by ~ E' e 71 cac,t 011. r~rn by tl~e J""edicine nd fN t 1r-C> s rosolnti on orid t11.,,, b:lack bodv rtou d::mcPs ,.ri -sh"deJ j r,htn as celebr1ct~d D mb...,.,,. i n-r, "nd Ptt8nded .A E) d 7 Ji in+-e,,.A"'t::-¥ nflr" E'll\.tl'ose of Cu...11.e-;,r ci -i.dirin- t1-1 ~()P]'} xu f'YlA'1']_1''8 , nil c-xner~.,.,,,..nV:.il A 1 exr> Pd A-Y, ' s o,,rird ,,.vii ri: ..,l:'it,~... ,. fus Tl... ..., t tPC'1'1'l7 C'll11"::' .!.X'"t"") no~- . on Of ,_ of -r,1 P d Jef..,r(-1-.r rf'r>Pi ss 0 nce C""1 1),; frwnd in MAP.~!'P Bl .-c1- ~Y).[>to.,.,,.,r fn11nd in II l, 0 0'1 "r·, r cl CU 11d r D~rer 11 'Y'< fl'Y>() t.'be oriJler r-.re-lir'a yiverinr- or �'-; ni r.i J 1 en..., II •SC~ l "nd nve rl ay 1 f 0 1 .~ <)C"Ur ird2.r,,. . 1 •' . Y\0tA , " C 61"'1, C'. 11 "'r,l'"' bl ·m: •1--it,.,.,, . a l"" +;1-ie ; "tar'' b•t ti e n t· ..: s f'+ .,..,c· '"' .... +.., nnj ntf\rf' cal .+ J ; n .,_ ae DA "'i; ;tt d fr''"'>'Pl cont,_,..,,.,t cl-i.j a ro sc11Y>(), re "T'C coJd that : ' ,,.r ~ ,, . ('188 Vnri n 1 11 ~ T ; ch ,. h'"''"' b O l '1'10 n f t.,r 'r'""nfl fOl"''Y>'J." +;on . 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'7 r~ 7 !IJS ( 7 7 7 1 • • C, 7 --------- ' ' 7 7 of' h." + ---- ------ ., 1· A T r s: ·------ 0 sd)": 01 T • I n r T 7 ,, {r r ""~ 7 7 • , r • I . f"' . 7 7 I r> ... <" -~ Bro r""' ....) 1 I ' ·--------· .,, ' l-• p,. '"' . l . ' .. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context EBRWritings_07_31 Title A name given to the resource Draft of Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, Chapter V. A Long Ways from Home Relation A related resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource For digital rights and permissions, see <a href="https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml">https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml</a> or contact <a href="mailto:library@siue.edu">library@siue.edu</a> for direct inquiries. In copyright. <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Redmond, Eugene B. Description An account of the resource Draft of Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, Chapter V. A Long Ways from Home with an overview and several inserts. Pages numbers begin to repeat after p. 74. https://digitallis.isg.siue.edu/files/original/c239a6981e5bb5ad20d02667e37b6155.pdf 9cb6b823800d9127a4dc69a456d5191d PDF Text Text 11 '(_; ,1 -)/; <n ,.. ~ Li tle critical suad5 :!f th)l Howard Poet~.,1:g:l.ii.~~~W!!i!~-lilllil~.-•lilc:; other &llllt!S:Jl-h poets who q> pea~~ i - A.,~ during this time. ~they are legion¥, including unfamilar namesi: Johnson Ackerson, Charles Anderson(l938- Madgettt, James (r:r,!- ), Katherine Cuestas(/1¥({- ), B & Davis~::P::~= ==' ==tr, Julia Fields(l938- ), Gordon Heath, Horne, Ted Joans{l92ti- c. Morri w. 1tss:•~~ Thompson(l935- Joyce Yeldell(l944- ), Zack Gilbert(l925-- ), Frank ierby(l916- ~miest J. Wilson Jr.(1920- A.B. S~e~man(l935Jones(l934~ ~dwards (l932- ( ), Bennett Jr.(1928), ), ), Rivers, 5 er--,, ~ OttJI,') ~,~Yvonne Gregory ), Catherine Cart e r(l917- ), Mary earter Smith(l924- ), Don Johnson(l942- :W.lr\ eL~ed fttsi'· ) ===..-,, ), Vilma Howard( ), Lloyd Addisonll931- ' ), ),(\.Adam David Mill er( l 922- ), ) , Thurmond Synder.~==, Tom Dent( ), ) ), James P. ), Roscoe Lee Browne(l930 - ), Oiiver Pitcher(l923- 1, ), ), Nanina Albatl915-1968), Frank London ) , Vivian Afti:fi8/:.A ~ J, May Miller ( ), ), Garl Gardener(l931- ), Roy Hill( ), Robert J. Ab rruna(l924- David lienderson,194 2- ), Lerone ), Herbert Clar~l911- Brown(l927-62), Isabella Maria rlrown(l917- William Browne(l930- ), ), Oliver La Grone(l915- McM. Wright, Pauli Murray(l910- ll932- ~ Ca rmell SirmnonsJ ), Calvin Hernton(l93l- ), Hoyt Fuller(l927- Bette Darcie Latimer(l927- Vaughn(192ff- ), Naomi ), Vesey, Sarah Wright(l929- ), James ~anuel(l921- Sarah Webster Fabio(l928- (1919- Margaret ), Gloria C. Ode~, Mose Uarl Hoihman.(1919- Alfred Duckett(l918- Ossie Davis(l922- 1 0 1 Hi ggints, Patterson, James rtandalJ..I ~ l Fitzgerald(l935- L~la Lowe Weeden(l918- . ), DuBois, Durem, Mari hvans, Micki Grant, J, Peter T. Hogers, John Sh e rman Scottf" Jame s ,-,;-::-: . Leslie M. Collins(l914Danner, Gloria Clark ♦ (l915- ), John Henrik Redmond(l937- ), Julian Bond(19ao- ), E"Ugene J, Helen Morgan Brooks ( ) , George Love ( ), Solomon ) , Ellen PoJ_i te ), Durwood Gollinstl937- ~tanley Morris Jr. (1944- LeRoi J, Bobb Hamilton ) , ~ - e x h a u s t i v e .fl:.t �. J}.L ~y 0A ~cl l · poets (as far back~ Phyllis Wheatley) and older ones w- editorial staffs. -•■r••d:~ t~- \ Julia 1ields, for example, was in resident~ at the Bread Loaf Writers Confere~~ngland and studied for a while in Scotlan4. he:zopd w h r ~ e d ~n little magazines between l960 {\ and 1965, ~ NI the staffs of the Three ~Free LanceVl(ashin~to~ U n i v e r s i t y ) . - - - - - - - - - - - 1 II d II • -s % ) X f1I0 jeiiA8Q PllPl9iPOJJS other 51 eek PR.Mt£ c· were Dumas(Trace, Anthologist), Patterson, Gloria c. 4 ois University) Jones(Floating Bear, -, Yungen), Oden(Urbanite,The Poetry Digest, The Half Moon), Rivers(Kenyon Reviewfl,Antioch Review, Ohfuo Poetry Heview), Spe~man\ Kulchur, Metronome, Umbra), Mance Williams(Blue and Uold),o;i!dre Lord(fen ture)• aai. Maargaret Danner published a series of poems in ~ pP+ii.E§i~ Poetr:x magazine in 1952 and in 1956 91iM-became~ssistant editor,01' :lib&t, paJm!l..leablan. �13 Of these parallel movements and developments, one other :ilr deserves special notice. Though not on par with the Howard Poets, the Umbra Workm op participants aided in the production• and distribution sat of Dlack poetry in the early sixties. Gentered in New York 1 s ureenwich Village, the umbra poets were founded by;;,_~ zDent t I a Jg ~ r - ~ew Urleai:i~ ! ,~.tternton ~ tC~tanooga) and David Henderson(New YorkJ.The workshmp,jlh1cnl\1-nvolved artist~and fiction writers, published the first issue of its• Umbnt quarterly in 196). Other issues came out in 19641, 1967-,8(an anth~logy), 1970-7l(tabloid anthology) and 1974-75~atin Saul issue). Ven/:j!ived as mit:isaa,i1 editor ~ :l;iM:e fipet i.A.Fee isst!es and Henderson, who l u:ir now edits the publication from Berkeley,~es odato• f1• •he pt!~li8&$ioa a I$ 1967. Other~ upit.er& aati &I tis4.-a attractf)d to the Umbra workshop • were Ishmael Reed, Ro11anl.Snellings(now Askia Tour~), Norman Pritahard, singere terson brothe Cha es an w·11:i,.Bm.l. /ten Chandler, dancer Asam.an Byron, ain ers Gerald ~ackson and Joe OverDumas, James Thompson, Julian Bond, Joe Hohnson• street, Raphaell!'enno, Sun-Ra 1 &> $ .l>urem. ~ Steve Gann~noonii;,l'!!••lliiimPl!ft. Umbra group was damaged by two events. One.JIii[~••~ onducted by tlaphael and others) with Ralph E11ison. I • se~'ious split ~ong members/" f "9AO om: Isa 1 iai (l. ~ · anti-Kennedy poem by LJurem. just been assassinated when the ~~ ~1Juremf~R approved ...._ by c!£jj:liiibHernton, Dent and H~nderson, ~t::&l..e~~d threatening him with bodily harm, 11 bl;•nto . . . ~ne lling ~ editori,,... decided taste•• 9thers, according to Henderson, wanted the poem printed and--.