https://digitallis.isg.siue.edu/files/original/28c28e356426f4836d7dee58048862ae.pdf 5e4c6424adbabbba6933a35b6477faca PDF Text Text Black publishing houses (Broadside Pr e ss, Third \JorlJ Press, The Third Press, etc.) and hundreds of new news or gans and literary journals. During the contemporary period a number of important an t l1ologies have also been published. Some of the more notable ones include Be yond The Blues, Pool, 1962; Sixes and Sevens, Breman, 1962; Ame rican Negro Poetry, Bont eu1ps , 1963; Soon One tforning: New Writinr; by American Ne r; r oe s, 191+0 - 1962, Hill, 1963; New Negro Poets, Hughes, 1964; Kale i doscope, Hayden, 1967; Black Voices, Abrahams, 1968; Black Fire, Jones and Neal, 1968; The New Bla ck Poetry, Hajor, 1969; Soulscript, Jordan, 1970; 3000 Years of Black Po e trv, Raoul and Lomax, 1970; New Black Voices, Abrahams, 1972; Tl1 e D] nck Poe t s , Ra nd a ll, 1971 ; Black Spirits, Kin g , 1972; and The Poetry of Black America, Adoff, 1973. In --- addition t o these and other nationally distributed antl1olo gi e s, ma ny collections of Black Literature were compiled and published in various re ~ion s : Watts~ Watts Poets and Writers (Troupe, 1966) and From the Ashes (Schulberg, 1?69); South, Fress Southern Theater by the Free Southern Theater (De nt, et al, 1969); A :·~ew Chica p, o Antltolo r> (Brooks, 1971); Eas t St. Lou i s-: St. Louis, Sides of th e Rive r (RedmonJ, 1970); New York, Thre e IlundreJ ,.md Sixty Def'. r ees of Blackn e ss Coming at You (Sanchez, 1971) and ll 2irlem .: Vo.i ces from th e Soul of Bla ck Am e rica (Clarke , 1970); PhiL1delphia , Bl ac k Poets lfr it e On (Black Hist ory lluseum Committ ee ); Newark, Soul Session (1972); Detroit, Te n: Anthol ogy of De troit Poe ts (South and We st, 1968). In many regions s eve ral components have me rged to form cultural and performing arts _ conglomerates. It is often at these centers tha t white movie and theater moguls find new t a l e nt for the current wa ve of Black movies. At this writing, the cont empor.:iry poetry scene is embroil ed in vi gorous debates a n<l confer e nce s dealin f, with "directions" for Black writers, consolidatin g publi s hin g houses, �I and r,ettinz published materials into schools (especially into BJcick schools). Caught (sometimes unknowingly) in tl1e miJst of these issues Dnd questions +k-- o{- are the older Black poets --some .I\ 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. ~[iss Brooks gives active support to th e youn ger writers by way of financial and moral encouru~ement. She sup e rvises writers workshops, estnblishes 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 thr ough Broadside Press. Randall estnblished Broadside Press in Detroit in 1966 .and also has set up poetry awards with his own funds. Hayden, who often shuns public displays of his allegiances, admonishes tl1e young poets to keep high writing standard s . Ile is recognized as a brilliant teacher as well as po..:!t, and is knO\,n to work quietl y with young writers and scholars. llayden played a mu jor rol~ in gainin~ recognition for Lucille Clifton (Good Times, 1969; Good Uci,, s Al.lout the Earth, 1972; and An Ordinary lfoman, 1974), one of the most splendid -of the ~ew poets. Some new and ol~er names closely linked to the curtent period are Pinkie Cordon Lane (Hind Thou phts), Nichael lbrper (Dear John, Dear v Coltrane, Hi s tory is Your Own lleartb e.-i t,° etc.), \faring Cuney (Pu z,z les), Troupe (Embryo) , Sterlinp; Plump (Half BL1ck ·llu] f Blacker), Jayne Cortez (Pisstained Stairs ancl the Hankey Nan's \fares;' J<es tivals und Funer;:ils, etc.) , Dumas (Poetry For My People and Piay Ebonv Plav Ivory), Rivers (The Still Voice of Harlem, etc .), Uikki Giovanni (Black. Jud~ement, Black Feelin g , Black Thought, Re: Creation), Reed (Catechism of A neoamerican hoodoo church , etc.), / David Henderson (De Mayor of Ha,rlem, etc.), Arthur Pfister (Bullets, Beer ./\ ) ·' I Cans & Things), Ilaraka (Black Na i~ i c ~ ) , John Echol s (llome is l·J here th e v' Soul Is), Arna Bontemps (Personals), Hayden (Selected Poems , \fords in the . .. ; �v Ho ur nlnf Time), Lee (Think Black, Illack Pride, etc.), Sonia San c he z I ) (Home coming , etc.), Randall (Citi e s Durning and Mo r e t o Remembe r), Stanl ey Crouch (Ain ' t No Amb ul a nc es for No Ni r, r,a hs Toni ght), Hughes (Th e Pa nther c1 nd th e Las h, et c .), At k ins (lleretofor e ), Hay Hill e r (Into th e Cl ea r in ° ), Austin Bla ck · (Th c Torna do in Hy Hauth), Tolson (llarl em Galle ry), Youn g (The Song Turning Back Unto Itself), J ames A. Emanuel (P a nthe r Ma n), Ves ey (I vo ry Tusk s ), Ma ri Eva ns (I Arn A Bl ack Woma n), Julia Fie ld s (Poems), Stepha ny (}~ving Deep), Etherid ge Kni ght (Poems fr om Prison), Gwe ndo l yn Bro oks ., ) / (In th e lle cc a ,v Riot, v Family Picture s, etc . ), Roy Hill (49 Po ems, etc.), Ray I Durem (Take No Prisoners). Far fro m be ing exhaq st i ve , thi s list i s me r e ly representative of the gr ea t poetic output during the curr e nt period . Many of th e s e poets--Reed, Troup e , Young , Crouch, Dumas,-- ar e a lso pros e writ e rs or antholo g is $. Certainly th e list grows and changes con- stantly, esp e cially in view of th e continual unfoldin g of surprises . Suffice it to say that the contemporary mood of Black poetry is multi- leve led a nd complex. There are generaliti e s; one is that most of th e poets unres ~rv edly saturat e their work with obvious Black references and cultural mot i fs. is also an anti-intell e ctual flavor as many po e t s turn th e ir backs o or Western forms . acndemic This has brought a general disre gard· for th e e sot e ric, . lit~rary and sometimes secret whit e poetry . The r e allusi.9 n✓."mployed in much of ~ _current ,l,\.uL There a re e xceptions , of course--notably in 1 special r _ s~nbolism ' rsi I o f Muslim poets (Marvin X, Askia Toure, Baraka, Sonia Sanche z, and others). Tl1e se excep tions c an al s o be seen in works of poe ts who exp lor e Afr ica n Ancestor Cults , Vood oo , mys ti c i sm a nd Afric a n l a nguages . Evid e nc e &±' t1ti s ca n be seen I in t he poetry o f I s hmael Re ed,. As k ia Toure, He nr y Dumas , }:or ma n J o r da n, Sun Rq , K. Curt is Lyle , Bob Ka u fma n anJ oth e rs, Gene r ally , tliough, Blac k poe ts are \ a. ~ ~;i #A(. . :. �framing ~ i r allusions, images and symbols in the more concrete cultural motifs, as indicated in a line from Eur.;ene nedmond's "Tune for a Teenage Neice" where he vie~,s the neice as being "spiced as pot-liquor." TIIE POETS i\1W TIIEIR TOTEMS: A. 'Soon, On e J[o rnin ,~ : Threshhold of the New Black Po ~try Hy Blackness is the beauty of this lam.I. ---- Lance Jeffers Richard \fright called the Blacks "Arnerica ' s metaphor" and Lance Jeffers referred to "the beauty of this land." AnJ both of these definite stances were taken well in advance of "Black Pride" poetry of the sixties and seventie c;. Margaret Walker's discussion of her playmates in the Alabama "dust " (1937) is II \ // not self-deprecating; and Gwendolyn nrooks's portrait Satin Legs Smith (1945) is far from being unhappy . These are only four randomly scl e cLeJ poetic affidavits of Blacks viewing themselves "ppsitively" before th e o.<lvent of the New Black Poetry. We could, of course , bring up hundreds of examples from the ,poetry of Phyllis Wheatley ~hrough that of Langston Hughes. But the point , already made, is simply that one is seriously remiss in loo~inz at recent Black poetry without considering its history. • The poets who wrote and published between 1945 and 1965, for example; did not work in sealed chambers of turincled vision, Each group, eacl1 cluster of concern, evolved from what had l> een written or said before. Some of these poets were heavily influenced by white writers, teachers, and critics. lloweve r, the best of them applied their knowledge and tools to the service of tl1e Black literary tradition . Others were under the direct tutelage of Blacks (Paul Vesey studied with J . H. Johnson, Joyce Yeldell with Hayden) and became part �- I I of a continuing line of Rlack-d~ped thour,ltt and writing (Ves ey in turn taught Arthur Pfister) . Whatever their make-up, or their mission, the poets as a group shm, great facility with language , depth of insi ght ancl passionate concern for their collective and individual hurts: ~s Blacks and as humans. The work of the se poets, .:rnd that of their older pen-fellows, can be found in several antholo e ies: Poetry of the Negro (1949, 1970); tl1e bilingual lk zag hoe Zwart Ik Was (I Saw How Black I Was , 1958); Beyond th e Blues (1962); American Negro Poetry (1963); Burning Spear (1963); Sixes and Sevens (1963); Negro Verse (1964); New Negro Poets : USA (1964 , 1966); Po e ts of Today (1964); th e bilin r', ual Ik Be n De ~liem~e Neger (I Am the New Negro , 1965); and Kaleidoscope (1967). Bontemps ancl llughes edited Poetry of th~ Neg ro in 1949. Tlic first major collection since Cullen ' s Carolin g Dusk, it was revised by Bontemps in 1970 after llu r;:.e s ' s death . Interestingly, some of th e 1949 er~tries are deleted while the table of contents has been doctored to make' nc.w ent,ries (like Dudley Randall, Mari Evans and nay Durem) coincide with their age-line. Bonte_n1ps, a Renaissance also edited American poet who did not publish a volume until 1963 (Personals), Negro Poetry, a task which gave him the opportunity_to pick th e best from the past as well as the present. The.two bi-lingual anthol- · ogies ' were published in llolland and Eng l anJ and edited by Rosey Fool, with · the assistance of Paul Bremen. Dr. Pool (1905-1973), a Hollander, came across Cullen when she was preparin~ a pa per on American poetr y in 19 25 . covery led to a life-long interest in Bl a ck culture and poetry. This disDuring 1959/60 she tour ed th e United States on a Fulbright travel gr an t, spending several months visiting and lecturing at 27 Black colleges and universities. Dr. Pool's work in BL1ck poetry has drawn mixed reQctions fro 1,1 ca utious Black writers and critics. But her importance in helping to bring a tt en tion to Black poet s , ) �d e spit e cr i es of " e xploit a tion," is undeniable. Even mor e contro versial is Bremen, who ap pears to fa ncy l1imself a s a n Eng lish J e an-P a ul Sarte; he originated the Heri t a ge Seri e s--"devotecl e ntirely to the works of Afro-Ame ric a n authors"--with Ila yd e n ' s A Bn ll a d of T'.('mcmhr n n ce in 1963 . Since. th a t time Dr emen, who edited Six es nnd Sevens and You De tt er Beli e v e I t: lll a ck Verse in Eng lish (1973), has rele a sed ~ e than 20 volu mes f'.1-f.··S o f ,\fr o-Americnn poetry. randall ' s Broadside Press servi c es as the American distributor of the slim books which have included t h e aesthetical and historical rang e of Jaack poe try : Frank llorne (llaverstraw , 1963), Bontemps, Rivers (The Still Voice of Harlem , 1968; Th e 11right Poems, 1972), M.: iri Ev ans (\ih c re is all the Music .? , 1968 but withdrawn "at the author ' s requ e st"), Ru s s e l l At kin s (Heretofore , 1968), Lloyd Addison (The Aura & the Umb rn, 1970), Aud r e Larde (Cables to Ra g e , 1970) , Dudley Randall , (Love You, 1970), Ishma e l Reed, whom Bremen calls "the best Black poet writing today" (C a techi s m of cl n e oa me ri c an hoodoo church, 1970), James W. Thompson (First Fire: Po ems 1 9 57-19 60 ·, .1970), Dodson, Harold Cnrrin z ton (Drive Suite, 1972), Clarence Major (Privat e Line , 197li, the "first non-American c~rntributor" Mukhtarr Nustapha (Thorns a nd Thistl e s, 1971), Dur c m (T ake No Prisoners, 1971), and Hay den (Th e Ni ght-Blooming Cereus, 1972). Bremen notes that both Mari Evans and Raymond Pat.terson ordered · their b o oks withdrmm b e cause they " we r e s uspicious of the contract terms." In addition to suc h "suspicion, 11 fel.t ·a lso by other Blnck poets, there is great resentme nt of Breme n ' ~ fast- d raw critical evaluntions of th e p oetry--which are oft e n cau s tic, ridiculous, and narrow, and r e flect a l a c k o f ge n e rnl knowled ge of Blac k poe try . poets. Il e c a lls Durem, for example, one of~ His stateme nt about Ree.cl, cominp, as it did in 1970, d~ first "Bla ck" vi o lence to both th e auth o r and the critical at~osph e re in which Black poets grapple e veryda y . Ile says Du ma s wa s born in th e "incredibly n~1me cl tmm" o f Swee t \ �Home , Ar ka nsas. Nev e rthe le s s (a l a s!), one wonders whe r e these Dl acl~ poe t s ,r / may huve go tt e n publi s hed if such "hea lthy d i s..:;ases " as Breme n did no t exist. Nep; r o Verse , edite d uy ,\nse l111 Hol l o, has nu introdu c ti on o r f on,ard, but does in cl ude a dozen blu e s a nd Go spe l song-poems. edit ed by llu ~hL:.s . wi th a Fo n ,a rd by Gwendolyn. New Ne~ro Poet s \las I:> 1 Use of the word " ne1/ exe1,1p l if i e::; the kind of spirit Lha t wai i n ascen s ion a t the time . Hi s s Brooks, t e rse as a l ways , is also he r usu a l definitive se l f : At the pres ent time , poets who hap pen also to be Ne groes ar e twci. ce-tri ed. They have to writ e po e try, a nd th ey have to remember that they ar e Nep,roes. Often they wish th a t th ey could solv e the Ne gro question once an<l for all, and go on fro m s uc h s ucces s to the composition of tex tur ed son ne ts or btuy.:rnt vill a nell e s a bout the tran s cienc e of a raindrop, or ,1 · t he go ld- s tu f f of th e sun. They are likely to find signi- ficanc e s in those s ubjects not instantly obvious to th e ir fairer fellows. The raindrop may seem to them to represent . r a cia l t ears-- a nd tho s e might seem, indeed, other than transient . The golden sun mi ght r emind them tht they ar e burning . There i s an att rej ec·t: "po e ts de in this statement that the Gwendolyn Brooks of 1968 will · ho ha ppen a lso to b e Neg roes . 11 But she refl e ct s Cullen in th e 11 da rk t owe r" and his ruminatin!: .on t he "curious t h ing" o f the !3 l a ck po et. She als o pr esage s the twistin ~s a nd t urnings in J ay ne Co rtez' s 11 Fe s ti va ls & Fun e r a ls . 11 Yet, in introducing the " New Neg ro Po e ts, 11 she infor ms the r ea de r t ha t 11 here a r e s ome of the prevailing st a r s of an ea rl y to mo r row. 11 \!al ter Lowe nf e ls ' s clecisio.n to include 11 20 Ne gr oe s" in Poe t s of Tod ay wa s s pu rred in pa rt by his reco i nition (a l ong with Shapiro) that "most gene ral �antho l or, i e s of Ameri can poe try e xclud e l/egroes." An authorit y on \vhitman, L01-1en fc ls sha red an awa rd with E. E. Cununings i n the thirti es , an J has helped a numb e r of Bla ck po e ts ma ke it into print: Dumas, Troup e , Pa tterson, Redmond, Ca rrin g t on, Ma jor, Reed, Harper, Hayden, and many others. Lowenfel s ' was th e f ir s t new whit e - edit ed a ntholo gy to includ e such a subst a ntia l number of Bla cks. There \ve r e - 85 poets in a ll. One of th e mo st i mpo rt a nt of th ese an t ho l o~ies is Burnin g Spear which contains the Hork of th e Howa rd Po e ts: Wa lt e r DeLegall (1936Govan ( ), Je f fer s ( ) , Al Fra se r ), Percy Johnston (1930- LeRoy Stone (1936- ( ), Os wa ld ), Nathan Ri c hards ( ) , and Joseph White. ), Hurnin r, Sp ea r, subtitl e An Antho lo 0y of Afro-Saxo n Poe t.ry, was a n out growth of t h e ll.:is ' i n Lit e ra r y So ciety, locat ed at ll owaru University , which a l s o pub l ished Da sein: Qua rterly J ourna l of tl1 e Arts (1961-1969). as publisher while DeLegall was editor . A Johnston, its founder, served Their connection with tli e older group of poets and scholars is evident in the advisory board list: _ Sterling A. Brown, Arthur P. Davi s , Owen Dodson and Eu!_jene C. Holmes. Jeff e rs, Stone and Wl1itc served as contributing editors . Fr.:is c r , Gov.:i n, Po e ts in the ina ugur a l i ss ue of Dasein, which doubled as a memorial to Richa rd \fr i ght, were De l o r es Kendrick, Cl~d e R. Taylor, _Jeffers, William J a c ks on , Ve r non A. Butl ~r , nobcr t Sl a ught er, Laura A. lk1 t kins, Govan, Fra se r, De l ores F. llenr:y, R. Orland o Ja ckson, DcLcga ll, J ohn stcin a nd Stone . The r e i s no s in r, le uni,fyin r, thr ead runnin g th r ou e, h either Dase• in o r Rurnln i'. Sp ear but Black influence s and subjects are cl earl y i mbcd cJ. Burning• Spe a r , fo r examp l e , is published by Ju pit e r Hammon Pr e ss, ,moth e r c onnection-in name--t o th e tradi.tion o f Black po e try. In a back-cov e r not e , th e e i ght contribut ors arc c a lled "a new bree d of youn g poets who ar e to AJnc ri can poetry wha t Cha rli e Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Theloniou s Monk a nd Hil e s Davis ----------- ------ - --- I �are to American jazz." After this important analogy, the statement continues: These eip;ht Afro-Saxon poets are not members of a literary movement in the traditional sense of the w0rd, because they do not have in c01runon any monist view about creativity or aesthetics.. Collectively, however, they are indifferent to most critics a!lJ r12vidkrs--since criticism in A1:1erica is controlled anJ written in the main by I:uro-Americans. There is no preface or introduction or statement about poetics; these poems th~nselves fill the pages. Poellls by DeLegull, Jeffers, Johnston and Stone also appe::i.r Ln Beyond the Blues and in nu)nerous "little" magazines. But all of the poets participateJ in reading-lecture prosrams leading up to the wider interests in poetry in the later sixties and seventies. DeLegall (Philadelphia) a mathematician and electronic data processing specialist, published in many antl10J ogies and . quarterlies, and had read his poetry and lectured at various eustern i1nd southern colleges. Fraser (Charleston) is a political scientist with a specialization in African Affairs. Alon8 witl1 DeLegall, Stone, Go~an, Johnston and Richards, he has been recorded reading his poetry at the Library of Congress. Fraser cultivated a coffee~shop audience for his readings and appedred before college groups. He ' is a philosopher-mathematician. One of tl1e older members of the troup , Jeffers (San Francisco) is credited with having "influence" on the Howard Poets. He has tnught English and writing at half a dozen American colleges and universities . Ills first volume of poetry was}~ Blackness is the Beauty of This Land (1970) and second, When I Know the Power of !-ly Black lland, \·Jill be out in 1975 . Broadside Press. Both are published by Jeffers l1as also written novels, short stories and criticism. / �Johnston (New York) currently ieaches at a college in New Jersey and with Stone ''co-authored the revolutionary verse pamphlet Continental Streamlets ( Also a playwright, Jolmst , n published a pamphlet of his poetry, Concerto for Girl and Convertible in 1960 and was considered the leader of the Iloward Poets. White is a native Phila<lelphian whose work appeared in Liberator, Poets of Tot.lay, and other places. He is a technician for FAA and has uritten short stories as well as successful prose-poems. As a group, the Howard Poets represent one of the toughest intellectual strains in contemporary Black poetry. Maybe the fact of their having such diverse interests, backgrounds, and training aided in their vitality, virtuosity and powe_r . To be sure , these are "conscious' ' poets; but--avoi<ling slogans and sentimental hero-worship--they present precise analyses and interpretations of their world. Most of them grew up in tl1e Be Bop era and so their subjects quite naturally include Hiles Davis , Lester Young , Charles "Yardbird" Parker, Clifford ·Brown, Sonny Rollins , Thelonious Honk , and other makers and· contributors to that period . And a preoccupation with Civil Rights and the Dlack stn,iggle is merged with their awareness of the " bomb," middle clas.s pretensions , history, mythology, religion, and the various trends in poetry: Be.:it poetry, jazz poetry • nd folk lyrics. modernity, DeLesall cel~brates the Blaclt · presence ("lly Brownskin Business") · and satirizes a pretentious lloward coed ("Requiem for A Iloward Lady") who is .i'cultured" and performs every social amenity perfectly. She wectrs "Jiir, h-heeled tennis shoes'; but he hopes, near the poem's end, that the president of The Universal Institute of Eu~enics will send a NeH species of female who will be robed in clothes of "sincerity" and who can be called "A Woman . " - - - - - - - -- - - -- - - - - - - - ). �In "Ps.:ilm for Sonn)'.,Rollins" he announced that he is AbsorbeJ into the womb of the sound . I am i n the sound The sound is in me. I ·am t he sound . Ro llins, the Hnrlo.31,1 pied plpo.3r , will lead li i. s listeners to "truth," "Zen , " "Poetry," and "Cod . 