https://digitallis.isg.siue.edu/files/original/bda4b937b4255dd6e3ced4e9979ac5aa.pdf fdbdbbce3c1db47d2c196b8abdc529f2 PDF Text Text INTRODUCTION: CHAPTER I-- G BLACK POETRY: ..,VIEWS, VISIONS, CONFLICTS It ••• the double obligation of being both Negro ~d American is not so unified as we are often led to believe. n 'l,,,,. 1,_ '2"' J I -Countee Cullen i\i"\ C- In recent years,j ~l lack American po try has emerged from what appears to have been its assigned position as an illegii timate-Csometimes embarrassing-Lchild of American literature M M into an official flower in the garden of world writinfs@ Everyi where~ Afro-American poetry is being vigorously read, listened to and imitate. Disc jockeys on Black-oriented radio stations quip: "often imitated but never duplicated" ~ assuring their - listeners p~1 . 1· ve, ~ ,. ,/II 1.s a 1. that the 11 soul 11 or ~~~eJ 11 heirloomu of their tradition v~vltrs well, andlt'28 elcca in ancestrall\.11afe ,bps 1 i 111111 a , ' Howeve~ a silent reading of the DJ's casually delivered quip belies the charismatic power and verbal dexterousness in 'iiow• it is said But, inJ lack poetry, the "how" is always important and will be one of the cornerstones of the discussions in this book. To say that.Jilack poetry is read or heard all over the world is not to say that it is studied in equitable proportion to other poetry Indeed the recent rash of anthologies and individual cal lections, and the re issuing of previously published volumes, suggest that a vast literary vacuum has existed The flood of publications, coupled with the appearance of new j :i.a:ck~_ and other=ethnic publishing houses, makes this vacuum glaringly, paradoxt 1 �ically obvious The absence of/ lack poetry (orJ ~1ack literature) courses from English departments and at predominantly white colleges and public schools is ignominiously aided and abetted by the culp~ able negligence at many predominantly/5-ack learning centers ~ where for example ;istudents are exposedj to Walt Whitman, W •r • Yeats, T•f • Eliot, Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, Marianne Moore t and Edith Sitwell but t,a.ey- receive no instructi-on!, in the works ~ of Paul Laurence Dunbar, Jean Toomer , Melvin B. Tolson, Owen Dod son, Robert Hayden, Gwendolyn Brooks and Margaret Walkers One could go on, of course, reciting the cultural and literary negligence so officially a part of the academic and grants-in-aid patterns. However, the purpose here is to explore the vast richness of)Slack poetical and mythical life. I II Black poetry presents many frustrations, challenges and problems. Instructors preparing to teach the subject must be aware of the many pitfalls, not the least among them the tendency of teacher and student alike to stray from the "study 11 of the poetry into poli tical and rhetorical catharses® "Black" is a political worcy and to study or teach any aspect of the /5-ack come embroiled in ----·-~ - 2 j xperience is to be �cs controversy and burdened with sociopolitical stress~ That thin line between the ideological implications of a poem and those ntrial ""scenes" :tn which individuals~particularly in classrooms) find -----. t Athemselves victim is a line walked by all teachers and students of the_/lack..J'xperience. In approaching_,Jlack poetry, then, one must "set" the atmosphere by dealing, from the -- outset, with substantive background materials~ the deepest philosophical, religious, ethical, artistic and aesthetic tenets o~lack lif'e and expression. a,, -e ~ purposeAintent of' this Thus!1'he t&"1' . . ._____,, is to examine the scope and range of_A'!lack poetry via folk origins, methods of delivery, language, phonology, religiosity, racial character, recurring themes, individual and group identity, and poetic devices as they are developed indigenously or borrowed from other poetic traditions. ;a;-,, I III Like all" bodies of writing, j 1ack literature stems f'rom a folkloristic trunk, making the job of' teacher or student twofold: '-- one).to deal with the great and complex storehouse .) J of' f'olk materials and themes; and two.>_,, to explore the chrono logical development of)eflack poetry--from about 1746 to the I ofopiri 10;.1 present. There are minor' _ differences" among scholars R.hlJ"t '---"' where ,.....,--- , the study of/ ✓, beqin.s lack written poetry~ For example, in The Poetry of the Negro, Hughes and Bontemps begin with Lucy Terry's "Ba Fight," the account of an Indian massacre o.c.h~elTi in Deerf'ield, Mass/\, in 1746. The Negro Caravan --(aa :tmJbt.l'hee 3 �dited by Brown, Davis and Lee) omits t b e Terry l?