https://digitallis.isg.siue.edu/files/original/64318c543bb05055901e351569ef6239.pdf 95611c7541c5d2f15765801f175c3872 PDF Text Text I ' INTRODUCTION CHAPTER I .BLACK POETRY: II ... VIEWS, VISIONS, CONFLICTS the double obligation of being both Negro and American is not so unified as we are often led to believe." Countee Cullen .\ I During the last decade, Black American poetry emer~ from its assigned position as an illegitimate--sometimes embarrassing--child of American literature to an official .flower in the garden of world writing . Everywhere, on all ·... . ·, continents, Black poetry is vigorously read, listened to·· an~ s'ometimes imitated. "Often imitated but never duplicated~ ... J~-; . ',,. ., ' ' s. , .. ' ' qµip the disc jockeys on Black-oriented radio stations--as~~~ . ,, :u ,, ~1 -'. ., their listeners that the "soul" or rrheirloom" of their trad1t1"' 1s alive, well, and locked in ancestral safe-deposit boxes~. .·.\\ · .t\ . However, a silent reading of the DJ 1 s casually delivered qu.1~_._; t belies the charismatic power and verbal dexterousness in it is said. ./, "hdw " But, the "how" is always important in Black po~t ' and it will be one of the cornerstones in the discussion~ will follow. • To say that Black poetry is read and heard all over the .. •'· .. "" world is not to say that it is studied in equitable proport1cf .. , •,, to other kinds of poetry. Indeed the current rash of apthoi ; _•: ogies, individual ~ollections, and the re-issuing of published volumes, suggest that a literary vacuum of l �' proportions has existed. The ru ~11 :, ·.. ~ 1: ,: t ! t ·! , . aouplod Vl th the appearance of new Black puJ,1 1:Jii i:. r \.r' u""" • -:a~ I th l a vacuum glaringly, paradoxical l:r 01 ) ·1 poetry (or Black literature) coursl"!:-: ~!' 1) ot 81.a'ok • l' ':") ,o 11l •n.-ne 01~:; . '". ~~r. ,: !1n', d r r eats at predominantly white college s and pu :: 1 tc ocLoolo la lpo 1- , nously aided and abetted b y the cu l pa hl o nel1;enc at . . rt7 predominantly Black learning center s --wh l c'·. ofton r llrlo111ly place Walt Whitman over Paul Lawrence Dun t ar. ,,· . B. Yoa ta and T.S. Eliot over Jean Toomer and Melvin B. To l s on, Rohert Prost ' and Carl Sandburg over Owen Dodson and Robe 2· t !!a:,clon , Gnd Marianne Moore and Edith Sitwell over Gwenrl ol y n B:rooka and Margaret Walker. -: One could go on, of course, reciting the cultural and literary negli gence so officially a part academic and grants-in-aid scenes. or t he The purpose here, howe ver, is to explore, with teacher, student and lay man, the vast richness of Black poetical and mythical life. t II The study or teaching of Black poetry presents many frustrations, challenges and problems. Instructors preparing themselves to teach the subject must be aware of the many pitfalls, not least among them being the tendency of teacher and student alike to stray from the study of tbe poetry into political and rhetorical catharses. "Black" is a political work in the United States--and in most or the world--and to study or tea.ch anything "Black" is to become embroiled in 2 ' �controversy and burdened with sociopolitical stress. That thin line between the ideological implications of a poem and those "trials scenes" so many classrooms and groups find themselves victims of is a line walked by all teachers and students of the Black Experience. In approaching Black poetry, then, one must "set" the atmosphere by dealing, from the outset, with substantive background materials. By "substantive" I mean the deepest philosophical, religious, ethical, artistic and cosmological tenets of Black life and expression. Thus a further intent of this handbook is to examine the scope and range of Black poetry via folk origins, methods of delivery, language, phonology, religiosity, racial character, recurring themes, individual and group identity, and poetic devices as they are developed indigenously or borrowed from other poetic traditions. III Like all bodies of writing, Black literature stems from a folkloristic trunk, making the job of teacher or student twofold: one) to deal with the great and complex storehouse of folk materials and themes; and two) to explore the chronological development of Black poetr~--from about 1746 to the present. There a.re harmless differences among scholars over just where to start the study of Black written poetry. For example, in The Poetry of the Negro, Hughes and Bontemps begin with Lucy Terry's "Bars Fight," the account of an Indian massacre in Deerfield, Mass., in 1746. The Negro Caravan (an inclusive • 3 �anthology edited by Brown, Davis and Lee) omits the Terry poem. Caravan was first issued in 1941 while the poetry anthology was published in 1949. The former begins its poetry section with Phillis Wheatley who first published poetry in 1770. Also omitted from Caravan is the work of Jupiter Hammon whose poetry was published in broadside in 1760. In Calvacade (Negro American Writing from 1760 to the Present), published in 1970 and edited by Davis and Redding, neither Terry nor Hammon appear and the poetry section begins with Phillis Wheatley. Early Black American Poets (Robinson) acknowledges Terry but Johnson's The Book of American Negro Poetry opens with Dunbar. Kerlin's Negro Poets and their Poems (1923) makes no mention of either 11 Bar's Fight" or its author; but Dudley Randall's The Black Poets (1971) does include the poem. This is only a random survey from the dozens of general and specialized anthologies. However, it seems that many teachers of Black poetry begin with Phillis Wheatley despite the fact that at least two Black poets were writing before her. Each one of these earlier poets was a slave, privileged by masters and taught (or allowed to learn) to read and write. Generally, they were spared the sustained hardships experienced by the majority of their brothers a~d sisters of color. But more will be said of them in Chapter III. In preparing this outline, I have allowed that some enthusiasts will want to cover the full history and range of Black poetry while others may be interested in periods or 4 �regions. I have also assumed that many persons will want to move systematically through the poetry--establishing some sense of historical development and tradition in Black history, Black music, and the broad web Black culture in general. Hence, one of the main ingredients of this outline--as we move from chapter to chapter--will be the study of related and integral forms of expression such as folksongs, spirituals, blues, jazz, rhythm & blues and what is known today as soul music; As stated earlier, however, the Black Experience is complex and frustrating. 1 At each juncture in the study of the poetry, for example, one teaching it will meet difficulties which may at first seem insurmountable. Some of these difficulties will be presented in familiar questions: Is a poet considered Black if' he writes consistently--or tempora.rily--out of the "white" experience? 1. Can a Black poet really record Black experiences Most attempts to define the Black Experience have failed. And though I am dealing primarily with Black (North) American poetry, there will be references to other parts of the Black World. When one considers the cross-fertilization of folk and literary culture in this country, together with the existence of' hybrid cultures all over Latin America and other parts of' the world, the term "Black Experience" does indeed rebel against def'inition. It is hoped, however, that through continual return to the idea of the Black Experience (and discussion of Black lif'e), the complexity and range of the term can be appreciated · (also see bibliography). 5 �and feelings in English? Can a white poet write a Black poem (like the white musician who has developed a "feel" for Black music and has le arned to master t h e technical vocabulary of that music)? Can white people "understand" Black poetry? Should white critics of Black poetry be taken seriously? 2 Black poetry primarily emotion and lacking in intellect? there a Black Aesth etic? poetry? Is Is Can a wh ite professor teach Black How does Black Language differ fro m white ianguage or English? And does Black poetry ex press the universal human condition? Black and white students will ask t h ese questions (of themselves, each other, and teacher), indicating that they want more realistic and direct answers to some of the in-house issues which have consumed Black activists, artists, academicians, and white scholars of the Black Exper i ence. The Black and white teacher confronting a racially- mixed class, an all-Black class or an all white class, will sometimes confront a distressing panorama of anger, rejection, fear, condescension, accusation, anti-intellectualism, intellectual snobb ishness, racism, distrust--and any number of oth er combustions of t he contemporary student personality. The Black poets do not make burdens lighter since they, critically an« t h ematically, are dispersed along a boundless spectrum of opinions, attitudes, creative 2. For a balanced discussion of t h is and related subjects, see Mphahlele's Voices in the Whirlwind. 