11 1/- .\fter "The BL.1st" (nuclear bombing ) there wlll be . . . no I , no 1Jorld , no you. Govan also writes convincinr;ly as in 11 Tl1e Lynchin~" : He was soaked in oll and Lhe nwtch thro1m. Ile scrernncd, lie crlecl , he moaned, he crackled ln his fiery inhuman dcrnce . Govan ' s interests span the turbulence in "llun~ary , " spnce exploration (-"The Ang .r y Skies Arc Calling"), and "Prayer " wherein he asks "Chr ls_t" for a new dawn's light ! Jeffers ls a living example of the 1,1 0re helpless pl igh t o f many a Black writer . Although he ha<l been writi1g for several dcca<les , his wor.k was white-listed by anthologists and his poetry did not appear in book form until the seventies. "My Blackness is the Deauty of tlu.s Lan<l" st.:in<ls as a rebuff to those who say " Bl ack" poetry was "invented " recently . Jeffers ' s poem, written in the fif t ies , is at once defiant and proud: Hy blackness is the beauty of this land , my hL1ckILess , tender and strong, wounded and wlse, The narrator , after tlw fashion of t-largar ,· L \folk.er, chronicles the hu r t s , the happinesses , and the hungers of !,lacks . These he st.:inds against his �"whiten es s" and th e perversions of laq• r America. mines tl1e same vein: past . " nlack Soul o f the Land" rich reliance on Lh c. u ell-c.l e cp s tr e n g th o f the Black The "olc.l black man" in r.eoq;ia i s "leathereJ, lean, anJ strong . " And thc.se arc s e crets that "crackers c o1 1lc.l n o t kill" : a secret s pine unbent within a spine, a secret source of steel, a secret sturdy rugged lov e , a secret crouchin3 hate, a ;ecret knife uithin hi s lwnJ, a .c.cret bullet in hi s eye . The poet ·asks L 1e olll man to pass on his sou i :e of strength so that he, ;incl h is fellows , will bt: anc.l kne1 hle ro " t urn black" Lhe soul of the nation ~a shall cease to be its name . Jeffers f athers up a fury of love, an:-;uish and commitment in other of his poems : "lier !Hack nnd African Face I Love , " "The M:111 with A Furna ce _in His Hanc.l," "U0g ro Freedo111 Rider , 11 " Her D~irk Body l Clus t er , 11 11 Black Nan in A New Day," und "Prophecy. " Johnston echoes Jeffe.rs , t hou r, h in a different voice and style, in many of his po e ms . But Johnston ' s concern is wit ! Black music anc.l mµsicians . "To Paul 1~obe s,in, Opus l\ o. 3" cele!J r.:.1 tes the 11Ulti-f.:1ceted talents of the· mnn whos, son i "stood Brooklyn on iLs f eet." nw ;~nifi c e n t ti ibute to the President of jazz : tinues t:o "i; lite the h e trt." wonders \lhy L Prez" is a Lester Young whose music con- In "Fitchett's Basement !Hues, Opus 13" Johnston •e rytime I want Coltrane or· Sonny nll ! "In Mc1,1 0riarn : r,ct is l~rul>eck, . • • �"De11e y Square," with its "Beat" repertoi. rLi a n d interests in contemporary everyman , is a poetic summary of the c o llective history of Johnston's genera t ion. \fords for "unkinking 1,ai r , " recol] ec tions o [ r a dio shows , reminders cf Relief and HPA , and IJ uk e Ellington, n ll leave Johnslon with the knm-,1l cJgc tk1t notld~ Has chan, ;c:d l>• :: my p( s tal z , :1e . In other pieces he surveys the cur i" l.!nt an ! past Blac k musi cal scene: '"Round ' Dout Midnight , Opus 17 ," "Varia t i on on ,; Theme l>y Johnston,'' and " To Bobb y Timmons ." "Bl ack is Hy Re\vard " Ril hard :-, s ays, notin g that Sorrow came, and I l t f t the world ... And e : perimen talist, hi , "Do and a n "inLerlud e . 11 lot rorget to Remember" · includes a t1pr e Jude 11 - Li zc the oth e r poets , he writes primarily in free verse ( almost no rhyme) and i I the fore p oin 0 poem h e repeats "A petal falls . 11 _The J lloward Poets all touch ;;rief and ,mr,uish , as does Richards in "Cod IHess This Child and Other Cl il<lren ... r e qu.i l!m. 11 In syntax and voc.::ibulary, 2:,S f_avv ~ II 1,1-tit c. / 4, bears resemblence esp c · ially t o t ! e beats and to Bou Ka ufma n and Russell Atkins. Words anJ phr.ises li l. e t1 r1at ronymic diva ," "s epiacenic mA.rtyr,t1 t1 albumcnic hawk, t1 "womb - priz e , ti a nd "b lack ae : is " convey. the mystical and eerie· sense impl:iecl i n the r e petition · of t1sl( ·p " and the innovative t ypo 0 graphy of the poem. 11 Miles Davi s ' s c ,1 n11ons, l /1 lso e x ., rim e ntal · and u i.ginal is Stone . Fl :.1111e nco Siu c ·10 s" i :, sep a r a t e d into five parts: 1a rt an I bi 11. Ne ouvcrt, selim, York .is "r(' Ll in we eping" and Chicago is "13lack- drapcd" a :; Hiles 11tL e rs .in " 11tes. 11 Dis :.;u nnnL nosL llis study of The music captun:s the , i ~1 o f on e k .i s s of a Sp a 11i. s h lacly .:is it He, ; in and Lu t o f Lr.:i nscontin~nt a l experienc e s .:ind loca l ions . ,I k no1vl e, :, ~ of ,,o rlcl 1,1usir is r c verell. Dnvis ' s u s" Finally , ' · .· �t hL.: 1t1usic is askec.l t o Com.incnt 0 11 a cl o u c.l of o rient a l n i n t h:-; comment ! In " No t es fro•ri t he Cu bicle o[ A di sg r u ntl e d J nzzman " S ton e b e c o me s a v e rl,a J maestro ri.p p in['., i n " chanf:L!.; ; " r attl ine, up " thirte en t hs , " stor111in2; the " mino r mode , 11 a nc.l \, hippin ~ up " p as s ing ton '"s "--all " with i 111punit y ." Wltite ' :; ".Bl ac k i s A So11l 11 r e p0-1 t s ''tl01m 11 ..1 s t l1 e: p~ r so n i.l c.lrop s int o " depth s ," "th e aby ss ," a nd th e " inf in ite " \ /h e r e bl ack- eye d pe n s [ g r e en ::; .:i re s tor e <l ... . This p o i :, nau t rev c l.'.l ti on i.s i:1a de i n Lh c e nd : I r a i s e my d 01m bent L i nky h e;i c.l t o clwrl i c. & sh o i _ I ' m b ln c k . 1 ' m b lack _ 1~· & I ' m fro m L lz back. He t hink i rnme Ji a t e l y of t i L 1 c s li ke Thin k Blad~ (Lee) a nd " S.:iy It Lo ud-- . I ' m n ta c k a nd I ' m Proud " (J:J 1 1e s l3r mm) e v e n th o u c h t hi s po e m preced ed th e m by sever a l yea rs--to sa y no t l,ing o( Jo s' ph Co tt e r , Jr. ' s " Is it Because 1 1 111 Bla ck. 11 Bu t \lhit e c a n ;1 " Day is Done " Hhich pl ac ls o 1' 0 lig ht and touchin ~ th in gs i:1s in " Picnic " and !S " r us ic in th e a lr " a s he p r e pa r e s for be d and h is '\ wm;i n" se t s h e r lw i · . I. i s i ro ni c ; -sa tiri c .1 1 " Inquisi t ive " d isp l ays the r an~<.! 01 t he s e po et c, . Th e n arca Lor wa nd e r s 11he r e " God s " .:i nd " bud d h a s " hid e i f th e 1:a rth and sk , ar e both visihl l' t o ma n. - - - - - - - - - - - -- - -- - - - - - - - - - �LiLtl e critical attention has b c~1, i ven the Howard Poet s or an y of the other poets who are appearing iluri.n '~ this time. includin g old as well a s unfamiliar names: Johnson Ackerson, Charles ), Cu g enc Redmond (1937- Anderson (1.93 B- John Henrik Clarke (191 ) , Le slie c_ But they are le g ion, ), Julian Bond (1940- ·r . Collins (19] 11- ) ' ), Knth e rin e ) , Mnq• .:iret Danner, Gloria Dnvis, Dulh is, Durem, Mari Evans , Micki Crnnt, Julia Fields (1938Joans (1928- ), Naomi Had ;·,~tt . Jmn,• s C. Hor r is, O'lli ~g ins, Patter s on, James Randall (1938- ), Pe ter T . Ro~ ers, Jolm Sherma.1 Scott, Carmell Simmons, J a1,1es W. Thompson (1935- ), Vesey, Sarah Wright (1929- ) , Ro bert Ear l. Fitz g er a ld (1935- Joyce Yeldell (1 944- ) , Lula Low e \Je edcn (191 0- il ern t:u n ( L'J .12 Carl llolr.w n (1919 Lerorie I!e1 1ne tt, Jr. Fuller (1 ~:.'. 7- ), Co rdon lle 1th, Horne, Ted ), Alfr e d Duc k ~ _t (192 8- Zack CilL1 r t (1925- ), (1919- 111 rbcr t CL1rt Johnso 1 (1911- ), frank Yer by (191. b- ) , Ernest .J. 1-li. l s on, Jr. J a mes P. Vau g hn (1929 - (1 930- (] 94 2- ) ), lloy t n2- . ) , ), Bette Darcie ), Rivers, McM. Wrt Bht, ), nnia Alba (1915-:1968), F r.i.lnk Lond1H1 ) , CaLherine C:1r ter (1917- (1 92 0- ), Mary Cilrter Smith (1 924- ) ', Rober t J. Abrams (1924- ), William t ro w c (1930- I s hmael Re cd (193 8- ) ) , Roy llill, Sam Cornish (193 8- Brow!I' (19 l 7-J 'J 62), l:;,u e l li.l !li1r L .1 llro,m (1917- ), Jam e s Ema nuel (l 'J21- ) , , 't;slc Davis (l ) , Oliver La Crone (1915Pauli Murray 1910- ' ), C;1 lvin ) , Sarah l~el>ster F, b.io (192 J - - ) ) , Clu r ia C. O<l e n, Ho se . (1 910- ), Carl Gardener (l 'JJl- · ) , !Jun Jolt11 .on (] 1 ) /12 - ), Roscoe Lee Brown e ) , Oliv e r Pit c her (1923- ) , ,\d. 1m Da vid Miller (1922- ) ' ), Dav.id Henderson ), Thur mond SnyJcr, A.ll. Spellman (1935- Mance \/illiw i1., , Torn 1Je11L, Lc;J: u i .Jo11ei, (]9]4- ), ), Vi.vi.an Ayers, llel c n ) ' �l-1or;;:1n n rnoks, Solomon Edwards (1932Polite (1932- ) , Vihia lloll< rd, George Love, Allen ), Lloyd Addison (1 9J l- ), Durwood Collins (1937- Bobb Hamilt o n, ~lay Hiller, Stanle :i .';ur r is, Jr. This non-exhaustive list \,J.1S (1944 ) , ),. oft e n intermingled with earl y pllC ts (as far back a s Phyllis Hh ca t:l·e y) and olJ cr ones (Johnson, McKay , Dunbar, etc.), and spiced with a g ood o ff ~ring of pos t-Renaissance poets (Walker , Drooks, Tolson, llayden). Hames like Fulh · , DenneLL, Jr . , Holman, Yerby , Davis, and Clarke , fall in the category of " , c c :s ional " poets--most of whom undertook full-time duties as novelists , editors , ] . .~ers or teachers . Other important movements paralles to this phase were the emergence of literur y. rna g a~ines ( Free Lance, Phylon , Ee t •) , especL1l ly on Black colle~e campuses; Black newspapers I renewed int l'r est in ve sc establishment ·of poets-in residences for thL~ poets at southe i n Black c , Ue g es; the flowering of regional "movements" or writing collectives--.3uch as L o sc in New York's Greenwich Village (Yu µ, en , ? I Umbra , etc . ), Clevr •lands s Kara mu House 1 an I are, (Free Lance with Casp·er Leroy J ordan, and Atkin s ), IJowarJ ' s ~ n Croup, the Detroit poets , and Geor [j ia Dougiass Johnson I s home-chased workshops at her home in Washington, .D. C . Not all of thes e developme nt s ~ccurre<l only among Black poets, however, titer~ also were r , c ially mixc, writing communes and eJitorial .staffs • for exampl e, was in r e s ' ence at the ·llre ::1 d Loa[ llriters Conferen c e in Engl. a nd and studi ed [or a while ~n Scotla1 J. .Julia Fields ·, ·Redmond, who won writing awards and published in little magn : ines bet 1c; cn 1960 :rncl 1965, worked with the staffs of the Three Penny Broad lde (SOL thern Illinois University) and Fr e e Lance (Washin g ton Univer s ity). Other Antholo!~ ist), Pattt:rson, Jones ~ts and their outlets were Dumas (Trace, (.!:l'. .1 tim1 Dear,Yimsen), Gloria C. Oden (Urbanit e , Tbe Pol t ry Digest, The 11. lf Hoon), .avers (Kenyon Review, Antioch Review , �Ohio PuL•Lry nevie1✓), Spell man (Kul ·J1U r, l·Ietronon1e, Umbr;i), Ho.ne e \-lilliarns ( Blue a nd Gold), and Audn~ Lord e :c 1ture) . Marguret Dan.wr published ..1 in 195 2 .nd in 1956 b ecame an assistant series of poems in Po e try ~1gazi1 editor. Of th C'S( ' par,.1llc.>l movements an d c.lev ' loprnents , one oLher deserved specia] not i ce. Though not on p, r with th(: lloward Poets, the Umbra Work shop parti- cipanls aided in the productioi sixties . and distribution of Black poetry in the e a rly Ce11 t c red in New York ' s Gree nwich Villa ge , t he Umbra poets were founded by Tom Dent t'New Orlean s ) , Calvin Hernton (Chattanoo ga) and David Hend erson (New York) Th e wor ksh op , whfrh also involved artists and ficLiun wri t ers, pub] i:.; he<l th L fj rst i : sue o f it ; Umbra quarterly in 196] . Ot her issues came out in 19611, 1967- iS (an etnt lwlogy) , 1970-71 (tabloid .'.lntholo~y) and 197 L1-75 (Latin Sou who now e c.lit r, the pub issue). Dent f'irn t served as editor nnd llenderson , cn tion f ro m Lc: rL , ley, took over i n 1907. OLl1ers Isl1.we l need, Rolland Sn elUn:,s (nO\•! attracLL·tl to Llie Urnl i~1 .or kshop wer ' , Uorm.:.111 Pritcl1ard , sin . -.: r 1.l! n Chanc.ller , dancer Asetman Byron-, Aski;.1 Tu1 , re) the Pet tl < 1·s on brothers (Charles and \/ ill i.am), painters Gerald Jetckso n etnd I Joe Ovc r :;t rcet, Lenn ox l~ap hael , Du111. s , J:1111cs Thomps n, Julian Bon<l , ·sun-R:._1 , Durem, S e v e Cannon, anc.l .Jr-e Johns o damag·cd ,y two ev ents . t. The promise of the Umbra g-ro up was One was a f..jl u re to µ ri ng a interview · (co nd u c t ed by R:1phaeJ ,lild others) with J~alph El l b.on . · The sc con <l, re s ultin13 in a sl'l·io us spl it a1,on1: m<.:mb er s , was :t co nt rover 1;ia l anti- '. c nnedy po em by Dure111. P r es i<l e1lt K,2 nncc.l y had just be en as: ,.tss in atc<l when the ). rcr,1 piec e was approved by the edi tor s . Las te. 11 kidna1 Hernton, Dent ind Hend e rson decide ,! t !1e: poem (letter) was in bad Ot h er :, , etccorclin . to llenderson , wanLec.l the poern printcc.l and subHeq uently l C<l Pri r ha rd, wl <> was t n •asurer , threatening ltim \Jith bodily h arm ," ~ - - - -- -- -- - -- - - - - - r/ \I l �Th e in c i dent is vie\1c d a s one of tile n c a r -- fa uil 1.Jl o1vs to th e Umh ra f rour. Later Sncllinr, s, the l'attersons, unJ ot l t·s 1w11t Uptown to 11ork with ke Jones' s nc11ly formed Black Arts ltepertor : u n<l Sch o ol. The \/orl ~ of Uml~ c ontributors ran ~,· from thl' occa s ional J.l\ d l1umorous verse of Juli n i.1 13ond Lo · th e serious cor.11 , ntaries Henderson, Hernton, Dent, and Thompson, alon ~ 1,ith work of oth r "Village" poeL (Newark), and Joans (Cairo, IJ 1inois). ,f Durem. Poems by Du rem, 1lso app e .irs in the early :mthologie s such as G.C. Oden, Spellman, Jones Some are also represented in two later anthol og ies: !~lack Though racia l cons c iusness is not b 1 n tantly evid e nt in the s e poets, th e protest ts t Le re, l Fj c ciall re (1968) ,lll d The Poetry o f Black America (1973). th e wor k s by Durem, llenJerson, and Hernton. Umbra r,w<le clear i ts t wofol d aim in an inaup,ural issue: Umbra e xists to p rovi<l 1.2 a vehicle for those outspoken and youthful writer ! who pr e s e nt aspects of social and racial realit y which m, y be called ' uncommercial' but cannot witli any honesty be ,· onsidered n on-essential to a whole and healthy socL e ty We will not print trash, no matter how relevantly it d ea ls with r tee, social issues, or anything els e . Dent viev1:., "Love" a s a "blue t um" lurking "icily" in the darkness. Henderson sees a "Downtown-no , Uptown" and a s k s : Am I i1 llis 11 Sketches th e wrong s lum.? of Ila 1 lcm" in'c lude the "GREAT WHITE HAY" .:incl a small Illack boy c o nfusing the m,J on a 1 \ the sun. 14, wa s horn j_n Seattle. Durem, who ran ,may from home at age lfuile still in his mid-teens he joined the Navy and b e came a member of t 11C International . Brigades clurin r, the Sµanish Civil Har. Hu ghes tried to fi1 I a publi . 1H~r for his hims c, l f Ourem saiJ: "1-n1 c•11 I was t , \✓ Orks ar, early as 19511. ye ars olJ I u s ed my fists. Of When I was �thirt y-five , I u sed the pen. I hope to liv e t o use th e rnncltine gun .... The white North-American has been drunk for four hundrC'd years." His work does not have th e finish of a Hayden , r Drook.s , but he provides an exciting shot in the arm for this period of Black poetry (thou nh Bremen's reference to him as th e ·11 first bla ck poet" is unwnrranted). (1971) contains many of Dl• Take No Prisone rs ·cm ' s me1.1orabl1• poems and a "Posthumous preface," . sir,ned in 1962 althou z h he died in 1963. "Hhite People got Trouble, Too" surveys the plight of whites following t 1c Depression, recession and war, and notes t], t such an intrusion i.n the dI"fai rs of whites does not equal slavery . A te r all, life (or history) calls for One tooth for one to Most of Dur rm 's poems ,re short, h. atirical, ironical and musical as in "Broadmindc~ d" : Some of 1y best friends are white boys . \lhen I i.eet 'em I treat 'em just tlt same as if they was people. lie writ es of Illuck h s tory , slavery, social inequities, prison life ·, and ·••pale poets " to 1!1om 11e co . r esi; ·s 1lis i ,· no t critica l sta nd ards . S tra1 0 ely, T. , "A Gold \foLch to tho FH I l· ,m .L! 11 · · 1 y o 11s.cure " to -lilce t vJ 111.te ·· su r E1.c1.ent :lo Priso n e rs does not include "Award"·- - ,, (who .1as followed me) for 25 years--w!tich traces the agent's surveiJJ rnce or• the narrator t:hrough the "blind alleys" o[ Hexico, the hi f~ h Sierras, t lr violen ce and mayhem. ~ Philharmonic , L . A., Mississippi, anJ other places of nut it is not ...ill over, th e ;:q~ent is told, for in the end I may be fo 1 LmJing y1,u ! �Tiw work o[ Village poets \·JaS hir~h.Li~hted by the versc1t .Lle .ind prolific Jones (l.:1ter Immnu Amiri Baraka) , Spcl.lm:rn, anJ Teu Joans . Before his new " Black " stance of the mid and late sixties, Jones published in little avant garde ma;;:.iz i nes (editing several hi1.iself) and was iuentif ied as the 1:1ost talentcu l.\lr1ct . a1,1onr, the Deats . Suicide Note (19ol) anJ · T]1i.; liis two volumes , Preface to a THenty Volume D~ad Lecturer (1964) , show him as a hip , ar r ogant, mu sically-involved cat \ti t h a toup,h in t elligence . llis influences at the time, as h e noted , were Lorca , l.Jill i am C..irlus Wil l iams , l'ound, and Charles Olson . He is an auventurer in style with ,in el l iptical and sometimes sacrilig i ous pos tu re . poets : Such an aesthetical phi1 ;ophy was shared by - the lllack !!ountc1iri George Oppen , Robert Cree l , Uobert Duncan , Denise Levertov , Paul Blackburn , fal\1:1rd Dorn , Ginzbcrr,, Corso , G.:1ry Snyder and t\ichael i'lcClure . · A music critic for such magazines as D01mbeat , Jazz anu Metronome, with an interisc interest in Black music, Jones nurtured a careful ear for music in his ver~;e . fe nsible . Hence , the belief that Jones "sudden l y became Black" is · i nJe.,.. In "Lines to Carcia Lorca " --the g r ea t Spanish poet-- he uses a sect:{.on of a " Negro Sp i ritual " as an inscription . The poem is typical of Jones I s ability to 111erge nume r ous ideas , symbols and images in one poem. Lorca • ~ Jeatl 1 is lamen t ed as J ones u ses ~xcerp ts fr om t he Ca t ho l ic mass , r ef l <dcts on his childhood , explo res . mythology , gathers bits of poetic confctti frori1 nature and hears Lorca " lnu.r,hin~ , laughing"--maybe mocking his killers-Like a Spanish ~uitar . In "Epi s trophe" he finds peering out the window "such a static- reference . " So he wj i,hes "some weird lookinµ animal " woudl come by . In the ti.tle poeu1 from hi ., firsL volume--Preface--he ai.ljusts to the wa 21 " r,round opens up" �anJ takes him in whenever he g·oes out to "walk the Jo~ ." Life is as monotonous as the "static reference" of \1inc.l t)\v watching : Nobody si.ngs anymore. Joans, another Villa~e poet closely identified with the 13eats, published Beat, All of Ted Joans (19G1), and The llipsters (1 961 ). poem fror:1 this peci.ocl i s "The . 38 " with its ledgcd), Whitman and the Beats . His most widely known ebts to Hughes (whom he acknO\v- llc:!g innin 6 every line with the phrase "I hear , " Joans nar r:i tes the murder of an 11 11 faithful wife and lover by her husband: I h ear i t comin;-~ f:isLer tlrnn sound the . 38 I hear it cumin :~ cl nser LO my sweaty forehead the . JB I hear its \ c.!itc.l whistle the . 38 I hear it ~lve off a stc;1mlike noise \.'.hc~n it cuts throu r;h my swea t the . 38 I hear it P lnge my skin :is it enters my head t he . 38 I hear cleat 1 saying , l.'_· llo, I ' m here ! As a group, Joans , Jone~: and Spe 1 l man can be ..: .1refully compared to the llow:inl Poets. They are in the s.:ime age ranze and the:lr themes and interests are ~ < similar. y tJ) o-r.lu.J. Spellman, like Jones stuc.l-Led at Howard University and lrns a~cd as (f'vV disc jo ,·key ~ Fl r.:1dio stati o ns. have ap ·, c.!ared in .!S_ iJ chur, The l His hook reviews articles on jazz which_ e pubi i c ;rnd The Nation . I n ] 96(1 his fi r st volume of poems, T 11e Beautiful lays, was published . a book-lenr:th stu t y of Black ;ic (Four L tves in the Be Bop euslness , 1966) l !H lie has also published In " Zapata & the l.nndlord 11 tlw "Lllief," th ,· spe:iker, is running in "circles:•·• The poem js a country. ln humorous Lreatm e1 ': of revo]u i on.:.iry stru;:gle in u Latin American 11 \/l1aL j i; IV Spel inn applies a similar Lechnique . This time a cat "Ii .id es in your f .:t CL! , " in _J ,e corners of the mouth and in " tl1.:.it :.;tr.:.inge canyoll" uellind the eye :, . 