~ o F' Caravan was f'irst issued in 194~ while 1b,a 'Poe~y sec.Ttbn ~~//~~ was published in 1949. Cet~\/0-'fl's A begins poem. ·_ ,_ ------'--- with -Phillis Wheatle~ who f'irst published poetry in 1770. Also omitted from Caravan is the work of Jupiter Hammo~ whose poetry was published in broadside in 1760. In Ca~vqcade J.Eegro American Writing from l'.l_60 to the l?r~s.en~ ), published in 1970 and edited by Davis and Redding, neither Terry nor Hammon appears \and the poetry section beg~ ns with Phillis Wheatley. Early Black American Poets (Robinson) acknowledges Terry~ but Johnson's The Book of American Negro p~l~~n~ Poetry opens withABunbar. _ Kerlin's Negro Poets and their Poems (1923) makes no mention of' either "Bar's Fight" or its author~ but Dudley Randall's The Black Po~ts {1971) r\owe.ve V\, includeA t h e poem. A.-thl.s '!' -,,ii~ _a random survey :r.rom the dozens of' general and specialized anthologies t..-Jcl tC4.te -~ ~ that o; many teachers of f lack poetry begin with Phillis Wheatley despite the f'act that at least twoJ lack poets were writing before her. - . '\ . . . .. . . - • -t, te ~~Ai1,.,~ y i f 1 o t . , ~ ~ ~~~ ~ ~~~~~ ~ . ' ! • .~\J'.~~~,~~~-- 4 r �a cgl •IWI ii I I J9 tWdj I! P;gn Pi B ihddif2or ¥n ;Lash El 2 hizbo2loai ds:etsp&& a r I SJ Pl a pg 1/-@ne of the main f:' ea.iv ~es - of this 7I ,.s a. y,a. Ly s a @Ls Sit -I &i.. ; Will be the study of related and integral forms of expression such as fol1fongs, spirituals, blues, jazz, =~-= rhythm ,t: blues and what is known today as s o u l ~ C f o ~ ~ ~ a c-k,,.Zxp;rience is complex and frustrating. 1 At each juncture in the study of the poetry, #i,rt f'or example, oneAteaching it will meet difficulties 11lllllll~may vead1n~ o.ntl MIit seem insurmountable. • Some of these difficulties will be presented in familiar questions: Is a poet considered ,;(lack · if he writes cons istentlyM or temporarilyM.I- out of the "whi t e" I experience? Can a / lack poet really record/ lack experi ences T one considers the cross-fertilization of fol k and literary culture in this country, together with the existence of hybrid cultures all over Latin America and other parts of t he world, the term '-'31-ackfa perience" does indeed 4!. e~y nooT definitio j It is hoped, however, that through~continual return to the idea of the} lackf a perience {and discussion of~ lack life), the complexity and range of the term can be appreciated al s ~ 1 ( ee ( bibliography). 5 �and feelings in English? Can a white poet write a_/1ack poem (like the white musician who has developed a "feel" for/ lack music and bas learned to master the technical vocabulary of that music)? Can white people "understand",J{lack poetry? Should white critics or/ lack poetry be taken seriously? 2 p Is ack poetry primarily emotion and lacking in intellect? there a )3lack/ poetry? esthetic? Is Can a white professor teach ~ lack How does )31.ack _/'a nguage differ i'rom white language or English? And does_;ITT-ack poetry express the universal human condition? ,,\ Re4.dt ►s. sltotJ/J L t■,-·•F· 7 £ 7 • • • ~·)?) ...;r.-.- --. ask these question~ ? <4$ 4n indicat loft that they want more reaiistic and direct answers to some of the • · • issues I /4 i,,fl'=f-'1,--t"~ have consumed~ lack activists, artists, ~academicians, and white scholars of thefa ack/ xperience. -! wi,o o."'e es ~eacherS,f oni'ronting a. racially mixed clasW ~ all-J3lack classe.S -::. or • ~ ~oc:.e_ all white clas~, will sometimesl\cetJ!f'2 eni; a distressing - panorama of anger, rejection, fear , conddscension, accusation, anti-intellectualism, intellect 1 1 sno isbness, racism, dis ' ~, trust -and any number f other vombtn4uon, of the contemporary stude~ personality. (J.i kc. o'U,e. ... poeTs) poets do not fis.sert·fbe.~ The ,,Zlac / ~ ,coru 11--'\-le~ - since,\they, critically and thematically, are dispersed along a boundless spectrum of opinions, attitudes, creative For a balanced discussion of this and related subjects, see l-lpbahle le I s Voices in the Whirlwin~ 17JJ, 6 11-l 11,:s �approaches, ideologies, techniques and literary philosophies. At teacher or student preparing for either a semester or V year-long course (or for a -'3lackn unit to be integrated into a?fumanities course, an American literature course, or a J3iack interdisciplinary project) should l ' e 4 ( { ~ the literature and lore of the jlack past in order to give tentative answers and carry on adequate discussions when questions such as those above arise. After having been exposed t ~ lack poets of national statut'e ~ via television programs such as Soul and Black Journal, at campus readings and conferences,_)!(lack / rts festivals and comr:mni ty book parties / many students (es peciall:r p ack students) may be informed, at the popular level, about the opinions and reading styles of the poets. However, neith er student nor teacher must- and this point bas to be stressed /II\ again and again-l succumb to the temptation to "skip all poetry up until 1965. 