-i9!l~- near-fatal ~i;;:a;::iii,Ql6(0 apped Pritchard, who was treasurer, The •-& • 6 8d i d · viewe as one of the the Umbra grou ";ii.fUptown he i,a t terse/ and others g newlyformed Black ¾,rts Repertory and 0chool, to w:, rk with the J i,u2.,::, • �"and_J Henderson, Hernton, LJent,)trnompson, also appears in the early anthologies along with J111i111 wo r of - other ~ ~i:lage 11 poets such as G. C. Oden, Spelman, ti~ ) ~ (J' ·~ ~ ~ Jon~9,t an Jo n Ant fi5,a' 1 r e ~ represented in _,.. two later anthologies: Black li'ire(1968) and The Poetry of Blt:aclt: America(l973). Though consciousness is not blatantly evident in these poets) the sil!i:1iings th e re, especi allt# the works-1.r ~id!fs made clear~ · racial ng~rnton. Umbra twofold aim in an inaugural issue: Umbra exists to provide a vehicle for those outspoken and youthful ,--.. writers who present aspects of social and racial refality which ..._./ may be c·alled I uncormnercial I but cannot -with any honeesty be eon- sidered non-essential to a whole and healthy society••• We will , not prin~ trash, no matter how relevantly it deals with race, social issues, or aniiiiything else. 1 ' ~''La11e " .--. l:a:lie as Or"blue tomBu lurking "icily" in• · the darkness. Henderson l _ Am a "Downtown-Boy• Uptown" and asks: I in the wrong slum? 1 ~ketches of Harlem" include the "GREAT WHITE WAY" and a small '31ack ~ ~ confusing the moon and the s11n. Durem, who ran away from lfi'.ome at age,. 14, was born in Seattle,~ ~Vhile still in his mid teens he j o ined the Navy and became a member of the International Brigade s during the Spanish 0 ivil War. Hughes tried to ~ind a publisher for~lllliii~ L works as early as 1954. Of himself Durem said: "\-Jhen I was ten years old I used my fists. When I wa s thirty-five, I used the peruf.. I hope to live to use the machine gun •••• The white North-american has been drunk for four hundred years." • ~s work does bot have the finish of a Ha~den or B~ooks, but he-, provides an exciting shot in the arm for this period �15 of Black poetry(though Bremen's reference to him as the 11 first black poet" is unwarranted). Take No Prisoners(l971) contains many of .1..1urem' cD'memorable poems and a "Posthumous preface," signed in 196a although he died in 1963. 11 Whi te People got '£ rouble, Tool" surveys the pl i ght of whites following the Depression, that 1 -e r e cession and . . . war, and notes thb• such an intrusion in the affairs of whites does not equal ~ slav e ry. After all, life ...-X(or history) calls for One tooth for one tooth. Most of Durem's poems are short, satirical, ironicai.W and musical~ as in 11 Broadminded 11 : ~ome of my best friends are white boys. 'when I meet 'em I treat rem if just the same 1rij'(hey was people. He writes of Black history, slavery, s g ~~~-=-==:i+- S 141 i1lir( ~rd o-1aar inequities, prison life, and ~ }9l "pale poets II to whom he , II he is not suffic:antly obscure 11 ~ ID meet white cri t ical standards. Strangely, Take No Prisoners does not include "Award"--i"A Gold Watch to the FBI Man(who has J F!~owed me) for agent i s survei l lance of~ l\hrough 25 years--which traces the ·the "blind alleys" of Mexico, the high ~ierras, the Philharmonic, L.A., Mississ i ppi, and other ~ces off' violence and mayhem. But it is not all over, the a gent is told,for in the end I may be following you! The W> rk of ivillage poets was highlight by the vers a tile and prolific Jones (later Imamu Amiri Baraka)f 1 d Te/ Joans. Before his inew~ 1nack 11 stance of the mid and late sixties, Jones published in little avant garde magainze(editing several himself) and was identified as the most talented �j • 16 Suicide Note(l961) and iIThe ~ead Lecturer(l964), show him as a hip, arrogant, musically-involv ed♦ cat with a tough intelligence. His influences at the time, as he noted, were Lorca, William C3rlos Williams, Pound, and Charles Olson. His war'eo,~!am bu bu an adventurµ style with an elliptical and sometimes sacriligious posture. - - :rtf 11 11 philosophy was ~ f l i:s aestheticsl shared by the Black Mountain poets: George Oppen, Robert Ureely, Robert Duncan, LJenise Levertov, Paul Blackburn , Ginzberg, Corso, Uary ~nyder and Michael McClure . A music critic for such magazines as Downbeat, Jasz and J.'J.etronome, interest in Black music, Jones__.. a@IIW, wi th nurtured music in his verse. Hence, the belief a careful that Jones "suddenly became Black 11 is Lorva"--the great In "Lines to Uarcia ~panish poet--he uses a section of a "Negro Spiritual" as an irwription. The poem is ty.p-ical of Jones 1 s ability to merge numerous ideas, symbols anJmages _in one poem. Lorca I s death is lamented excer ts mass, reflects on his childhood, explores mythology, gathe~s bits of poetic confetti from nature and hears Lorca "laughing, laughing"-- ,C mocking his killers-- Like a 0panish guitar. In ll_l1;pistrophe 11 he ~rinds peering out the window "such a static eference. 11 So he wishes "some weird lookinJ animal" would come b'J. ~e title poem from his first ~olume-- Preface--he adij.usts to the way 11 ground opens up" and takes him in whenever goes out to "walk the dog. 11 '1lait Life is as monotonous as the "static reference" of window watching: No body sings inymoa,e. Joans, another Village poet closely identified with the Beats , published __,,,,--and Beat ~Zdiffllitmzual<lxm:xi:1&ca11.IIDf~ Mffil. All of Ted Joans ( 1961) 'f\ The rlipsters (1961) .... IF,p tais ,arlo&1 His most widely known poem from this period is The .38" with itJs debts to Hughes(whom he acknolweged), Whitman and the /?'t~tr Beats . Beginning e with the phrase "I hear," Joans ti.ills w.~-e-1"""'1'""'11"-:,,, 11 /"~A,-~-~ , t-...,of an unfaithful 811Pd her " �add note page 1( t:a./t- , t ,_"innovatorrBob l\aufmnan, ""•nsJ, h~ was , lee nod in ir e 1 the other poet who joins this "irrevent 11 •~ee""""f :eh:e iloet .::iania' Francisco Bay area. His first p&sii.i,hed ID broadsides from Ferlinghetti 1 s City iights Books: 1•1anifesto," f is marked by .._ unusualkimages. owf 1be 11 '.I'he Ab ominist "Second April" and "Does the Secret Mi n ~ , ' Kau.fllan' s •••••••mn ,.conveyi,l-g protest Ci ~,: \!. poetry, rks came out as aRa: through :au I J!W:.l\.ani irony, !l~:r Pealism •'!'l:te hu1 1r a J? 1£11' .es k faumd 'ffl Solitudes Crowded with Loneliness(l965) and (J-olden iatel)" achieving "a notoriety rare among books of poetry by foreign poets."(jacket, ~andine). Le ading French ma g azines reviewed the book, _..publishers noted, adding th a t 11 'roday in France Kaufman is considered among the greatest Ne g ro-American po e ts alive in spite of his continuing 1 exclusion from American antholo gies, both hip & academic. ~aufman 1 s themes are racial memory'( "African Dream"), jazz ( "Walking Parker Home, " "West Coast Sounds--1956 1, 11 Ginsberg, of 34 in 11 ")a~_..•~~=..,~• ~ o-r,ner-poe-r,sA\ '".ttart ••• Crane, 11 "C 8 mus: I want to Know,''), 4t1p11111111•1a incarceration( a series fllbt Jail Poems), history, mythology and religion. In "The Eyes too" he says My eyes too have souls that/ rage •••• ~ . ( (· l\"Cincophr~nicpoet" c~.;!,e &. Misi!11.i.g of "all five" of himself ..at Jcm· 11n A a vote ~ taken to • ·•expel 11 the "weakest 11 one who re sen ts it and to cross, spiral, and whirl. :::iomewhat typical of l\aufman I s elliptical constructions and dj ~~ , is "~eavy \~ater Blues": The radio is teaching my goldfis8 Jujitsu I am in love with a skindiver who sleeps underwater, My neighbors are drunken linguists, ,.:c I sn e ak butterfly, C0 nsolida ted h dison is th re atening(__to :ut off my)ra in, �add 2 The postman keeps p utting sex in my mailbox, My mirro r died, & can•t te l l if iii still reflect, I p ut my eyes on a diet, my t e ars are gaining too much weight . ill this form and style , Kaufman is not only related to the Beats but '-./. 11man , Atk·ins , an d-l.fJ,.,..; fted Los An gees 1 ;..,--.