11 /\ T: • [L of \!islics" is expccimental Ln its use �of ja:3;,, e J lines nnd shifts between the tan~ible and surreal 110rlds . In Lhe end we are tolJ that home is where 11e make our noise. Another po e t who j o li'ts this "irrevent ' 1 generation is the BL!at inno v,tt:or Bob Kaufman of the San Francisco nay area. sid L!;~ f rom ferlinr,het:ti ' s City Li 2, hts nooks: Hi s first 1.;orks came out as broaJ"The abominist Vianifcsto, " "Second April " ancl " Docs the Secret Hind Whisper . " Knufman ' s poetry , con- veyinE'., protest throur,:h understat .:;m ent a 11d iron y , is marked by unusual and surreal i 1;1ag c:;. His books arc So] itu ,vs Cro\!(l e J 1v i.th Lm1 0 .l i1w:,s (1965) and Golden SnrJine ( 1967). Solitudes \·!il S publislll'J in Fr e nch, "i.111111eJL1t e l y " achicvinr, " a notoriety rare amonr, hooks of poetry hy fo r eign pot·t s . " Sardine) . (j 1 ck c t, Leading French magazines r e viewed tl1e book, publishers noteJ, aJ<ling that "Today in Frar:e Kaufman is considered amon13 the greatest · Negro-Americo.n poets alive in spite of his continuing exclusion from.American anthologi t•,,, both hip & a cademic." l:aufotan ' s themes are racial memory . ("African Ur e am") , jazz ("Walking Parker Home, " " West Coast Sounds--1956 . ") other poets and writers ("Hart . .. Crane, " "Ginsberg , " "Camus: I wa·nt to· Knm./'), incarceration (a series of 34 in .J.:lil Poems), history, rnytholo~y- an<l religion. In "The Eye :.; too" he says Hy eyes too h~vc souls tha t r ag e .. .. A "Cincophrenicpoet" meets \vith "a.l 1 five" of himself where a vote is taken to "expel" the "weakest" o ne who resents it and soars over all limits to cross, spiral, and whirl . Some\1lwt typical of Ko.ufman ' s elliptical constructions and wacky imaGery is / "Beavy \later lllues": _______________________- -- .__ - �The r.:idio ls te .:i chin g r,1y g oldfi s h Jujitsu I am in love with a sk inJlver \Jh o sJ C'e ps undenn.1ter, l ly nei g hbors are drunl:en linguists, & I speak butt 0 rfly, Consol i d:ited Edison is ti n e atening to cut off my brain, The postman keeps puttlnF s ex in my mailbox, I put my eyes on a diet, tears are gaining 1 too 111uch wei .1t. In this [orm nnd sl ·le, Kau , cm is not nly rel n t c> J to the Jl e :1t s but to Jones, Joans, Spellman, At dns, and the {!J'V: ec young Los An g eles poet I~. Curtis Lyl e . Among the old , · poets wh 1 did not ..: ome into prominence until the 196Os were Ve sey (Columbus, Ohio), llolman (I-linter City, Mississippi), Mc!!. \fri ght (Princeton, new Jersey), O'Hi g gins (Chicngo), Duckett (Brooklyn), Atkins (CleveJ.:ind), Emanuel (Nebrask.J.), l{and a ll (Washin g ton, D.C.). The s e po e ts, . and others of their generation, are no 1 similar enough to be labeled a "school" or ' 1movement" but they came of .:ige dud ng the integration push when words Black "identj ty" m l "humanity" e n gendered more philosophical discussion . tlrnn they do toda , . Th es e nre the men who went to Worl<l War·II, oppo_s ed lynching; attende <l nor .l1ern white g rndu.:ite sch ~ols. academic or [>rofessional careers. Most were occasional poets pursuin ~ Ve s ey ns a poet and professional, bridges middle passa : e bet ween African and Afro-America. At Fisk Univ e rsity he studied creal ive writin g under James lfol<lon Johnson, then went on to law scho ol at Ilarvnrd. I Thi le studying at the Sarbonne in Paris some of his poems were publi f· hed, through the inLercession of Richard \ 'ri ght, in the Fr e nch ma gazine . Pr~ser. ce Africaine. Vesey has h , lpetl :;reatly i 11 the interpretntion and �and di ssemination of Ne c ritude. Paul Vesey (birth n a me Samuel All e n) is the name un cl 0 r which h e published hi s bilin ~ual volume of poems: Zahne (Ivor__: Tusks, 195G, Germany). "The Stairc , :l.! 11 is a poe1,1 on whic h Elfenbein Ves e y wor k s with s k i ll an d precision. Ve s ey s ays, "I 1-lOul<l rest my c a se, I think, nn<l l ha t_ o f t;lw :re ~c o in t l i.s l a nd ." (Blues) th e poem studies th e Black pr e di cnment t hrnu.: h Ll1e pl i h t of n man for whom the "st .:i irs mount to hi s eternity." Perh a ps since the rotten floor, remain. Th e 1;1~111 like : isyphus, the :, tnir is , purpos e fully "unending " the "<lrip 1 i. ng fau c et" :111<l th e " c racked ceiling " also is .ioi.n e d by a" 1vin" who lnt r·r goe s " e x.:ilte<l to his worms." Vesey al s o wri : e s an e l eg y for Dyl:rn Thomas (" .l ylan, l-Jh o i:3 Dea J"), i1 pr a i se for Black bas e h..111 1 eg en<l Satchel P<1i g e ("Ame r i. c<1n r.othic"), :mJ a p0\·1c rful piece intcn,ea vin g two differ e nt d eas and tl1e.,1es: one viewin g Lli e univ e rs e anti tl1e mort a lity of man; the oth e r knowing the reality of being Black and called "nigg er" by t\JO adolsecent 1: irls. tribute to Louis An1 s trong . "To Sa tch" is reminisc e nt of To lson' s Speaking in the po l!ln , Sntchel Pni g e s<1ys o ne / morning he is g oinr, to brab a "hand f ulla stnrs, ' throw three strikes to b urn <lown the " he nvens," And look ov er at God <1n<l say li ow about th a t! llolma n's \vork is amo n ;; the f e w entri e s for poetry in Soon, One Morning. But lt e i s .:il so found in other a ntholo ::; i ..:: s. Ile .ias leJ an .:ictive life as a Civil Rights fi g hter (Inf o rn~tio n Of ficer of the Unit e d S t a t es Con~ission on 1 Civil P.i ~hts) editor (AtL n ta Inrp 1irer), writer, nnd teacher. at Chic a g o Univ e r s ity h e I o n sev e ·<11 awards for writing. subject s r a n1;e from compl e x psych c ind e ed hut much ov e rlook eJ . mcdit □ tions \Jhile a stud e nt llolm,111, whose poetic to racial pride, is very good The l e i s ure cl n ss finds clocks "intrude too �early" in "And on This Shore." ·The gene ral indiffer ence .Ls also captured : Across the cups we yawn " Picnic: .:it prival e murders. The Liber a t ed " examines the s hifting unc e rtain.Lti es with leisured southerners must liv e:! . The tensi o n or e veryday southern life lie . underneath the merriment . o f th e picnic grounds wh ·r e me1 rotate the liquor in "dlxle cups" an<l "absently" discuss 1 'civil rights , money and r, oods ." Yet as the "country dark" comes in and they return to sprin'(ered y.'.lrds and " mo rq.\ age<l houses " they do not know they are Privileecd prisoners in a haunted land. Yet this same poet c;in !w ar "Three Brm-m Girls Sin r, inr, " thr oui..;l1 th e "rib s of an u~l y s c hool building ." Celebrating the Black musical past, 1Iol1nan sees them Fuse on pur so und in a shaf t of April light: . . . McM . Wright, now a Federal Di.strict Jud ge in New York , was a Lincoln University poet anJ with Hughes and Cuney edited Lincoln Univ ersity Poets (1954). Il e served overseas in World \for II , later receivinz. law tr a ining at Fprdham. \n1lle h e wa s in th e Arm ; in Wales , he publish ed a v olume of hi s poetr y , From the Shaken Tm-1er (1 '144 ). Ur L13ht on a in the 11 "Th e African Affair " finJs HcH. ;a fari to find out what "Black is . " lie disc.overs it in "prisons,-" devi. 1 s dance ," where " de sc r·t s burn," the Middle Passage, and areas to which "co nsc i e nce cannot 20 . " llis · searc h carries hir.1 deep into Africa where " trad t!rs shaped my father r; pain . " In "Four Odd Dodk.ins for My An 1lyst" one finds that ''o utra r:~d flesh of secret i:;uilt " h:-is come from th e pr ess ures o( " cj rcurns t on,: e " and "n eed . " C Finally, "Wh en You hnve go ne from ✓ rJ Frooms" th e re arc "n e v er blooi:1i ng petals" and "n eve r burnin ~ suns ." Bontemps cnlls O ' lli ~ins a member of the " tribe of wa n<l e rinr, poets ." �J\fter i,t udying with Sterling Brmm at Ilo1vanl, O' Higgins won Lucy Hoten and Julius l~osenwald Fellowships in wriL n .:. Ile l .:ite r served in Hor ld War II, af t er which he co-authored, with llay ,len, Tho Lion nncl The Arch e r 0 ' llicp,ins ' s style is less formal th:1 i e j ( 1 943 ). ther ll olm.:in ' s or Met! . \/right ' s . Ile is closer to Ve.soy, vspecially in poems li ke " Young Poet " ~nd " Two Le :111 Cats " in which ti 10 r :1 -Ln fe l l l ike " rag ~cJ je t s" and made a " grave aloni.;" tho street . The l ean ca t s , runnin~ in "checkered terror " in t o a pool r:- oom , f ln J that a " pu r ple ]Ji lliarcl 1 a ll " 111aLes t ho color scheme explode . Tho much antltolo s i ze cl "V ~.Li.c id e ( 'For l lol :1nc.L.; Glwndhi" ) sees Gandhi. " murdered uprli:;ht in tlte day" and left 11ith h j ,; flesh "openeJ ,mJ d.isplayeJ . 11 llut , li kening CandltL ' s deatl. to J _c-.; us CL i:; t ' s , th ,· n.:cr~1Lor says ~,uch ,1 pcr~;on wh o cr(~atcd tlw " act ul love " knOI ✓: , Lhc Gt 1il.Ly c.: a rry _ his Gandhi ' s "111,1rveluus 11o u11d i; 11 cunta.iu tl1 e s un nnd the seas . 11 d o:1 tlt tn 1: l!oi r r urn.1:; ," Jliff l·LL: 11t , yd: similar , t hese poets sr ,u:~ ht through tl1 c. ir individual voices to Je.11 with man ' s c urrent nnd past hurts . rise Ii i ghcr as he 11 At kins, for example , sm, the " ~; oollcn deep" \J eni 1.;,alkinr, 11 in St!Ction two of " Fan t asie . " A "re s tless exper i 1,L~ntallst wi th a ve ry hi ~h r cr;a rcl for craftEianship , 11 At kins 1✓.'.1S .:i found<-: · of F1·ee l ,nnq:. (1950 ) which !Zivers called the " oldes t bL.1ck-bossetl magazi .1 c around. " 13etween 194 7 and 1962 , Atkins ' s poetry appeared i.n n uniero u s journa l ., a nd other outlets . A few arc Vlc.·w, noloit Poetry .Journal, Minnesota Quarterly, 1/aLed Ear, Calley Sall l'evic.:11 . Hi:.; volu111cs of poetry ..ire Phcn6menr1 ( 1961 ), Psychuvisual Pe rspe~tive for i;usical Composition ( 195 8 ), 'l\10 by Atkins (The Abortionist <1 ,J Tl,c Corpse : Object s (1963 ), and lleret:ofore ( 1968) . as complex as tl 1c poetry itsel f . Two Po e tic Drarnas set to t!usic , 196 3) , ,\tLins ' s ncsthctical ideas nre often An e , r ly trainin r; in music and li t e r a t ure , he s.:iicl in Sixes an, \ Seven:;, tl1 :1 t · he wa s Lrying for " egocentrical phenomenali s m: an ol>jL: c tiv c con ~,t ruct ()f prop c·r:- tic~. to· subs t antia t e effect as object. " He �se.:irchL!S after the "Jesigncd imul1i11i.ll J ll. 11 In " Ni gh t and a Distant Church " he moves " Forwarc.1 abrupt" then "up" L, ro ui~h a se ries of interminiling "mmm" and " ells" with worJs like "wind" anLI "rain." of Tolson' s ability t u mennder amonr, in Atkin s ' s poe:try. 1 There is more tli a n ~e ¥ r,:wco-n.omanf .Jnd Afro-Amer i. ca n traditions l\ut lie is u11iqu c . "AL War" inform s the re.:iJcr tiwt l,eyond the " turninG sea's far foam " th e "epltemera" of a "momen t's dawn" sudden ' d its appe a r . ... 'y' Later , in the same poem , aft " r allusions to lle 1ingway, the silence sp lits: Listen a moment--!Sh! Listen--! that hurry as of a s hore of fugitives. Once A.tki11s's teclmique i. s un dL: rstooc.l , lto1-1ever , his · poetry can be enjoye:J for its witty, wacky, off-be .tt, philosophical musings . In " Irritable Sonr," he inverts , r e verses and c o _volutes regular s y ntnx: Or sa y upo1 1 return Coron.:iry f a c!well Leav c!S me J e . Dare, sir? Ugh! Ile nay'd Tomorrm,, t )lito rrow in tod ay? Atkins writes of the fi 1. e arts, Jolin Brown's raid on Harper ' s Ferry, Black heroes ("Christophe"), - ------- he "Trainyard at Nir,ht," the Cleveland lake front , and otlter subjects wli i. t , fit his style and int '-' rests. At another e,1d of the stylistic nnJ thein, tic pole is Randall, a libraria11 b y trainin g and tn.1 tlc who, as we shall sec in our discussion of poets of the late sixties , fip,ures proi..inently in the c.lcvclopment of an audience for the �Hew BL.1ck Poetry . RanJall also serveJ in \fo r] d War II a n<l wr lt es pucms about the war, love, violence, nrt and th~ Dlack presence. liis \✓ ell known " llooker T. and W. E.B.,'' digesting the Washing-DuLois controversy, was seen by DuBois The poem fir st appeared in Midwes t Journnl, 1952. and this pleased Randall . Randall h as also 1-. .rit: t en about and t ra nslated Hussian poetry . With Hargar e t Danner he co-authored Poem Counter plic•m (19Gfi) and his Citi e s Burnin g appeared in 196 8 . (19 71) pulls together Ra ndall ' s poems from " four More to Rem emhc· decades. " llis work has been pubJished in Llmura , lleloit Poetry Journal , and oth er places . Ile initiated the BroadsiJe Series (posters) ln 1965 with h i s own "Dall a d of Ilirmingh ..im , " !'he series p, rew qt1icklv, l nying t:hc fau n - dation for his Broadside Press, t ,1e most sig nifi can t Black press in Amc.ri cn . Randall ' s work of this period h a: . the st:,:unp of formality . lle 1vr ites in ballads and fr ee vers e form:. bul he has n tightness that will be relaxeJ in the late sixties anJ seventies. mental, of a land " Lit by ;:i "Lega c y " chronicles the hurt, physical and bloody moon . " Bu t the on e who is " mo ul<l.e<l .fro1i1 this clay" vows that My tears redeem my'tears . "Persp ect iv es " r e casts the t ime- immemorial th Pme of "we only p:1ss t his uay once . " There is no need t o complain a b ou t discomfort, the poem s:i ys, becDus e even th o mountains--in their hughe ne ss --nre dissolved " away" by the seas. Ra ndall ,~ Pacific Ep Ltaphs a re r ecollec tions of the wa r. are epi.:\rammatic and haiku-like. The shor t pieces t,ere is a poignant one ( " Iwo Jima" ): I Like oil of ~exas My hlood [_;ushe<l here . Prominen t in a gro up of Detroit poe t s (tta r ga ret Danner, Oliver La Crone, Naomi Lonr. Nadgett, James Thomp son anJ o thers), l~an<l a ll often e urnesh es himself �in .::i sem;e of personal injury ov er his peo pl e ' s history. This t e nd e n cy , and a debt to the Black poetic traditi. 011 (especially S t erU.n:; l\rOl-111) , can be seen in "Th e Southern Road " 1vl1erp tlt~ "L L1cL river' ' serv,'. ;:; <1s a " bo undar y to hell." The country is "l1a ug ht y as , star" i\,1_J I set fur lh upon the southern ro ..id . Tbt2 vai:ie t y of sLy l es i.!nd th emes found in these poets i s found also in yo un g~i: po et s of th e i r- ze n0r a tion : Patterson , Addison , Browne , Re Jmo 11<l, Of these Jay \fright, Anderson , Hernton, and Poli t e co1ae readily to rninJ . poets, Pat t e rson is particularly int eres tin g . !!is " Black all Day " yielded from it s second line tile title for T Sau How Bl ack 1 lbs. Patt e rson , a n oti1er· Lincoln University poet, 110n an award for his poetry whil12 still eraduate. ,ll1 under- A na tive New Yorker , h e studied political sc i ~nc e and Englislr, and has \-/Orked as a counse lor for delinquent boys and an English Instructor . Patterson sa id in Six es and Sevens that his first poem was written during World War II as the "o u t- growth of a Cain-and-Abel conflict without .the. dire consequ e nc<:! s ." "Thr ee Vi ews of D,l\,JI " includes the " silken shawl of ni gli.t ," t he qisappearance of "cor ner specters " and the " splittin~" of " stillness ." The musical " Tla Tla" presents free verse spiced with alliterative l a n gua i~e of landscape , season and na ture. Sit tin g " Alone •' ' the protagonist of the poem "" keeps poems warm" as he watch es over the sleeping lovers as well as t he "numb " 1-1ho wake and 11eep . Patters o n did not publi sh ,. lJOok until 1969; and its titl e , 26 Hays of Lookin p_ .:i t A LL.1ck Man, shO\·JS th e influence of inwg ist s and modernists (see \./all.ace Stevens' s J J lh1ys of Lookin13 a t A Black llird) . It also r eveals much abo ut th e Black po e t ' s ability to for ge and merge his academic tr a ining �\•lith his O\m in<ligenism . The sp eaker in "Bl ac.k a ll Day " i s " luoke<l " into "rage and sh.:ime " by a wh it e passerby; but he VO\lS th a t "tomorrow " I'll do as muc h for hi m. Patterson constructs a solid poetic foundation, " s tone on stone," as he pa ints preci.sc portra.i,ts of "the brave who do not br eak" when provoked ( "You Are the Drave"), or the "lost, the "tireles s and r.:i~ing soul, " ("Envoi"), In the Hork of Patterson, and the younger group of th e period, one finds anger 'l? or protest, though the genera l tendence is toward experimental verse Hhich pinpoints th e surest and richest human feelings . jects more of ten than not r ~f l ec t thi s fact. As Bl a ck poets, their sub- BuL v:1riety is certainly not shunn ed by them. Neither is variety avoided by th e ir sisters of the pen and im.:ige : Black wo1nen who have been an identifi ab le aspect of the long tradition of Afro-American Poetry . Phyllis Wheatley was th e most well kno\m female poet until the mid-ninet eenth century when Fr.:inces Harper took up th e· bonncr of fame though not of skill . A later new mood was evidenced in th e work of An ge lina Grimke, Georgia Douglais Johnson (the most famous poet after Frances Harper), Gwendolyn Bennett , Ann Spencer, Alice Nelson Dunbar, Helene Johi1son (a young spark in th e Renaissance), .Marg-a ret Walker , nm! Gwend ol yn Brooks, -<"'" Between th e forties and sixties, the n4ber of publi s hin s women poets incr~ase<l. Poetry in America has remain ed unde>r the domai n of whites (men); and since women in general have no t had th e ran ge of opportunities open to 1,1en , certainly· th e Hlack woman went the worse way of that flesh! poets of the period still remains impressive: But th e li s t of Black women Gloria C. Oden (Y onkers, New York) , Nanina Alba (}~nt z omery), Margaret Danner (Pryorsburg, Ken tucky), Mari Ev,rns (Tol edo) , Julia Field s (Uniontm-m, Alabama), Vivian Ayers ,'J) \ \' �(Chester, South Carolina), Audr~ Larde (New York) , Naon1i Lon~ Mad gett (No rfolk), Pauli Murray (Baltimore), Sarah Wright (l!itipquin, Har yland ), Nay Hill er (\-Jashint;ton , D. C. ), and Yvonne Grc;io ry ( Nashvill e ), amon;:; the dozens of occasional -1n<l re8ional names. In 1952--two years .1[ l e r llr-0-oks won the Pulit ze r Prize--G . C. O<len, who uses her initiuls " as C:,1en<lolyn .1 Hay of beins anonymous," n :: c<Jivcd a John Hay Whitney Opportunity Fellm,sh ip for The Naked frame: A Love Poem and Sonnets . She lws worked as a senior editor of a major publ i shing house and currently teaches Engli sh in Baltimore . In the fifties, she joined the Village poets in llew York where she r ead her poetry in coffee shops, reviewed books and wor ked on a novel. Iler poetry has also appea red in The Saturdav Rev i e1, and The Poetry Diges t. tlo tin g that she appeals "primarily to the intellect," Hayden (l:-1lei.doscope) compared lier to Cullen, adding that she "is concerned with poetry as an ar t expressing what is meaningful t o everyone, not just a vehicle for protest a11d special · pleading." Although G. C. Oden uses a variety of forms, her poems are usually crisp and intellectually tart . "The Carousel" in an empty park rides me rou1,d and roun l, and the <lark drops for her as she gleans her surroundings with explicit word-choices: "sight focusses shadow." In "Review front Staten Island " a n ti it em ·. in the view is "spewed up froni wa t er. Luter we are tol<l th at "One ge·. ts us ed to dying living" and "even the . rose disposes of summe r." He hear the dislocated woman in " ... As ,~hen emotion too far exceeds its cause " (phrase from Elizebeth Bishop). Re tr ea ting from hvartbreak, she a <l mits th a t she to o knew "love's celestial venturing . ": I, t oo , once trusted nir thnt plunged me down. Yes, I! �J·!anina Alba is simil.:1rly t erse and poir,nant . The Parchments (1963) and The Parchments II were published before her death in 1968 . She taught English, Husic and French in puulic schools and was for a l ong time a member of the Eng,lish Department at Tuskegee L,stitute. "Be Daed~1lus 11 makes use of r.r eek Hy.thol ogy to draw a subtle and analogy between Black and Icarus's "unwise" actions. Death ·cor,1es as a II t ax " for "parching" the sun: Suns can be hrutal thinr~s. "For Malcolm X' ' recalls "History's stoning." Mar ga ret Danner is similarly sensitive. 