11 ""' IV c::.. I True, there is great and growing interest in the / lack poetry produced out of what has been variously called the_/'lack / onsciousness ¢ lack African,,)'°vement. ower~ lack ationalis~ ack) 'rts ¥ eo/ an~ 9oes~¥,<~ Yet one who ,tt Ci "'-the )flack (or any) tradition will find himself engulfed in a maelstrom of conjecture and ideological hysteria; and the class, whose posture will be anti-historical, will be riddled with soap: opera ty~e rhetoric about revolution and liberation~ 2 zrt1 f tSIICGB Ii I Zl!IQGEJ ------ g I ; < Jimr r ; : :ld Cruse (The Crisis of the Negro 7 �Intellectual) points out that each generation of~ lack artists and activists suffers from a lack of historical/cultural tinuity. :t/.J ~ That is, -they fail to study or are unaware of - con '..J ✓ the mistakes and the pitfalls of past struggles and consequently find themselves in predicaments not dissimilar to t hose of their predecessors. Needless to say, such "cultural amnesia" is not the state from which one approaches the study of/ lack poetry. As observed earlier, the poets are not in agreement con cerning what j lack poetry is supposed to do, why it is written or wheth er whites can (or should) write or criticize it. 3 Reasons for the diverse beliefs and positions are numerous: ......,t h e situation attending t he birth and upbringing of t he poet (note, for example, the distinctions between Claude McKay and Countee Cullen); his religious affiliation (Robert Hayden is of t h e Baha'i faith; Askia Muhammad Toure is a Sunni Muslim; El-Mubajir An important point at this juncture of J lack poetry . For t h ere is growing feeling among some poets and writers (many of whomr ill not express themselves in public) that there are concerted attempts to muzzle, circumvent or circumscribe some authors because of their personal political viewy oints or t h eir brand of writing. For further allusion to this, see back issues of the Journal of Black Poetry, Black World, and other periodicals dealing with the contemporary.)'l ack / rts scene. 8 �(Marvin x) is a member of' the Nation of' Islam; & s K. Curtis Lyle was raised ..., & ,L &f!J(t£££&& ,..._ .. IS.a: & .. •• ~ ,.._ eu ~ ,. J Catholic)~ tvE.. ~ his ..( .. political leaning (which, in the case of' many writers, is also religious); his preparation f'or r lb if a crtr a ts 7! ft associations with o-ther • ..2- poets (many )!lack poets, f'or example,aSSotitf.1.€ ~nd this is - 111,Js tv1'o" historically tru~ with writers of' other races;./\ met one j lack poet in 1970 who had two masters' degrees but had not heard of' l f 1 IJ 1 bis current personal situation (does he live in the inner city? teach? time? play a musical instrument? '- write f'ull '-' write in other 3enres? read primarily_Jlack poets?); and his f'eelings on the question: 11 Are you a poet f'irst and then Black; or are you Black f'irst and then a poet?" &~ Harmless as it may seem, that rhetorical utter~has entrapped scores of' Jlack writers in ideological arrl political prisons ~ f'rom which some would like to extricate themselves by asking simply: "What dif'f'erence does it make? 11 For - -c:: many poets, however , it matters a great dea\ and they have written prof'usely on the implications of' this question and the several others listed earlier. The teacher or discussion leader must sample opinions of' writers and students, sharing the a,,J~to;t;Lf'o-t¾ , t iversity of opinions~with the same vigor and thor~ughness that IS 9 �~"eStITTe.& '"' tk~ i fstt.f ~? r ii f\Poifr.y,!' 1 Such parity allows - 21522 51, ~ or a continu&l balance in criticism, social undercurrents nd the poems th~ rs F g■ a r7 r hn Ti Novelist Ralph Ellison has suggested that he is a writer first and that his racial identity is subor dinate to that fact. Poet Robert Hayden bas taken a similar stand {see introduction to Kaleidoscope, Poems by American Negro Poets, 1967). The same position bad been taken several decades earlier by poet Countee Cullen. In bis critical~ biographical introduction to Cullen's poetry {The Book of American Negro Poetry, 1922), James Weldon Johnson observed: ( tb et4- .._/J Some critics have ventured to state that Cullen is not an authentic Negro poet. This statement, of necessity, involves a definition /' of "a Negro poet" and of "Negro/ oetry. " There might be several definitions framed, but the question raised is pure irrelevance. Also there is in it a faint flare-up of the old taboo which would object to the use of "white" material by the Negro artist, or at least regard it with indulgent condescension. Cullen himself bas declared that, in the sense of wishing for con sideration or allowances on account of race or of recognizing for himself any limitation to "racial" themes and forms, he has no desire 10 �or intention of being a Negro poet. In this / 9,.