-111-:'ft."""" t o Jones , J oans , ~pe ~~/\Young poet.K. Curtis Lyle . �I hear it coming faste r than sound the .38 I hear it coming closer to my sweaty forehead the .38 I he a r its weird whistle the .38 I hear it give off a steamlike noise when it cuts through my sweat the .38 I hear it singe my skin as it enters my head the .38 I hear death saying, Hello, I 1 m here! As a group, Joans, Jones and ~pe man can be caretully compared to the Howard Poets. They are in the same age range and their themes and int; erests are similar. Speilman, like Jones studied at Howard University ~?~ and has acted as disc jockey with FM radio stations. ·ttis~~eviews and articles on jazz h ave ap p e a red in Kulchur, The Republic ~nd The Nation. ~ his :ffi.rst volume of poems, The ¥?eautif'ul JJa+ ..:".M' . .;;:;w ~ aU:W.lillpa.uab..l.._i~s~hed. k ' S:Nt'e-.98iiitie&, ( "" /q{,,{,) also publish ed a book-length study o & the Landlord" ti--@ running in 11 narrator H111>pl&lii1es :eAo.ili the ''th eif II 1964 s Ia! circles4'. 11 The poem is a humorous 'breatment of re volutionary struggle in a Latin 11 merican country. In a similar technique. This time a cat 11 What is It 11 Spellman a pp lies hides in your face", in the mouth and in "that s 1; r an ge canyon" behind the eyes. "A Theft of ishes" is experimental in its use of jagged lines and shiftSbetween the tangible and surreal worlds. In the end we are told th a t home is where we make our noise. -f Among the older poets whodi d n9t me into Pf.eminence until the 1 1960s were Vesey(Colornbus, cM.Wrig}it{Princeton, New Jersey), O' HigginstChicago), Duckett(Brooklyn), Atk ins(Cleveland), Ernanuel(Nebraska), Randall( Washington, D.c.). These poets, and others of th e ir gener a tion, �18 IHl!tll !iiii.ew to be labeled a "school" or ~lilllil--lilliii integfa tion.-\w hen t1 I. 1m1"movement" but they came of age 10 Black "identity" and humanityt• ~ re nhilosouhi c a l ..........0-t-...~.,.,.., ii (' than . men who wez t , to WW II, f's "' ••"'B lynching, "'ld ~!ts::!?: . •=etfll:M~~i northem m i t : ~....""'IPP'!~ 1 were occasional st academic or as a poet and professional, Afro-America. At Fisk University he studied crea- ween African and tive writing under James Weldon Johnson, then went on to law school at Harvard. While studying at the Sorbonne in Paris some of his poemsj were published, through ma ga zine Presence Africaine. Vesey has disseminat Ej a ~ egritude :ctr l!llliw which he p ub}.im ed his bilingual vo l ume of Tuskst, 19.56, Germany). Vesey-. work "The ~taircase" is a poem on which, : ~ lfenbein Za.hne{Ivor~ and precision. esey s ays, 11 1 would rest c~) my case, I think, a nd tha t of the ~egro in this land. '~A The poem -i.1a tQt3 stud .fli/l- the Black predicament thorugh the plight of a man for whom the "stairs mount to his eternity. 11 Perhpaps, like ~isyphus, the starr ,A,<J "unending" since the rotten floor, the "dripping ,V,,··rl"--..... !. faucet" and the "cracked ceiling" tw lives wi~.... ·.t'he man is preeeptJ~ joined Vesey also wri} es ap 11 twinn who lat e r goes "exalted to his worms." gy for Dylan Thomas ( "Dylan, Who is Dead 11 ) , 1 a praise for~~atchel aige("American Goth ic " ), and a e drawetiul}y powerful . piece iM: nAieA, a~interweav~ two different ideas and themes: one ain• :the uelil:e a 1 1 2 ~~he uni verse and the mortality of man; the othe r I Mt'-~.~"" --- - --"ff Balle the reality of being Black an~ni gger" by two adolescent girls. "To Satch 11 is reminiscent of Tolson's tribute to Louis Armstrong. ~peaking in the ~ne mo I)Ilip ll poem, Satchel Pai g e s a ysjttte is going to grab,: a "handfulla I star)' tilllllll" �throw three strikes 1 urnf.: 1 down the heave s," And look over at God and say How about thatJ win)i._ Holman I s .JJS a••,= is among the few entries for poetry in a One Morning. But he is also t,.=' Soon, found in other anthologies. He has led an active life as a Uivil nights fighter(In ormation Officer of the edi tor~fk bl'fe Atlanta Inquirer United States Uormnission on ivil ±-ght13 ri ter, m d teacher. While I i student at fhic~go University he won several award s f or writing. Holman, .__. whose poet ♦ic subjects range from complex psychic -icriirt ·wrn dMtd:i. tations to racial pride, is QiQ(i cf tb@§@ poets zr►:hw&eca.su1r) is very good indeed but much overlooked. The leisfure class findS clocks "intrude too early" in "Jtntfl on This Shore. 11 'l'he ~ difference · i f " captured •• .. Across the cups we yawn at private murders. with - •Ihi Ch "Picnic: The Liberated" examines the shifting uncertainities -w..t.,,,leisured ensionr of ""1!!!91.ffri everyday soutlhern life lie underne a th the merriment of ,the picnic grounds where men rotate the liquor in "dixie cupst" and "Absently" di s cuss "civil rights,:1 money and goods." Yet as the "country dark" comes in and return to sprinlered yards and "mor-ggaged houses II they ~~iM do not .-aJ~i!1rn they are Privileged prisoners in a haunted land. Yet this same poet can h "Three Brown Girls i::>inging" through the "ribs of an ugl'J school building.•~ lielebrating the Black musical i past, Holman sees bhc t;i11-st Fuse on pure sound in a shaft of April ligj:lt: ••• ~ Wright, now a l,' ederal District Judge in New Yoi!k, Lincoln University poets and with Hughes and Cuney edited Lincoln University Poets (19.54). He served overseas in WW II! ~ •e ceivl::tf 1aw training at Fordl:iam. �20 ( While he was in the army in Wale~, he published a volume of his poetry,JtFrom t h e ~haken Tower(l9!.J1+). "The African Affair 11 finds Jt!IMi McM. Wright f He discov e rs it 1-' "prisons, r whe re "deserts burn" ~ h e Middle Passag e, and on a safari to find out 'What "Black is. the 11 devil ~ areas ~ Africa ce, 11 ~ 1: onscience cannot go. 11 11 ~ : . search carries him deep into where "traders spaped my father 1 s pain. 11 I n "Four Odd Bodkins for My Analyst n one finds that "outra g ed flesh of secret 1 guilt" h a s come from the pressures of ' circums t a nce" and "need." Finally, "When You have gone from Rooms" t he r e are "nev e r blooming petals 11 and 11 never burning suns. 11 Bontemps calls 0 1 Higgins a member of the "tribe of wande ring poets. 11 / After Rl!t studying with Sterling Brown at Howard,.O' Higgins won Lucy Moten and Julius Ro s enwald F ellowships in writing. He ~ served t.co-aut~= + ,,,in WW II, after which h~~puo? , with J1JP 11R:t.H ayden, The Lion and the Archer(l948). 0 1 Higgins 1 s style is less formal° than either Holman's or McM. Wri gh t I s. n e is closer to v esey, especially in poems like "Young in which Poet" and "Two Lean C a t s " ~ the rain JlillK fell like "ragged jets" and made ......"grave along " t h· ~ s _reet. The • terror" into a poolroom v . - - ·iii I ballf'' makes the color scheme f j UQ /xsi' lean c a ts, running in " checkered p Bil 7ff.ra. a 11 purple bill:il.ard explode. The much-anthologized "Yaticide" ( "For Mehandas Gandhi 11 ) ~ n d h i --,,;::m- "murdered upright in the day" and left with his flesh "opened and displayed. 11 BuJ, li k e:piing he narrator sa s ~ Gandlhi, s deattt to Jesus c;hrist I s, sue a person o crea ted the '1act of i•·-i• love" ~ ~ the guilty c a rry his '~death to their rooms. " tFi Gandhi I s "marvelous wounds 11 ~ co~ t .1i n • the sun a nd the seas. Diffe rent yet similar, these poets sough-;r/if:~r in dividual voices to deal with man•s current and p ast hurts. Atk ins, for examp le, saw the "swo l len deep" rise higher as he "went walk ing" in section two of "Fantasie. 11 A " restless experimental i st with a v ery hi gh regard for craftma:e.::hip," Atk ins was (1950) a founder o f 1-t' ree Lance~wh ich Hi vers called the "oldest bl a ck-bossed �21 magazine around. 