6 �approaches, ideologies, teclrniques and literary ph i losophies. The teacher or student preparin~ for either a semester or year-long course (or for a "Black" unit to be integrated into a Humanities course, an American literature course, or a Black interdisciplinary project) should be come steeped in the literature and lore of the Black past in order to g ive tentative answers and carry on adequate discussions when questions such as those above arise. After J.J aving 1::ieen exposed to ~lack poets of national statute--via television pro grar.;s su cb as Soul and Black Journal, at campus reatlincs and conferences, Black Arts f es ti vals and co!:it::un:L t y book parties- - ti1an:r students (es pe cially Black students) ma:r be informed, at t he popu lar level, about the opinions and reading styles of t1.10 poets. However, neither student nor teacher must--and t his point t as to be stressed again and again--succumb to tbe temptation to "skip all poetry up until 1965." IV True, there is e;re at and growlnc interest in the Black poetry produced out of wbat has been variousl:r called the Black Consciousness/Black Power/Black Hatio ~allst /Black Arts/Neo-PanAfrican Movement. Yet one who defies the Black (or any) tradition will find himself engulfed in a ma~~strom of conjecture and ideological hysteria; and tbe class, whose posture will be anti-historical, will be riddled with soap opera-type rhetoric about revolution and liberation and will s mack, again, o:f anti-intellectualism. Harold Cruse (The Crisis o:f the Negro 7 �Intellectual) points out that each generation of Black artists and activists suffers from a lack of historical/cultural tinuity. con- That is, they fail to study (or are unaware of) the mistakes and the pitfalls of past struggles and consequently find themselves in predicaments not dissimilar to those of their predecessors. Needless to say, such 11 cultura.l amnesia" is not the state from which one approaches the study of Black poetry. As observed earlier, the poets are not in agreement concerning what Black poetry is supposed to do, why it is written or whether whites can (or should) write or criticize it. 3 Reasons for the diverse beliefs and positions are numerous: the situation attending the birth and upbringing of the poet (note, for example, the distinctions between Claude McKay and Countee Cullen); his religious affiliation (Robert Hayden is of the f Baha'i faith; Askia Muhammad Toure is a Sunni Muslim; El-Muhajir 3. An important point at this juncture of Black poetry. For there is growing feeling among some poets and writers (many of who will not express themselves in public) that there are concerted attempts to muzzle, circumvent or circumscribe some authors because of their personal political view points or their brand of writing. For further allusion to this, see back issues of the Journal of Black Poetry, Black World, and other periodicals dealing with the contemporary Black Arts scene. 8 �(Marvin X) is a member of the Nation of Islam (common called Black Muslims); K. Curtis Lyle was raised in the Catholic church; Sonia Sanchez expouses an Islamic position); his political leaning {which, in the case of many writers, is also religious); his preparation for poetry (did he go to a well-known writers school, pick his talent up via individual study or apprentice under another writer); bis associations with o:l:iher poets (many Black poets, for example, hobnob (and this is historically true) with writers of other races; I met one Black poet in 1970 who bad two masters' de grees but had not heard o:f · Melvin Beaunorus Tolson!--a Black poet praised b y the white literary establishment as having b ested Eliot, Pound, Stevens and company in his technical virtuosity ); l1 is current personal situation (does he live in the inner city? teach? time? play a musical instrument? write full write in other z;enres? read primarily Black poets?), and h is feelings on the question: "Are you a poet first and then Black; or are .you Black first and then a poet?" Harmless as it may seem, that rhetorical utter has entrapped scores of Black writers in ideolog ical and political prisons-from which some would like to extricate t e em.selves by asking simply: "What difference does it make?" For the many poets, however, it matters a great deal and they have written profusely on the implications of this question and the several others listed earlier. Th e teacher or discussion leader must sample opinions of writers and students, sharing the diversity of opinions with the same vigor a.nd thoroughness that 9 �the diverse creative works are shared. Such parity allows for a continual balance in criticism, social undercurrents and the poems themselves. be illustrative. Perhaps some examples here would Novelist Ralph Ellison has suggested that he is a writer first and that bis racial identity is subordinate to that fact. Poet Robert Hayden has taken a similar stand (see introduction to Kaleidoscope, Poems by American Negro Poets, 1967). The same position had been taken several decades earlier by poet Countee Cullen. In his critical- biographical introduction to Cullen's poetry (The Book of American Negro Poetry, 1922), James Weldon Johnson observed that: Some critics have ventured to state that Cullen is not an authentic Ne gro poet. This statement, of necessity, involves a definition of "a Negro poet" and of "Negro Poetry." There might be several definitions framed, but the question raised is pure irrelevance. Also there is in it a faint flare-up of the old taboo which would object to the use of "white" material by the Negro artist, or at least regard it with indulgent condescension. Cu~len himself has declared that, in the sense of wishing for consideration or allowances on account of race or of recognizing for himself any limitation to '~acial" themes and forms, he has no desire 10 I , I �or intention of being a Ne gro poet. I n t h is he is not only within his ri gh t; h e is ri gh t. (italics mine) Johnson went on to note that b ecause Cullen "rev olts a gainst" racial enclosures, the race." 11 best of h is poetry is motivated by One could make a similar comment today about Ellison or Hayden. The works for wh ich both are internationally acclaimed delve into t he deepest re g ions of the Black man's psyche and feelin gs. Meanwhile some y ounger poets--those who gained exposure in the 1960's--and several poets and critics who straddle both generations lash out, sometimes not so diplomatically, at what tbey see as compe ns atory actions and unnecessary self-deprecation by the older poets. Pulitzer Prize winner Gwendolyn Brooks said in a preface to Poems From Prison that Eth erid ge Kni c;h t was not t b e 11 stifled artiste. 11 The comment represented an i mpli ed rebutt a l to Black and white "academic II poets. 11 Elsewh ere }Iiss Broo ks ref erred to the inelegance 11 of some Black poetry as be ing c onsistent with the bleak, drab landsca pe of h opelessness and despair felt by some inner-city dwel l ers. (Otb er cr i t i cs, h owever, support the position of poet-critic Larry Ne a l t bat t lrn Black Experience should not be defined i n terms of "nee;ati ves. ") During t h e late Sixties, Miss Brooks became a kind of matr iarch of the New Blac k Poetry TToveLlen t (at least in Chi cac o), ceased pub lishing with Earper and Ro-:-J , a nd ~) ee:an to r e l ease h er writings t l~,rongh Br oad 3ide Pre ss --a new De tr oit - bas ed Bl ac k publish ing I 11 , .: 1 �house under the supervision of Dudley Randall, a poet, librarian, critic and translator. Miss Brooks' new con- sciousness, she declares, came ab out as a result of having attended a Black writers conference in 1968 at Fisk University where she heard and mixed with poets Ima.mu Amiri B_a rake. (LeRoi Jones), Don L. Lee, Nikki Giovanni, novelist Joh n Oliver Killens, and a host of other writers, activists and artists. The violent social explosions in the cities, the Vietnam war that took so many Black lives and crippled so many others, the persistent emergence or Africa--all, Miss Brooks said, aided in the development of her new consciousness. She has wr1 tten that it "rrightens" her to t h ink that if she had died before she reached rirty, "I would have died a 'Negro' rraction." Hayden, disclaiming the Gwendolyn Brooks' position, assumes he has been 'Black' all along and continues to reject any singular, unarguable position on the Black Aesthetic, or the poet-first, Black-second/Black-first, poet-second controversy. Assessing Bar a ka, Hayde n admits t h at h e reco gnizes the younger poet's power but deplores "his Black nazism. 