~ is ~ not onl_y within his right; he is right. talics mine.J~ Johnson went on to note that because Cullen "revolts against" racial enclosures, the "best of his poetry is motivated by race." One could make a similar comment today about Ellison or Hayden. The works for which both are internationally acclaimed delve into the deepest regions o f ~ t 1ack psyche and feeling. ') - -------- Meanwhile some younger poets-M~those who ~ gained exposure in the 1960 s-Land several poets and critics who straddle both generations lash out, sometimes not so diplomatically, at what they see as compensatory actions a nd unnecessary self-deprecation by the older poets. Pulitzer ~ riz e "'1 inner Gwendoly n Brooks said in a preface to Poems ,J'rom 9 Prison that Etheridge Kni ght was not the "stifled artiste." The comment represented an i mplied rebuttal to,;nack and wh ite "academic II poets. Elsewh ere · - _/J, e.. --.. referred to the "inelegance n of some~ lack poetry as being consistent with t h e bleak, drab landscape of h opelessness and despair inner-city dwellers. g,P (Other critics, however, support the position of poet-critic Larry Neal that t h e~ lack,)efxperience should not be defined in terms of "negatives.") G u.,tod;t'-¥ I') lateJfixties, /\ During t he ('_•_ 1J! Brooks became a kind of ttlo'Uae~r,qvt-ej\"' t he New Blac k Po etry {v\ove~ent (at least in Chicago), ceased puhi lish i ng with Harper and Row, and :)egan to rel ease h er writings t:srougb Bi-•oad3ide Press -/4.. a ~ De troi t-:'.'asey lack publish ing 11 • ◄ �bouse under the supervision of Dudley Randall• 4 He r- ~ new con • sciousness, she declares, came about as a result of having attended a .Jflack writers conference It (1967) at Fisk UniversitY. f>6."T1t.1po.Ted l ~ cl ,.sc ui,-♦o~s ) where she heard and · I\ . with poets Imamu Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), Don L. Lee, ·Nikki Giovanni, novelist John Oliver Kil lens, and mo." y other writers, activists and artists. The violent social explosions in the cities, the Vietnam ~ t-,J/ ~a~ t.ba-t took lives and crippled ~ others, •••f.Jflack - I .,I, the persistent emergence of Africa--all, ,,,-- p, e... ' ----. said . aided in the development of her new consciousness. She has written that it "frightens II her to think that if she had died before she reached fifty, "I would have died a 'Negro' fraction." Hayden, disclaiming the Gwendolyn Brooks' - position, assumes he has been 1•Black" all along and continues to reject any singular, unarguable position on the Black, /esthetic /Jf or / the poet-first, Black-second/Black-first , poet-second contro versy. Assessing Baraka, Hayden admits that he recognizes the younger poet's power but deplores "his Black nazism." J. Saunders Redding, a dean of the lack critical establish ment, feels there is no such thing as a "Black ,A.esthetic "; Poet Paul Vesey @amuel Allen} calls it "a voyage ~ - of discovery~ ! think it will yLeld _return not as greatly as in music, perhaps, where the black aesthetic dominates an entire cultural area of the wes -tg 11 ~0iher- poets and critics, �however, ignore questions dealing with aesthetics, the level of ;6-ackness in their work, their primary audience, and the mood or spirit that influences their writin At the same timeJ there are trends, some regional and some national, that can be identifie. Ident~ fying and exploring these trends can be immensely rewarding. Some prerequisites to an understanding of trends and att ti tudes that stem from the ont going creative process. are: a study of slavery as it was instituted by Europe and refined in the United State~ an examination 0 Y5-ack social history, and a scrutiny of West African and Afro-American folklor ~ thorough student of.,..Zlack poetry wil~ The teep ' hi~sel:7 · ivilizationj he will r also · develop an C in the history of Western appreci ation for the complex web off a ack-white interf relation! All this is necessary in +' ships in America. ·/\ pr?paring to participate fully and knowledge~ t ably in the often tens •:filled readings and discussions stimulated by the works of/ lack poets and writers. I V Much of the subject matter of p ack poetry is unpleasant9since it is pervaded with the weighty memory and impact of slavery. /"'\ . And if slavery is among the lesS-M" ~pleasant items to be discussed, "-' . I ~-~~ lynching becomes even more repugnantM especially"'-so much~ such activity occurred "after" slaveµ officially ende~e But one soon sees that practically eve;.