13orn in Detroi t, she has spent the greater part of her life in Chicago where she was one t.i111e edit o r of Poetry. )!er poems in that publication in 1952 prompted th e J oh n llay \,/h itney Fellowships Committee to offer her a trip to Africa. And in 1962 · th e literary group with which she identified in Detroit was the subject of a special issue of the Ilulletin of Nep,ro History. She has published four volumes : Impressions ~f African Art Forms in Poetry (1962), To Flower (1962), Poem Counter~oem (with Dudley Randall, 1966) and Iron Lace (196 8). A former poet-in-residence at Wayne State University, she f_o unJ ed Boone House, a lively center for the arts in Detroit, and a similar cultural program in Chica go: Nologoriya 's. She employs African t enninology and theme; but she can also writ e deli ghtfully in other veins as in "The Elevator M:.rn Adheres to Form." wings" the elevator reminds her of "l~cicQ co art ." The "tan ma n who · Struck by his ele ~a nce--and "Godspeedings"--the~he wonders wh y so intelligent and artful a "tan" man ha s to run elevators . It is a meticulous poem, subtlety exposing th e li e that education gualifies you. She finally wishes the elev~tor man '.s services cound be employed - -- - - - -- - - - toward liftin n them above their crippling storm. - - �Far From Africa: Four Poens is .::i sheet of sir,hts , sounds and suggestions car r ying the reader across "mo ult ing days " l n "t h eir twilig h t ," ( " G:1rnishinr; the Aviary"), "lines " of " classic tutu ," ( " Dance oE the Ab.:ikweta"), "eyes lowered" from " c.!espair, " (''The Visit of the Professor of .t\cstl c tics") and a bee.I of ;: rL'.cn moss , spurklini:; as a beetle, tfori 1wans ls an o ti1 <: r kind of transitionalist--shiftinr, from Civil !Ugh Ls poetry of the enrly phase to, finnlly, a more obv i.ous " Bluel:" stance of the lnter period . lier I Am A Clack \Joman Has not publis h ed until 1970 . She has worked as a civil service en ployee, tv sh01v hostess .'.lnd producer , nn<l instructor of v1rltin13 . Sometimes referred to as a spiritual, if 110L · t echnical, heir to Gwenc.loly1i' Brooks , M.'.lr i Evnns employs irony , suspension, a n <l rich folk idioms in a free verse s t yle . " Th e lZebel , " pondering liis death and funeral, wonders i f ,.rt~/ / Curiosity seekers want to know uhether she has really clie<l or just uants to cnuse " Trouble: . . . . " Tiler~ ir; humor and satire in ' \nicn in r,ome " as t he poe t i n t er] aces .(in the manner of Vesey ' s "A Homent , Please " ) t wo <liffcrent conversations . · The ti 13lack ma i d " Hnrrie cl cur ," is allo~1ecl to ·cat "whatever " she l:Lkes .. Alterna tin£; the 1Haid ' s silen t response , with t:lie •reci t:.::ition of a me nu of the 111idJle class environment ( " Rome " ), the poem incid,•ntally records th e traditional soul food items which the uaicl craves. "The Emancipntion of Gcorge-llcctor" ( " the colo r ed turtle" ) shmvs a growing impatience with one-step-at-a-time social chanr,e policy . The t urtle used to stay in his " shell" but n oH he pecks out, extends his arms and legs , and talks . an<l senti1ncntal. Bu t this s;:ime poet can wnx phLlosophical " If there be Sorro1/ ' it should be for the Lhin ;:s not yet dreamed , re:alized or done . Ad<l to these the 1Jithholding of love, love �"restrained." In "Shrine to wh.:it should De" an audience is asked to "sing" songs to "nobility," .:ind "Rightousness." The children should bring "Trust," the women "Dreams," tlt e old men "c onstancy ." Ironic.:illy the: a udience i s tolJ to i gnore tears that fall like a "crescendo," and constantly as "a · so ft black rain." Iler tribute to Gospel singers is telling in " ... And the Ole! Women Gathered." One cannot - (despite "Rome") escape one's self, the poet says, as s he notices that the "fierce" and "not melodic " music lin ge r ed on · ven as "we ran. 11 Julia FielJs, truly sensitive spirits , studied at Knox Colle ge in Tennessee, in En~lanJ and Scotland, and has to.ught in hi gh school and . c olle ge . Her work appeareJ in Umbra, }Gssachusetts Review and other journals. Alon g with M:ir ga ret Halk.er, Tom Dent, Alice Walker, Pinkie Gord on Lane, and Spcillmm1 she is among the few good Black poets who now voluntarily live in tl1e South. Her first book, Poems, was brou~ht out by Poets Press in 1968, tl1e same year · she received a National Council on the Arts grant . She is substm1tially represented in R. Baird Shurnan's Nine Black Poets (196 8) and her East of Moonlight was published in 1973. . She also writes short stories and plays. Iler main poetic subjects are racism, death, love, violence and history . "The Generations" come and zo and in bet1vcen there are "The wars. 11 · i\nd in bet~,een them are the seasons, flowers, "lavender skies, 11 dawns, " Sombre seas, 11 and the "embryonic calm. 11 "Arrdv a rk" has achieved 11 fame " since "Malcolm died and the po e t muses: Looks like Malcolm helped Bring attention to a lot of thin gs We never thou ght about before. She a Gain salutes this martyr in our ar;ony. 11 11 for Malcolm X11 whose 1 ' eyes we re mirrors of In "No Time for Poetry 11 the reader is advised that midni ght is �not time to bes e0ch on e 's muse: t oo much " calm." th e "spirit" is "too l agr, inz. " a nd there is But the morning is id eal sinc e it carrie s "vibra tions of laughter" and ha s no "oranr,e -white mists." As a "woman," l .i. st e nin g near the "broken-hin ged door" at a man talk o f wa r ("I Heard A Young Nan Snyi ng"), the narrator " somehow pl a nn ed on living ." And th e "bright ~l a r e of th e 11 eon world" s e nds " t.•;;1s - words burs tin g fr e e" in "Madness One Monda y Ev enin f~ •" Pa uli Murr ay and Sa rah Wright are sometimes poets who also write other things. Pa uli Murr ay pur s ued tra ining fo r law \,Jhi J e s ite \va n academic awards and fell011 s hip s f or h e r wr ·_tin g . A Civil IU:,:hts pi oneer , she publi s hed one volu me of v erse (Da r k Tes til:1ent, 1969 ) a nd a f am il y hi story (P r oud ~,hoes ; 195G ). In "Without Narne," she i s rev ealed a s a fo rma l but exc e ll ent cr af t sma n. Ther2 are no names f or tru e feeling; but let the "flesh s i ng nn th ems t o .i t s ::i r r i val. " Sarah \lrl ght, known as a novelist (This ChilJ 1 s Go nn a Li ve ), co- a ut hored Gi ve Me A chllJ in 1955 with Lucy Smith. Ab out P,l ac k writ e r s s he said , ln 19 .(1 1, ·"Ny mott o i s tell it like it damn sure is. 11 "black outlines in living flesh." and ~raffle l i ghts. In 11 \./indow Pictu res " s h e s ees "Urgency" views relationship between .driv e r s " God " is "thanked" th a t th e c a r s tops so th e pa s senge r can " g lory " a whil e in th e "time-bitt e n pun c tu a ti on." Of th e " pa usi.:! ." Vivi a n Ayers, th e <l aught e r of a blricksmitl1, attend ed Bar ber~ Scotia Coll ~ge (Concord) a nd Bennett Coll ege (Green sboro) ,,here he r maj o r int e rest s wer e dr ama , music a nd da nce. She pu bl is hed a volume o f poems ( Spi ce o[ Dawns ) and an allegorical drama of'f r ee<l on a nd the s pace ai;e (ll awk), pe rf o r med a t th e Univ e rsity of llouston' s Educationa l Te l ev ision St a tion . Curren Ll y , s he live s ln llous ton where s he ecl-Lt s . " I nsum ta neous " .::i quarterly j ourn a l, ,\de pt . feature s a man being " s tt1r ried" by the bolt of "cr os s -firing ene r gies " an d g r a bbed up jn a blaze r eso na nt as a million ha ll e lujas-- ... ,.· �A r.1an inhabits another nwn who , <lyin z , r,as ps f a intl y : " Ny god - -this is God ... 11 Similar and differ en t is N.:10mi Lon;~ l-!a d13e Lt , who mo v eJ to Detroit f ro1.1 Vir g inia in 19!16 to teach at a hi gh school. from Wayne St~ te Universi t y . She holds a Master's Jegree Associa ted with th e Detroit e roup of poets, she h as published four volumes : Son~2s to a Phantom Nir,htin 0alc (1941), On e in th e ttany (1956) , Sta r by Star (1965 , 1970), and Pink Ladi es in the Af t ernoon (1972) . Currently she teoches English at !:astern Nichigan Un i versity and runs the newly established Lotus Press. projects 1•1 as Deep ltivers: A Portfolio : One of its first 20 Conter•lJh)L1i:-v 13lnck America n Poet~; (19 7L1), Hhich includes a te.ichcrs ' guide prepared by the poet . Ed itor s for Deep lUv ers include Leonard P . Andrews , Eunice L . Howard, and Gladys l-1. Rogers . The 20 poster poets are Paulette Childress White, Jill \iitherspoon , William Shelley , G. C . Oden , Naomi Nadgett , P.itter son , La Crone, Pamela Cobb , Pinkie Gordon Lane , Etheridg e !~nig ht, R,rnd a ll , Hayden , Thomps on, 11a·r;pr_ct Walk.er , June Jordan , Gera l d W. Barrax, Audre Larde , Redmond, Michaels . · Harper and l~aufman . .. Naom i Hadgett 1 s " Simple" ("For Langs t on l!Lq~h c~ ) is reali s tic a lly humorous. ~imp le sits in a bar, \vi!n tin g to tal k t o someone, when h e is approached by a hand - out scqker who n eeJs to·change his c loth es " but my l a n ' lady ' bolted the door . " Joyce will tap "impa tientl y " o.nJ leave th e bat· and Simple woncler~ng 1Jhat " he \lante d to say. learn tlwt o[ 11 " a ll the de.iths " thi s one is th e "sur es t. In "Mortality " ue 11 Some deaths .1re merely " pc.ice " but vultur es " re cor, niz e " th e "sini: l e mo rt.:il thin g " that hold s on to lif e nnd th ey wai t huu ga ril y for the time ~1en hope s tarts staggering . Han must come to gri ps with th e thln zs of this wo rld, we arc told in �" The r.ccl :oning ": And why and how and wh at, and som('timcs even i.f . Poems f r ont Trinity : women and humans . 11 ( On e cha r ac t e r has been bese i ged by " d r eam and · dream ni:;ai n" 4 11 ) a nd a n:1ked day "cor~o d es th e silv e r dream " bu t the mu si c will not "c ease to shiver . 11 1 A Dream Sequence convey uncertainties and fears of ( 11 18 11 ) . "Af t er " is a lamentntion for " mortals " \-Jitltout \1iu g s 11 to fly awny f r o1,t th e " p u rp l e sadness " of night . is 11 ,\nd " Poor lzcnaldo 1 1 deaJ and gone 1-1\terever people go 1 ' wit en they "never loved a song . 11 e v en " hell " 1,1ust !tave " music of u sort . 11 But Finally sculpted , like the otltcrs , the poet,1 turns to more sorrmv near the end . Ren;iJdo, t ·h o.u r,h de ad, is "still unrest in:: ." AuJrc Lorde ' s vt0rk reflects skill and control. ln the early ~.ixtics she wrote : I am a Negro 1·Jo1aan and a p oe t- -a l l my realm of choice . t hree things stand uuLsiJe Hy eyes have a part in my seein~ , my breath in by breathing , al l that 1 am i n Hho I am . -love are of my people . All who 1 w,:is not born on a farm or in a forest , but in the cen t re of the largest city in the world-a me111ber of tlte ltuman race he1.trnecl in by stone , m-1ay ·from earth ~md sunlight . l~ut what is in my ·_ blood and sldn of richness , comes the roundabout jo u rney fr on i\ frica throurh sun islands to a stony co;:ist , and these ar c the gifts through \lhich I sing, t hrough which I see . This is the kno1,1 ledgc of the sun , and of hm1 to love even where there is no sunlight . This is the knowle<li;c and the richness 1 shal.L r; ivc my children proudly , as a strenr; th a g ainst the less ol.lv:i,ous forms of narrmmess �, ~ // Audr e Ln r cl c thus 2, ivcs a balnn,ceJ account of hcr" self as a ,mm:in, Black a,·. anJ poet. '--"' '{-<-'. ,' i. And all these tb,;i,ngs she hanc.lles quite \lell in her poc•try-- on page anJ in the air. She has published thr.:.>. c volumes: The First Cities (1968), Cal>lcs to Rn ge (1970) and From a Land where other Peopk tivc (1973), which was nominated for a :fational Book Award. reflects Oi1 In her early poetry she "Oaxaca" (in Hex ico) where the "land moves slow ly" under the ''carvint drag of wood." The drudging fielc.l work goes on while the hills .:ire "l>rcwing thunder" and one can observe All a man's strength in his sons.' young arms .... "To a Girl who knew what side Iler Brend \vas Buttered on" dcs c r il>es the girl as a "catch of bright thunc.ler" apparently guarded l>y (and guardian of) bones. Ordered to leave the bones, she watches as they ris e like "an ocea n of straH"an<l trample the one who orders her "into the earth." "forth in the moonpit of a virgin . " The "N,;1mph 11 is brought In "How can I Love You" the unwanted lover "comes like a thin binl"--unlike th e magnificent Phoenix bir,l of mytholo~y--later to become "great ash." No wonder, the speaker confirms.; that your sun went dO\vn. The "Ho on-ninded the Sun ... " decrees that The light that makes us fertile shall make us sane. And we hear that the "year has fnllen"in 11 Fathcr 1 the Year •.. " Audre Lorde's . work cuts sharp paths of in~ight and light across the stealtl1ing ignorance and diffusion around her. "AnJ Fall shall sit in Judgment" examines love, concluding that "in all seasons" it is false, but the same. A much-ncr,lectcd poet is May Hiller, of \fashin ~ton, D.C., ay-d \,horn Cwcnclolyn Brooks ackno\1 lc<l r,cs as " excellent and long-cclcbratc<l" (Introduction, ----- - - - - -- - - - -- -- - - - -- �Th e Po Ltry of Dl acl ~ America ). Jliss Brooks al s o l.:rn1ents llay Miller ' s a bsence amo n ~ t hose an t ho l ogized . Her work c a n be fo und in t hree volume s : I nt o t he Clear in g (1 959 ), Poems (] 962) , a n d she ls on e o( tl1rC' c roe t s r ep r esen t e d i n Lyri cs o f Th ree Women (1964). Curr ently a memb er of t l1c Comm i ssion on the Arts of th e Di s trict o f Columbia , s h e h as b ee n a t ea cher , l e c t u r e r , dramatist and h a s publishe tl he r poe t ry in a number of ma r.; azines : Co1:1c1o n r. r o un<l , The Ant i o ch Revi ew , Th e Cri s i s , Ph y l on, a nd Th e Nation . "Ca lv a r y \.-lay " s h ows a Ch ri s ti a n in f lu e nce Hith a t wi s t of irony and gor e·. Ha r y i s asked hO\v she fe lt, " womb -he avy with Chri st Ch i l d , 11 n s she tasted t he 11 du st 11 of a n 11 uncer t a in _journey . 11 f ina ll y asks Ma r y : 11 \-Je r e yo u a f r a i d? " Recalling th e c ru c ifi):io n , the po e m The " roaches are winni nf, 11 i n 11 Th e l as t Wareh ouse " wh e r e huma ns s ee k to " a bneg at e survival l aws 11 anJ kill roa ches until they are "saturated with th e i r decr ease . 11 11 Th e l'.hil r ac t ers in · The wron r, side of Mo r n i ng " we r e shaken from a " n i [;ht1nare of ,,in g s " and . " mushrooms o f hu ge d ea t h " as t he po ~t powerfully coll e ct s imu g c; s and Li yer,, tl me a ning s . . 11 Pi:-ocession 11 e r.1p l oy s th e dr a matic techniqu e (made famou·s b y _l:lr m-,.n and o t h e rs) of in t crlacin~ t he forma l r:ng li s h of th e poem \Jit h itallciu,d ,, Bl ack reiterativ e exp l e t i v es and ref r ai n s such as " l{ ing , h amme r , r ii~g ! 11 I t is the procession of Ch ri s t b ut t hC! reader eas i ly unJerst a nd s , noting t he Black idioms , t hat i t is a l.llack · p ro cession throu gh t he l a byri n th s of sl a very a nd racism . There is a seric ~ of j ux t aposed con t radic t i o ns like " Time is today , yes t ercl.:i y , and t i1•1c t o come , " " movin g and motionless , " and " infinite take s f nmiliar fo r m," as all while " we se e k conviction . " Ch r is t ian mytholo gy pervaJes Hay Hiller ' s wo r k ( thou g h s he Bl a ck-ba ses i t). I n " Tnlly" the s ubjects "la y t here drained of time" and e mp ty like th e "bulge of hou r glass " while " Lucifer streaked to re a lity ." ( �The d<.;.'.lt hs of Dumas anJ Rivers Loft vuiJs ariJ crea t eJ still more anx ieties, comin~ as they JiJ (19G J) in th e nid st of racial turbul ence . However , by the miJ-sixti es both po e ts had writt e n a gr ea t J e;-11 of poetry and a great deal about themselves . Rivers died an unnecessary deulh in \·l hat has been called an " impulsive" act. white polic~nari in a Ne w York subway. o tl1er . Dumas was shot to death by a lloth deaths occureJ~,10nths of eac h Rivers was born in Atlantic City , New Jersey , and atten<leJ public s chools in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Ohio . His college days were spent at Wilberforce Univers .i ty , Chicago State Teachers Colle le and lndiau u University. In high school (1951) he won th e Savunnah State poetry pci~e . Rivers was s reatly influenced ·b y Hughes , \fri r; ht a nJ his uncle Ray lklvcr . llis five books , t,-10 of them published posthumously, are : Pe rchanc e· to Dr eam , Othello (1959) , Th e se Black IloJies and This Sunburnt Face (1962) , Dusk at Selma (1%5), Tlie Still Voice of llarlem ( 1963) , and The Wright Poems (197 2 , with an Introductio n by friend-nove l ist Ronald Fair ). Ohio Poetry RevieH , Kenyon Review , and Antioch Review were only a few magazines in which his work appeared. ,, Responding to a request (1962) to comment on hims e lf a s Black man and poet , lUvers said , among other things : I write about the Negro because I am a Negro,. and I am not at peace wit h myse lf or the world . I cannot divorce my thou &h t s from the absolute injustice of hate. I cannot recl~on witl1 my color . I am obsesseJ by the ludicrous and psychologic a l behavior of hated men. And I shall continue to write about race--in spite of many warnings-- �unb 1 I discover myself, 111y futur e , · my real race. I do not wish to capitali :~e on r~1ce, nor do l wish to begin a Crimean War: I am only interested in recording the truth s queezed froni my observations and experiences . 1 am tired o f bcin~ misrepresented . AdJin:~ to the statement, Rivers said "beauty and joy , which \,as in th e \·m rld before and has been buried so long, has got to come back." But Rivers saw little " beauty and joy " in his own mind ' s eye . His poetic landscape is often bleak and fiJle<l \·l ith deep psychic yenrnin;;s and wan<l er ings throu g h the ambivalences of Black-white relations . is also torment .:incl brooding . There In this way he bears sor:,' kinship "to Dum~1s. For both delve deeply into psycholo gy , but are at the same tinw ac cessil,le . Rivers spent much t.Lme researching his past and readin)~ from the g reat volumes of world literntu12 . Durin g the mid-sixties in Chica ~o he pirti- c ipated in discussion r,roups--invo1ving Fair, David Llor e ns and r.cralJ \ McWorter--out which this r,rew the now well-known Or ~anization of lllack ., American Culture (OBAC) which figures prominently im[lortantly in tlt e Black ar t s programs of that city . poems . ? Itivers talks about his own .death in . several "Postscript " is a poem v1hicl1 · "sli u uld not have beC:!n published . " The narrntor says lie \le.ls " livini; ,md dyin t•, ·,rnd dreaminr, " all at the sarne time in llarlem. And, toyin~ with his 01m fate in wake of \,Jright ' s " s udd e n Jl:!ath," he r ecal l s the elder 1Jriter ' s " prophecy" \,as that hL! too "soon would he dC:!ad." The tlieml.! of denth--often mo r:.il, spiritual or pltysica.l as in llayden-- can be (ound in pieces Jil:c "The Deuth of a l~e;:; ro Poet," "Prelud e for Di_xie," "Four ShcL!ts to the \/ind," "Thr ee Sons," 11 /\sylurn," an d ull of Tl1e \Jri g lit Poems. \ �In 11 \fotL s , 11 he capsules ge nerations of fear, horror, history anJ an guish into ep i gra1,11;1c1 tic fury--with a deceptively apparent ease : Nust I shoot tli e white man de11<l tu rr.__.c the nigger in his he.:t<l? In an in~ibly u ea k asses.sment of Riv e rs ' s poetry , llaki Ha<lhubuti (Lee) said this poem '' asks a rev olut ionary question~ (Dynamite Voices , Vol . I). Such a ( " question ," ) of co rse , continually t u rns or revolves . 1 nut , s man tics aside , the corunent is blinc.J to Rivers ' s 1:restl i.11:~ \tLth the deep fears and sores enienc!erec.J by America ' s ni fj htma r c . ]Jc> knew no simp l i:;tic answers or verbal jousting would make these hurts disappear . Anyway , su c h critici sm viol ates the poem , robbinr; the poet of his many-layered concerns anJ analytical powers . IUver i s not all somber ang Lleak, hov,e ver; in " The Still Voice of Harlem " h e announces : I am the hope and t on1orr0\·1 of your unborn . Even aQi<lst tl1e contradictions anJ un cer tainties of racial / politi c al ping-pong ( " In Defense of Black Poets " ) A black poet must remember the horrors . Especially since Some black kid is bound to read you . The "Note on Bl ac IC \V'o me Tl 11 <asks 1~tie I y tea C I1 tl1 e poet " l1onor ," " huiuor ," a11d "hm, to <l i e ," presumably t 11e reborning death . sheet . The \fri ght Poem s is an e l cga ic " To l~ichard \hight " exclaims alnost wit h defeat, that �To be born unnoti~ed is to be born black, an<l left out of the grand adventure . Ano ther "To Richard Wright" piece refers to the novelist ::is .youn~ J esus hf the black noun and verb. Other poen1s find the poet Hander in~ or searching throu i~h the f \/right . 