11 Between r.' 1947 and 1962, Atkins I s poetry appeared in numerous journals and other outle,s. A few are View, Beloit Poetry Journal, Minnesota Quarterly, Naked ~ar, Galley ~ail heview. His volumes of p o e t r y ~ ~ Phenomena(l961), Psychovisual Perspective for Musi cal C0 mposition(l958), Two by AtkinstThe Abortionist and The Corpse: Two 1963), ~ Objects(l 0 63)_ and Heretofore(l9$8). often as complex as the poetry Atkins's itself. •'An early training in music and literature, he r Sixes and Seveb,t, that he was ;,-trying for 11 ·"i'said in egocentrical phenomenalism: an objective construct of pr~perties to substantiate effect as object.· He searches after the ma "designed m imagination '' . In "Night and -.. 11 Di st ant Church II he s.alilFfflr' moves series of intermingling "mmrn", .l:t'orward abrupt II then 11 up" through a and "ells" with words like :W 11 wind 11 and "rain. 11 There is more than the hint of Tols . ,,,.,I s abil i ty to meander .V._.,Al'l'JI.U,n-4 among~ ~raeco-Romans and Afro -American,,. in Atkins's poetry. But he is unique 1 "At War ,.. 11 the reader the 11 ephemera 11 of a 11 11 umiing sea; s far foa.m, 1 moment I s dawn 11 sudden•d its appear •••• allusions Later, in the same poem, after 1;.l;ie poQtt\..atu, a.llUQQ& to Hemmingway, the silence splits: Listen a mo:rrent--lSh! Listen--! that hurry as of a shore of fugi t:ilves. Once • Atkins's technique in understand, however, his poetry can be enij.oyed for its witty, wacky, off-beat, philosophical musings. In ''Irritaole Song" he inverts, reverfses an regular syntax: �22 Or say upon return Coronary farewell Leaves me lie. Ugh! Dare,sir? Be nay 1 d Tomorrow~, tomorrow in today? Atkins writes of the fine arts, John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry, . ~ Black heroes( 11 Christophe 11 ) , the "Trainyard at Night," the Cleveland lakefront, and other subjects which fit his style and interests. At another end of the sty listic and thematic pole is rtandall, a librarian by training and trade_.,. who, as we shall see in our discussion of poets of the late sixties, figures prominently in the "" development of an audience for the New Black Poetry. Handall~ also served in WW II and writes poems about the war, love, violence, art and the Black presence. His well known gr.a:S;ai~ , 11 Booker T. and W.E.B.," ... DIA;~ ia*J P16.ieet1 ouuso 1to21,m1 ~~ s 11iJ ; was seen by Duaois and this pleased Randall. The poem first appeared in Midwest Journal m.1, 1952. Randall has also written about and translated riussian poetry. With Marga r et Vanner he co-authored Poem Counterpoemll966) and his Cities Burning ap p eared in 1968. More to Remem~~~ 7pJ11s together Randall 1 s poems from "four decades!' J:i.$ t1! e I-'• 11been publi sl!-ed in Umbra, Beloit Po et rz Journal, and other places. He initiated the Broadside ~eries( p ost e rs) in 1965 with his own "Ballad of Brimingham.U The series g rew quickly, laying the foundation for his Broadside Press/ e most significant Black press in Americaj. Randall's work of this period has the stamp of formality. rte writes in b a lla ds and free verse forms but h e h as ~v a ti ghtness t hat will~elax ed in the l a te si x ties and s ev enties. chronic~les the hmrt, physical and mental, of a land ~ "Legacy 11 -• 'Lit by a bloody e one who is "moulded from this clay" �23 vows that ◄ My tears ~ ~ redeem my tears. "Perspecti ves II recasts the time-immemorial theme of '~we only pass this way once." Th e re is no need to compla in a.bout +J.e b:ipte discomforstfl the poem 8a'l!ti li1itit' , bec ause even the mountaina--i n their hugeness --are diss oled "away" by the se a s. Randall's Pacific .l:!;pitaphs are recollections of the war. The short pieces are epigrammatic and haiku-like. Here is a po j gnan t one ( "Iwo Jima n ) : Like oil of Texas My blood gushed here. Priminent in a group of Uetront poets( Margaret D a n n e ~ n e , Naomi Long Madgett, James Thompson and others), Randal~~shes himself in ~ a sense of personal injury~ ha loslttl a his people's history. This tendency, and a debt to the Black poetic tradition(espeic11i -=>terling Brown), can be seen in "The :::;otithern Road" wh ere the "bla ck "haughty as a star" river" serves as a "boundary to hell". And I set forth upon the southern road. The variety of styles and themes found in these poets ~pAt is found also in younger poets of their generation: Patterson, Addi on, ~y .1"'q lf,J Browne, Redmona,~Anderson, Hernton,f'~olite come readily to mind. Of these poeta, Patterson is particularly interesting. "Black all Day" yielded -t;h!e title ~ ts ~~mm. His second line~or I Saw How Black I Was. Patte~son, 0ne in e 1 9~0 line at. Lincoln University poet/, ~ won a ward for his poetry while still an unde~graduate. A ttative New Yorker, he studied politic a l scienee and ~nglish, and aas worked as a counselor for delinquent boys and an ...:..Uglish intructor. Patteison said in ~ixes and :::;ev.ens th a t his first poem was written during WW II as the "out-growth of a Cafln-and-Abel conflict without the dire consequences.'' "Three Views of Dawn" includes the "silken shawl of night," the disap p earance of "corner specters" and the "sp~ting" of "stillDess. 11 The musical "Tla Tla" presents free verse spiced ~alliterative language �24 of landscape, season and nature. ;:;i tting "Alone," the protagonist of the poem "keeps poems warm" as he watches over the sleeping lovers as we:}. l as the "numb" who wake and weep. and ~ title, §6 WayJ Patterson did not publish a book until 19J69•• the A Blackllilla Man, shows k:il!_ a •exK!llbca influ ence of 0 I 1/ Vi!:l=::t:izn=b::i:m~".._iiiiilii&J.~ 13 Ways of Looking at A Black L ~ .-1:'Ji. . much 11@ also if;fl':e Black poet I s academic training i11!t1m with ability to fb rge his own indigenisms. •r he sp ea k er in "Black all Day" is "looked' 1 into ~ragt::f- and s~ame II by a white "tomorrow" I 1 11 do as much for him. construct ~~ Patterson solid poetic foundation, "stone on stone," as he pre~ cise portraits of "the brave who do not break n t "You Are the Br ave"), ~ the "lost, the ("Envoi") • ••lililii'l:gR of the p eriod, one 11 r, n the work of Patterson ~ fin -.c: i....,.t. and the younger group eral 'liiiiallij;l~~As toward ex- perimental verse which pinpoints the surest and richesr-human feelin :u7f•,.act~r&t~lack p.o:~tuhtelhr • ~ ~ ~~ 1 11 tireless a nd ragi~g soul, $ 1'ie:'mor~t variety is c e rtainly not shunned by Neither is variety avoided by their sisters of the pen and image~ an ident i fiable a spect of the JU female poet h· , tilt banner of femaJe ~oek was evidenced ~ l i n a Urimke, Georgia Douglass JohnS) n( the most famous poet after li'ranrfees Harper), Gwendolyn Bennett, Ann Spe~c er, Alice Nelson Dunbar, Helen;-Johnson(aittJrk in the Henaissance), Margaret Walker, and Gwendolyn Br ooks. Between the forties and sixties, �2.5 • Poetry in America has ~ since women in general~ ~ 1,() , certainly the Black woman went the worse way of t hat fleshJ ....,,...,._ others in @e~Weo&llt the list of Black women poets of impressive: Gloria c. Oden(Yonkers, New York), Nanina Alba(Mont- gomery), Margaret Danner( Pryorsburg, Kentucki) , 0 Max;_:t .l;!;va._ns (Toledo), \/4 A Julia Pields (Uniontown, Alabama r::Audre C.1 4-< ~ , Lord♦ (New "") York), Naomi Long ~ Madgett(Norfolk), Pauli Murray(Baltimore), Sarafb- Wright and (Wetipquin, Maryland), May MillerlWashington, D.C.),F[vonne uregory ( ~~ )piong the~!ll1!