•y /\poet since .the -end of /\. Civil War has written a poem about lynching _, . The poets who do not deal with actual lynchings, as we have come to know or interpret them, write about half-lynchings , character or cultural defilement and the 13 �mental and physical destruction ofr ack bumani ty. If a discussi on of slavery is unpleasant, then, a consideration of lynching is horrifying. However, skilled di SC. U~4ia.: its will maneuver judiciously through the rough waters of such sessions k keeping emotional deluges to a minimum by admitting facts and clear interpretations. During such occasions, ;t everyone must be on guard les • the classroom become t a V' courtroom. At the same ti me, a convener who cannot preside over vigorous and thorough discussions of these painful events and details may find himseli'l C later :.iii:; trying to bridge even wider gulfs of d ubt, frustration, mistrust and alienation. Again, the ----....... ( or any aspect of . . ./ lack P,U-c.,~ r Y.ir • of the _)t.Lac1;,-.perience itself . study ,----..,,_ v{ of /"'lack poetry ) · assumes the complexities Svc 1--\ study Nevertheless f A is infinitely rewarding1 because it is a vehicle distills the particular insights and perspectives of ? ack Americans into concise and authentic forms: ..._,m erging the rich ruralf'3iblical-ur'ban idioms with colorfully luscious iCTagery and (in many cases) peerless technical proficiency in the use of literary English and Hes tern poetic forms. Fo"' U(lmpLe.J W~0\ 'I students are confronted with the various poems on lynchings, E! ► di i uic; study can be underscored by an examination of language, for m, posture, poetic toolery and ove ' all achiev +- mentor effec,tveness of the poems. "Between the World and Me,'' the In Richard Wright's ~ poet becomes the ,--====:.:::.~ the oak tree narrates the lynching in Dunbar ' s 14 11 Tbe Haunted Oak." 9 �Coo(lle,t, A Cull s "I" in "Scottsboro, Too, Is Horth Its Song " ~ " whic ~l'i'te1ni":!rtn:rn 1 white American poets .for remaining silent over unjust treatment of/lack men while they sing j .£l j'C> t ... sharp and pretty unes for Sacco and Vanzett ,, •• i LY!Hl Clo.'-« Ink'1cKay' : nThe Lynchin~" the killing or th~ lack man is made analagous to the crucifixion; a sonnet, and awesome through out, the poem descends to its rhyming couplet with a final ghCLstly irony: / And little lads, lynchers that were to be, o/ Danced round the ✓-~ul thing in fiendis h glee. '--- these poems ~, and the dozens of others t hat employ the lynching t heme i -th ere is much l')\<\Ttr\o..l discussion. tot-- ~ut,\tht'tt ~"&dy a.nd In the four poems mentioned, the poet:;!~.• such diverse .forms as the sonnet, the ballad (Dunbar) and free verse (Wright). hislowc.at be the additional~inquiry Helpful in this area will -------=~ into the development of white hate groups such as the Ku Klux IQan 15 �and tbe history of race riots in America. Riots in at least a dozen American communities in 1919, for example, helped spur McKay to write r If We Hust Die t , a poignant sonnet with its even more poignant and popular ; nding couplet} \ Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack, J...; Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back! -'- a poem ._....,_. '' •- Winston Churchill read before the House of Commons , I during World War II, to spark bis countrymen in the dim hours• 1 during the 1972 prison rebellion in Attic\ I f journalists ~ found the poem scribbled on the wall of a cell and t h e national press attributed it to a prisoner! Of great assistance, to ~ is a knowledge of tle history of slave revolts (many f lack poets write about them) and the patterns of violence in America. Attuned teachers and students will want to consult sources such as 100 Years of Lynching (Ginzberg), back issues of f lack and liberal white news journals and papers and especially past issues of The Crisis, the official news and opinion arm of theNJlACP.. .r W ~B. n11fois, l)lllong 1h e first Blacio~ to r i ceive a Ph.D., edited The Crisis for over ~ O year~ from its beginning in 1910. For further readi gs, the teacher can I,~. / ,. refer t .o tlie extensive bibliogr phy plus appropriate sections 'rn /\ anthologies, textbooks and C>ihei-i-:~eo.K~ · sources. VI tr 11177 r " R st 1 ·: kh&t IM 211 16 r C �/ V-I arm h i mself to t h e best of his ability with the tools of criticism and a knowledge o~lack culture. He must unde~Tii11d -th·e - part "duality " plays in the lives of ;(lacks and how such "twoness" is fest n the poetry; he should reco g nize t h e k ey issues being raised Wand debated among J 'lack artists, sch olars and 17 �activists ~ and have some feel for t h e histori c al circumstances J I\ 1 outl\.wh ich t h ese issue s and deb ates grew; h e oug:1 t to under J &.c.,\,'Clt rne~s ,., kis standABaraka A referen to some/ lack poets as 11 inte grationists 11 + and "art:.r poets rr; b e wil l h ave to know what many of t h ? w W ?PU poets ;.:ean "Wh en t h ey say t h e y reje c t :.Jes tern rrrorr:is 11 and refuse to be j udged 'oy t·Jl:. i te s tand ard s (3 arak a, fo r ex a,.:pl e , talks about post-American forms), !)e wi ll also want to reco nize p.ack in-house humor and intracor.ununal disparagement in . ,,,.