11 spirits" or "b ones" In "A Mournint, Letter from Paris" Rivers recalls knowinp, and feelin g "Harlem ' s honeyed voice." Somc('times similar in feeling and theme, but almost never in voice and form, is the work of Dumas who " Ne 0 ritude ran ges acro ss time <:md space~ ." Dumas was born in Sweet llome, Arkansas, moved to New York Hhen he was 10 years old and completed public schools in that city . He attended City · college of · New York and Rutgers betHeen stints in the Air Force and other activities. Active on the little magazine circuit, he won a number of a1.rards and helped establish several publications. At the time of his death, he Wa'., tei1chin~j at Southern Illinois University ' s Experiment in Higher Education in E.::ist St. Louis. In 1970, SIU Press published two posthumously collect ed volumes: Poetry for My People and Chatfield and Redmond. aud-:.a-t:t,,:--i-e-s-fsame- it:1,.e-)- in 197-4- with Redmond as editor . Thou ~h there have been no full-len g th critical studie s of Dumas's poetry, Jay Wrigl1t and Baraka assessed him in the SIU editions nnd Wri zht's Introduction is retained in the ne11 releases. I Ark of Bone I and Other Stories' edised by llale ,I . bO .ti IN l <;. \It\ 1't / ;, '-- C ti J Random House re-issue~~he poetry (Play Ebony Play Tv6ry+ I Wright, himself a major poet of the e ra, r, leanecl the linguistic skill and the musical range of Dumas: None of this is perverse, intellectual play. of llumc1s' sense of history. It is indicative In "Emoyeni , Place of the Hinds," ------------------- -- -~-- - �he \·! rites II I sec ..iith my skin and henr with my tonr, uc . II • •• The line , I su:-;r;est, asserts some elementary truth about /' "-)_ Duma ', a nd not alone Dumas ', poe _tic techniq ues . is gro unded in that l i ne . This book ... What Dumas means in that there .'.lre racial and social de t erminants of per ception, i deas t ha t he was just beginning to develop . The mi nd a r ticulates wl1at the senses h:wc s c lecteJ fro m the field , and t h is articuL1tion is, in part, determined by what the perceiv er hns learned to select and articulate . There is certainly no consensus a111on~.; thinkers th..1t tl1i.s is wliat happens, but there is so me evidence for believing , as Dumas did, th.J.t it does h:tppen. In 'lI] h ear witli my t ongue , 11 Dumas asserts thctt Lhe langu.J. ge you speak is a way of def ining yo urself within a group . The language of the Black conununity , as Hith tlwt of any group , takes i t s f orm , i t s i mage r y , i t s v ocab ulary , because Black people want t], _m tb .'.lt way . Lang uage can protect , exclude , express value , as we l l as assert identity. is 1vhy DumD.s ' lan~uage is t he way it is. That In the rhytl1111 of jt , is the act , the unique manner . of pe r cep t ion of a Black . man . \Jritin~ with the removed passion o_f the friend that he 11as, Wright makes viti..ll statements not only about Dumas I.Jut abou t the whole area of Bla ck creativity , perception and stance in tl1e worlJ . Inclee<l Dumas jutted all these antennae f from his poetry 1vhich he wrote to nwintain 11 ou precious traµition . 11 Lin- guistically , ll umas 1 s base is formal English , a blend of Black African lan[;uagcs , Arabic, and r.ullah from the islands off the Carolinas and Georgia. His cosmos �is r;!t:1p1.;J by the rich t ext ures of lllack religjo us and spiri tu al life, expecially olc.l time church se rvic es and Voodoo. I/right notes: and gospel mus ic, particularly, were his life breath . "The blues Only Langston Hughes knev more , ar at l east as 11uch , . about gospel anc.l ;;ospcl singers .... Hu s ic seemed to Dwuas t o Le ~ble to carr y the burden of d irect participation ln the act of living , as no poem, thnL was not music,i ll y structu red, could .... " "Duma s Has searching for an analagous structure for poetry." As a poet , Durnas combines th e past, present and future , often insllparubly, as in "Play Ebony PL1y Ivory": for the so n~le~s , th e Jcac.l who rot th e earth all th ese <leaJ whose sour muted ton;;ues spea k broken chords, all the:;e ag ine; people poison the hl:Urt of earth . Curses and curdles , mysticism , blessings and warnings abound: ,, Vodu green clinching his waist, obi purple ringing his neck , Shan ~;o , God 0f the ~;piriLs, whispering in his ear, thunderli ght st a bbint~ th e island of bloo<l rising from his skull. Later, in this snme poem ("Rite"), the Hord tatcs precedent over all; \vliat must come , must come : �No power can stay the mojo when the obi ·.s purple an d the vodu is green and Sh.:rn go is whisp e rin g , ~athe me in blood . I mn not clean. ~ ' { 1V ... c:: • \ q, O r,. His intercontinental, intergalaxian soars employ nny and all devices at his conun.1nd. Dumns exp lor es the <lcn se rhythms ( " of pcrceirt'ion") as in "Ngoma" where he compares the belly of a pregn:m t woman to the drum hca <l. / The <loctor list e ns to the baby's heart; _ the dru1:u-:ie r listen s to rho voicei, c.>f Lil, ,incesLoc:, : alwa ;1 i.wa it is the chest-soun<l same that booms my chest a i.wa ai\.1a a strong sound runnine like feet of gazelle aiwa ai.wa The cresc cn<lo , with its b1 1l lt-in cnll-and-response pattern, merge s Goa t skin an<l woman ' s belly in the deathenin g r ear : the 80.'.lt -sk.in sings th e bo o1:1-sound louder lou<l e r sings the go:tt - skin loude r th e go:.i t-skin sings th e hoom-souncl louder sings the goa t - skin loud er louder loud e r boom th e 3oa t- s kin goom-sound louder louder louder Th e ri ch, experimen t ..il lan i3ua ge , couched in sever:11 "traditions," i s seen �everywh c 1 e in thi i; majo r voice ("fr om J.:icklwmmer "): The j a ckj a ck b::ickin~ b;1ck ::iml s t ack in g stone city-stone into cracl: ," d hydraulic echoes of <lust Or ("J!oot Sonrt ): Onct' 11h0n I w.:is tr ee flesh came nn<l wo rshi pp~d at my roots. Or (",\ f3on~ of flesh") love and ma c! lcned soar and n eec.l : l.fhen I awoke I took the sleepin8 ~o untains of you r breasts tenderly tenderly hC'tween my '1uivPri.ng l ips anJ I ~uillotine<l the stallions, drownec.l the eagles, a n d drove the tiger fish back into tl1 c~ s e a of y our hea rt. There a re aJ so " many" poets in Dumas. llere is a combination of Dunbar, .Hughes, \falkc r, coupl e d with the be st of the riminl_j poets of t he sixtie s t o. prod\lc:e . th e sanguin1 · and h umor o u s Black truth (" I Laur,h Talk Joke"): i lau~h t alk J oke smoke> dope sk i p rope, rnay t oke a coke j urnp up and dm-m, wa lk ,n'ound cir lnk mash :, nd · tciJ k L r. i sh bea t a blind b o y ovL, r the heod with a bricl: knoc k a no- L !g~ed m:rn t o his bended knee s �ca u s e I ' rn a muvL1~ fou l nev er been t o sc h oo l t;oJ r n i seJ iW a nJ t he devil pra i sed 1i1c> a nJ s lit h is thr oa t pn s s n c hurch , I mi ght: p ray but: Jo n ' t f u ck wi th me C:l U SC I UOI\ 1 t pl:1 y Th ere :ir e e pi c pCH!ms Ii. kc 11 Jfo s aic ll..ir l cm " ;:i nd " Ge n es i s ,rn a n En<l 1 ess Mo::;a{c, 11 a blues se r ies , ex perimen ts in African for ms (usin e spont a n e it y and ri t ua l ) , a n d mysti cal / e xpl o ratory poems li ke Th o u)>,l1ts /J mage s , Ke f , I ke f s und ~; ;1b.1, 'In on e " Saba " Duma s use s i.J i z a rre i1i1&ge ry to render t h e hard Lu d L'S(: ribe : sL reams s trikin g a oc ta " v · u rnphon es SX veinill f\S 11 o [ flage l l. r.i n <ls flucksin ~ r ite Dumns po ss esse d u s o u n d] ,ss lov e for t he a cou s t i c a l l en p n nd the J rama tic " implosion " ( as h e put l ) o f id ea s i n poe t ry . h a ve on Pi ]a c k poe t ry rc111~, i ns to h e see n . Wha t influ e nc e h i s i<leas will It 1Jould h;:iv e b ee n in dee d i1 1t e re s ting i f his o ork , mu c h o f it \•.tr ilt c n in t he c-1 rly nnd mi d - s i x ti e s , h a d b ee n �availabl e in r, ll cc t c <l (orm wh e n the first ri~oro u s ba tt le of the New Black Poetry was b e11g fou~ht . Th e Ame r ica n temperament (d i sfavorinc Black wr i te r s tellin g th eir tru ths ) kep t Dumas and Rivers running . Dwnas sought l1is peace in the <le ep \vell of his O\, n folk culture and in occasjonal exl'. ur ~i.0 11 s Lnto mystlcis1'1, Afri ·.:i , and \',rndo o . Riv,~rs buri e,I hius e lf in the "i<lentit y " issues ,111<l l>roo<led ovi:~1· Li~ plight as ci bri 1 iant Blacl~ in a country where the t1;0 adjec t ives to~e t her are neithc:r beli "'vable or lc~;itimnte. Yet th ey both left legacies . n. Griefs of Joy : The Poet r y of lhn :\s & Tile CL1ck Ar t s ifovernent No nuthin r, rema i ns the sa me . ,\ncl my spirit reaches out t o. yo tJ my love witho ut apolo g ies witlwu t emliarrassrnent \Jith only t 1e tliour,ht tha t t his is ri r;ht for us th a t moving towar<ls you is like . touch·ing leaves in autumn our minds and spirits interlocLe<l li b! eath . · ---- Pink i e Cordon Lane , "r;riefs of joy " O tt,! major diff erence bet1,een the cultural/political upsur ges of the t wenti es :incl the sixt.Les/seventies wns loc.:itiun : the ltennissancc wns centen,d literari Ly , if not ah1ays ?,eo~raphically , in llarlelll; but its �recent succ e ssors can be found in ev e r ;• ;:" r l1 Ame ric a n community Hith a substantial lllack popul.:1tio11. political interaction. Anoth e r differen c e was .in de g ree of ..irtist .i.c- To be sure, the culture and political <1 rms of the H.enaissance were, on occasions, interlocked . llut such 1-;,e<ldings never reached their curr e nt state of "wholc..'.ness" and "continuity." In the early <Ll y s o f this period there were C:ire) "su1rs" of the Ne11 Black Poetry; but the fitter often attended the a ...: tivitie s of poets "outside" their poetry. Or , put differently, the stars sometimes put "outside" topical and emotional stimuli "i n side" what was indefensible as "poetry . " This meant the star poets ha<l no connection whatc,v er with a BL:1ck liter..H )' or f olk poetic trc1dition as such. Tnstec1d theirs was a "tra<litiou" -of immediacy, political urgency, and newspaper headlines, coml.Jined with high-school type punch-lining. This ls not to s ,1y good "poetry" (of whatever definition) was (ls) not being written or that charlat.::ins 1vere always on "take." There is much evidence . to support the belief that Jozens of these soothsayers were sincere a11d honest--.::ind had cl 1osen what appeared to be the "simplest" and "fastest" vehicle for exp re : ~;inL; thoughts .:;bout "Revolution," and " or raising the 11 11 Bl:1ck Togetller" Collective·Consciousness 11 of their people. Such a situation was not helped by the learned p,iets-activists who sometimes advised youn Black writers to Jve up "weste ,· n" influe nces in a white lnnr,nage. advice (in J\.meric .. ! ) usual~y implied two things: This that an African lan~uage 1was e:asier to master and that !:iincere expression, no matter hO\v poorly arrange~ could carry the day fo . Black poetry. However, tl.e insincere versifiers more often than not fell by the wayside in a short time, pavinc the way, like the Phoenix bird, for still more soap box mounters. - - - - - -- - - - - - - -- AL the same time, a numbe·r of poets--\vhose wits and crafts were �no t abo u t them i n th e e a rly phas e --t oo k t o th e woo ,!s h e d to b e c om<c! mu c h be t ter h ,mdlers of th e word . a " pa n orama of vio l en c e ." All t i1is o c curreJ, Larry tr c al note s , a ;-;a i ns t Int.Ice d by t h 2 l.'.lt c s i x ties Bl a ck conununit i es a l l o ver Am eric a had b een tu r ned up side J n1-.'ll b y poli ce and sp okc s m.... n/s u p po rters Ptl-'\J 7 of t h e JH a c L RL'.-v o J uti on . Young shoe! ~ troopers li te Car micha e l , Bro \m, Charl es Koen , Ron l~a n ~n :.'.l , lluey Nc 1;ton, an d Eldrid g e Cleaver h ad al r ea d y for ccc d t h e " old time " Blac k l eader s hi p to t ake a s e a t. ll ow, wi th fa t he r l1av l ng d e stroyed so n (Williams , Ba l <lwi n ) , the poe t s wer e free to d eclaim , pro c l a ir.1 an d e xhor t. This tr e n d a l one w;i s a shock to t he poe ti c tradition-- s in ce i t cr e a t e<l a f l ood of po l emicis t s a nd pamp hl ;i t ee rs 11ho could/wo uld · not di. scqss poetry in histodc a l cont ex ts . It cn u s ed furth e r s ho ck b y ] a b elin ~ "i tse l f " Black " ,md r e n e ~;o t i..it Ln p, i ts own " root s . 11 (t h e 1Jo rd 11 BL1cl: 11 h a s appea r e d tl1r o u ~h o ut th e hi s t o r y o f Black p oe tr y , but b efore th e s i x ti es it wa s not used a s a ca t eg orical term for the po e try written b y Afro-Amer i c~ n s .) Henc e mu ch of t h e Hew BlaL.( Poetry l1as been v iewe<l as non- poetr y or . a·nti - poct ry ( i n a t r ad it ional l iterar y co nt e x t) !Jccau s c .:imo n g o th er t h in gs , it d i d no t dep en d priw 1r Uy on subtlety a nd r e condite r efe r e n ces . s e en wha t i.111p ~1 ct t his st ~111c e i n Black poetry wi l l have on t he l i.t e r ic y tren ds in Afro- Amc.:r .i.ca . b eg .Li1s hi s Ye t i t remains to be_ 01.n Blyd e u .Ta c kson ( l.l l n ck Poetry in Amc.: rica ) , for e x map]e , discussi o1 1 of t he Ue\o/ · BL 1ck Po e t ry by Luildin i.: a co nvin c in g_ an a l o gy bet\Je e n th e ri se i. n Bl ack ljtt.'r,1cy a nd the pop ul a rit y o f po e tr y . St e ph en He nder so n (Und e r .-. _al1Jin", Lh v i·Jew Dla cl~ Poetrv) as s ures h i s re a ders th a t Black re:id c rs o r li s e ner s cle:i r l y " unders t an<l " wha t t heir po e ts a r e sayin)j a nd are par t icip a L t n :_; mo re a n J mor,~ as jutl<; es qua l iti l!S i,, t l1L! poe tr y ;111d th e poe ti ; ' J c~li v ~ ri es . o ( .L;lack . ae sthct i.c a l llu t 11\iile t ii i s c h a p Ler 1, ill c o nc J.udc.: with a fe11 broad critical ob ~,e: r v at i ons , th e i 11u11e cliat e ::i i m i s to �conL i.n u,., the sketch of the poetry ' s dc Vl!lop ne nL, interpolat i.n ~ from t i.mc to time pertinent critical. and illu r.d nati n ~; JaL.1 . Th e re are Jozens of ways to .. ppro.:ic h the :ie\•I Hl.:1ck Puet r y . One could, for example , examine .i.t s th eme , sLructure a nJ sat ur.:i ti. on (llendcr s nn ), o r its several t ypLcS (C.:iroly1i Rodgers, see bibliogr.:iphy). Starti.ni_; 1-,i th i111portc1nt nan1es i s ano · 11 ~r 11ay ; th e Blnck Aesthetic (C. cty l e , Full e r) approach is a11otlier uay . Neal , Dum.:.is) . I Then there is the rn.:1 ;1; i c of Black poetry (Rar,1ke , Tou r e , The music i.s also a favorite path (Stanley Crouch , H.i. chae l Harper, J nyne Cortez) . One could go o n and on: but the poetry has been written a nd one pl.ice to start is w.i.tl. its emer gence . New _York c er t ainly played a key i· ole in the new 111o ve1 n<.:n t; but .i.L did not , we said earlier , play the key or only role . J\reas of the Ea s t delphia , nosto 1~B.1 ltimore, Washington, D. C.) e nhanced in the boon . (Phila- cen t ers were Clev eland, Chicago , Detroit , East St . Louis - St . Lquis , and Ka n sas City , ti n.:ime some . _? / Mid1-1est / :✓ Re l nt e J even t s al Fo t ook place in the So~th wh ere there w.:i ., another " rising " in Atlanta , Nashvil le , J ackson , Baton · Rou g~ , Tuskc gc· , llouston, and Too t~a loo . The Hest added richly f ro m Los Angeles, San F ·ancisco Bay area , Sacramento, and Seattle. Int crweav i.ng d c velop1nents r , lated to poetry were num~rous Black J\rts activities ( connected to CL1ltural or nationnlist programs) · lo ca t e d at settlement house s , conununi _ty c enters , mu seu, s, centers for th e d .j ssr>m inution of ideolo g ies, rmti-poverty c/ projects , n n d lJucational insti t uU o ns . The hip,h Enthusiasm and vi gorous { · spirit \Jere al.~o evident in t he plethora of tabloids/·.-../ !Hack-oriented , journal , flyers, poster ; , bo ok s, p amphlet s , and record s . And of g reat . importance were the new Black .i ookstores , Africa n curio shops, \1alls of " respec t" (Cleveland, J\kron, Chicago, St . Louis , New Yc1 rk, Newark , etc . ) , a r t exhibits, we ek l y festivals and jubilees, writers ' c o nferences , writin g workshops, th e flood �of li bt2r:1t ion f1 c1gs (bL1c k- :3 re e n-red), l lacl~- or ient cd tv t.-il k anJ variet shows, and other physical (pm,er si;>,ns dnd handshakes ) or cultur.:il (Afri can clothes, hairdos and j e welry) . new consciou s ness . New York was ,111 importclnt s hmv-pl ncc It had the resi due of the post-Renaissance VL':l rs (th e Shon1bur~ Lihrary and ~li.c:!tcaux ' s Bc-o kstore) in Harlem as well as numerou s s u rrounJin ~ communlt[c,i, \lhich p]u zg eJ into its sockets . such .:is New o r p,a nizations \ v...c. Jtfc Barbara Ann Teer ' s National Blnck Theater, New L1fa ye tte Theater, and the llnrlem Cu l t ural CounciJ flow e red in the amaz ed li ght of older instjt u t ions li.ke Pr eedomways r1a p,az i.ne ( Clarke nnd Earnest Knise r ) which has p ublished many of the new po r ts : Tour~ , (Snel1 ing s) lfadhubuU (l. ct2 ), ll e nd e r son, Clarenc e RccJ, \Jelton Smi t h; 1.19 yd T . Delaney, W. D. Wri r; ht, .Joann e r.onzalcs, Nari Evans and o th e rs . Preed omwa vs a l so offers lively• rev iews and commentaries on poetry, litera t ure and t h e lHack Ar ts scene . From the var l ega ted at1,10sp her e of llew Yori · p,ushed forth a tide of Black poets, some Hho h:.id made t he ir mar l. earlit2r: ( 1937- ), Reed, Pa tterson , Sun-Ra, Dumas , June .lore.Jan (1936- So ni.'.1 Sanchez (19 3'.i - . ( 1936- llenderson, Larry ·Ne..i l ) , S . E . Ander ~on (194 3- ,. ), Albert Haynes ), ) , Jloua rd Jones (19 1¼1 - ) , Hernto n , ()u .:,n tin Hill (1950- r~nraka , Aud re Lorde, John Major (194 8 - ) ), t! . H . Pritc_h.'.lrJ (1939- ) , Jolin /\ . . \Ji ll.lams , Levert Bethune (1 937- ) , ), Letlwni a Gee, Bobb Ham ilton , Q. R . Hand, Yu sef h1an , Ray Johnson , Odaro ( Barba r a Jones , 194 6- ) , Cla r enc e Reed, Yusef ltnhman (Ronal d Stone, Barb.'.lra Simmons , Lef t y Sims, \/elt on S111 itl1 (19l10CL:lrence ilaj or (19J 6(1 939- ) , Spellnan, Edwar d Spr i i:3s (1 9J4 - ) , Lorenzo Thomas (1 944- ) , Jay lfrig ltt: (1935- 19313- ' ) , Rlcl1arJ Thomas ) , Ted Wilson, Lloyd Addison (1931- J~uttie ll. Cu mbo , Janes Arlin~ton Jones (1936- ) ), ) , Jayne Cortez (via \!alts , ), [manuel , Calvin Forbes , Alexis De veau x (1950- ), Nikk i Giovanni �), Tom \l e atl1 e rl y (19 42), Ma c J ackson (1 94 6- Djangatolum (Lloyd N. Corbin, 19L•9- ), Eloui se Lofton (1 950- ), Julius Lester (19J9Simmons, Fe li pe Lucio.no (19 !17- (1947- ) ), Ch a rles Lynch (1943- ), J oe John s on ) , Judy ) , L. V . Na ck ) , i:l H)nd a tli ] Js , (~uuncJr a l' r e t tym.:m, La rr y Thom ps on (1950- and K,\l, Prestwiclge. ' ' ) Th e: Neu York r.lack Arts sc0 ne (po e try speci.fically) ~a s a ll-a-whir with the excitement of publishing and reading poetry alo ud at the infinite number of ~athering s. older, often revived one s . his death in 19G7. JoininE these y ounge r \lrit e r s we re llu ~hes ov e rsaw much of the pro c eedings until And there were old, as well a s ne 1v, out le t s fo r th u poetry \•1!iic h \, as b e in g rea r[ at the Apollo, Carne13ie Hall, Nc1-1 L1 L . 1 y ett e Theater, Sl ugs Eu st, /\a unt l bris Pu rk, anJ in c o unt les::; communit y cen l ers and churches. l!ost of these poeLs were not native New Yorkers; and a g reat number. · were not perpetual 1.y there dU' Lng the hei ght of the 1.11.uc:k Art s nov ,~1J1ent:-but often in outl y in g a rea s . i ke Brid ge port, (Youth Brid~e) Yale, Fcedonia, Broc~port, Rutgers, Br o oklyn, Boston (El.ma Lewis's Center for Afro~~nerican Culture), and Bedfo rd Stuyve f;a nt. But, while th e y lwd separate Blutk Arts " pro grams, most lo ok.e el to the mo vement iii New York. Wor ks l1op there v1e re: Umb r u In 3.<ld it i o n t o th e -- Harlen, \/riters Cuj 1J (Clarke, Killens), Fr e derick Dou g lass Creative Ar ts Center, Poetr y ·\Jo rkshop, the Afro-Hispanic 1/orkshop, Workshop for Young l. r iters, · th e Col umbia Writin3 pro~ram (Killcns), BJ ac k Arts Re pertory .:1 ncl 'lli eatre/Scho o l (Barak.1., Sn e llings ). Among the new journal s were Urnlna (19 (i'l ), :,o ulb o ok (1. 9 ( 4 ), J;Lick Di .:1 ]0 1•ue (19G5), .J o urna l of Bl a ck Poetry (19GG) (lr o ni c a lly, the Ja~;t tlir e 0 were be g un o n th e! west co:1s t), Pri de , Bl. 1c k Th ra tr l'. (1969), Cricket (1 96 9), Bla ck Cr e alion (1969), Af'ro i\r.1 e ri c an: �~ A Th i r d \.'orlcl LiLerary Journal (1973, Brown University, 1964), ContinuiU <.! S : .