~r'occasional and regional names. In 19.52--two years after Gwendolyn Brooks won the Pulitzer Prize-G. c. Oden, who uses her initials "as a way of being anonymous," recei '\6 d a John Hay ~ney Opportunity .ti'ellowship for · The Naked F~ame: A Love Poem and Sonnets. She has worked as a senior editor o f ~ i s h i n g house¥ and currently teaches English in Baltimore. In the fifties, she joined the Village poets in New York where she reaa..., her poerty in coffee shops, reviewed books and worked on a novel. tier poetry h a s also apeared in The Saturday Heview and The Poetry Digest. Noting that the intellect, 11 Hayden( Kaleidoscope )( compared her to Cullen, adding that she "is concerned with poetry as an art expressing what is meaningful to everyone, not just a vehicle for protest and special pleading." Although G.c. Uden uses a variety of forms, h er poems are usually crisp and intellectually tart. "The Carousel" in an empty park rides me round and round, and the dark drops for her as she gleans her ~ surroundings with explicit worli-choices: "sight focusses shadow." In "Review from Staten Island" an item in the view is "spewed up from water. Later we are told that "One gets ufied to ~ing living" and "e "-=-ven th e rose disposes of summer. 11 �26 . , We hear the dislocated woman in " ••• As when emotion too far exceeds its cause.f'(phrase from Elizebeth Bishop). netreating from heartbreak, /4. ...e.e"" tppah:P!-r admits that she too knew "love I s celestial venturingZ: I, too, once trusted air that plunged me down. Yes, IJ jj Hanina A1ba is similarly terse and poixgnant. ~ ·117 1 1 'le-The Parchments(l9 63) a nd The Parchments II jQ._e ore her death in 19 68. ia' She taught bnglish, Music and French in public sch ools and was for a long time a member o f Tuskege e Institute. "Be Daedalus"make u draw a subtle analogy between actions. ~ the B_nglish uepartment at of Greek Mythology to Blac~ pilxb~1t and I carus I s "unwise 11 J De a th comes as a "tax" for "parching" the sun: Suns can be brutal things. "For Malcolm X" rec a lls "History's stoning". ~garet Danner is similarly sensitive. Bor~ in Detroit, she has s p ent the gr~r pa r t of h e r life in Ch icago where she was one time assistant editor of Poetry. Her poems i n that publication in 1952 prompted the John Hay Whitney .t< 'ellowsh ips Co mrni ttee to offe r he r a • trip to Africa. ~din 1962 the literary group with which she identi~ied in Uetroit !#-subject of was/\.._~ a sp e cial issue of the Bulletin of Negro ttistory. She has published four volumes: I mpressions of .tt.frican Art Art Forms in Poetry(l962), ~o F1owe r(l962), Poem Counterpoem(with Dudley Randall, 1966) and Iron Lane(l968). A former poet-in-re&idence at Wayne St~te University, she a'ounded Boone House, a lively centElt' for the arts in Detroit, and a s imi la r cultural pro gram in Ch i ca go : No lo gonya I s. She a2"J w can terminology a nd themef i . ~• but she can also delightful ~r:rt n o t her veins as in 11 .1."he .l;!;levator Map- Adheres to Form." �27 Struck by ele~ a n ~ his~gssmn §.il --and 11 __Lt <iodspeedings "--the e1.J.rrs.eor ps.ssoogvilr "ta 11 wonde~s why so intelligent and artful ~ h a s run elevators. It is a meticulous poem, ~ ~--------...... man's services could be employed toward lifting them above thetr crippling sborm. Far From Africa: Four Poems is a sheet of sights, sounds and su ggestions O,,Q 4 ~ -;.'.:(~1."!',,...the reade r across "moulting d ays" in "their t wilightf2, t "Garnishing the Aviary"), .&bakweta"), "eyes of Aesthetics 11 )1 "lines" of "classic tutu, lowered" from 11 11 ( ".Uance of the despair,"("The Visit of the Professor and I . •abed of g reen oss, sparkling as a beetle•••• Mari Evans is.JIIIII••~ f\ High ts ~iaiiil~IWiiiliiil..._o:t o bvi us 11 · na~ist*-- Civil from fi fi tee a d o!!;'.:;y: to, Black II stance of the lO ha s w:::>rk ed as a civi l service emp loye, tv s h ow hostess and produceer, and instructor of writing. Sometimes referred to as ~ a spiritual, if not technical, to Gwendo 1 b rooks, l'1ari .t!.vans oms in employs irony, tree verse stwle. "The Hebel, 11 p ondering his death and funeral, wond ers if 6uriosi ty seekers really just wants to c a use "Trouble •••• " ~fl or There is humor and sati r e in " V'l hen in Rome " as t h e poet interlaces(in the manner of Vesey 1 s "A M~m nt, Please 11 ) two different conversations, · 1 The ,_maid · , "Marrie deai¼,, is , . ~~.,•-•ll!e ►of the mi4dle class environment\ 11 Rome"), "whatever" she likes, ~iW• • • with the recit a tion the p oem incidentally records rf/o..... �2o the traditional a ~..() I soul food items ~ which the maidl\.'18-•s. Emancipation of G-eorge-Hector" ( "the C') lored turtle II .l' he 11 ) • impatience it with~tep-at-a-time social~;iiiil!l!Ml!l~. ~The turtle used to stay in his 11 shell 11 but now he peeks out, extends his arms and legs, and ~ talks. But this same poet can wax philosophical and sentimental. "If there be Sorrow" it should be for the things not yet dreamed, reaalized or done. Add to these the withholding of love, love "restrained." In ".:>hrine to what should Be" an audience is asked to 11 sing ·1 songs to "nobility, ''~gh.tousness. 11 The children should bring 11 ~rust, 'P the the audience is told 11 women "Dreams, 11 the old men "constancy. Ironically "fiiiiiiirtt:Co~iLJg~nnoo;r~e;--tears that fall like a "crescendo, black rain•" 11 andf r.a.,.m..1:;wi,;s-9i!lir11J as "a so ft Her tribute to Gospel singers is telling in " ••• And the Old 1tb men Ga the red." One cannot ( q.,espi te~me 11 ) escape one's self, ~ the poet says, as she notices th'if lingered on even "we ran. not melodic" music 11eaHf::LG£df« 11 Julia Fields,...,ijiii;..illll•~ trul:'f=-••• sentive spirits, studied has taught at Knox College in Tennessee, in England and Scotland, and r in in Umbra, Massachusetts school and college. Her work Tom Dent, with Margaret Walker.Jf'tA-lice Walker, ~ r.1 few~'"]jiack poets who now voluntarily live in the uouth. Her first book,Poems, was brought out by Poets Press in 1968, th~sae~year she received a National Council on the Arts is grant. She substantially represented in R~ Baird Shuman's Nine Black Poets(l968) and her East of Moonlight was publis~ed in 19 J. She also writes short stories and plays. fil!m!!!!!lll!ll!ll!l!"tier,iGimic::::i::b!~~• ubjects are racism, death, love, violence and history. "The Generations" come and go and in between there are "The wars." And in between them are the seasons, flowers, "lavender skies," dawns, 11 Sombre seas,,; and the �29 11 embryonic calm. 11 ''Arrdvark" has achieved "fame" since "Malcolm and die ~ " 2'.'he poet muses : Looks like Malcolm helped Bring attention to a lot of things We never thought about before . She again salutes this martyr in "For Malcolm X" who,se "eyes were 11 mirrors of our agony . tn "No Time for Poetry" the reader is advised the "spirit" is "too lagging" and there is too much "calm. 11 But the morning is ideal since it carries "virbations of laughter" and has no "orange - white mists." As a "woman 11 , ~ listening :ii.ear the 11 broken-hinged door' 1 at a man talk of war( 11 I Heard A Young Man Saying") , the narrator "somehow And the "bright glare of the neon world II sends planned on living. " "gas - words bursting free" in "Madness One Monday gvening." k_au,li Murray and Sarah Wright are sometimes poets who also write other things . Pauli Murray pursued a¥;:::wl~d.!l~M'P'""ft- lay;//Jt,M while she won academic awards and fellowships for her writing . A bivil {4_ghts pioneer , she published Dark Testiment , 1963,, one volume of verse(~vlZs\ §l iliiit:i(;f and a family hisbory(Proud ;:$hoes, 1956) . In"Without Name," she is revealed as a formal but excellent craftsman . There tr are no names for111.ill!