---, ~ . - words and ohras es t1:ire "nigger , ,r "ne ro , " "Uncle Tom , "oreo , " "colored, " "the man , " "dicty, a nut, 11 · "brother, • 11 "crumbcrusbers, 11 11 11 11 bad mouth , " "main squeeze , 11 11 b ust and • "Mr. Charlte. ," phonol oe;icaJ (For .further i ndication of t h is d ictional a nd i ch ness and t b e breadth o~ lac k ~ anguag e, see The Dictionary o.f American Slang , :Iajor•s Dictionary of Afro-American Slang , the 11 Cl Gloss • ry of Selected Terms" i n Th e Psych ology of Black Languag e (Haskins and Butts), Ab rah a m's Deep Down in t h e Jungle, Andrews and Owens' Black Language, I Claer bo.u t ' s Black Jar gon in 1-Jh i te America, Twiggs ~ Pan-African Languag e in t h e Western Hemisphere, Welmers ' African Languag e Structures , Kochman•s Rappin' and Stylin' Out, and Dillard's Black E nglish . Additionally the- ~eckittr - ·. the motiv ations of some of the poets. ~ will want to know All poets, for example, do not rate being called "poets" in the traditional (white or / lack) sense . Redding , in a recent Muhammad Speaks interview, accused some o.f t h e new J nack writers o.f lacking If moral and 18 �,•. them ''literary hustlers/y~ Observing that Baraka recently signed a l ~year contract witb Random House, Redding said such an act is inconsistent with the poet's nationalistic assertio·ns and positions. In a ~ recent ~la,Qk ~ior:J.d article, novelist;. _ poet Ishmael Reed spoke disparagingly of some of the net? -ack critics ( "Blackoi, paths") and poets ("nationtime poets," was the reference). -+JA\(.1 \. IY\odhubuT, (Oor,L,Lte) Poet-essayis"tj 'A,_c has chided poet Nikki Giovanni for being an "individual" who lacks technical abilities; and in '-2!!!!J' ~ issue of J'et magazine a reader irately asked if M~s. Giovanni deserved respect after accepting a Woman-of-the-Year award from a national white women's organization. 81#, f irre and Reed were nominated for Pulitzer/ rizes in 1973. Hayden, a member of the older group of poets, wh o was only ~ years old when the Harlem Renaissance burned out, feels that ll!lilM~hub~17 ............. (praised by Gwendolyn Brooks, Hoyt Fuller of Black World, Randall and Baraka) has potential as a poet but lacks discii pline and seems unable to separate poetic technique from ideological ranting . On the other hand, Stephen Henderson, it1,i_ author-editor of Understand~e New Black Poetry praises @_!)11,eyov~ 1 relentlessly and says his popularity is "tantamount to star~ dorrlf,; Henderson, who holds a Ph.D., is currently chairman ,4todhv of the new Humanities ~ivision at Howard Universit~ where fllre..~ : :. G1.Ve.,"foL, "> , is a writer-in-residence. :,11111,._Brooks gives k~ credit t) n e. l-"' @J \ -✓".Xntroduction'' to The Poetry of Black America much of the contemporary - for spawning lack~consciousness literature. 19 �{/4.ny serious Jidilw~!.°10'<\ oF the de ve lopme nt of/ iac k poetry must 111 1 co7,Jit1e;- sf these intense feelings and positions . One must also organize orderly discussions or readings arou~d the divergent viewju;►oug I,~ 1■ SW SP pp 7 ■ 1a as b BSCO!ilb lii0!!652 dial UCl.~"t- participants C~\"\ dev e.Lop a complete picture of theArichness ~Ylc..(..~ of ----___::;7 3 I ti-,~ ~ poetr ~4iilli the political, social and historical tensions out 1 of wbich#•-•' i-t- • ·-···~ is generated . <//Robert Hayden, for one, un~ derstarids ~his confluence -of _issues BI?-d temperment 8J as li:i.tnessed by his·· comments on the;dew )D.ack_/oetcy f with appropriate historical footnotes: The emergence of a so-called school of' Black I f Poetry in America h as been one of' the signif'icant literary developments of' the modern period. Although the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920fs brough t certain Af'ro-American poets into prominence, it was not until t h e intensif'ication of t he civil ri gh ts struggl e during t h e 1960 1 s t h at a separate group of black poets began to take sh ape. Avowedly nationalistic (th at is, racially proud) and scornful of' western aesthetics, these poets cont inued t he protest tradition, h istorically associated with Negro writers. But they were more radical in outlook than t h eir predecessor~. Unlike t h e Harlem group, t h ey rejected e ntry into t h e mainstream of American literature as a desirable goal. Th ey insisted t h at t h eir poetry 20 �could not be judged by wh ite standards, ureing its i mportance as an expression of black coq(:,, scious ness. )i LeRoi .Tones J -tbe most influential of t h e M young activist poets 4 Don L. Lee, Nikki Giovann i, Sonia Sanchez, Mari Evans, Eth eridge Kni gh t, and David Henderson attune their l yres to t h e '' blac k esthetic. 