• r..1cuse), l,OP (Blacks on Papl~r, IJorJs f rom the Co111111unitle [; of Pan-Africa, Clty Colleg e New York, 1974), Imprcssi.ons (1974), Cosmic CoJors, (Fredonia, 1975). Durin e a speech at Howard University's First 1,.iti o n a l Conference o f Afr o - ,\1~ r rican Hritcrs (November, 1974) I Toure, rccountin p, th,, tumultuous years anJ c.J c vt·lopmcnts, ~;a id those responsible for t he "lllack arts and aesthetic movement" were "activists as wclJ as artists." Tt seemed so, for this particular pattern was most obvious as Baraka returnec.J to Newark (renaminr, it "New ." .rk") nnJ chang,cd his name (Imamu Amiri Ri"lraka), refleclin g the great influence of the Nation of lslam and hi s interests in African "----k I culture . . llavin g/\ BART/S "Lo re-educate the nearly lwlf a million llarl .:>111 tfo g roes to fiuJ a new pric.Je in the color, 11 he moved to cs tablisl1 ~pi.rit !louse (Nt!Wilrk), ,111d such spin-outs as SpirlL llouse Players anc.1 t-loveL· s , ti 1c> Afr.ica ,1 Free Scl w u1 (1-1 lth .its 1:m,alJa doctrin 0 ), Jihad Publications, Co1,ualttcc f o r a Unlfh:J l' e1va ck, and to he lp launch s everal national Black po l.Ltlc a l _ convention: , . l!c was a (ounc.ler (1970) uf the currently stri.fe-ri.dde11 Cu ll,\ l"l''.,~; o[ i\[ric ct u l' l! oples. Du 1 i11:~ tl1,~ L9 G7 riots (insurr e ctl ns) ln ll c\J:1rl, , Baraka w<1 s :.irr C!s tcJ with sevc.: r a l c o111pa 11iun :-i anc.l chaq~e<l 1, it ii po s se s sion of two hanc.l1~1111 s ,in,! anununitin11. lh.'. l\1ecn hi s arrest an J tl~c trial "Black Poeple!" was publ.islieJ · !'he poem openl y ccn courar,eu loot in,~, theft, murdeL· of whites, and i;eneral in:.; urr e ction: 11 \J hat about that hau short you s..iw last \le e k"; " You knoH how t u get it, y ou can get it, no money down, no money never"; "li e m-1cs , ou a n ythln:_; you \1.1nt, even his life"; "Up a g ainst the wall mothcrfucLer thi s is a s tick up!."; together nntl kill him my man": "Sn.1s h the winJm1 .:1t ni,>; ht"; "Let's r;et �... let I s r,e t t o~e t he r th e fr ui.t of the sun, let ' s make n wor l d we wa nt bl ack c hildr en t o r, r ow ,'.llld l ~.:--.r n in d o not l e t your ch l l l:re n HlH~n th e y gr m,1 l o ok v ,... t \).t tV q~ V i n y o ur rare and curse you b y pit y in c.: y our t o ,nl s h wa ys . It wu s th e kind of nuJ BC a n<l ra ge th a t c ha r a ct e r i z e d Bu r a k~ 1 s (and otl1er Bl a c k poets ') out p ut b e twe e n 1965-1969 , t s l gnific a nt d e ve lopme nt s occurred . Durin 6 this pe r ioJ , l1 owe vl!r , cl numb e r of Impr e ss e d uy th e US ~~rcH1p of !to n Kar e u ga (wh i le t eac h Ln g briefly at San Francisc o S t a te Col l er, c in 19 67) , J,:,r.·1 k a r c t urnec.l .t o !J ewa rk and or ga nized th e Dl ac k Cor,nnunity Developmen t un<l D.:ef ' ll SL'. L, Or g a n ization ( BCll). llis efforts e v entually aided in th e e l e ctio n of &e<J-<-'.«t Black mayor (Ke nn e th (;ib son) . iJ ,:_..,.:f'!: Thes e t ~ s were havin g i r eo. t i 1,1 pact on region.Jl a n ,1 nationa l l\ l ac lc polit i cal/poetry s c e n e s . Baraka I s p ictur e s · (with b anc.l .1g es fr om th e 196 7 scuff l e with l~ ewark po l ice ) b egan appea ri n g on wal l s of cu ltural cen t er s , Jormitories and home s, Ha ny oLse r v e rs , howeve r, wer e , so111e \1hat wa r y of Ba rake , h a_vin r, seen him go thr o ugh th e " chang e s " from Bea t poe t with a wh i te wife , t o Har l em and !Hack Arts, into Newa rk anJ roli t ica l 1Jo rk (f o r g reat ins i ght into all this , see The0 Jore Hu ds on ' s From 'LeRo.L J o ne s to Am iri ~aral~a , 197 3) . Ye t Barab1 ' s influenc es were felt i n mo ~t c e n te rs o f th e t~ew Black Poetry-- and e v e n in places wh ere !tis poe try h ad no t ac t ually Le en r e a d; 'or , if r e ad , not fully understood and di g ~s teJ . I t was no t unusua l to h e ar a Black yo u th quote a few lines from a poster-poem o r fro m a live r eadin g , but wl10 , \/h e n questioned a bou t Bar nka ' s wo r k s, did not know th e n am e o f n s in g le one . Aft e r Th e Dea d Lect ur e r , Ba r a ka (also pla ywri );ht ) published Bl n ck Hag i e : ' I �Poetry ]% 1.-1 % 7 (1 %9 ), I n Ou r Terr i. hloncss (19 70) , Spjri t , i~i2acl.:i_ (l'J7'2) , as wl.! 11 as 11ume rou s es~ a ys an<l stories. \J itli ,lea l li e co --'2 <lit cJ EL .icl, f in~ (1 9Ci 3 ) 1vhich, a] on~ with Ha j o r ' s Th e }f~w fi l ac! Poe try (1 9(1'.j, s l oH-c a sed the 111 th e Fon1anl to Blu et Fir e , Baraka call eJ Bla ck ~1n i. s t ~ "the new poetr y[ . foundin p, Fc1thc_rs and >kiti1ers, of our na tion . He ri s e , as we ris e (a gin; . Gy the pow ~r of our L>eli. efs , by th e purity and streng th of our actions ." The L>l.:ick r,1an . hol y ri1an. Tile black artist . The man you s ee k . make r of peace. you se e k . speu l:er. The lov e r. Look in. The climber the striv e r. \✓ e The wa rior . Fi nJ yr self . Is you . o r minus, you vehicle ! Go on . The The are tlw y whom Find th e b eing , Ll k Til e vo i c e , th l.! b ad~ Ju s t hover in your soft eyeclosin g s . s e lves . Th e black man . [ s t h e crea tor . Is not h inr; . i/e are pre :,cnting . Plu s Your various We ar e pr e s e nting , from God , a ton e , your own . Now . He thu s sets the " t one " for poets/philo s ophers , reiteratin r, at the sm,1e· ti me mucl) of 1~hat hucl b el' n exclaimed in other wri t i n gs. !Je al , a perce p tive critic .:rnd balanc e d theoret ici.:111 , has publ.i s lwJ two volum es : Bl a ck Bo o).; .Jloo: !otes on !,la ck I. Lbl!ra t ion (J 9 G~, Journal o f llL.~c k · PoeL'ry Pres s , Forwa n l by Jon e s) d lld l1uod0 0 Holler in ' BeJ;op Gho sts (1. 9 / 5 ) . II.L s Aft e rword to n1n ck Fire is t.:rnt µrnu 1111t to flu ghes ' famous decl a ration of the tHcnties. Prc :,c11tin;_~ "'arti s ti c n nd pol itical wo r k " t k 1t 111 u s t b e "c a lled · a radi ca l perspectiv e " Bl a ck Fire should b e re a d " a s if lt were a critic a l re-ex::imination of li es tern politic::il, s o ci a l and c1rtisti c v alu es . " Chall e n g in g an<l exhorting other writers , N~a l continued: We have been, for the most part , talkin g about cont e mporar y 'l' IC \ . ;, V_J ' , �re :1 l iti e s. Ho h a ve not been talki ng abo u t a r e turn t o some g lorious Af rican past. tot a l pa s t . But \,c rec ogniz e t lit:: pas t -- th e l:lany of u s refuse t o accept a trunc a t ed llc',; r o histor y which cuts us off co mpl e t e ly from our Afric a n anc es t ory . To d o so is to accept the very racist assumptions whh:h we abhor . l<.:ither , we wa nt to c ompreh e nd hi s tory totally , and umlerstand the ma ni f old 1,1a ys in \,1hi c h c o nt emp o r a ry problems ar e a ff e ct e d by it. Spe.:ikin g a g ainst th e hind s i ght of ps yc holo gy and turbul e n ce , Neal adJ e d : There is a tension within Bl ack Ameri ca . its .r o ots in the g en e ral hi s to ry of race. And i t h...ts The mann e r in w11ich we see this histo r y dct erm i.nes how we act . should \, e s ee this history? it? How \ /k1 t s h o uld \Je feel about This is import a nt to knm, , because the sense of hO\., that hist o ry sho uld be felt is what either unites or sep: trates u:-; . Finally , h e sums u p what ca n be .c a lled th e cr ed o or mo du s op e r a n d j o f th e Ne1J Black Poe try and tl ,e Black Arts Movement: Th e a rtist a nd the political activist ar e on e . both shaper s of t h e future reali .t y. They a r e Both unde rstand and ma ni pulate th e co llectiv e myth s of the r ace . war rior s , p ri ests , lover s and des troy e rs . Both ar c For th e first v io len c e will be int c rnal--th e de struction of a weak s p iritual s e lf fo r a more perf e ct self . h~ a n ec ess a r y v iole n ce . nut it 1-1ill .It is the only thi n f'. that will d e stroy th e douh l e-consciou s ness--th e t ens i on tl1 n t i s in the souls of b l a ck f o lk . �It was t he kind of c hallenr.;e t h a t sent nw n y n new l y Dl ac k e n ed po e t o r a ctiv ist in t o th e lon ~ ni r,h t of t he so u l to pur r, c hims elf o f re a 1 or irrm g jnC',I e nemies of hi s people . Poetically speaking , howev e r, it wci. s Ba r a k.a ' s " Bla c k Ar t" that se t much of th e pace, form and v iole nt t o n e i n t he Ne w ll l ack Poetry . Poems arc bullshi t unle s s they ar e t eet h or trees or l e mon s pil e d on a step . Or black l a dies dyinr.; of me n l e avin g nickel hearts !;ea tin g th em do1m . Fuck poems and th e y .:ire useful , wd th ey sho o t com e at yuu, l ove what you ~ ru , breathe like wrestlers , or sh udd e r stran:_;cl y aft e r pi :.; sin r, . '..' e want l ive \vonl s of tl1e !tip \ ·o rld l ive f l esh & cour s in r, h l ol>d . ;1c:,.1 rts Bra i ns Sou l s splint e rin i; f ire . Ile \Jane poems like fi s ts h ea tinG ni gt; er s out o f j oc k s or da gg er p oe:.ts in th e s ] i11y b e ] lies o f ow11e r-j c 1v::-, . .CL1c k po,·111s Lo s me ar on girdlrnnanmm mu luLtn bitche s \Jho se brains are red j e lly stuck betwc e11 ' li zah eth t ny l o r ' s to e s . I/hare s ! \:e \ 1, nt 11 S ti_n k in g p,>vms tl1a t kill. 11 Ass as sin poc1;1s , Poen1s tli a t shoot 1_; uns. Poems t l1at 1-.i: e stlc c_ops into .:, ll e ys �and take t he l r t,,ieapo n s l eavin,: thc·rn d eci J with t ont.;cs p- l l cd o uL Qnd s en t to Ir l and . ::nockof f poems f or dop e sc l l i n ~ ,10 ps o r sllck l1.1 l f1 1h ite po l i ti c i .:1 11 s Al rpla ne poems rrrrrrrrr r rrrrrr r r LTrrrrrrrrr rr ... tu ht uhtuhtuhtuhtuh tuhtuh tuh . . . r rr r rrrrrrrrr rr .. . Se tti ne fir es and dea t h t o whiti es .:is ~; . Ile w<1 nt a black poem . And Let the wo r l d be a Bl acl: Poem And l e t All Ulack Peo p l e Sp eak Thi s Po~n Sil e ntl y o r LOUD " Bl a c k Art " was often cit e d a s Lh c sa n ~ uine e1nbo dl1,1en t of the T\ ] ack Aes t h etic am.I a rej e ction of ,Jhite culture and life s t y l e . Po e ms , lln r aka st a t e; s , mu s t n o t o nly have r, u ts a nd e a rt h in e ss (like ll l a c ks ) but tl i'cy mu s t al s o be weap on s and shi e ld ' at;a ins t racism, polic e , merchants , hu s tl er s , " croo k ed po ] i t i ci.a ns and s tatus- c limb i ni: Ill a ck bour g eosie . Abov e a ll , they sh o ul°d exa lt Bl a cb1ess ( " sons ," " lovers ," · " wa rr i ors ," " poets ,' ' :i nd " a ll th e l ove lin e s s h ere in t h i s wor l d ." ) Th ese the n a r e th e domin a nt th emes i n much of the tlew Poetry and the philoso ph ie s stated (with radical div e r g enci es ) fr om co a st t o c oas t . l\araka ' s pur g e ext e nd s thr o u gh po e ms like "P oem fo r lla l f ln1i te Co ll ege Stu den t s ," "Th e R:1c .i. s t," "Lit tle nrow n Ju r, " ("Wr: ARE GODS "), 11 \-l . H . 11 ( a t ta ck on wig - 1-1ea rin [_\ wome n) , " CIVIL RIG!IT S POEI I" ( " lloywill:in s is an et er n a l far,eo t"), " Ka ' l:l n ," a nd f in a ll y , _ in "l e r oy ," h is la s t w.Lll <1 nd t e st amen t: �When I die, the consciousness I ca rry I 11ill to black people. Hay they pick me np art and take the useful parts, the sweet meat of my feelin c; s . And leave the bitter bullshit rotten white p.::irts o. .1,onc. Hu t there are also sensitive love poems in the l.::iter perioJ, poems caught up in the stressed life of EL1ckness (" Sterlin3 Street September" ): "the beautiful black m.::in , and you, girl , child ni ghtlovc, . . . : We are s t range in a way beca 1se we know who we are . Bl ack beings p::issing throu,;:1 a tortured pnssage of flesh . In his Foruard to Black Boogaloo, Bar::ika s::iys of the world : poe t s will change i t." "the sold ; What Nea l' s volume changed has not yet been ascertaine but i t certainly contnins amb i tious anJ successful poetry . His deb t to the older gencrntion of poets, a rt ists and thinkers, can be seen in poems like " Queen !!other ' s Sermon ," "The Hiddle Passar,e and J\fter, " " Love Son~ . in the Hiddl,e Passage, " "Garvey ' s Ghos t," " Lady Day, " "llarlcm Gallery : Inside, " " Malcolm X--An Autobiography ." musicoBraphic interpolations . Neal (re : Frcim the Mal~in~ use of mysticism, clwnt and Dumas) is effe~tive--movinB,scnsin g , and f~eling : Olorum Olorum Olorum ... The horror o[ " The Middle Passage After " is seen i n the "Decked, stacked , pillaged" slaves . "Long Sonr3 i~ Middle Passa ge " vic1;s thl:' RcJ ::; low of sea-death r.1orninr,s . �Other r oems ("Song," "Jihad," "Kuntu," "Orishas") rovenl Neal ' s inter e sts in supernaturalism, African pl1ilosophy an<l th e nlluslve, mysticnl powe rs inherent in the "word." Ile seeks poetically to impl e ment the idens h e stated in Black Fire and a special Black issue of TnR (The Drama Review) in summe r of 1968. The jssue, e d it e d L y Trn~ •s .:ontributin ~ editor Bullins, c ompil~d ideas and plays rooted in \vhaL ,,,as then · called the "new" cons ciou snes s also featured work by Sonia Sanchez and Adam David Hill.er . of the c ll uc e rns of tite New lHack Poetr y . The special issue projecL e J mnny 1!enl' s "The Glack /.rts ifoveme nt" uns a blue-print for i: 1.:-;c k. Art s nnd politicnl chan ~e . l~cltoing state1.tents in fro1c1 l1i s comii1unity," c1nJ noted: Glack Art is tl1e aesthetic and spjrltual sister . of t!ie Black Power con c ept. As such, it envisions nn art tliat speaks directly to the lieeds and /unericn. s pirations of Bl a ck In order to per form this t;isk, tl1e Black Arts Hov e111ent proposes .:i radical reorderin'.~ of the western cultural aesthetic. lt propose s a separate symbolism , mythology, cril iqul.'!, and iconology. The 13lack Arts :m<l JHack Power con c ept both relate broadly to the AfroAmerican ' s desire for self-Jctert!iin,1tion and nationhood. T\oth concepts arc nat_onalistic. (me is concerned with the relation bet ween art and pt1 Li tics; th e other with th e art of politics . But his idea of a "separate" aesthetic 1Jas not e mbraced by all · Illack poets, artist s , or intellectuals . i'eit:her \las there a co1i1plet e H[; reemcnt (or unJerstandin'.~) a mon~ jt::; own proponents. For ex am p le, Spri r;r, s, a v e rs n tlle �.1rtist iind thinke r, led a boycott of l !ajor's Tlic :iew Cl.ack Poetry on th e grounds that j_t was being brought out l, y n 1vhite pub li :; hcr (International Publish e rs) . Dut Spriggs had not objected enrlier to use of liis work in !Hack Fi r e , a lso publishcJ by ,1liltc s (Mor row). J:is pos ition st..1tv1ncn l appeared in TI1~ Journal u( Hlack Poetry (Fall, 196 3): how in the hell ,He tl1e black publishers ever goin~ to ge t o(f into it if not by the assistance of the \-Jriters . how arc distributor s liips ever i;oing tu m.::iture wi.th th e publishers if the hi ghly marketable \10rk s of wrn kelly, j. killens, j c1 wms , 1 neal, e bullins, leroi j, or the like never conics the;ir 11ay? doe s the concept of bl ac k power and bl ack arts extend that far? i say yen, i sily yeil, yea. Spri~gs joined a l a i-ge numb 2r of cd tics and practiuncrs of the BL.1ck Arts--Tour~, 1leal, Crouch , Bullins , Cioncal ves--in the cont rov·ersy over µlack writers ' roles _and respon~ibilitics . Despite the controversy, however., Major ' s .:rntl10logy appeared as a kaleidoscopic offerinr, o[ the New lllack- PoLe t ry . Majer incJ.udeJ a perceptive and fittin ~ Introduction: 'l'llC nNJ:I{ crisis of Llack r ea lity is often studded in th ese poems by the swift, vividly c rucial facts of social realit y ; 1vliich consists in part, any1,ay, · of :1 11 the implications ariJ forces of 111ass me di a , the socia 1 pat terns, the bur ea ucratic ant.! medwnical mediums· of hu 1.1n n perceptions, even of the quickly evolving nature of the huraan psyche in this hi r,hly homo g eniz e d culture, ln all of its electric processes ant.! specia li st fragmentation. IH.::ic.:k reality, in other words, is like any other re ci l Jty profoundly effected by technolo[',y , The �eris Ls and drama of the late 1960s overwlwlms JnJ threiltens eve r y crevice o f human life on earth . Thc.se poems are bor11 ou t of this tension . I n his own poetry , Hajor ensconces Vie t nam , a l ien .:i ti on , impendi1 0 1-1orld destruction, Black l1istory , music , myt h ology, anJ pe r sonal excursions i~to d r eams . lle publis heJ The: Dictionary of Af ro-American Slang (1970) , Sw,i]Jow the Lake ( 1 97 0 ), Symp t oms and Madness (1 97 1), Private Linc ( 1971), The Cotton r.l ub ( 1972) and Th e Syncopated Cnkewa l l~ (l 9 7L1), as \Jell ns novels ~rnd e s says . lie has nlso directed t he ll a rl em Write r s ivorkshor . In the acknow- l ed~ements to Poe t ry , Tbjo r ind e bt s t he antholory to P1<1ny influences : Lowe n fels, Ishmael RecJ, Raph ae l , Art Berger , We lt o n Smi t h , l~yt Fuller , Nat llencltoff , Duclley Randa l l , P..u ssell At ki n s , Bremen, /\1 Young , nml David He n de r son. Major 's " Down Wind Aga i ns t t he Highest Peaks" i s typ ica l o f his st y l e : s h a rp and a n g l e d t wi sted l angu age , spac in gs t l1at ~cplace punctu~tion , tidbits of wor l d knowle<li~ app l ied to tl1e racial s t a t eMe n t (satlr~ or exhort a t ion) , and experilllental typoE;raphy . Reca ll ing hi s " passaee " he :,ces · " Tonto SumlJo l'illic"--notinE th.it even llexico - - " an asskissin!1 nation " --now has the "super-blunde " units 11 hillboarJs. 11 ln the 111idst of nll these cvcnts , the poets vii;oroui,ly pro111ot:ed pro;_;ram:.;' whlclt extended their concept::; anJ vli;iow, . currL!spo11di11;_; edlturs u[ ~,prif~l'.ti ~rnd J\l1111c•d All1rnuli;i \,ere: the Journ~1J; · nariJka , J;iJjor , Nuzzam Al Sudan (now El Huliaj ir) anJ t!eal ueciJ11e contrll ,utin~ editors . was later joined by Tour~ . EJitor-at-large BullLns In the s~vent:iei, ErnLe l!kalimoto was .:1cldeJ as a contributini editor witl1 Ma j or ' s name disappear ing . lfajor , lt,md:111 , Neal , Spri::ms , Bullins , Bar aka , and ,\lhiJmisi have all served .is g ues t ::;peclal eJltors . An lii1portant influence on (and outlet f.or) the ncH poetry , t he Journal \✓iJS �" in 1nw1v ed it or) . 1-n.1y s born o[ Sou l book anJ Di :.1 l op ue 11 ( Co ncalv c s , n o\/ Din gan e , Journal Th e ma gazi n e con tin ues to pr i nt the ne\✓ e s t po e tr y , 7.ercl i n~ in o n oth e r ilr ea s like th e West In d i es ( Sumlil e r, 19 7]) , p l."i ntin 1~ U v L~ l y ne\JS anJ anno un c ements , as we ll as rev i ews ilnd cri ti cism . It s Spr i ng , 19GG , isst1e , f or examr l e , \,,:is d c J i ca t L:cl t o J osep h T . Jo h nso n, Los An ge l es po e t wh o h a.d re centl y bee n k ill e d . ALJt1l l~a rim eJ it eJ Dlac l: Di o. l oi; u e with Spd r; ~s, Tour~, · a n d Go nc a l ve s se rving a s asso ci a t e eu itors . Re l oca tin ~ i.n ~1 e\1 Yo rk in t he late six ti es , l) i n l u3 u e ' s n ew edi t or i a l boa r d wa s r epr~s c n t ed b y Spr igg s, Nikk i Giovanni, Ja ci Ea r] y , El a in e Jon es , S. E . And e rson :m d J ames Hint on. Alham i s i and Ca rol y n Ro dg er s h e c ame Nidwest editors; Spell1:ia n, J11 li a Fi e ld s ;111J Akinsh i ju b e c ame e dit o r s for the So ut h; nn<l Jo a ns an d Kgos it s il e t oot ov e r as Afric a a nd a t-la r ge ed it o r s . So11lhook ' s e ditori a l board nm, inc lud e s : Hamilto n, Alh::uni s i, Car ol Homes , Baba Lamumb a , Zolili, Ng qon d i Mas i iui n i a nd Sh a ni; o Umo j a . Arno n g the a dministrativ e s taff is Don a ld Sterne (Ra hma n) Hhose work app ea r s in Bla c k Fi re a nd ull t he J o urnal s . I Al o ng \~i th Spri ;~:;s , To u re , and L,wry Hil ler (Knt il>u), Rahuan a i de d Bara lrn at Spirit !lo use . Hi s "Tr a ns c:.e nd n l Blue~ ," full of ch a nt/son g a nd line - e xp e riment a tion, fu s e s the worl d o f Bl a ck mu s ic ( a n<l musi cia ns) with the '' strif e riddl e d c onc r ete bo tt oms of sk y scrape r s eas . " Rahma n's influence s, obviou s in his name , ar e seen in h is · stat e ment tha t a "ri ff " so hi gh and g rand "Coul l] b e Allah ." Finall y wi nd i n p, th e poems into a tribut e to th e Bl uc k woman (" flii: t e r bit her bittern e ss humming "), he rej e cts Christians and whit e's and wo.r ns th a t My spea r s s h a l l r a in .... Th e I sla1~ in flu e n ce i s a l so see n in o th e r po e ts o f t he p eriod: · :ip ri ggs , Tour~, na rak a , Ima n, Ne a l, Alha rni s i, Dumas , Ha r v in ~~ . Son i a Sa n c h ez , wh o alon g with ll i kk i f:i ov a nni e me q ~e d a s on e of th e most we ll-known poets of th e �era. These \/01,1en poets nn<l others--.'