11 J. Saunders Redding, a dean or the Black critical establishment, feels there is no such thing n.s a. "Black Aesthetic"; Poet Paul Vesey (formerly Samuel Allen) calls it "a voyage or discovery--! think it will y ield return not as greatly as in music, perhaps, where t h e blac k aesth etic dominates an entire cultural area of the west. 12 11 Hany poets and critics, �on tbe other band, i gnore questions dealing wit h aesthetics, tbe level of Blackness in t heir work, to wh om t hey direct their poems, and out of what mood or spirit they write. At the same time there are trends, some re gional and some national, that teachers and students can identify . Needless to say, identifying and exploring these trends is i mmensely rewarding . Some prerequisites to an understanding of trends and attitudes that stem from tbe on- going creati ve process, including tbe poets' knowledge of t heir own as well as the general literary tradition are: a study of slavery, as it was instituted by Europe and refined in t h e United States; an examination of Black social h istory , a nd a scrutiny of West Ai'rican and Afro-American folklore. The t h orough teacher or student of Blac k poetry will want to steep himself in the history of Western Civilization; b e will also develop an appreciation for the complex weh of Blac k -wh ite interrelationsjips in America, and prepare to nav i gate t h e often tense-filled readings and discussions. V Slavery is not the most pleasant situation to explore; and investi gators of Black poetry qu ickly notice t h at practically every poet writes about l y nchings--especially poets writing after the Civil 1--J'ar. Th ose poets wl~ o do not deal with actual lynchings, as we have come to kn ow or interpret them, deal with half-lynchings, character or cultural defilement and the 13 �mental and physical destruction of Black humanity . If a. discussion of slavery is unpleasant, t hen, a consideration of lynching is horrifying. However, skilled teachers and students will maneuver judiciously through t h e rou gh waters of such sessions--keeping emotional deluges to a minimum by admitting facts and clear interpretations. Durinc such occasions, everyone must be on guard less the classroom becomes a courtroom. At the same time, a convener wh o cannot preside over vigorous and thorough discussions of tr::ese painful events and details may find himself, at later junctures, trying to bridge even wider gulfs of doubt, frustration, mistrust and alienation. Again, the teaching and studyi nc of Black poetry (or any aspect of the Black Experience) assumes t he complexities of the Black Experience itself. Ne verth eless, t h e study of Black poetry is infinitely rewarding b ecause it is a vehicle which distills the particular insight s and perspectives of Black Americans into concise and autb ent i c for ms: merging the rich rural-Biblical-ur½an idioms with colorfully luscious ir:1agery and ( in many cases) peerless teclmical proficiency in the use of literary English anc1 Uestern poetic forms. When students are confronted witb t h e various poems on lynchings, for example, study can be underscoria by an examination of language, form, posture, poetic toolery and overall achievement or effeci veness of the poems. In Richard ·wright's "Between the World and i'-Te rr the lynch ed poet becomes the persona; the oak tree narrates t he lynching in Dunbar's rrTbe Haunted Oak." 14 �Cullen speaks as "I" in "Scottsboro, Too, Is Horth Its Song" which admonishes white American poets for remaining silent over unjust treatment of Black men while tbey sing: sharp and prett:r Tunes for Sacco and Vanzetti, I said: Here too's a cause devinely spun For those whose eyes are on the sun, Here in epitome Is all disgrace And epic wrong, Like wine to brace The minstrel heart, and 'blare it into song. In McKay's "The Lynching" the killing of the Black man is made analagous to the crucifixion; a sonnet, and awesome throughout, the poem descends to its rhyming couplet with a final ghostly irony: And little lads, lynchers that were to be, Danced round the dredful thing in fiendish glee. Certainly in these poems--and tbe dozens of' otbers that employ tbe lynching therne--there is much fuel for papers, classroom discussion and teacher preparation: In the four poems mentioned, the poets span such diverse forms as tbe sonnet, the ballad (Dunbar) and free verse (Wright). Helpful in this area will be the additional inquiry, by teacher and student, into the development of white bate groups such as tbe Ku Klux Klan 1.5 �and the history of race riots in America. Riots in at least a dozen American communities in 1919, for example, helped spur McKay to write "If We Must Die", a poignant sonnet with its even more poignant and popular ending couplet-Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack, Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting backf --a poem which Winston Churchill read before the House o:f Commons, during World War II, to spark bis countrymen in the dim hours; during the 1972 prison rebellion in Attica., N".Y., journalists found the poem scribbled on the wa.11 of a cell and the national press attributed it to a prisoner! Of great assistance, too is a knowledge of tre history of' slave revolts (many Black poets write about them) and the patterns of violence in America. Attuned teachers and students will want to consult sources such as 100 Years of' Lynching ( Ginz berg ), back issues of Black and liberal white news journals and papers and especially past issues of' The Crisis, the official news and opinion arm of the National Association For The Advance ment of Colored People. The scholar, W.E.B. DuBois, one of tJ-1e first Black men to receive a Ph.D., edited The Crisis for over 20 years from its beginning in 1910. For further readings, the teacher can refer to my extensive bibliography plus appropriate sections of any of the numerous anthologies, textbooks and bibliographical sources available. VI 'While I admit that inf orma.tion and opinions contained in • 16 �this handbook reflect my own biases as a teacb er, critic, activist, and poet, the prescribed patterns for teaching and studying Black poetry are ones generally adhered to across the country. ~ne organization of any course is certain to mirror at least a minimum amount of tlJe tea.cber' s own politic al and critical biases. Consequently, when lecturing on or pre- paring curricula for Black poetry, I normally allow for a flexible outline, including options in both textbook .use and period emphasis. The same bolds true for concentration or saturation of study with regards to individual poets. Teachers, naturally, will have personal preferences; in fact, like the students, teachers may even h ave de veloped attach ~ents to specific poets, attitudes about the poets or prejudices toward poets who do not reflect what they feel is a correct posture for Black poetry. Just as there is creat and liea.lthy diversity in the poetr:r and the poets, there will be divergent attitudes and critical points of view amonG teach ers and students. Some of the differentiations will be due to a ge differences (the "generation gag"?), as is tbe case with the poets, and some will occur regardless of age. The Black or white teacher should arm J1 imself to the best of his ability with the tools of cr'l ticis m and a knowledge of Black culture. He must have some idea of what part nduality" plays in the lives of Blacks and how sucb "twoness" is manifest in Black poetry; he s h ould reco gni ze t h e key issues being raised by and debated among Black artists, sch olars and 17 �activists--and have some feel for t l1e hi s t orical circumstances out which t h ese issue s and de bates grew ; be ouc;~1 t to understand Baraka's reference to some Black noets as "inte arationists" • 0 and "art;r poets Tl; be ·will h ave to kn ow Hb at many of the Hew Black poets mean wh en t h ey say th ey r e j e c t Western "forr1s 11 and r efuse to 1.:- e j udged >y 't·J:.