- m. feeling~; e~~iliii8'ifl. but let the "flesh sing anthems to its arrival. 11 Sarah Wright, known as a noveli~(This Child s Gonna Live), co-authored Give Me A Child in 1955 with Lucy Smith. About Black writers she said, in 1961, "My motto is tell it like it damn su:ire r is. it In "Window Pictures II she sees G;' "black outlines in living flesh. "Urgency" l )r 11 ( relationship between drivers and traffic lights . "God" is "thanked"~ e the car s-cops so i5IT I; the passenger can "glory" a while in the "time-bitten punctuation. " of the'li' "pause . 11 Vivian Ayers, the daughter of a blacksmith , attended Barber-Scotia College(Concord) and Bennett College{Greensboro) where her major interests were drama, music and dance. uhe published a volume of poemstSpice of Dawns) �30 and an alle gorical drama of freedom and the s paae a ge(Hawk), performed at the University of Ho uston's ~ducational Televiaion btation. Currently, she lives in Houston where she edits a quarterly Journal, Adept. "Instantaneous" features a man being "stunned 11 by ahe bolt of "cross-firing energies" and grabbed up in a blaze ..A-~ resonant as ;}, million hallelujas--l••• ~~an inhabi~an who, dying, gasps faintly: "My god--this is God ••• 11 Similar and different is Nammi Long Madgett, who moved to LJetroit from Virginia all in 1946 rf )1!!!T..._to teach at a high school.u~.uhe a Master's degree from Wayne ~tate University. the Detroit group of poets, she has publishe~olumes: Songs to a <2hantom Nightingale(l941), One in the 1"1any(l9.56), ~tar by Startl96.5, 1970), '7"\ and Pink Ladies in the .tt.fternoon fl972). liurrently she t/eaches <ii" English ' ....;/ at .l:!.asiem Michigan University and runs the newly established Lotus Press. One o-f'its first projects was Deep Rivers: A Portfol@y: 20 Contemporary Black American Poets(l974 J, ID.ich includes a teachers' guide prepared by the po et. E di tors fo r-a- Deep Rive rs c;;,. ~ ona rd P. Andrews, £unice L. Howard, and Gladys M. Rogers. The 20 poster poets are Paulette Childress wiiite, Jnll Witherspoon, William Shelley, G.C. Oden, Naomi Madgett, Patterson, LaGrone, Pamela Cobb, Pinkie Uordon Lane, .l:!.theridge Knight, Randall, Hayden, Thompson, Margaret w. Barrax, Audre Larde, Redmond, Michael Madgett Is 110 imple 11 ( ".!?or Langston Hughes) a bar I clothes "but my lan I lady I bolted t h e d~or. ",.111. Joyce wi 11 tap "impatiently" ~ .~~_DtL and leave the bar ana.,.._~ondering what "he wanted to say." In "Mo r tality" we leam I -->< t h at o f ~ "all the de a ths " this one is the "surest." Some �31 deaths are merely "peace" yut vultures "recognize" the "single mortal thing" that holds on to life and they wait hungrily for the time'"id•zt" When hppe starts staggering. Man must come to grips with the things of this world, we are told in "The Reckoning": And why and how and what, and sometimes even if. ~oems from TrinityfA Dream ~equence convey uncertainties and fears ~ , of wmen and humans. :811111 l!!t:e" 11.;;0JH2tlll. One person .._ has been ' "dream and dream again" ( "4") and a naked day "corrodes the silver dream" but the music will not "cease to shiver~'\ 11 1 8¼11 ) . "After 11 is a lamentation for "mortals II without "wings II to fly away from the "purple sadness 11 ~ of night. And "Poor Henaldo 11 is "dead and gone wn.ere/1-ver people go" ~ 1 when they "never loved a song. ' But even "hell II must have "music of a sort. 11 Finally sculpted, like the others, the end«• Renaldo~, though dead, is "still unresting." . . . Audre Lorde 1 ~e w~&~ iffti~tis~4J-i-tl!:i:~@d:H8~t~~Mt pcv'ia: In the early sixties she wrote: I am a Negro woman and a poe~--all three things stand outside my realm of choice. My eyes have a part in my seeing, my breath in my breathing, all that I am in who I a:n • All who love are of my people. I was not born on a farm or in a forest, but in the centre of the largest city in the world--a member of the human race hemmed in by stone, away from earth and sunlight. in..--i But what i¥,_my blood and skin of richness, comes the roundamout journey from Africa through sun islands to a stony coast, and these are the the gifts through which I sing,th~ough which I see. This is the knowledge oft he sun, and of how to love e11en where1ft'; no sunlight. This is the knowlegge a nd the richness I shall give my children proudly, as a strength against the less obvious forms of narrowness and night. �32 Black and poet. And all these things she seems ta lal!I!, e handle~ quite well in her poetry--on page and in the air. ~he has published three .._From~ volumes: The 1''irst Cities(l968), Cables to Rage(l970) a n ~ Land where other P,eop] e Li veI1973), which was nominated for a ifational Book Award. on "Oaxaca 11 (in Mexico~ where the The ft~"· yMlfl1i ~-••ii 11 land moves slowly" under the "carving drag of wood. ·' p : ,11nm work goes an while the hills are "brewing thunder" and one can observe All a man 1 s strength in his sons• young arms •••• ~ krdew "To a Girl who the girl as a 11 what side her Bread was Buttered on" describes catch of bright thunder".,._.. apparently guarde~ by(and guardian of) bones_.Jfil~~g leave the bones, she watches as they rise like "an ocean of straw" and trample the one who orders her "into the earth. 11 1he "Nymph" is in the moonpit of a virgin." In "now can I Love ~ou 11 "comes like a thin birdll--unlike the magnificent Phoenix bird of mythology-- a t. · •~•later to become "great ash. 11 No wonder, the speaker confirms, that your sun went down. - The " Moon-minded the Sun ••• " decrees that The light that makes us fertile shall make us sane. J ....1 And we hea1>;fhe ,,-:--... "year has fallen" in ;!at4er , the Year ••• 11 :iarilr.R Audre Lorde I s work cuts a sharp path$ of insight~ac~ss the steal thing ignorance and ~ ~ s e a around her. "And Fall shall sit in Judgment" examines love, concluding that "in all seasons 11 it is is fal•e, but the same. �33 A much-negledted poet iB May M1ller, of Washington, D.c., and whom can be found in three volumes: Into the C1earingt1959), Poems1962), and she is one of three poets representedtlf in Lyrics of Three Women(1964) . Cureently a member of the Commission on the Arts of the Vistrict of Columbia, she has been a teacher, lectuer, dramatistf and ~as published her poetry in a number of ma.gaiines: Common Grofind , The Antioch Review , Phylon ~ ~ The Uriis ,"-.:;_The :&ation• ~ "Cal vary Way" JJll~!l!8~~ a Christian influence with a twist of irony and gore. Mary is asked how she felt, "womb-heavy with Christ Child," as she tasted the "dust 11 of an 11 uncertain journey." ·nall as Q Ii:M Recalling the cricu fixion, the poem asked arry: 11 t{ere 'JOU afklaid? 11 The "roaches are winning" in where humans seek to 11 ,,---.. 11111{ "TlUi last Warehouse 11 abnegate survival laws II and kill ~ ~ roache~ Wib1.l they are "saturated with their decrease. 11 The characters in "The wrong from a "nightmare of wings II and "mushrooms side of Morning" were ~ of hud±,. death"as M meanings.,_hlotuoui2 :/ihe Jcnmw w1a b~mnm01:... "Procession" employs the dramatic te chnique~•-6made famous by BrownaI:td others) of interlacing the formal English of the poem with italicized ~eiterative expletives and ~ refrains; such as "Ring, of Christ but the reader easily~ ring~J 11 ~ , e Black idioms, that of slavery and racism. it is a Black pro~essio ~ h e . a serie . Th ere is ••& ru1.