\udn! Lord o, June Jordan, Mac Jackson, Kattie M. Cumbo, Jayn2 Cor ez , Alexis Deveaux, £olise Loftin, Odaro llarbara Jones in the 8eneral area of Hew York--have cr1.:a tecl n new wave of excitement about th e possib ilities and potentials of Black woman poetry . J\ddin Lj t o thi s flurry of active and int~rest are tl1e new Blnck wom en ' s ma~azines like [ncorc and Essence . The mo s t f rn :10.us of th ese poets is Nikki Giovanni, who is a profound thinke r and provoca tive speaker, but th ese skills and insi 3hts do not come thr ou~l1 to her poetry. Her route to New York was by way of Te nn es s ee and Fisk University where she was a member of Killens ' Writers Workshop . Fame came in the late sixties aft e r she penned a series of vol ,1 t ·ile p r ose- lib~ statement s which were startling : a nd e ven more so, cornin g from a woman. In the sixties she privately published her poetry and wi1s later brou i',ht out b y Broadside Press anct lnr :::,e> r puhlishers . lier volumes includ e Black Feel in ,'. , Black Tnlk, Blacl: Jud 0 e ment (1970), Re-Creation appeared (1 970), My House (1972 and a b ook of poems for childr en , Spin a Sof t Black Sonp (1971). lier antho]of~Y of !Hack women poe t s , fli Pht Comes Softlv , w.1s publisltL·J in · 1970 _and s he has r econlcd albums, written an autobrography , and pub°J.i ::;hed a series of 11 conversations 1 · with tfar 3a ret \Jalker. th e new poets, she h as b een accordeJ acco l ades : Hi~hly controversial aii~ong recipient of Wo11an of the Year J\1-Jard ; featured in ma,;az ines li k.'.! J:l)C)ny, anJ Essence; appear12d on th e . Johnn y Carson Sliow; constantly sou r,ht-nfte r as a speaker o n th e college Y circuit; awarde d an honor;.iry doctorate dczree by 1-/"Llh erforcc University and lab e l e d the "Prince ss of Black Poetr y " by p{e' Itl.> LeHls, l' ncure editor DenounceJ as an "individua list" by MaJ hubuti (Lee) and pr,li.sed by tfa r garc t \Jalker ;ind Addison Gayle, , 1ikki . Giovanni deni ed (Car son show hosted by Flip \Jilson) \Jc.,ing a "ltevo lutionary . 11 lier sinr,in~ of "God llless J\merica" on �naLional television, after receiving tho 11 \lorn:rn o[ the Yc.1r A1-1arJ, 11 prompted letters to lllack publications questionin c her sincerity . Durine the sixties she wrote "Of Liheratlon": Dykes of th e 1mrld are united Fuggots not ~h~ir thine together (Everyone is oigan ized) Black peopl12 these are facts lfuere's your power .... Honkies rule the world ... The most vital commodity in America Is 13lnck people Ask any circurncized ltonkie ... The fin.:il stanza of this poem warns: Our choice noH ls war or death Our option is survival Listen to your own Black hearts "Conc c rnin~ one Res pons-Lb] e Negr~ \•lith too much Power" echoes other · .thclfles in th e Hev, ~Jack Poetry. The 11 r12sponsiblc negros" arc "scareJ" and on tlil! ruu. Site tells them that your ton g ue must be rrnno~ed since you have no brain to keep it in check In "RefJections on April 4, 1968," she calls Dr. Jan~'s assassin;ition "an ncl of war." In "The Great Pax l-n1ite" she paraphrases a section fro:11 Genesis in the IlibJ.e , noting that the word_ ~,ns "Dea th"; "d ea th to all niggers." Occc.1sionally a line of inte1·est jutted throu~h th e otherwise pole1:1ical concerns. The punts �of 11 1.l~autiful 131.ick Men" "hur,~ H \at i like to huz ." There is tl1e charc1cteristic repelition anJ e1.1otion-freiglite.J languar,e as in "The True lmport of the Present Dia lo Gue, !;lack vs Negro ": c~in you Lill Can you kiJ l Can a nir, gc r ki ll Can a nig,_:er kill a honkie C,:lll n niG~er kill the flan . .. Can you stah-a-jew ... Can you run a protestant down wi t h your ' 68 El dorado ... Ca n yo u piss o n a blo nd head .... The poem continues , reciting names of t he " enemy " anJ catalo e ing crimes .-ind · wro n g-doincs visi t ed on Blacks , finally askinB : Learn t o kill ni eg ers Learn to be Black men Mu c h of what Nikk j_ Giov anni was sayinr, in the sixties moved BJ;ick youtll--_il was not always safe or chic to disa g r0e even if you wan t ed t o - -and so1ne of it· was ~Jmirc1ble. But these things do rio t 11ake her wo r k defensible ns poe t ry . " 11y Poem" ,::rnd " Poem for Ar tha" are .certa inly worthy , even noble, subjects but they fall lei c; urely down t h e page , -anglinB here anJ t here but revealin3 notlt :in :~ of the in s i r, ht into hunnn beini:;s or poetic power thnt one finds in a poem by llelene Johnson , tbrr,aret Halker , C\/1:~nc.lolyn nrooks, or Ja yne Cortez . 11 Nikki-Rosc1," her most often quotecl poem from_ the early period , is a hi gh point in her work. It ll.:1s a believable flow in the conversation-like lan ?, u age> (chnract'2ristic of �hc'r poclry) nnd th ~ details pull on the inner reachL'S of th.:: collective Black experience as she unfolds the story of [nmily fun nnd misfortune: your bio ;; raphers never understand your father ' s p.Jin ns he sells his stock anJ nnothcr dream goes And though you ' re poor it isn ' t poverty that concerns you Hy House is n n e Her Nil:ld l,iovanni. The venom h.Js lessene<l, thoup;h some of the ranipa ~e is evident in a poem like " On Seeing Black Journal and Hatchinr, Nine Negro Leaders r.ive Aid and Comfort to the Enemy to n uot e l{ich a rd Nixon." Again theie appears to be no viflorous interest in stylistic or lin B11i st ic develop men t. The poems deal with love, the city, childhood (nhmy s her rites of woman-passa r,c ), Africa and Afro-American culture . can be glimpsed in 11 Iler promise· ontl potcnt.ial .\fr i.ca I" : on the bite of a kola nut i was so high the clouds blanketin~ africa in the mid uorning fJ i3l1t were pushed away in an angry flick e r. of the sun's tongue . . .. N Lkk i Giovanni's irnportance lies 1.10rv i :1 her personal influence (especially her ~reat Jrama on albums u.nJ in pul ili.c) wh.Lch has inspi.rcd many young Black wo1 ncn to 1-trite auout the1:1selves ancl their world . But some of tliem, like Hae Jackson who won Blacl : llorL, ' s Conrad Kent Rivers Award, h~1v e yet to show the "r;tuff" of r,oetry in their Hritings. 1969 by ll la ck Dialo i; u12 Publishers. Can I poet uith You 0,1s publi.sl1~d in r: iJ,_ki Giov;:rnni \/rot0 tl1e I n trotluction and �H:h' .Ltcl . .:; ,m, in turn, cleclicated tl e book to her. Po<2t ls full of th<.! "com plaints " that quickly became monotonous in the poetry of the sixties. ln themes ancl usages, tl1e poems resemble tlikki C:iovnnni I s \.'urk . Reactionary," "To the ile~ro Intellectunl , 11 and " Note from .i " To u F iL,lcl lHgi.;er," are familiar to the confus.ed and disturbeu ann:11s of the new poetry . Sonic1 Sanchez , clo ::, (;ly iJentified uith the ne\1 poetry and the new consciousness, alternat~s between terse, explici t verse, and the sprawling , prosaic meanderings tl1at often serves the auuitory der.1.:incls of the ne\, auJienc:es . Formerly 1narriccl to the poet EtheriJ!;C. Knight, she lws actively worked as a playwright, po2t and teacher. People (J.970), It's a Neu Day: Iler books are Homc.cominr (1969), hll! a eridddcld · Poems for Youn~ Drotlias and Sistus (1971), Love Poems (1973) an<l an anthology from her youni \frit ers \Jorkshop :it the Countee Cullen Library in New York, Three llundred and Sixty De,recs of Iaackness Comin r, at You (1972). "Malcolm" is a la111ent and a nlght-fillc,d memory for her: Yet this man • thi s dreamer, tliick-lippec.l with words will never speak again and in each winter when the colc.l air cracks uith frost, I'll breD.the his breath D.n<l mourn my g un-fill ed nights. Her "for unborn nwlcolms ," however is another approach. Constrictin)j \1ords, v' structure, anJ sttemptin g to achieve a Black street speech, she tells Blacks �to 11 ;•.iL the 1mrk out " to the "man/boy " mur der e r who is tnl:in1>; a 11 l10lida y . " Jaacks are " hip to his sh it " ancl \·1hen " blk/princes ' die ap;ain white '' fa ggots " "will <lie t oo. " An experimentalist, Sonia Sanchez added her voice to the flood of angry , cynical ancl clcrisi.ve lnnt ua ge in the new verst ("denition for blk/childr cn"); a polic emnn is a pig ancl shd be in a zoo with the other piggy an .rna l s . and until he s t ops ki l ling bl k / people crackin8 open their heads reme1:1ber . the policeman is a pig . (oink / oink .) She a lso joined the poetry of Black love .:ind man- woman unity , seeking throu gh her particular style and voice to heal 1munJs of doubt , mi s t rus t and lonel iness . . In " to all sisters " she says " hurt" is not the " bar," women " shd be in ." are advised to love the Bl ack man who makes them " turn in/side out ." They Her journey has carried lier from th e fire of the blatant revolutionary to the quieten ed turbulence of Love Poems--being , maybe, amon g the first of th e new poets to fullfill Randall ' s prediction that Black poetry would "move from the �dc:!c l ,tma t o r y to the subj e ctive mod e ." Jun e J o re.Ian published \n10 Look at Me (196 9), Some Chan '.; es (1971), an antl1olo gy, Soulscript (1970), and a volume of po e try by stuc.l ~nt s in h e r Brooklyn creative writin g work s h o p, The Voic es of th e Chil<lrnn (1970). li e r last v o lume of poe Lry is This is R New DRy (1974). Co ncise, anal y tical, nnd h oo l:- folk based, h e r poetry is also a free verse style characteristic of pr a ctically all the recent ·B lack peotr y . "Un c le Uull-b oy " r e l a t es t h<2 J ca th of a man Hhose ey e s "1•1 cre pink with alcohol." Th e liroth e r (un c l e ) r ,~1 1l 11 j s e es , in the 1nan n c, r o f Bl ack me n, a bout th0j r si1a ri11 ~ o f s tr ee t-talk, e xp e nsiv e sho es , a nd alc: oh o l. i\n,I f .i_n;,1lly: ll i s brothe r d ea J fro m drin Li n,~ Bullu oy dr an k to cle a r hi s thinkins s av1 the roach inside the riddle. Soon the bubbles from his glass were the only bits of charm which overcame his fold ed an1s. Audre Lo re.l e ' s "Rit e s of Pa ssa g e"· (for J!LK Jr) eulo g iz e s Dr. tang : Now rock th e boat to fare-the-w e ll. and r eme mbers hirn this 11C1.y Quick c h ilc.lre n kiss u s we u r c ~~ rowin/j throui_', h <lre an. L! ucli o f Au d r e Lorc.l e 's r e cent work conc e rn s y oun g peo ple; eve n th e titl e o f ,, h e r late s t book, From a La11 \Jhere other People Live (1973), carrie s the a1-1e and dr eam of the child's wor] d. She \ffites now al.Jou t t eac h e r s , rncn-1vo111e n relutio n ~, , s e a sons , dr eums , " As I Groll up Again," and " Bl..ict !!oth e r \fomun " �u h o t l1i 11 1-. s of li er 01m 1,10 th e r I s s·t reni_; th 1-.rhen 11 !3 t:rnn2, ers coue t o coup li111cn t" he r : I l e arne<l from you -to den y 1:1y., cl f t hrou;il! yo ur d cni.::il s . Am on~ th e yo unzer :1e11 1.rrn:1e n poe t s , Ju<ly Simm on s , Al exis Devt.:a ux a nd Yt) t'I'. El o u is , Lof tin s in[; o ut . Jud ith ' s Blu es ( l.\ ro.::i<lside) 1,as pu b lish ed in 197J . The po e ms s ubme q ;e thems elves in the tr o ub l e <l huma n ps ych e (" Sch izo ph r e n i a) , :.i nd ex plore th e " Youth Cult," "llom en , " a nd " Daf fodils " --altho u ,•, li th e title s <lo not reveul th e poe t ' s pithy s c ~1rch ini.;s . ltef l ec tin r; J lllly S L1111'1ons ' St)S t:1 i nc<l study of psyc h oloi;y , th e po e try yi e l<l s its me.::min ~ as the multipl e l .::iyers of t e n s ion s a nd in s i [;h t s a r e ,n c overcd . In "Schi2op hre 11.i.a " th e " anil!1al sq uats " nex t t o th e " piano" in a "c o rn e r" wit h a n ab no r ma l number of l eGs , .::inns , · a nd a mouth th a t s tr e tche s fr om "forehea <l to :1b d omen ." nut th e poe t ass ur es h e rs e lf tl1 a t if sh e do e s not lose control it 1mn ' t come back insid e of me Elouise Lo f tin ' s po e try (Ju1,1 bish, 1 9 72 , Eme rson ll a ll) has y outl1ful , · z esty irn.:i i:;e ry, indicativ e p e rha ps of tl1 e s e n e w· t e chnician s ' e .:i :, e . " Ra i n Sp r e a d 11 inf orms t ha t L.:i s t ni Eht threw her l e e s o pe n to me .. • . Sh e has th e new woma n s e n s ibility , a Go od know l edge of soc i a l la nJsca p e , a nd the c y nici sm often found a mong tod a y ' s youn g , Eifted a nd !H ac k . c a ug ht" di sp la ys h e r l1u mor and \.Jit: i f th ey c a t c h you "eettin �\Jit h your pan ts down Offin G your ~ua rJ or pee ing f o r f ree if the y catch you Jo i ng suuc Lhing crazy with qu otes a r ound it and try t o 1m1!-e you feel lite you been catched you must be doing so~e thin g ok . / Spirits in tl1e Str e ets (1973) is Alexis Deve aux ' s s trane e but f as cina tin g pro se-p oe tr y account o f Growing up in Harlem . ~- .t/ : A Hest InJian mo ther, d J.spa1.rs c.., over a hu s band ' s misuse o f his wife and children , complains : lord why he beat tha t woman so? ..md them children god only know wha t ' s gonna h;ippen to them. eatin po ison. jesus have mercy . children. has lye . eat you up insid e you can ' t be too careful \•J ith you got to w~ t ch them ev e ry s cconJ . The Horl<l is so evil honey you know what i 1Hean? merciful j e su s s hame th em with th e l as t word. Thes e exampl e s r e pre s e nt onl y a fr ,1c tion o f the new po e try be ing \ffitt en by youn ~e r (a nd older) New Yor~ ar e a poets . Sooc o thers arc Catl1c rin c Cuesta s , Phillip So l o1,10n, Gay l e Jone s , St ep he n Kwa rtlcr , Va nessa llown rd, Rh ond:.i Hill s , �£1nd Clen Tho1:1pso1,, to n: 1.1c just a hnncl[ul. the carli.er period also ruhlishe<l n12w ite1:1s . Forest (1967) \v;is i.ntroducc ,l by Jon's. br.ars no do.te. Po e ts who ;~ot their starts in llenJe r son ' s Fe] Lx of the Silent The mcn eogrnph,~J TliL: PL1 e lry of Soul Il e also publis h e<l De trayor of 1-Lirlcm in 1970, tli L' s ,, me year h e re - locatctl . to Berkeley . Essentio.lly a Har l em poet, llcnclerson survey~ everythin ~ from the "ll,frl et;1 r~ehellion, Summer 1964 " to " Har l em Anthropology." The tr::insitions and outreaciiin~s of these poets are also evident in a poet I like Toure who in 1968 wen t to teach lllack Stullies nt S::in l'ranc.isco SL1te Colle;:;e . liis \vorks are J~(l97 0, Third \forlJ Press) and Sonr,hai ! (1972 ), the latter publ.isheJ by Sone;h;ii Press and introduced by Kille.ns . 'l'ot1r; ' s · "Soul-;:;if ts" ;ire amply spic eel 11itli philosophy, ~lo.ck history , iHack mu s ic:, IsL:un.ic .influ e 11Cl:!S , nnd " Juju" which s oys Coltri1nc ' s lw l" n j s "c:1 ~;c,1,l in~'. fount.:1.ins u[ blooJ nncl Lones ." Son;;hai ran~es fro n1 satire~, of Di:rna noss unJ Dionn e 1/arwLck to insincere activ Lsts; tl1C:! magicnl power t)f 1vords to . 0 the structure fideal Rlack society. Tour~ ' s list of influence s (s cc· Forward) expl.:iins much about some c,.: the Dl.:ick poetry eman.:iting from t he Ne1·1 York are.:i; t!e.:il, Dum.::is, Dar aka , Goncalves , Coltrane , Pharoah Snnders , C·ecil HcBce--all called " Poets o[ a lfation-in-Format.ion. " Relutec.l develop1:ll.!nts of th e New York movement c,rn Ii<.: seen ill such projecls as the Gh e tto ' GS ( Sol BotLJ ~ ) ~rntholor,y or Lhe lforksl10i' for Youn;; \fritc.rs in !Iarlem; \lakr.:1, o. neu llo s to 11-l,ased journal devoted to the examination " of events , the arts~ iJeas"; I\etch Ain ' t (1974) , Celes Tlsdale ' s antliolu;:y (llroac.l s iJe) of "Poems from Attic a " ; a new nntho]o~y of youn ~: poets, \l e Be Pocti.11 1 (1974), Tisd:ile; anJ llriters \!orkslwp .\nthu l o ~•.v . t:o unifying threaJ runs through the work of. New York area poets, except that of a relentless acceptance anJ pursuit of thei r Blackness . One n o t es , however , -;: �t hat 1,1y:-;L i.clsm , e: ..:11n l 11.:1t i on of t he occult , cos1aic-1.,uslc.:1 l fon1s ~mJ sub j ec t s , . .rn J the l n fl u e n ce of I s l am a r e 1,1or e ev lcl en t th ere t h.:in in t he poe try o f o th e r re g ions . Du t th es e arc , o f cours e , gen e r a l i t ies .1hi ch a \1a i t 1:1ore h-Ln d s i ~~ ht 1 anJ r e s ea r ch b efo r e the y can fe fii.1 .:1 li zeJ a nd pr ese nt e d as s i gn i f ic . mt p h e - nomena in the l µr:;cr l,'.[ll'S tr y of th e poe try . Fin.::ill y , f or th e ilcw York .'.1r('~l, the fir e o f th e or a l t radl ti o11 wa s i e nit e d b y th e dr.:1matic inca ntor y (Jrum:1ccomp:111i ed) J e clamat:lo ns of "the La s t Poets" and "the Orig inal La st Poets." i\l o n g with Gil Scott-Ileron, th e lr i r:ip ::ict on the Gl a d '- mn s ses have b ee n obvious, if temporary. Th e re were boome r a n g i.n g eve n t s wh i c h provid ed ::e1, YorL 111 tli ,1 cont i 1\u;, ] flow o f li fe blood whil e it r ep a i d o th e r ar e a s throuz h e xch a n ge pro gr .::ims ;:imon g poets and teach e rs. Ne a l, for e xample, is a Phil aJe l r hl a n 1v h o a tt e n ded Lin c oln, but has end ed uµ in Harl em , with occasional short s t ays a l Ya l e , lI01-1 ard, So uthern Univ e r s it y , and l~e nt St a te Univer s it y . Simil ar pn ttern s can be s eQ n in dozens of other poets wh o cri s s-cross th e c o untr y anJ tl1 '. u o rld, some time s y e a rly , t e aching and writin ~ . Duri ng th e N2w York r e surgence a nu mber of things wer e go in g Hell for Black Poetry in Penns y lvsni.:1: Lin_c oln (? ... Univ e r s i ty --which produc ed To lson, Hu gh e s, e t a l-...:delive red :m othe r d iver se of p o e ts d urin g this pe riod: Carl Gre e n e , Mary-Louis e llo"rt o n, Ev e r ~tt Hoa g land, S.E. An de rs on, Ke lly Benjamin, Gil Sc ci t-ll c ron, ll e rnadine Tinner, l'"!. it a Wh i teh ead, and othe rs. Hoa g land is a Broadsid e-poe t (Black Velv e t, 1970) a nd Sc o tt-H ero n (Fr ee Will, Pi ece s of a l ~ n, etc.) ts a recording po e t-sin ge r. Co nv e r g ing a t point s like the Muntu Bl .::i ck a rti s t r, roup-- f ounded b y Nea l, C.11. f ull e r, th eo r e tician Jimmy Steua rt, and Mar yb e ll e lfo or e --Phih1d e l phia poe t s fo und variou s kinds of ass i s tance. Ot he r Phila d e l phia poe t s are Gre e n e (19 45- Smlth fr om the old e r sch oo l, F. J. Br ya nt . (194 3- ), Lu c y ), Cla r e n ce Ma l o n ey (1940- )' �Pat rord, Joseph Bevans Bush, J.:m12t M. llrooks, Doughtry Lon g (19 42Caro] Jenif e r, Don Ni3zcll. Black Poets \/rite On: Hor ks by some of .these you thful poets nre in An Antholo ~y of Bl~ck Philado l n hi a Poe ts (1970), published by the lllack History Huseum Conunittce . duction s ta tcs: ), Harold Franklin's Intro- " A BL\CI~. POET IS A KIND OF HARIOR" --thus link in ~ Phila~cl1 1 hia s e ntim c-n ts to those in !:cw York and Boston . The Rlack Butterfly, Inc . , Has one o f the sev e r al cross-road s f o r vario u s cultural/political activities in "\ P!1iladelpliia . Its founder was lio.loncy (noH Clwb:i T:1) wl10se Di.1.1e11sio11 '., of Horninu Hi.lS pul>lisliecl in 1 964 ill Puplona, Sp.:iin. " CooJ Fri d:.iy : celebrntes a " sultry brO\vn iji rl ' h'lio " seems a supe ri o r aniu:11 ." "s e pia siren " also holds the "s emell" of a "viviJ passion ." poets exp lor e city life, Africn, and exalt Blackness. 2 i'L!l ." 'l'hi.s Ph.iL1Jcl ;, h.i ~: 'there .is, ton, tl1e ro. ge and vehemence often f ound in New· York anJ Chic a :~o poetry. A sense of \~ha t hapj1ens on "Cool Blac.k Ni z hts" (Traylor) a lso c ap tures drivin g strGet · rhythms anc.l thyme s : th em hord-loving ha rel-talking harc.l-lovin"., Cool black eludes and th em fine-looking finC- WiJllc in i.; fine-talking fine-loving them fin e soul sisters .. . . '7 In P.itt s l>urgh th e rel\ born the s ho rt-lived Black Lines : StuJies (1970). /\ Journal o[ TI La ck It puLllsheJ Pittsburgh 3rea poets like EJ Eolie r son , Au gu s t �\i.Ll~;o,1, .Joanne Drax ton, as well as poets from Lhe !-!id1.;est like .\1 Crover An1stron,; and H.e<lmond . The university of Pitt:~burgh Press openeJ up to Black poets that saae year , publishin:_; Hichael llarpcr (Dl:';_ir John, Dl'.!nr Coltrane , 1970; Song : C:rn I ?,et n h'itne:ss , 1973), ftoberson (I/hen Thy J:ing is a Boy, 1970), ,md C:cralcl Barr ax (Another kinJ of Rain , 1970). ltoberspn ' s poetry runs the gamut of ·u;emes ,:1nd styles--from neat dr:1111:1 to slan t ed spncings and slashes. In "mayday " there is an "und erside of hcnven" anJ the warnini?; from one misunderstood that he is "armeJ" to fingt the fin::il kinJling of your <lrearning. " Othello Jones Dresses for Dinner " ls a satirical look corning to . Dinner " theme. :1 t the "Cue,,s \!hu ' s After <l::itin~-; a white wom::in , the narrator assures her par en ts that he is ' \.;ell 1:1annerc<l. " Roberson a<lds his voice group of Pittsburg poets which includes Kirk Hall (194!f- Lo a 8 rowin g ) . Poetic talent was being sired southward in Washing t on, D.C . 