-~i te staiJc;_ a r d s (3 ara ka, for example, talks about post-American forms); h e will also want to recognize Black in-house humor and intraconmunal disparagement in words and phras es like "nigger,!! "ne gro," '~ncle Tom," "oreo," "colored, 11 "th e man," 11 dict y ," "bad mouth," "bust a nut," "brother," "crumbcrusbers," "mai n sque eze," and "Mr. Charley. 11 (For furth er i nd icati on of tb is dictional and pbonoloeical richness a nd t h e breadth of Blac k Lan~uage, see The Dictionary of American Slang, :Te.j or ' s D~ ctio nary of Afro-American Slo.n~, t he 11 Glossory of Selected Ter ms" in The Psychology of Black La.nguac;e (Ea.skins and Butts), Abraham's Deep Down in t'he Jungle, Andrews' a nd Owe ns' Black Language, Claerbout's Black Jar gon in Wn ite America, Twi ggs' Pan-African Language in the Uestern Hemisph ere, 1-!elmers' African Language Structures, Kochman's Rappin' and St ylin 1 Out, and Dillard's Black English. Additionally t b e teacher or s-e"udent will want to know the motivations of some of the poets. All poets, for example, do not rate being called "poets II in the tra.di ti•o nal (white or Black) sense. Redding, in a recent Muhammad Speaks interview, accused some of t h e new Black writers of lacking ' moral and �esthetic' integrity' and called t b er:i. 'li tera.ry hustlers'. Observing that Baraka recently signed a 1O-year contract witb Random House, Redding said such an act is inconsistent with the poet's nationalistic assertions and positions. In a recent Black World article, novelist and poet Ishmael Reed spoke disparagingly of some of the new Black critics ("Bla.ckopaths") and poets ( 11 nationtime poets," was the reference). Poet-essayist Lee has chided poet Nikki Giovanni for being an "individual" wbo lacks technical ab ilities; and in a recent issue of Jet magazine a reader irately asked if Miss Giovanni deserved respect after accepting a 'Homan-of-the-Year award .from a national white women's organization. Miss Giovanni and Reed were nominated for Pulitzer Prizes in 1973. Hayden, a. member o.f the older group o.f poets, wbo was only 17 years old when the Harlem Renaissance burned out, feels that Lee (praised by Gwendolyn Brooks, Hoyt Fuller of Black World, Randall and Baraka) has potential as a poet but lacks discipline and seems unable to separate poetic technique .from ideological rantin g . On the other h and, Stephen Henderson, author-editor of Understand Tbe l'Jew Black Poetry praises Lee relentlessly and sa.ys bis populari t::,r is "tantamount to stardom". Henderson, who holds a. Ph .D~, is currently chairman o.f the new Humanities division at Howard University where Lee is a writer-in-residence. Miss Brooks g ives Lee credit (in her introduction to The Poetry of Black America) for spawning much of the contemporary Black consciousness literature. 19 �., .... ' Any seriously dealing with t h e de velo pment of Black poetry as a body of writing , must be m·1a.re of t h ese i ntense feelin gs and positions. One must also organize orderly discussions or readings around the divergent v iews ; in t h is way the classroom or rap sessions do not become me lees and participants get a complete picture of the rich ness and vastness of Black poetry and the political, social and ~1 istorical tensions out of which the poetry is generated. Writing on the New Black Poetry , (Th e United States in Literature, Miller, Hayden and 0' Neal), Hayden says: The emergence of a so-cal led sch ool of Black Poetry in A_m erica h as been one of t h e si c;nificant literary developments of t h e modern per i od. Although the Harlem Renaissance of t h e 1 920 's brou c;h t certain Afro-American poets into prominence, it was not until t b e intensification of t b e c iv il ri [sh ts struggle during t h e 1 960ts t h at a separate group of black poets b egan t o take s b ape. Avowedly nationalistic (th at j_s, racially proud) and scornful of western aesth etics, t h ese poets continued t he protest traditio n , h istorically associated with Negro tn~iters: But tl:iey were more radical in outlook t h an t ~ e i r predecessors. Unlike the Harlem group, t h ey re j ec t ed entry into t h e mainstream of American literature as a desirable goal. Th ey insisted t h at t h eir poetry 20 �could not be judged by white standards, urging its importance as an expression of b lack consciousness. LeRoi .Jones--the most influential of the young activist poets--Don L. Lee, Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez, Mari Evans, Etheridge Knigl1t, and David Henderson attune their lyres to the 'black esthetic.' Not yet satisfactorily defined, thfs term, originating in the sixties, na y b e interpreted as a sense of the spiritual nnd artistic values of blackness. It is, perhaps, a lo gical (some would say 'ch auvinistic') reaction to negative American racial attitudes. Perhaps tbe conce pt is best summarized by the slogan 'Black i3 beautiful.' Th ose who accept t hi s point of view regard Negro subject matter as their exclusive donmin, feeling t h at only tbose wbo have shared 'black experience' can articulate it. Older poets wh ose work shows some ali gnment with t b e Hew Black Poetry include Margaret Walker and Gwendoly n Brooks, winner of the Pulitzer in 1910. Whether poetr:r sbould be valued primarily for the unique inner experience it can provide or for its effecti veness as political or social statement is a. question 21 �that often recurs i n discussio ns of true function of art today . Hayden•s openine; comments, t h en, corroborate t h e opening sentence to t h is introduction--th a t Black poetry , re gardless of one's position on it, is one of t h e most i mportant movements on the literary scene today . Yet, wh ile it is exciting to study this "poetry in process" (if y ou please), the enthusiast must be on guard not to skip t he tradition ('the folk precedents) in favor of plunging into a Black poem that heaps wrath on Watergate conspirators, or urban policemen who shoot rioters and looters. Swirling arou nd a nd t h rough the whole range of Black poetry, t hen, is the complex and multi-leveled nature of Black life. VII Many of the 11 literary hustlers" to wh om Redding refers have capitalized on the topical and episodic issues--with little or no training in t he Black tradition or writing . Hence, the student must assume that j ust because a statement is "relevant, 11 it is poetry ! Th e Black or wl1ite researcher will "dig ••• deeper to t he gold 11 --in t he words of James David Corruthers-- and nestablisb 11 a sound tradition ae;ainst which to measure the Black poetry of today . If t h e Black poet in question fails, be fails because be collapses from t h e weight of the past--instead of being buoy ed up by it. In establishing this sound tradition, t h e teachers and students must realize, first, that the Black Experience is not monolithic--e.lthough • 22 �recurring trends a.nd broad ir.1plica.tions do exist in the areas of language, religion, lrnmor, dance, mu sic and c eneral life style. Oddly enough, however., there is often more consistency in what Blacks know ab.out popular nAmerican n culture. L~ There are several reasons for such a paradoxical i nbala~ce a.nd lack of focus--many of tbem locked in the eni ematic see-saw of Black history. Ellison observed in the 1940's that if Black leaders ever unraveled the puzzle of t b e zoot suit and the dark glasses (meaning the secret of Black urban nstyling" habits), they could, perhaps, take the political and psychological reigns of Black masses fro m whites. observation was accurate. Ellison's James Baldwin has written that, in Europe, he looked at the great Renaissance masterpieces and felt ashamed that his race had not produced such work. Baldwin was not aware that the great Italian painter, Pablo Picasso, had borrowed heavily fron African motifs, nor that the architect, Lee-Corbousier, was greatl? influenced by thatched-roof huts used in Africa b y I3alwin's ancestors. The implications of this part of r;1y discussion are many and far reaching because central to the idea of teachinc and learning is what teachers and students expect fro m eacb oth er. 4. Ellisonts, For an exciting recitation and indictment via a "cultural quiz", listen to poet-critic Stanley Croucbfs Ain't No Ambulances for no Nie;r,ahs Toni e;h t (Flying Dutchman). 