-:,s w-¥'£ li 0 11 ~ime is today, yesterday, and time to '". o...A,; moving and motionless, 11 ~infinite takes familiar form,"ttall while mythology ·, "we seek conviction." Christiant"tiliii-lllg pervades May Miller's come, 11 f It is the procession 11 work(though she Bl a ck-bases it). In "Tally 11 the subjedts "lay there dr~ined of time" and empty like the "bulge of hour glass" while to reality." 11 :JLucifer streaked �34 &fix "'_ ..• .'~~deaths of Dumas and Ri versf left voids ~ · t a , coming as they diJ1"¥R 8 the midst of by the :rrfi.'d six· had written a great deal of poetry and a great deal about themselves. Ciiiiik--Rivers .at died has been lD[ ~ an unnecessar death• in wha~••lillll•d- calle~impulsive" act. Dumas was shot to death : : ! i t e policeman in a New York subway. Both deaths occured 11i.:fd~tlis of each other. Rivers was born in Atlantic City, New ~ersey, and attended public schools in Pennsylvania, Georgia ankio. ~ i s college days were spent at Wilberforce University , Chicago State Teachers College and Indiana University . ~4n high s c h o ~ o n the Savannah State poetry prize. hi vers was greatly influenced by Wright and his uncle Ray Mciver . His five books, two of the~ osthumou~ are : Perchance to Dream, Othello(1959), Tre se Black Bodies and ~.:>unburnt Face(l962), Dusk at Selma(l965), The Still Voice of Harlem(1968), and The Wright Poems(1972, with an Introduction ~ byr-,a noveli st Ronald Fair). Ohio Poetry Review, Kenyon Review, and Antiocij Review were only a few• magazines in which his work appeared. Hesponding to a reque~~~.'~ommentt on himself as - Black man and,poet, Hivers salhd~B ) 1 l a #EJljWt among other things: I write about the Negro because I am a ~egro , and I am not at pe.a ce with myself or the worldt. I cannot divorce my thoughts from the absolute injustice of hate. I cannot reckon with my color. I am obsessed by the ludicrous and psychological behavior of hated men. And I shall continue to write about race--in spite of many warnings-until I discover myself, my future, my real race. I do not wish to capitalize on race, nor do I wish to begin a Crimean War: I am only interested in recording the truth squeezed from my observations and experiences. I am tired of being misrepresented. �35 Rivers said 11 bea1,1ty and joy, which wa s in the world before and h a s been burred so long, has got to come back. little "beauty and joy" But Rivers ~ often bleak and eye. His poetic ~ derings t h rough t~e,.. ~ ni' mind s with deep psychic ® ..... alJl!m( 't}~ ~ ~ Afre6 1~,w~ieat\ 1..fj,,. ambivalences ~~.it4i1oooi111MM~i::t1:rc••;,e,rt1B . In this Dumas. For both is own -I 11 , ay a1111,he bears some kinship delve deeply into psychology, but are at the same time accessible . Rivers spent much time researching his past ~ .,!?uring the in Chicago and re a ding from th'et~olumes of world li teratUII'e-Kin the midci:-six 1es,i he participated in discussi~ and Gerald McWorter--out of Black Americ a n -- g roups ~ involving Fair, David Llorens this grew the Jnow'::...well-known Organizatiom liu re · h fi gu r e& prominen tly imp ortantly k ~ s about his own death in several poems . " Postscript II i •s a poem which "should not have be en published." The narrator says he was " living and dying and dre aming" ~ all at the same time in Harlem. And, toying with his own._ fate in ~ wake of il:ltall!I .!IP Wright I s "sudden death, 11 he recalls the "prophecy" wa s that he too nsoon would be dead . " The theme of death-often moral, spiritual or physical as in Hayden--can be found in pieces like "The Death of a Negro Poet , " ,r 11 to the Wind, " "Three Sons," "Asylum, In "Watt 11 Prelude for Dixie," "Four Sheets 11 and all( the Wright Poems • . lb ~~!'@'!1!'8- • story and an guish into epi g rammatic Must I shoot the wh ite man dead to free t h e ni gger in his head? In an incredibly weak assessment of Rivers•s poetry, Hak i Madhubuti(L e e) �36 this poem "a~s a revolutionary question. said continually turns or revolves. a question1 I o~i.::,:e, But, semantics aside,J\Rivers~was ( \ • "~-~ Such 11 ,..s Ameri a 1 s nightmarej, fears and hurts disappear.~•-~ ) .\ < -· or such a criticism not all a~j-llllltt th~ poet of • somber and bleak, in "The Still Voice of Harlem" he announces: I am the hope and tomorrow of your unborn. ~ ~en ad.mist the ----- racial; political ping-pong ("In Defense of Black Poets" contradictions ana uncertainties of > A Black poet must remember the horrrs • .!!;specially since Some black kid is bound to read you. The "Note dJn Black" Women" asks they they teach the poet "honor, and "how to die., 11 11 "humor," presumably the reborning death. The Wright Poems is an elegaic sheet. "To Richard Wright" e x c ~ ~ 11{, t To be born unnotic·ed is to be born black, and left out of the grand adventure. Another "To Richard Wright 11 piece r e fers to the novelist as ~k~ young Jesus of the black noun an~.:~,~ irt 1 poems find the poeievA8eaqc'ih.ng ~ispiri ts II 41i1111R- 11 bones II ~;.Jlwiili::::t=~Wiliiilal!lli8!lW.-r>. In "A Mourning Letter fa,om Paris 11 Rivers recalls knowing and feeling 11 Harlem 1 s honeyed voice." Some times similar in feeling and theme, but almost never in voice and form., is the work of Dumas who "Negritude range..l. across time and space. 11 �3( Dumas was born in ~weet Home , Arkansas, moved to 10 years old and complet~d public schools in that city. rle attended City College of New York and Rutgers between stints in the Air Force ~jrlittle magazine and other activities. Active on the circuit, he won a number of awards and helped establish several publications . At the time of his death, he was . - teaching at Southern Illinois University•s .c..xperiment in Higher Bducat ion in ~ast ~t. Louis . In 1970, SIU Press publised two posthumously collected volumes: Poetry for My ~eople and *r:-'_ Ark 1 of Bone 1 and Other Stories, edited r:-, - by Hale Chatfield and Redmond . Random House rei-issued,«M the poetry a J ·(Play Ebony Play Ivory) and V stories(same title) in 1974 with hedmond as editor. Though there have been no nril t 3 wtnw: full-length critical studies of Duma.sis poetry, Jay Wright and Baraka asseseed him in the SIU editions and Wright's Introdu~ion is retained in the new releases a major poet of the era, Wri t gle~~.........,...-~{i:ct~r-i~.;;~lliii;: hmnself s~ None of this is perverse, intellectual play. It is indicative of Dumas' sense of history. In "Emoyeni, Place oi the Winds, he writes "I see witlj. my skin and hear with my tongue.II,•••• The line, .~sugg e t, asserts some elementary truthx about alon Dumas', and no Dumas', poetic techniques. This book ••• is grounded in that line. \vhat Dumas means in that there are racial and social det e rminants of perception, ideas that he was just beginning to develop. The mind articulates what the senses hav~ selected from the field, and this articulation is, in part, determined by what the perceiver has learned to select and arti culate. There is certainly no consensus among thinkers that this is what happens, but there is some evidence for believing, as Dumas did, that it does happen . In II I ] hear with my tongue,' 11 �Dumas asse r ts that the language you speak is a way of definin g your self w.i.thin a group . The language o f the Bla c k c ommunity, , . as with that of any group , takes its form , its imagery , its vocabulary , because Black people want them that way . Langua g e can protect , exclude , express v alue, a s wel l a s a ssert identi t y . That is wh¥ Dumas • language is the way it is . In the rhythm of it , is the a c t , the unique manner of perception of a Black man . Writin~r tlie remo v ed passion of the .