11here Sterling Brown continued to teach into tlie late sixties. II01:ard, by 110\, l ea<ling all lilack universities in tl1e new conscio usn ess , was the scene of a number of significant disturba~ces . toward th e new trends. The <listurbances nudged the scl1ool While Howard's poetic history can be traced throu:3h the early days of S tcrling Bro1.;rn (and into tlie 1-loward Poets) , the· school l1as ~ro<luccd a number of youn~er wril~rs: Clay Goss, Richnrd Wesley , E . Ethelbert Miller (Andromeda, 1974), .'.ln·d . Paula Giddings. The school ' s new image atmosphere was deepened anJ broa<lened by the appointments o f the Guianese poet D.:J.111~s an<l Stephen llen<lerson ( En~lish Chairman at rlorchouse ) who heads the Institute for the Arts an,l Humanities. However, Howard <lrama was played out against a series. of <levelopnents in tl1e surrounding communities~ Federal City College (Scott-l!eron), Center for Black E<luc::ition (Garrett), �llcw Thini; in Art :rnd /\rchitectur e (Top p.)e r Care-!\·/ , Caston N12al) , The Nc\7 School of Afro-,\.merican Tlwught (G :isto n Heal ), · a nJ Dru111 & Spea r Books core (and Pre ss ), the D.C. Black Repertory (Hooks ). In addi tion t o Da:nas anJ llend12rson, the Institut e k,s aJJL!J ~Ltdhub uti (L ee) , Kill 0n:-, , Goss, trm-in , Arthur P. D.::ivis and J\ hr,1os ZuDolton . the pro 1•,ra1a ' s servic e t ,, poe ts has he e n inv.:1luable. Alre.1dy Selec tcd for honoring so far , have b een Baral~J , Gwendoly n Brooks, Joans, .:1nJ Dodson . poets were nlso featured in the First .\nnunl Synposiurn: A nu~bcr of Lucille Cli[t o n, Coss, Scot t-llcron, Adesnnya Alnkoye, Hiller , and Mari Ew1ns . I Toure, Johnston a nd Kgo si t si le were gu ests for a pror,rar.1 ex:i!:i inin :'. th e :\friciln Cultur ul Presence in the Americas. Several poets have been invited to read and be recorded for tl1e permanent audio/video library: Jayn e Cortez, Crouch, Davis, Sarah Webster Fabio, Harper, Jeffers, Joans, Redmond , Sonia Sanchez, Scott-Heron, Bruce St . Jolm , Margaret \·l.'.llker, and Jay Hr i ght. In 196 8 G.:iston Neal said iis "philosophy" \vas "to purg e myse l f- of · the whiteness within 1:1e am! link cor:1p letely \.'ith my Black brothers in the struz 0 le to destroy t:12 enemy and rebuild a DLtck :,:.;1 tion. 11 Ile ap p2ar ctl t u at that task for a while before the Afro-American school close ~l . te wor k in i;. li1 "Tuc.i_ay " he so.id the tone of his life resc1:tbled a " g rowled minr,le<l" the g roan of the po.st .. :. and he lamented the j un ;;les \•J!lich ha.I ii ..2 en -- def l0\1ereJ by napal:n ... ) Lul Carter , another D. C. poet , nppears in llndcrst,mdin~. the Ne\1 BL1ck Poetry. lie evokes tlie spirits of the "Hero es" of Orangebur~ , J,1ckso11, Her.1plt is, i~ew York, anJ na shville, recalling _tlut d uring il riot i n ~:.1shviJlc he \Jas l~idln~ some\J here in uy r,1i nJ \vich LlJridie Cle aver ... q;0 \ �"lto o u ; " i s an un s uccessful atte1.1 pt to fuse the:: J r:.1Lt,1 o f co ll o( u L.1 1 el.1cl, Lm 0 u'1 ~'-' \1itl1 :.1 fon.1al tn ::, li.sh narr a tiVl~ a Lo ut h i s r: rand1aoth c r. poets liv in 6 or publi s hi1 2, Other in the D. C . .1 rea <lu r in g the sixc · 2 s a !lll st~vcntiL,s ), c11h.l Be atrice we re llerna<lettc Golden (1949r ) , \!ho ov.e r the yeot· s has contributed [; n .!a tly to the z rm , th Hurphy (190 8of Uln c k po etry . Sh e cd it c::J t!1ree i m1rn rt.:rnt anthologies: :Cbony 1'.liythm (194 7) onJ To<lny ' s Nei> ro Voices (1970). n c1: ro Voices (19J o ), · llcr mm v o lu1aes of poetry ure Love is a Terrible Thini> (19lf5) an<l, with i1ance Arnez, The Rocks Crv Out (19 6 9, nrond ~ i.<l e ) . Iler mm poet r y h ns n,ov e J fron1 ::i traditional meter to n tr odi.tional free verse dealin13, in th e new pk1s c , with tensioris caused by overemph.:isi2in?, "white" and "131:.ick , " anJ \-: ar . She is currently director o( the Negro Bibliographic ,:rn<l lles'-'arch Center .:i nJ serv c s :.is m:.10:.1,; in ;_; editor of its publication Bibliographic Survey: The l~egro in Print . Poetry by other D. C. area poets can be found in Transition, a journnl .of llmJarJ .'s ·Afro-American Studies Dep::irtment. Editors are Hiller , Iris Ilolid, y, °rlln Ilnnlin r; nnJ Veronica Lowe . Adjacent to D.C., in Baltimore more strength is added to tltc t-otem . ' Lucille Clifton (1936), Sau Cornish nn<l Yvette John son (1943) h::ive produced poetry tltat holds them in good stead . Good Times (1969) , Good News About th e E.-:irth (1972) and An Ordinn rv l!omc1n (1974) are volumes produced by Lucille Clifton who also writes many children Is bool~s . : .. She currently teaches at Coppin State College in llaltimore where she lives with her husband and six children . temperament . Ev~n her title~ su g~ est somethinc nhout lier spirit a nd In the swamp of depression and bleakness, it is in<lce<l warming to sec someone proclaim Good News! which \-, ill not "rus t or break. " "Eldridge" i s compared to a meat "cleaver" And th_e re is humor, irony anJ truth in l r1\ \. , �"La t c'. l ev ": Hh erc th e " nlHay s dru nk " ct c 1 i v ery man s.:i ys : 'I' m 25 y 0~ rs o l d and a l 1 tl1t · whit e boys ar c yo un ge r than me. But whlJ c c,; ome sinl_; ;;oot! times in t h e ki.:: c h e n, t h e r e a r e a l s o o th e r ack no11l cd gemen u: "Ma lc o lm," "Eldri df;e ," "Bob )Y Seal ~; ," an d th e stu tlent-p a rtici pants at J a c!: s on .i ncl 1:e nt States . Good r:ews tempo r a r y sc' Lt jnr, t o Biblicnl stori es . f )Out th e Car t h g iv e s a Bl a ck or c on' !os t a r c un iq u e , li ke "Mary ": this kiss sof t as c ott on ov e r my b 1 ,' n:, t s al l s hiny hri .' ·1 t some thin [', i_s i n thi s n j ght o h Lord h a v e me rcy on me i fee l a , 1r ct c . in my mou th · b e t\leen ff\l l e gs i s e e a t r ee /1.n Or d j nn r y \lomc1 n i s c ns cio u s l y 1m rna n a ntl th e poems, like thos e in other vo ] umeE" , dea l 1, i th cv r ·yday thin ~s--"ord inary '' thin p, s. Howeve r, she has become mo r e of the myf i c, usin g surrea] and n llusory ima ~e r y as in " Ka li," "The C min g o f Kali," " !!e r LOV!= Poem," a nd " Sa lt." "God's Hood" is: \ V �i t breaks. is tir l'J 0 01 1<l:.1111 1 s 11h i 11i. n Cori i s lt i. ;; ; ,mys . poL' l, t e.cc hcr an <l e <l itor . I/inters (1% 3 ) , Your ll.111c1 llis b ,JO k ::; LncluJ e .\n !~les n 9u 7), i n Nin t~ (1 9 70) , r: e ncrations (1971), o.nd l'eople Bene :1Lh tl1c h'indO\v (n.d.). from the BLtc: ' eve ' s f ancy c1m: \Ht!. l·l . Luci ~rn, he e<litcd Chicory: Youn!' Voices Gh e tto (1969) wh j -.: h <lcvelo pe <l into a series still b2in3 pub- lished by tl1l l'. noch PraLt Free I ibrary (Co11u11unity Action Pro g r;1111) . ediL o r o r Chi .i.s ML' lvin 1:J w, r <l Brown. ,~ ni.tion and is d Cornish h .J s Et u c h i, t y li s ti c ammu- preci se navicat , r of lan:::, llcl.c\ C. HIT!l CRIPPL Ei.J FINGERS \!i\ITINC. F( your (in g l.!rs folded in your lap control the sc· rpenl in your e yes " your L.1c e never st a rin ;; wi.th a s 11 il c; in yo ur rnffleJ color your ey e: populat e th e 1,rick 1~ Current Ile t e ll s " l llLJ JJL E CL,\~~s r. r m . s Nf, TO LICHT 'fllEIR CIC:,\ il ETTS ": �Tltt.:!SC l'. t1ti.mor 2 .oe ts, anJ ot hc:rs , conti outp ut that e i:1Lraces t he South wher e. 1:1.::iny pol l UL'. Ls th e vast line of poetr y nm1 live : Spell:a.:111 , .Tef f ers , ) , P i nld c Lrnc , tlw 1'. Ll ~i\ l~TSOUTII poets (Nl.!h' Or lea 1s), the f -Ullllira po-2 ts (North Car () 1ina Central Univer s it y ), Betty ) , Ladclc X (LesH c Powell), Le o J. lb so n (.Hl cnit :, ), Lor <! nzo Tho mas . The South ha s received ant! g Lven new Lloocl to poetr y thr ou~;h cx c h:111 1: •' p ro ~ ra1 .. s uhich, sinc e tLe 1 d te fifties , h:1v,~ allowed for a fl ,)'vl of po e t '., an cl tec1chcrs to ancl from the So uth. Pl) d .. Some well knO\.Jn o 1J c r names arc ! Johns ,Jn (J.:une s) , Br::iithwnit c , Tolson, ll.:lyclen, Jeff e rs and Ve s ev . ' )m e youn ' Redmond (S o uthern), and K'.;ositsile ( Nortl c r poets Sou t h are ,\udr c Lo nl e. (To o ? a]oo), · i ght ( 'I )u 0 aloo and T:iJ l a der,a) , Spellman (Mor e hous e ), C::1rolin, A & T). The South, too, has exp e ri e n c(•,1 tremendous a nd Jrarn:it i c chem:,• •s a s n result of the Black Consciousness Movemen t. Some! symbols , re ever: •her e : in New Orleans, SUDA' Soutn 1 \. The Free Southern and the Da.,hi.ld theat e rs 2s t poetry-music theater g roup in Housto n·, -th e Theater of Afro-Art s i n Miam i , ant! Atlnnta I s I: lac.:k Image. org;.ini.zed the Cenu· fu r llla t ln Atl:mte , Spellman Art \/!ii.ch publ i s hcs n11vth:n (1970) . S tone bcca11ie edjLor , Ll,o n (Slt:l.!11t ,n<le l~har] i s \!l rn berli) poclry c clitor .:rnd Sp c Jlman · cd:i t or o( L! Ssay s, 1d features . to Donald Ji re clor oJ The :;urn1:1L!r (1971) issue of lU1ythrn \/i.l'.i al :10 a 111emorL.1 l· . Gralt;.1111 (1 '. J/14-1 9 I) , pu et -' Lltl·o re::L Lei.an \-1]10 succecd e J · 1, j 1 I.ens. i.ls th e \Jrl t ,•n; \fo r L ·1 up at l.'i:;L . C'r ;.ih:11'.1 , 1vho \·!.'.lS also a rnu:;ician , h:1 d publi. sl1 d t hr ee b uok s : r:I 1ytl1rn :} a i d lt e '\,,as runni.ni~ me of th e b:.1d<lest Hockshop:, in the South " ::incl 11 Lci.1clii11 ;: i.l t the n <•v olution:, y Peo p l e ' s colle~e in l-!ashville ." l·lissis ~;i.ppi , host cLl in 1 973 the bi - ·cntcnnial c c ] c liratio n of the publication - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - -- - - - �of Phy ll is \.'h ea tle y ' s Poc111s . lier r, ·. from the s t an c e sh e t ook i.1 fo r 11y ' a nd Octob c1 .Jo llr ney (197 3) Sh e turn cJ to the n ove l i:.! Ce 1 poe tr y , ho\lev c r , h as c h::i n t',ecl so1:1d1ha t o plc . Yet Pronl iets For a ~~ew lby ( 19 70 ) cli ff 1-.: u lt t o ju cl ge aga in s t h e r other \JO rL i11 the fift Lvs a n,l c-, i :: Li es b ut sev e r.:.11 pocw; i n Octobe r we r e publi s )1 '-' J in j our an l s lie t\veen 1 9 30 am! 19 60 . l'r on he t:, i s a c hr o ni c l e of th e C i. v i. l l~ i g ht s ~lov ement up to i ts allL1 1c c with Black Pm .. e r. ,1bo ut 11 She write s Bi n 1in 13hnr.1," " S tre e t ·ne mo ns trnti ou , " " J a ckso n , Missis s ippi, " on Ha s hi n: .: o n , and the 1. c \1 prophe ts : th e lla rch " Jer er,1 i.J h , 11 " Jsa i~11i , 11 " Amo s ," .:.111J " Joel ." In " Ofor d is .:i Le g end " >' 1e sa ys ~wme " fo u ght th e c ivil \•m r a ll ov e r ag ai1L " Ne w pro phe t s are Malc oJ 1 , 1led-)3a r Ev e r s , AnJy Goodma n, tl ich a e l Scltwc rnc r , a nd Jame s Cha n e y , who fou gl11 " oppr ess i.o n " in Louis i an;'l, Mi ss is s i ppi a nd C.:!or;; i a . OcLober is .:.1 qui e t e r , 1:10, emp l oying a va r i e t y of v e r se for ms i11 c] udinr, Lb e balla d in " il a rrL.: t Tubu:.i1 ." lier own unique s onnet~ i s see n i n "for Ma ry McLeod Dethu ne " and " For P.::i ul Law r enc e Dunba r ." The earlier poe t i s s u gges t ed i n " I want t o \/rite " w t h th e poe ts te l li ng us : I \Jant t o \T rite son g 5 o f my pe opl e . Alic e \fa l te r , nov Lli s t and poe t, sh<, res th e st a te of ~: i s sissip pi (ltoc kdal e ) 1vith Har gard Wa l ker . He r volumes of poe tr y ar e On c e· ( 1968 ) and Re vol u tionary Pe tu ni::i s ( 19 73 ) the titl e of Hh i ch , j ud g in g fr om ot h e r st a t e 1·1ents sh e has mad ! , i s prob 11l y a l so a pun. Her poems cove r h e r own civil ri ~hts a ctiviti c. 5 , g e n r- r a l e xp e rie n ces , a nd s ome s.:iti r e . A poem in On ce r e l ates t he s tor y of t h e youn~ Black man who wa nted t o inte grate a whit e . beach i11 Al a hama- - in tli e t o Pe t uni11 s : 11 1 udc ." She ann o unces h e r d e bts in the: d e dication Ge oq~e Jac ks on , "h e r oes and h eroines, a n d friends o f ea rl y SNCC ," Bob Mo ses , and Fanni e Lou !l.::imc r. Th e se poems (wri tt e n in p e r s onal t ones ) d e al �rocms l,y .\lvin J\u!Jer t, a s_ uthern nlu1,11:us who 1101v r esidi2s i n NcH Yor k and ed its Obsidian: Black Literature in Aube rt' s ,\;,a in s t the Bl ues (1971) surveys blues , love anJ his L uis l.an:i hc:rit.1;;;c . Pinkie Lane, 11t:1J English De:p;:irt1.1cnt he:ad u t So uth ern, publish~d Hind Thou·::>,hts (1 972) as 1-1e ll as several ~roaJs id es: T,-, o Poer.is (1 72 ), Poems to }Iy F:.it her (1972), a nd SonGs to t11 c Dialy sis Machine (1 972), all brou ght out by South and 1-Jcs t, Inc., of 1\rkan~1as . South and Hest is al s,. the publisher of t he annual Poems by ll lacks (1970, 1971, 1972) for whic h Pi nkie Lane has beco me permanent editor . Butler in,,ugurate<l the annual IH..1ck Poetry Festival in 1972. pro gram or In the th e " irst festivcil, he• st.:1ted : Th e lH.:1ck , 0e tr y Fes tiv al provid-.!s n rare opportunity to brinz to ge th er professional ,::mu apprentice poe.ts in an effo rt to define and ler;itimize all fonns of Blac k poetic talent as a prelude anJ postl ude to definin g and legitimiz ing the reality of Black . people. Hop efully, the resul _s of our efforts will be a better unders t anding ~in,! a g re at , r apprecL1tion of th e lives, aspirntions and achievements of ' ,: 1ck peopl e . . For the festivals, South ern has attracted a numb er of poets : llaJhub~ti , Sonia Sanchez·, Randall, R .: dmon<l (writ e r-in-r es idence, summers 1971-72), Zu-1.\olton, Kni ght, Aubert, Lucille C t. if ton, J~ ;1 ln1:1u Salnam, ti eal, J\u<lre Lor<le, and Irma NcLnurin. The festivals, which in L·h)decl stuJent poets and musicians, have inspired a Poetry Writ:in2 Horkshop under the sup ervision of Rowell, au Enr,lish in! ; true tor . The first t\JO volur,1e~; of Poems by Blacks cont a in u rich lode of southern poets: Leon E. \Ji les (P h Llan<ler Smith Co ll eGe ), Elij a h Sabb (Little RoL:k), Booker T . Ji1ckson (Little f- >c k), Eddie Scott (lli2m phis), Otis \fooclar<l (Memphi s) , 1\rthur Pfister (Tuskegee Institute, Bee r Cans Bullets Things & Pieces, �1972), lJp ton Penr so n (J a cks on, llississi p pi ), Jdcquel v n Drynnt (HeriJi.rn), Lois Hiller (B a t on Rou~e ), narbnra Jenn Kn i:; hL (Ee1.1phis) ,mJ 1::.ithelcc c n lteed (Shr eveport ). .'\lthough Pinl~ie La ne cl i J not edit the first t1-1n issues of Poems, she ac t eLl ns :1dv i sor anJ her Olm \Jorl · ' •-m s s uhst a nti .:.11.ly. re p res e nted . n 0 ift ccl Sh~ is 1-m rd-m,mi pu ·l a tor with s6µ, c 11 r:111:1tL~ sk ill a nd passio n. t!nrth of 11 n ton Rou:-i e i.n Ne\l Orle n n s , the Fre e?. Soutlwrn Tl!L: .-tt c r hall burneJ out by the late six1:ies but out of its Horkshops cnm P 1'H:ombo Hhich carries the work of BLKARTSOUTll writers. Tom Dent, one of the founders of FST, and J(~ila1n11 n011 jointly edit th e publication . to;~ethl!r-·-except the " n1uv ,'ment" ln th e Sou t l • Some 13LKJ\RTSOUTll poets arc n ut th eir concern s fo r the movemcut arl.! often expressed b~tt er outsiJ e of the poe tr y titan in. BLKJ\RT SOU'l'il publ i slwd lnd.i.vidu<.11 v,1l uL1es of poe111s Ly ~:.1la.:1m (T !1c 1\luc~ t·il' t:-Clt,rnt_), Fernandez (The frtpatj t ·nl ~el>el) , .. 1yo (T 1-Jan t i ' e a llo1~1e) , :1110 l!a s li i.n::ton 1 ( Visi.ons From tl1e CIH' Lto). Af r-o-Amcr .ic;iu salval ion . " Raci ~, t Psychotherapy" is Black ' s ulue-pri,1L for lie .:idv'.i :..; cs Blacks to spend l ess t.i1ae rappj ng ai,J Jr.ink in g and !!tore t ,1 1c \1or.!~lug for t!te cnusc . State" Dent In 1%9 In " P,ay Cl1...1rles u l Hlss.isslpp i ,.:iys L heat tl 1L' L!upl<.: IJ,ij tl r . fl ,1- L'.,L rio t to be:gin i. 11 hear t s . ... Of " The Blues ,'' S.1 l .11.1 siJys : :i.t i~; nol s11Lm i. ssion ... . But too 1,1t1cl 1 of hi ,, \Jork i~, speechy. Salaam has a l so p ubli shed llofu Hi KHenu : tly Fcnr ls For Yc u (1973) \lhich· rcct:lve<l n mL~cd rcvi-211 fro111 l~m.,rcll in Lile �l! 12w Orl e.:ins-l>ase-d B1 nck Cn1 l e'"'.Lrn . 11 Bedti1,1c S t L) ry": F..;l]o,.' l~U-:..\H'ISOUTl!erner :lctyu \1r it e~. u an cxclu.rn~e bet\1 ec:11 1,10 Ll1L!r :rnd son ubo ut " revolution." i\ns\1erin;~ tl1c, son ' s qu es tion , " wh en WL! [_',onna have th e revolutL on? ", th e mo th er says 11 soo,1 :;011.. " The· othe r poets castL '. :, clte whit ey r111cl pr n i se Blacks . ironlr .::i ]l y th ey wrile V ' l'Y little aLout sout hern life . the Conzo Squ.::ire Hritin;~ Horkshop . But , Dent currently l ead s Thc1·c a re nlso \ffitini3 workshops n t Dillard a nd X.1vier Universities . Julia Fi.2l<ls , !:itill livin<j in North Caro lina, brougltl out Eas t of Hoonli gh t in 0 73 , but one of her r,10s t eloquent t cst i Don i e:3 i s Ho g " whi ch ei;t 1l> lisl1e s her ri ght to h ave " gut " or 11 J0\•1, . 11 11 11 Hii~h 011 ·the • 11 or "SI1r1.mp . caviar soul- [ 1e' 11 over Some mer us . , 1cl political stances arc uver-exoL Lci:~ecl uy revoluLlon.::iri Ls , s lr L: says, ancl she has " c.'.1rned " th e ri ght to do \·ih_.Jt s h e likes . She lws even heard 11 J-l. 1us Ha u s" scre~1m ing nnd " Romnntlcizing 1;.1in . " But. she has p a id he r dues, and hacl e n rngh pre ssure s from both sides of thl:! -color line . \""- The subtle n11J g e, but Jirect [1 0\-ler of Julia Fiellls ·c u ggests that Black ·poetry -, in goo<l kmds in t h e Sout h . No,·Lh of Nortli Carolin.i came Joh n Oliver Kil] e nfi iwport ,111 t IJrLters _ Confer ,-nces at Fi !3k Universi. t y, the most impor t a nt one t aking place in Sprint; of 1967. l!ayd t:n , who had be L! n :.1t Fi sk s ince the fo r ties l eft in 1968 after a s e ries of brushes with proponents of the Blnck Aesthetic . The ]967 con- fL,rence (prol;nb ly ti ,e s tra\v th at bro ke the ca mel I s back for Hayden ) is seen by some as a major 'unc ture in the tlew Black \ffi ting . Goendolyn Br ooks t;:ill ~eJ abJut it i n her autnbrography , Ha r garet \folker Jis cu ssed it \Jith '!ikki Giov.:m n i. in thc: i r ]'llb lis h cd "conv e rsati.ons, " a nd lloyt F11 Ller v:rote ;; lm,in g l y of it in Bl 1ck h'or1 d . l!r lt e rs a t tc.ndin 1: t '.1c conference :vere D;:ivid Llorens , Fuller , �Ron Hilner, Clnrke, Bennett, tlar,~are t Danner, :: iLki. Ciovauni, Ramlall, Lee, Margaret \lalkcr, SoniiJ Sanchez , Jones , and Har ::n ret Burrouihs . Probably held in tile South for symbo l ic reasons , the conference prov id e d t h e fi rst renl nRtionJl dramatic ar c nn for old and youn r, wr iters . Gwendolyn Brooks (a " Net'.ro " t hen , she h ns· said) r ec::i l l s b e i n :; " colJly respected " nfter ju8t havin 2, flo\Jn to Mashvi.lle from " whit e lihite So11tli Dakota . " Hm,eve r, she was mnong the fir sl (\,iith Randnll and Ful l er ) to take up the banner of the Black Aesthetic a n d th e causes of t he yo unr:; wri t ers . Such action, of cou r se, was d ispleasin i1 t o a numb er of wh ite anJ Black poe ts, no t t h e J east rn:ionr, them ll,iydcn \Jh o r ef u sed to acknoH1ed ;;c the existence of n " s epa rnte " nesth c tic for Elacks (Ka] c id oscop0, J a nuary , ] 968, JHack \for_~ poll) . A]tho u~h the Fisk c onfe re n ce l1as bee n fo l lowed by doze ns of .Bla ck c o lle ges a ll ov e r th e South, Midwest a n d East , th e r e is s t i ll no monolithic s tilnJ on " d i rections" bu t some wrlLe r s keep t ryini_; t o give tl1e1:i anyu.:iy . One i11di..:. cation uf th e healthy Ji vers ity rn:1011~ Elil ck Hritcrs ls the journ:al · 1~oot,,, publish e d at 'l'ex:is Southern Universit y . Tu rner \ilwrton, an<l Hanc e 1:il l im,1s. [di tors ilre To1cn:1Y. Guy, Jl! f Cree J rn,1e s , Volur,1c I , number l contains essays , .art · and th e l•JO rks of several p iets , most of the1:1 southerners . of n1onuto11ouH tbt::111e or SL ) I.e. , repre sents a bro a d ran~e of int:er c::; ts in lin-. gu.i.stics, s ubjects and for,:1s . gaze::d fon.:Vcor Li.icbmr J:; ." The ppo etry , devoid m' lo in " .:.i Jove supreme" says " all my eyes ln ' she 1 11 11\..'.ver know " l[ickcy Leland \,rites of var lous aspe cts of th e social and physical landsc ape , inc l uding the "l~inky lwireJ boys" wlio build ''<irsenals of straw . " On" thilt the rent has );one up , L:\ Clarence \lard notes in "llanging ict~on is ii:rn1~ent , there is no food for tlle La Ly , cinJ 11.:.m g i.ng on .i.i.nt ea:,\' . .. . � 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_52 Title A name given to the resource Copy of Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, typed partial manuscript, p. 102-190 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.