23 �Croucll 's and Baldwin's o~)sor,.,- ations a r e t5. mely and i mportant. They sugc;est to us that many, if not i;rnst, of t1"e students ·who are in Black poetry (Black Studies) classes do not have a working knowled Ge of the traditio n ou t of ·wb icb the poetry grew. It bas b eco me popular, in sou e quarters, to i gnore tbis fact which Ellison and others h ave so painfully and poignantly expressed. The teaclrnr wb o assu:-:,es t h at a class of: Black (or white) students is knowledg eable a b out .t he Black literary tradition is in for real trouble and many disappointments. The fore g oing point cannot b e stressed too often or too emphatically. Interestinsly enoucJ1 , tl1e majori t7 of t b e persons who want to know something u;)out Black poetry are not preoccupied with the craft of poetry--wi th t h e h 01:1s and whys of poetry. Rather the students and casual readers, Black and white, seem to be more interested in the sociolog ical (some teachers say "pathological 11 ) aspects of the poetry. Tb e situation varies, of course, fro m campus to campus, fro m atmospl1ere to atmosphere, and from Black to white to interracial settings. Here again the enthusiast h as to draw t l1 e l :i. ne and keep the per- . suit of the poetry 11 ti ghtlf in tern!s of tbe discipline demanded by the poetry itself. Another problem the investi r;ators confront is how to organize segments when an appreciation of tl1e material is what is sought. The "appreciation" approach could be the result of one's initial conception of t h e poetry or dictated 24 �by level of interest and preparatio n . A casual reader, for example, would not study t he same poems wi t }~ t h e same intensity as would a senior or graduate-le vel English major. Nevertheless, t he teach er, students a nd poetry lovers must bear in mind that t h ey are investiga t ing Black poetry and not merely some literary i mitation of traditional Western poetry--even though the two converge ti me a nd time a gain. Here, too, the point cannot be over-emph asized b ecause in the context of racial and intellectual mixtures, the melting pot is all too often likely to b o:11 over. Example: white students, well grounded in t h eir own literary tradition and having a skelet a l knowledge of Blac k Cultur e will want to surge abead. Not reco gniz i ng t 'i.-i at many Black ( and some white) students do not know t h e meaninc s of simple poetic devices (such as metaph ors, similes, alliterat i on and onomatopoeia), the insensitive teacher and "aggressi ve" students could press on to the point of premature destr uction of group participation. Such situations occur over a nd over. Even the best teach ers of literature often take for granted that every student has been drilled in the use of fi gurati ve language. Ironically, many of t h e students h av e be en "drilled" in the fi gures; but, t he holes opened b:r -€b e drilling allowed the information to go in one ear and out t h e oth er! Ifa.ny students, in the wh ir of words i n t b e classroom and c;roup d i scussions will not say t h ey do not know t b e names of poetic devices-especially if they happen to b e Black stude nts and think the �instructor expects t b em to b e "experts 11 on t h e Black Experience. On the other hand, the intellectual s no:Jb er:r t h at often accompanies the development of student 11 clicks 11 s b ould not be allowed to prevail in a course in Blac k poetr:r. Luckily , for teacher, student and general reader, t b e curves and crests and peaks in the study of Black poetry keep brins in 0 all aspects of human nature full circle. 26 �CHAPTER II THE BLACK AND UNKNOWN BARDS 0 black and unknown bards of long ago, How came your lips to touch the sacred fire? -- James Weldon Johnson I Origins of Black Expression: In this chapter, as in subsequent ones, I will attempt to place the Black creative mind witbin the spirit and letter of an African-American cultural tradi ti.on. Unfortunately, many early scholars either played down or ignored African influences on Black American poetry. these early scholars. This was certainly not true of all For while some gloated over the "findings" of "Southern whites"--purposting to prove that the Spirituals were derived solely from English (Hymns and Psalms) sources-Johnson (Book of American Negro Spirituals, 1925), Professor Work (Folk Song of the American Negro, 1915), and others, displayed faultless proof of Africanisms existing in practically all Black American folk materials. The approach to this ch apter will be via tlle philosophical concerns, updating so~e of the thin~ing on traditional African views and mannerisms in Black America.. Then brief consideration will be given the major trunks of the folk poetry: The Spirituals and the Seculars (or religious folk poetry and everyday workand-play folk poetry). I have included a fair representation of the original folk poetry. This is appropriate, of course, • 27 �since most .anthologies of Black literature and poetry omit these items; and because without a knowled ge of them one will be hard-pressed to understand the Black poet's use of folk materials (see Dunbar, Johnson, Brown, Hugh es, Hayden, Walker and others). However, before discussing the ori gins of Black expression, we should e ive mention to t h e role of the griot-or story teller--in pre-industrial African (and other) societies. The Black poet, as creator and chronicler, stems from the group of artisans known as griots--human records of family and national lore. Originally trained to recite--without flaw--the gene- ologies, eulogies, victories and calamities of the folk, the griot (like the lead singer of Spirituals) had to spice bis reportage with dramatic excitement. Hardly a Black youngster grew up (even in recent times) with out input from a sort of griot (uncle, grandmother, bi g brother or sister, mother or father, preacher, etc). The job of the gri to, like that of the mater-ceremonial drummer, ws.s so i n porta.nt that in many ancient societ:i.es a mistake could cost hi m his life. The griot began at a very early a ge h is mastery of technique and information. Like the drummer, he understud ied an elder statesman of the trade. His training demanded a certain psychological adjustment to the si gnificance of h is job-which was to contain ( and give advice on) t b e of the community. 11 heirlooms" As years and centuries passed, this "factual" information was converted into a lore, m~rth oloe;y, cosmology and legend; it became a part of the vast web of racial conscious- 28 �• ness and memory. It became the legacy with which every new born child entered the world. Clearly, then, the myth-and legend-building Black poet has a past into wbich to dip and a future to predict, project and protect. And any violation of the past, present or future const i tutes a serious crime against one's ancestors--against one's parents, against one's blood, against one's god. So it follows that the poet--griot-- is not some haphazzardly arrived hipster or slick-talker simply mouthing tired old phrases. To the Black griot-singer- poet the job of unraveling the complex network of bis past and present-future worlds is a painful but rewarding labor of love. We can say, then, that t b e Black Experience in the United States continues via the African Continuum: a complex of mythical {see Jahn), linguistic (see Twi ggs), gestural (see Emery, Black Dance), psychological, sexual, musical, physical and religious forms. This complex is evidenced in the day-to-day attitudes and activities of Blacks: their sacred and secular (organized and random) expressions, their physical appearances, their dress patterns and their family life. Not only in the Unite d States, hut in t h e Caribbean, in the West Indies, in Latin America, in all areas of the world where Blacks live in suhstantial nurr1b ers--they exhibit characteristics peculiar to the nature and culture of indigenous Africans. Naturally, general Black expression evolves from tbe myriad components of Black culture ; and t:.1e a.Ttistic (song, poetry) expression--traditional Black {African) 29 1 f I �communities did not separate l ife from art--is a more soph1.sticated for m honed from t he genera l 11 store11ouse. 11 No one has yet put t h eir h ands on exactl~ what moment l~ ti me and where t be first Afrj_can sot1 :~d ::: or ·,;o-._cen o,:ts "'. ·Tero incorporated into '\rhi te 11 or• 1·-: e stern frames of references or vice v ersa; but we do know that it di d bappen . Unfortunately , inept reportin g on t he Black Experienc e bas muddied the waters so much that one is repulsed and borr lfi ed conclusions of some Black and 11h i '· observations and 1-y~r tc ''researchers. 