<:">friend that he was , Wright makes ~ ~ tatements not only about Dumas but about the whole perception and stance in the world . of Blac k c reativity , these antennae · AiMt fndeed Dumas - Dumas • s bas e is formal ~nglish , .. . . . .. poetry which he - ~, . , . .. • - ••• A African languages , Arabi e, and Gullah from the islands' Jb .!.Iii!,.;: a bl end aj' f I tn, he Carolinas and Georgia . His cosmos i s shaped b y the r., and spiritual life , espef cially 6'.fi;'e , z phurch services and Voodoo . vJrigh t notesf: nThe blues and gospel musi c, partlhcularly , were his life breath . ~ Only Langston Hughes kn~ more , or at least as much , about go s pel and gospel singers •••• Music seemed to Dumas to be a ble to carry the burden of direct participation in -hie act of living , as no poem, that was not musically structa red , could •••• / 0umas was searching for analagous structure for poetry . anl/ 11 As a poet , l>umas combines the p ~st, present and future/ often insep a rably/ as in " Play , bony Play Ivory": for the songless , the dead who rot the earth all these dead whose sour muted tongues speak broken chords , all these aging people �poison the he a rt of earth . Curs e s and curdles ;~ d warnings abound : iHP~J? • -. .,... Vodu g reen clinching his waist , obi purple ringing his neck , Shango , God of the spirits , whis p ering i n his ear, thunde rlight s t abbing the island of blood rising from his s kull . m Later, in thi s same poem( "Rite 11 ) , r itllk> ver a11j ~~ th e word takes p rec e dent L . ~ .~ No power can stay the mo io when the obi is p urple and the vodu is g reen and Shango is whis p ering, Bathe me in blood . ~I lW. 5 am not clean . ? at his command• Dumas e x plores -~~~~~,~'-'~ 7 the dense &n intercontinen ta :i.~•R11=-•~employ- ~d~ an~ e vi ces rhythms ~ 'f perception~ a s in "Ngoma" wher e he comp a res the belly of a pregnant woman to the ~ The doctor listens the baby~ the drummer listens the ancestors : aiwa aiwa: it is the chest - s ound same tha t booms my ch e st aiwa aiwa a st ~ong sound running like fe e t of g azelle aiwa aiwa of �40 A:11!1I tnflp.e ~ crescnndo, with its built-in call-and-response pattern, ~ i n and woman 1 s belly ape lil]iiin;itu"JJY: end pll:yai:oally 111eigcd"' in the deathening raar: the goat-skin sings the boom-sound louder louder sings the goat-skin louder the goat-skin sings the boom-sound louder sings the goat-skin louder louder louder booms the goat-skin boom-sound loude~ ~ louder louder The~· ch, experimenta} language, counhed in~radi tio~/is seen everwwh.ere .D.'3:1~ in s811:li i }i® ► {"from Jackhammer"): The jackjack backing back and stacking stone city-stone into cracked h¥draulic echoes o~ dust Or("Root Song")lt: Once when I was tree flesh came and worshipped at my roots~•A,A.,,,AA orr"A !::iong of .t''lesh")tM When I awoke ~ , ,Yj"'1,.."I~~ .~ "" n. ---V(>'La-J(J..~. ...... - I took the sleeping mou~tains of your brealts tenderly tenderly ~ ~ between my quiv ering lips and I guillotined the stallions, drowned the ea g les, and 4rov~ the tiger fish back into the sea of your heart. ~ ( .)-~ There ~~y1 poets in Dumas. Here is a combination of Dunbar, Hughes, ~°A.flliiJ Wal~-~1)~ i -~wJ,.. , best of thjii 1\iming poets of _!b._~ six~ic1!;''I I ,eu. «- 'd ~ ~ _ a , ~ ~~ laugh talk joke p; ,~~~ p .I ' r1, smoke dope s k ip rope, may take • jump up and dmm, walk arourd ~6x a coke 1 J!!. •'); fl\al1t tfi/h§ rq f/4 �41 drink mash and talk trash beat a blind boy over the head with a brick knock a ho-legged man to his bended knees cause I'm a moving fool never been to school god raised me and the devil praised me catch a preacher in a boat and slit his throat pass a church, I might pray but don it fuck with me cause I don 1 t play There are epic poems like 11 Mosaic Harlem" and "U-enesis on an .c,;ndless ~-.-&i ~ .A Mosaic"~lues seriles:·~frican1e~,0Mlrocrtel ,sems(using spontaneity and ritual), and mysticalJexploratory poems like the ~ !R' '18Fiol! de&lil'i~ 11 Thoughts/Images, Kef, ~~i?an')i ~aba. In ,one "i::iaba Dumas uses bizarre imagery t o ~ , 1 e~~ sx waterings streams striking aorta vibraphones sx veinings myriads t of ~~~ella flucksing rite ~ 11 ~ 11 Dumas~""'~~~v,e )'or the ,.,acoupti.cal lejp and~thQ'implosion (as he ,. - - - ~~ .·~ 1 ~ ,lJJb.,.;. (A ,,J},,#,+v ("rt /JI)±,.,,. A {J,. ,.........,.• ....., it) of ideas in poi-try.~t Pemeius ta be ~oo;} • It woul& have been @IIIISl~ ~nee 9P interesting if his work, r �42 q idi,srllii much of it written in the early and mid si xties , had been ..- ~ available in collected form when the . C\-< ,.J attle of the New Bla c k Poetry was being fought . The American temperament (utJ~ disfavor~Black ~ r'""\ l'(j writers telling the trufuS) kept Dumas and Ri v ers r~~ ing . Dumas ._..,, sought his peace in the deep well a f his own folk cul t ure and in occasional excursions b jp · gs #nto mysticism, Africa , and Voodoo . Rivers buried in the "identity" issu~c nd �. I and the innovative typography~ of the poem. Also experiemtal and original . , is Stone. His study of Miles Davisf1' "Flamenco Sketches.," is separated~ f" into,f~ parts: ouvert, selim, cannons, enart and bill. New York is "red in weeping" and Chicago is "Black-draped" as Miles utt e rs in "mutes." The music c aptures the Disaonant nostalgia of one kiss of a Span~sh .1tady as .. i,:y we aves i_1h and ou~ of transcontinental 'f ~ ~/~(f)~--t,<,~. experinces ruid 1locations.t\.1'1.naily, the music is asked to Comment Ill on a cloud of oriental ninths comment J In "Notes from the Cubicle of A becomes Disgrunt11.led Jazzman II Stone ,~•tr: ~ verbal maestro ripp ing in "changes", rattling up "thinteenths," ~ storming the "minor mode," and whipping up "passing tones"--all 11 wi th impunity. 11 White's "Black is A Soul" repeats "down" as the p ersona dro into "depths, 11 "the abyss, 11 and t~ 11 infini te 11 a l ~ Where black-eyed peas & greens are stored •••• 1°his poif;anb revelation is made in the end: I raisf',/dowr.¼,~ kinky head to cha rl:he & shout I 1 m black• I 1 m black & I~•m from Look Back. We think immediately of titles like rThink Black(Lee) and n.:>ay It Loud-r im Black and I'm Proudt"(James Browm) even though this poem preceded them by sev e ral years--to say nothing of Joseph ....,. Cotter, Jr 1 s I 1 m Black. 11 ~ . "Is But White canA._do light and touching thing♦s as in it ~ecause 11 - Pi~ic 11 and 'Day is D0 ne 11 11h ich places "music in the air" as he prepares for bed and his "woman II sets her hair. His ironic, satirical "Inquisitive" displays the range of these poets. The na rator wande rs where "Gods" "buddhas II hide if hhe earth and sk y are,.,_ visible to man. ~ � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context EBRWritings_07_29 Title A name given to the resource Draft of partial manuscript of Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, p. 11-43 Relation A related resource Eugene B. Redmond Digital Collection Language A language of the resource English Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource For digital rights and permissions, see <a href="https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml">https://www.siue.edu/lovejoy-library/about/policies.shtml</a> or contact <a href="mailto:library@siue.edu">library@siue.edu</a> for direct inquiries. In copyright. <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Redmond, Eugene B. Description An account of the resource Draft of partial manuscript of Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, p. 11-43 with two additions to page 17 and one unnumbered page