'f Not yet satisfactorily defined, t h is term, originating in t be sixties, nay b e i nter preted as a sense of t he spiritual and artist i c I: t ; pu naps, a I g values of blackness. I tee lilil6!1G&d 1&61&1 &bl ii: 2 rrnnfsed ky tbs sJs@sr "' s csacsp t J 'DJ I aIn • I l p s1 rt 3 7 J3 t f fp] I Ws 7 7 f : :h s a I e ga: d ih gs 1 773 11 I I I I 1j . 1 I t tJs f 1th ,._ ... J:~:-, _..,.,_ ......A~'4~~~-y...__,_" .... ~ ~ i ' t a el 1uc:rsnt • 11 tl ., aJnds Heron· t \la2kt ~~ iiUiiiilii iii i& .... il•i~■-• . II I ~ Ii I 7 fl Pl D a I SJ l ? :r Bneelzs 3 ii li lii~ LE!i~un\ted sTCQ,1e.S lb.bre~o.Jvre_)v\i\\Er, 1-la.-.,den) O'Ne~l ,\C/73) • 21 �( Hayden•s opening comments, then, corrob orate the opening sentence to this introductionf tbat j lack poetry - - - - - -- - is one of the most important move ments on t h e literary scene today. Yet, while it is exciting to study this "poetry in process" (if you please), the en thusiast must be on guard not to skip the tradition (the folk c:u1d ucu,.\cilions precedents)Ain favor of plunging into a,)!lack poem t h at h eaps wrath on Watergate conspirators+ or urban policemen who sh oot rioters and looters. ~•-■ t1111?6i■ r•a••■-1111J••t•illlillllt-.aPWC~&ig~11mlf!O~fl~Gllllllt0~li~c~t~-'9 ( r/k' VII t::= Many of the "literary hustlers" to whom Redding refers h ave capitalized on the topical and episodic issues-l with M little or no training in t he ~ lack tradition or writing . hu, -f Hence, t h e student mustAassume that just because a statement is "relevant," it is poetry ! The ~ lack or wh ite research er will "dig ••• deeper to the gold "/,::;; in the words of James David . / V 0 - Corr t h ers-- and "establish II a sound tradition against which M~ to measure t h e/ lack poetry of today. If the~ lack poet i n question fails, he fails because he collapses fro m t h e weight I of the past--instead of being b'uoyed up by it. In establish ing t h is sound tradition, --- must realize N\ .f irst ---------- One, that theJ iac) lxperience is not monoli thic J -al t h ough ~ ' 22 �recurring trends and broad ir.1plications do exist in the areas of language, religion, humor, dance, music and general life style. /(,-J ocMo.s , t ~· S t ~1._ _,, there is often more consistenry 1 tito.."' 1'9"\Who,t;iney)'now in ~ Blacks' /lrVewLc~~ or' popular "American II cul turj'* Ther are several reasons for such a paradoxical imbalance and lack of focus i many of them locked in the enigmatic see saw of ;nack history . Ellison observed in the 194c[s that i 1 /lack leaders ever unraveled the puzzle of the zoot suit and t h e dark glasses (meaning the secret o::,faack urban "styling" habits), they could, perhaps, take the political and psy ;--' chological eii._, ns of j lack masses from whites. Ellison's observation was accurate • .James Baldwin has written that, in Europe, he looked at the great Renaissance masterpieces and felt ashamed that his race had not produced such work. Baldwin · dad \\OT ~hew· that the great Spo..n1sn painter{-, Pablo Picasso had borrowed heavily from African motifs . . architect Letf Corbt usier ..._,, V was '-' &@!!Sf or t hat influenced byAf~~Gn The thatched-roof huts. implications of t h is part of the discussion are many and far~· ·-- --..... --.... -•-. - ·---- Ellison's, For an exciting recitation and indictment via a "cultural qui ~ listen to poet-critic Stanley Crouch's Ain't No Ambulances for no Nig , man). 23 ht (Flying Dutch ~ l1011t'fhl'n~s:e~ �-- Croucb 's and Baldwin's ob servations are tj_ mely and i n portant. ____ i-o...,. -fbo Th ey sugeest • • • ttatN~anytJA••••■• of t h e students ;;;:---_ who are in pack poetry )%lack ytudies) classes do not b ave a working knowledge of t h e tradition out of which the poetry grew. v:rt bas b eco me popular, in some quarters, to i gnore this fact_. . ,. itll R?Jis r-o.toz usihs V E775ftF ' 11J bl!SIS ildbb Sb p&hA&liig -·m« ,,,,!L. ..._l!I .srrassad. ·1Jlrn ts@@N a .. t:19 ; I l l ts) 1na :r:a &lass Ube about tho 1i1Jmai1 Th·e importance of a knowledge of the )flack literary traditio~ ~ is a · _ · ~ m.t pointAcannot b e stressed too often or too e mph atically. I nteresti ngly 1 L@!!3 t h e majority of t h e persons wh o want to know someth ing a b out ,..g'lack poetry are not preoccupied with t h e craft of poetryJ--/V\ ...__,, the hows and whys of poetry. .Li~o} ~ students and casual reader~ J _ not, an& to b e more interested in t h e sociological (some "path olog ical") aspects of t h e poetry. !)k:: 5 ----seem ----- say Tbe situation varies, of course, fro m campus to ca.mpus_:;ill!