11 In an uni'linchine;l:r bril liant analysis of Black African Oral Literature, presented at t he First World Festival of Negro Arts (1966) in Dakar, Senegal, Ba sile-Juleat Fouda, noting tba.t "oral literature is as old as creation," coined t h e phrase '¼rchival Literature of Gesture." important revelations, Fouda naid: Concluding his "Tlrns in tbe Black Africa of tradition, literary art is an anonymous art be cause it is a social art; it is a social art be caus e it is a functional art; and it is functional because it is humanist." research is not b ounded by color. Good Bln ck socioloBist E. Franklin Frazier (Black Bourceos is) beld(wronc;ly) t hat tbere were no significant carryove rs (cultural tra nspla nts ) from Africa to the United States. (Slavery, Frazi€r said, "stripped" the African of bis culture and "destroyed" l1i s personality. ) White anthropologist :Melville Herskovi ts (Tb e Myth of the Negro Past) proved without a doub t that t h er e were African "survivalisms" operating daily in Black Americans culture. 30 (For more thought �on this see Jahn 1 s :Muntu, 1:lork' s findin gs, memo1-rs of Katherine Dunham, works of Lorenzo Do1.-1 Turner, 1Je 6 ro Fol k Music of Africa and America (Folkways, Lp) and oth ers.) Rudimentary Black expression and t h e numerous folk forms it produced (field h ollers, vendors sh outs, c~ants, worksongs, Spirituals, blues, Gospels, jazz, r hytllm 'n blues, soul music) form the linguistic and modal bases for most Black poetry. The early song and chant forms were almost always accompanied by what we have come to call "dramatic ideo grams"--or dances. Dance became one or the t hree basic artistic modes encapsulated by f'olk expression. Th e other two are Song and Drum. Aside f'rom being the f'ir•st means of communicating over distances, the drum also played a major role in the social lives of traditional African peoples. The career drummer, like the Black American musician today, went throug:-i years of grueling practice and preparation--learning not only drumming techniques but the legends, the r.:1.y tbs, the mean i ng s a nd s ymb ols of which the drum was derivative. Dance alway s accompanied song--Fouda refers to the "acoustical phonetic alphabet"--so that the complex web of oral nuances was illustrated vividly and graphically. Obviously, when teaching or entertaininc; , the artist/teacher had to present his material in int~esting and exciting ways so as not to bore the audience. Thus repeti t:i.on became a backbone of Black expression--a flexi ble, buoyant repetition that was designed to reinforce and increase group participation. The three essential modes--dr~, song and dance--h eightened 31 • • \ J ·;~:_()',, ·.·; ;'_i: \t: :/·:( �the immediate experience, wh ich was ecst a t i c, t h erapeutic, spiritual, visceral and revelatory . Added to t h ese intricate and varying modal patterns were t h e colorful costumes, make-up, props and important sub ject matter. The acb ie vement was not just the vicarious experience but one of t h e act and symbol being actualized together. W'hile sucl1 a prospect boggles the mind, a serious study of these forms and t b e general tradition will prove eye-opening for many a dis believer. Early Black American oral a nd gestural art forms inherited the qualities described t hu s far. In language, in dance, and, more i mportantly, in points of vi ew (attitudes) toward time, life and death , t b e cosmology of Africa "continued" (with some modifications) in the Blac k culture of the Western Hemisphere. Specifically , information was conveyed by way of aphorisms, riddles, parab les, tales, enigmatic dances and sounds (tonal scales). jokes and poetry . Ob lique and cry ptic utterances, puzzles, The pattern rema i ns in t act today • .Jahn's Muntu documents many examples of t h e Africa n "carry overs" and "survivalisms 11 operatine i n t h e Western Hemi sph ere. 1. One can For a brilliant and cogent statement on t h is aspect of Black expression see Samuel Allen's 11 the Jan., 1971, issue of Black World. Tbe African Heritage" in Allen--also known as Paul Vesey--is an acknowledged auth ority on 'b oth African and Afro-American culture. In the article, he finds African ncarryovers" in the Black American church (Baldwi n ), literature (Sterling Brown, Cleaver) and secular life. ' 32 ,' . •. ,; ·~· 1 ,.-: :,.~'.;,(' ; �find the tradition in Black poets, in t he serraons of Black ministers and in famil~r and otber social gatberings. Tbe scintillating Black poet Tolson operates in the old enigmatic (word-fencing) frame when in "An Ex-Judge at t 11e Bar" l1e says: Bartender, make it strai ght and ~ake it twoOne for the you in me and one for the me in you. Tolson (known to carry this Black nature into h is teaching at Langston University where he reportedly 6 ave a student an "Frt to the 20th power) ends the poem wi t C: an equall:r eni gmatic mock: Bartender, make it strai gh t and make it threeOne for the Nec;ro • ,. • one for :rou and me. In the Spirituals (to be discussed) one finds similar debts to the African tradition of Sons, Dance and Dru~. So too in the shouts and hollers where actual African words and phrases were often used. 2 Hence we can say tliat tbe traditional A.frican phonology and ritual, modified on tl1c anvil of slavery, were operatinc and continue to he represented in different forms of Black American expression. The African slave, forced to acquire functional use of English and to reject surface aspects of his religion, went :runder,sround" so to speak and became bi-line;ual and bi-physical. 2. ~ Hence, w}1ile much of the The flne poet Raymond Patterson (26 1-va:,rs of Looking at a Black Man) is currently assembling a book listing several hundred African words that are used daily ln t b e American 33 �thematic material of the Black fol k tradition is taken from the harsh difficulties the slave encountered in America, the form, spirit and pb onology were essentially African. The use of poly-rhythms 3 and th e introducti on of s y ncopation, the reliance on various r hy t hmic ins t run e nts ( drum-related and sometimes invented), the adherence to a no n- European tonal scale and the e mployment of the blue tone, t h e development of a distinct body of folklore and a rich language to convey the lore--all represent t h e Africa n 's resourc efulness. Cross-cultural inputs are also e v i dent, h owe ver, in--for example--the Spirituals which, in man::.r cas e s, were influenced by the English Hymn and t h e Psalm. Oth er considerations in- clude the slave's use of European instruments (Baraka points out, in Black Music, that the piano was t he last instrument to be mastered by t h e Black musician.h Th e reason ought to be obvious.), the Black adaptation of sone;s heard in the "big house," the continual re-sty ling of American fads and the vocabulary. See 11 i blior;raph y for more on t h e little known area of scholarsh ip. 3. Isaac Faggett, a young Black composer-b and director in Sacramento, Calif., b as said t11at t h e word "poly -rhythm11 (i.e., many rhy thms overlapping each otb er) sh ould perb aps be replaced by or alternated with t h e words ITpoly - meter" or "poly-metrics." · 4. Eileen Southern, in T:1e Music of' Blac k Americans, sets forth a thorough and accurate discussion of t b ese points. 34 She �employment of Biblical i ma gery and langua ge i n so ngs and sermons. Langston Hughes noted tba.t t h e Blues usually dealt with the theme of the rejected lover and personal depression. Hughes' .first volume . of poems, in fact, was entitled The Weary Blues. However, the Blues, like the Spirituals, do not simply preach resignation or submissiveness. Rather, as Janh and Howard Thurman (The Negro Spiritual Speaks of Life and Dea.tl1) hote, underneath the complaint is a "plaint": or change! t h ings must get better For as t he slave said: Freedom, oh Freedom, h ow I lo ve t h ee! Freedom, oh Freedom, how I love t h ee! And before I'll be a slave I'll b e buried in my grave And go home to my Maker and be Free! II Black Folk Roots in America: 11 Get it togeth er or leave it alonen --Jackson Fi ve Black poets have been writing in t h e Englis~ literary tradition since the middle of the ei 6h teenth century. But notes with some detail how t h e Africans (made slaves) had to l~arn to use the instruments of t h e New World. Professor Southern also relates bow Black music influenced whites in the early days of America. �. (' • t,· it is the folk literature--tbose productions of the everyday people--which must be examined before a literary or poetic tradition can be v1ewed in its entirety. Tbere are few persons in the United States who have not be en touched or influenced (in one way or anotber) hy the folk expression of Black America. White Americans began collectine Black folk lyrics and stories in the early ~ars of t h e ni neteenth century (see bibliography). In the same century, this aspect of Black culture reached wide audiences via at least three major vehicles. The first ·was the abolitionist movement which featured Black poets (Francis E.W. Harper, James Whitfield, Benjamin Clark, and others), orators and prose writers (David Walker, Frederick Douglass, etc.), and journalists (John Russwurm, etc). Tbe second vehi cl e was t he national and European tours (in the 1870 's) of student choirs from Hampton Institute and Fisk (Tbe J ubile e Singers) University. The abolitionist movement popularized anti-slavery and freedom songs and the colle g e choirs gave wide exposure to the Spirituals, considered by most scholars (of Black culture) to be the first authentic poetry of Black America. Tl-:: e t1 1ird major vehicle was the publication ( in the late ninetec n t 1• cent1.1.ry ) of Brer Rabbit tales by Joel Chandler Harris . In □ tuCios a nd writings, Harris recogn ized tl-Je r,1y thic Ho1,t:, in Blac k fol::tales a,1d exposed Fox, Brer ·.Iolf nnc~ ot 1--::e1•s . Har:::- of t:~esc t ales and characters have African coPnter,art s . 36 �III Spirituals: For many reasons , t 1Jc use of tbc wo r d tr sp irit u al" to describ e Bl ac k r e li c io s i t :,r i s a t,1:ts no~.i er . pretations, ontli ne d b:r n eH j_ ri..f' or :-no.ti on and c;-.,pi rical research into h istory a nd t b ouch t c onvinces world is "spiritual": Curr ent i nter- UG t ~at the entire Black i. e ., i nfor med by and re s ponsi b le to a "higher orde r"--tl, e or c18r of God or t 7"e rr c; od s. tr The ex- huberance, t h e spon tane ity , t he ec s t as~ , th e tr ances, t h e talking in to ncuo::; , tl1e r a cial f la vor and fl air in dress (at church and ni c;htclub ), all po:Ln t u p t '., G interd ependence and the inte gration of v ario u s mod es and poi n ts of v iew in t h e Black communi t::r . Profes s or Wor k d e sc r:l :)es i t a ::., "tl: is di.fference and t b is oneness." Tl1e cont e n1.poro.r~~ Black poet Hayden understands t h is inte c;rati on w'1en , in n poe m to Halcolm X, he exclaims tlrn "blazin c; onen ess II of Alla:: . Furtber proof' of this fusion is seen in t h e e motional a b a ndo nment of church folk during secular picnics, soci a ls a nd otb er e v ents of merriment. One h as only to listen to Areth a Fra nklin alter- nate between Gospel and b lues to see t1: is u n i t :r of expression r.: operating today . ::; And certainl:r i t is clear i n t h e works of 5. Let us ob serve that t h e most brilliant and influential Black poets have intimately und erstood t his as p ect of Black culture. Almost with out exception (and Kerlin, Brown and 37 �the Staples Singers, t l1 e Edwin H8.wkins Singers a nd in a more vulgarized manner in Flip Wilson (ll.ev . Leroy ). o:r one brother, 11 In the words the preacb er a nd t h e pimp sty le out b eavy." Still, it is i mportant t h at we offer t h e traditional portrait and break-down of Black folk expression--so as not to confuse or invade the "sacred" bastions of h istory . The Spirituals have been t h e source of continuing debate among scholars: Are they completely Afr i can i n ori g.in? Are they primarily English 0-Ietb odist, Wesleyan, etc.) in origin? Or do they represent t he co-joining of African/European themes and religiosity? Persons desiring to concentrate on t h is area of Black poetry should trace t I-1e history of t h ese arguments and debates and reach conclusions of t l:ieir own. Johnson (and his brother, J. Rosamond) put to geth er t h e best known collection of these songs in Th e Book of American Negro Spirituals (1925), and The Second Book of AmericaE,-_ He gro Spirituals (1926). The Spirituals usually deal witb physical or f igurative contact between t he singer (or con gr ega t i on ) a nd God. (Early Afro-Americans often used the word s God, Jesus, Savior, and Lord interchangeably. For a more t h orough dj_scussion of this see Benjamin nays' The Negro's God.) The songs also deal witb others warn young Black writers to follow example) Black poets since the Civil vfar have availed t h emselves of inte gral folk rudiments--even when t b ey did not use t h e m in poetry. It is still a fact that Black culture (desp i te t b e racist and tecbno- 38 • ~ * ~ ,, r,, •... ,: ~- ~ ' .~~~~-f �a. longing for rest and tbe overcomine; of for n ida.ble obstacles or adversaries. Professor Work's 1915 stucl:,r was seminal and remains a land mark in the study of African and Black American songs. His work provides many answers to questions and issues that had been (and continue to be) muddied by tlle waters of insensitivity and careless research. His efforts, "undertaken for the love of our fathers' songs, 11 ei ves clear connections between the African and Afro-American folk sons. His main concern is for the religious songs--although his comments on form and style are of general value: In America we hear it (the song) and see it acted in the barn dance, on the stnge, in t11e streets among the children; in fact, many an occasion is enlivened by this sp~cies of ~usic, t h e interest in whicb is intensified b y the r h:r t 1-:i mical patting of hands and f'eet. This rbythn: is mcst strikingly and accurately brougbt out in tbeir work songs. Citing the emotionalism and songified intensity of the Black American, Professor Work says "He worships not so much because he ought, as because he loves to worship. 11 Th is "worship," of course, is the kind we referred to earlier: the integration logical barrages of the West) still rer1ains more consciously 11 integrated 11 than other cultural unit in America. 39 �of sensuality and ecstasy into the sweeping ritual of live and immediate drame. Such musical acti v ity is "as natural to the American Negro as b is breatb 1t: Indeed, it is a portrayal of h is soul, and is as characteristic as are b is phys ical features. him sing in h is church , h ear hi □ Hear preach , n oan, and g ive 'gravery' in b is sermon, b ear t b e washerwoman singing over ber tub , h ear t h e lal)orer singing his accompaninent to h is toil, h ear the child babb ling an ex te:;:poraneons tune ...• Even t h ose 1Te 6 roes w·h o have l· een e du ca t ed and wh o have been inf'luenced by long study , f-i_nd it difficult to express their ::nusical s e l ves in any oth er way. Black song, as is readily ob serva½lc, possesses both pure song (the verse and chorus plan) and ch ant (use of i nterjections and expletives) qualities: Poor man Laz'rus, poor as I, Don't you see? Poor man Laz'rus, poor as I, Don't you see? v-men be died be found a h ome · on b i gh , He had a home in dat rock, Don't you see? Alluding to the deeper, more psychological, meaning of these songs, Professor Work say s "there are closer relations between • 40 ' < �the soul and musical expressions t h an h ave satisfactorily explained. These relations can be felt, but a ny accurate description seems beyond the grasp of man's mind. 11 Never- 'theless this i mportant study goes on to classify and number these songs of': Joy, Sorrow, Sorrow witb Note of Joy, Faith, Hope, Love, Determination, Adoration, Patience, Courage and Humility. Like most scholars of the Spirituals, this one points out that there is no h ate, resentment or vindictiveness in them. However, Dr. Th urman, t h eolo gian and philosopher, has excavated underpinnings of tur bulence. In The Negro Spiritual, Dr. Tburman tells us death was i c mediate and ever-present for the slave. In such an atmosp~ere of anxiety and fear, the slave developed a rath er stoic attitude in which he saw death as inescapable and as, possibly, the only remaining vehicle for mediation witl1 t h e plantation lords. The slave could take his own life, if h e wanted to--a.s he did many times in preference to slavery or separation fro~ family and/or loved ones. Dr. Thurman's brillia nt analysis must be read by any serious student of Black t h ought and culture. Johnson (who also classified the song s) 6 said a hierarchy of poets for the Spirituals included t h e song - maker (writer) and the song-,leader. 