-®M a b111&0p1.1ez:'1!'59e :etree 4 2 if i!w,~ nd from)3lac k to white to interracial settings. t h e enthusia stj houL& ll • I) 3f # f?vt- keep t h e pf r suit of the w ori~ '"" "ti ght" in terms of t h e discipline demanded b y the poetry itself. Anoth er prob lem -~~~ '-,;; . .J organize segme nts . , I I t I so ugb t. s~,o"' ~ ~ l- -, -t...st "-tl .,L when~:\'a.p preciation'i vf the is bow to material is '}°""<..'-'. a.n ., - ---:--~.. approach could be ~ by one's initial conception of t h e poetry or 24 die"t;je,d �by the level of interest and preparation A casual reader, for example, would not study the same poems with the same intensity as would a senior or graduate literature majo. Nevertheless, teachers, students and poetry lovers must bear in mind that they are looking into/ ;3'l ack poetry and not merely some fair-to-middling imitation of traditional Western poetryi even though the two often converge on many point ~ Moreover, the differences are not always easy to identify; but on:'~~ssimilates the Afro-American world view into his study of the poetry will have L problems recognizing the differences than those who read the poet~ ttcol 11 Black and ·wite poets select the same words but for different reasons(!) There a,.-J are many variable ~ and one has to be cautious about hard~fast judget ment But we can say that the Afro-American poet is almost always its apt to select a word forf typographical, phonological and political dimensions@ Word selection among European and American poets, on the other hand, is more often made for allusory and intellectual reason8') This is not to say that_;(lack poets are not intellectual or that Euro-American poets are not musica. Exceptions to the foregoing groupings are legen. But it is important to identify music lsongified language) as a dominant influence on the Afro~ American poett-not just in an aesthetical or inspirational sense, but in terms of architectonics, in terms of basic (original) structures. Again we are treading on sensitive ground, because in the context of racial and intellectual mixtures, a curious melting s . pot i • likely to boi • Example: white students, well grounded in their own literary tradition but having a skeletal knowledge of )!iack/ ultur~ may want to speed up the treatment of the poetry • ' Failing to recognize that many students do· not lmow .the 25 names �and meanings of simple poetic devicesl(metaphors, similes, alli t eration, onomatopoeia), insensitive teachers and aggressive stu-t,, dents often cause premature destruction of group interests® Such situations do occu Even the best literature teachers sometimes assume students have been drilled in the use of figurative lan guag9(j) Ironically, most students have been "drilled" in the figures; but the holes from the drillings allowf..v information to go in one ear and out the othertff Many students, in the whir of words, will not aclmowledge their ignorance of the language of poetic criticism and analysis, especially if they happen to be~ lack students and thi nk the instructor expects them to be "experts" on thefa ack ~ xperienc0c:t7 On the other 9,.-an,d, t e intellectual snobbery often ~P-' { , accompanying t h e stude~ should not be tolerated in a ' )f discussion of~ lack poetry@ Luckily, however, the curves, crests and peaks of p ack poetry keep bringing all aspects of human nature full circle. Many of the ideas, theses, axioms and broad statements ma.de thus far will be re-examined on a continuing basis throughout the remainder o f t his boo~ Within the running history of Afro-American poetry, we will identify the poets' preference for lexical and phonological items; their reliance on major and minor archetypes (as they are derived from the larger a s well as the~ lack mythic tabl~ts) ; thei r feti sh for themes and positionJ (as these strains e rfnea.. occo.sionAl -, becomel\.clust e reA or I'\. . ) ; their relationships to each otp.er and ("school") the folk and/or literary roots; and their individual and/or group achievement Obviously, the folk influences are pot a~ easy to place within the chronology as are the dat ~ o..c:t"tvtt'ie.s I\ , literary of the poets. So the r eade r should think o f the folk world as one ' . iconstantly hovers over the whole of Afro-American literary and cultural life h 1 sometimes ca~li n g it to ~ts t a1~s , other times p r oviding it with just n ee.Jecl J.iF:t o.nd ma9u:,, . _/t, e � 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_09_04 Title A name given to the resource Editors proof, Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, Introduction: Chapter I, typed with handwritten edits, p. 1-26 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.