6. The leader h ad to reme mber leading lines, Jobnson, Brown, Kerlin and Dr. Th urman also give con- sideration to the "poetic" content of the Spirituals. Johnson and Professor Work discuss the preservation and promotion of 41 �pitch tunes true and possess a powe rful v oice. Joh nson, wh o (like Professor Work) b elie ves t h e earliest Black American songs were built on the common African for m, says the Spirituals were written by individual s and se t to t he moods of groups. Like the blues, t h eir secular and str uctural cousins, the Spirituals incorporated antiph ony or call-and-response wh ich allowed for audience (congre gation) participation (either by alternating, or intermingling , with t h e le ad er): Leader: Oh , de Ribb er of Jorda n i s deep and wide, Congre gation: One mo' r ibb er t o cr oss. Leader: I d on' t k nov-T 110w to ge t on de otber side, Congregatio n : One mo' ri bb er to cross. Heavily influenced by Christian imac;ery and my t h ology, the creators of the Spirituals often ch ose t h e most militant of biblical personalities as t heir h eroes. Th is aspect of these "poems" opens up an e ntire area of questio ns a nd research for the student seeking to compare/contras t b i b lical t h emes and charactors to t he Spirituals. Certainly t h ere is need to ex- amine the English Hymns and Psalms in t he framework of such a study. The S pirituals s h ould als o be compared/contrasted to the Black literary verse of t h e period dur i ng wh ich they these songs t hrough arch i val h oldinr.;s, ch oi r concert tours and the atte ntion paid to them by composers. �were forged--especially t he work of Jupiter Hammon, Phillis Wheatley and George :Moses Horton. IV Folk Seculars: Don wid massa's h ollerin'; Don wid massa•s h olleri n '; Don wid massa•s h ollerin' Roll Jordan roll. We observed that there is a thin line between the Black religious and secular worlds. This is true for many reasons-- some of them stemming fro m t h e African tradition of interrelating all aspects of life. As Joh n TT ' Biti (African Religions and Philosophies), Gabriel Bannerman-Richter and others point out, the African takes his reli gion (h is beliefs) with him where ever he goes. Hany investi gators (Jahn , I1'Biti and others) also remind us that most African languages have no word for religion or art. The two are inseparable. Again the ways of African peoples (see Hphahlele 's m1irlwind) are expressed in nintegrated 11 terms. True, in Black America there is some tension between secular and religious communities--but so often ( and most Blacks understand this well though they don't always admit it) they are the same: on different occasions. wearing different hats Study, again, the case of a Rev. Jesse Jackson or a Rev. Ike or a Rev. Adam Clayton PowellJ We have also observed that r,1any motifs and components of' Black expression are interchangeable. 43 That is, songs and , l �speeches designed for church or other r e li r;lou s activity are often re-cut (modified) for a sec ular-- sc cial affair. are numerous example s of th:i.s pract i ce. There Dur i ng the Civil :q j_ ghts e ra., we i::wu1d s ing I woke up t h is lilO I'Di n ' wi t b my r.d.nd s t a:.red on freedom though we were fully a:ware that ch u r ch f olk were used to singing it this way: I woke up this mormin' with my mind stayed on Jesus Many of Curtis Hayfield's (and t be Impressions') songs rely strongly on the material of song s s u ng i n Black churches. Even Ma:yi'ield 's more recent tunes ( s ee "If There's A Hell Below") carry the Black church flavor--wi t h t heir warnings, admonishments, threats of societal destruct i on, and pleas for love ( see also :r-rarvin Gay's pieces like 11 S ave The Children"). Some works by the Temptations ( "Run Away Child Running Wild 11 ) reflect the historical t h eme of "search ing " found in Black religious songs. 11 This same group's Poppa. Was A Rolling S tone" describes poppa "stealing in the name of the Lord." B. B. King's "Woke Up This Mornin" is a blues treatment of the idea expressed above in the Spiritual: "I Woke Up This Mornin." When heard the old Supremes singing "Stop in the Na me of Love" we were tempted to replace "love" with "God." Often the songs contain exchangeable and interchangeable words such as "Lord" and "Mother"; "Baby II and "God 11 ; ' "Sweet thing II and "Sweet .res us"; . "Captain" and "Maker"; and "God" and "Vian". The reasons for such usages, as we have stated, are deeply enmeshed in the 44 �I mytbos of Blacks. Richard Wrlght 's "Bri gbt and Mor ning Star" (in the Bible, a metaphor for Jesus) becomes the son of old Aunt Sue in the sbort story by that name. T':1e bero of John A. Williams' no vel, Tl-:ie I'Ian Who Cr ied I Am , sa~rs "thank y ou man" to God after a sex act. When we h ear a tune like War's "Slipping into Darkness" ( "when I beard my moth er say") we must understand tl-:e historical si gnifi cance and function of social (therapeutic) art--just as we must understand' the function of the mother-like voice that ad~oni s h es Isaac Hayes to "sbet yo rnouf II in "Sbaf t." 1n1en conservativ e Black Christians complained of Duke Ellington's use of reli c;ious themes in jazz, he .replied "I'm just a ecumenical cat 11 -- meani ne; be avoided fine distinctions in where or to wbom be pla:red. The church has been the training ground (academy, if you will; see Frazier's The :Negro Cburcb in America) for most of the b i g (vocal) names in Black popular music as well as for important orators, race leaders and community business men. Against t he fore going discussion we ca n view the Folk Seculars in their ri ght perspecti ve as a vital part of the rich storehouse of Black folklore. (my own grandmother: Throuc;h songs, aphorisms "You don 1 t 'J elieve fat meat's greasy!" and "If you ain't gon' do nothing c et off the pot!"), fables (see Aesop), jokes (see minstrelsy and the Black comedy tradition), blues and other enduring for ms Blacks capture severe hardships and tribulations, folk wisdom, j oy s and tragedies, and the longings and h opes of Blacks during slavery afterwards. 45 �I I The Seculars, more so than the Spirituals, give important clues to the inner-workings of the common Black mind. And a closer look at the total folk tradition will reveal the structure and principles of folk psychology. It is, after all, back and fo1~ward to these folk materials that researchers will have to go if they are serious ab out delineating the feelings, emotions and thought patterns of Blacks. The Seculars are surer indices to the workings of tbe folk mind because they are not as limited as the Spirituals. Though most Blacks in the United States are aware of and have beard t}1e Spirituals, an even lare;er number have had sustained exposure (directly or indirectly) to the secular vocalizations and gestures of Black culture. Contemporary Black popular music and culture con- tinue to be informed by tbe street and home utterances. An exciting reciprocity allows entertainers to borrow freely from what they hear wbile the folks recorded. 11 run and tell tbatu once it's Some examples of songs, titles and oth er epithets borrowed directly from the people are: New Bag," "Licking Stick" (see 11 James Brown's "Brand hone:,r stick" in McKay's story "Truantn), "Give It Up or Turn It Loose, 11 11 T11e Payback" and "It's Hell"; Harvin Gaye's nu11at's Going On" and "Let's Get it On 11 ; Curtis Hayfield's 17 Superfly !I; tbe ,Tacks on Five's "Get It Together or Leave It Alone"; Flip Hilson's '"I.mat You See is What You Get 11 (and the Dramatics' tune 'hy the same name); Aretha Franklin'3 Knight's 11 11 Respect 11 and "Run and Tell Tbat 11 ; and Jean Mr. Big Stuff"--to name just a few. 46 ~~ ~ ,,.. . . /'tr �As with the Spirituals, wh ites ( primaril:,r abolitionists) were among the first to collect Seculars of whatever type. William Wells Broi·m, the first publisbed Black novelist and playwright, collected "antl-slavery 11 songs. Thomas Wentworth Higginson, writer and a bo litionist wh o led a Black re g iment in the Civil Har, collected song s be 1:eard a rr,ong his men around campfires and during march es. Thou c:)1 primarily con•. cerned with religious songs , he also descrihed srnne of the Properties of g eneral Black song delivery. One of the most important collections of t h ese seculars was put to gether b:t Thomas H. Talley ( of Fisk Universit:,, as was Professor Work). Professor Talley did pioneering work in the identification and class ifica.tion of Negro Fol;-: Rbymes. Describing the philo- sophy, structure and, in so1;1e cases, origin of the songs, the Fisk scholar collected well over JO O examples. Ohter important examp les and discussions of tlle artistic products of folk secular folk life can be found in tr.e works of Huc;hes and Bontemps, Brewer, Spalding, Dodson, C1.rnp r.tan , Brown (Negro Poetry), Ahraha.r:·is (Deep Down in The Jungle) and Bell (The Folk Roots of Contemporary Afro-American Poetr~ ). Bell's 1,-10rk is recent (from the new Broadside Press) and is somewhat vague in perspective as a result of an i mposed ("foreign") construct. Also valuable to an examinatio n of t he Seculars are regional works ( such as Ab rah a :,1s' ) inc ludi nG Dru~1s and Shadows (Georgia and South Carolina), Goldstein's (ed.) Black Life 47 �and Culture in the United States , Lorenzo Dow Turner 1 s work in the Gullah culture, Dorson's Negro Folktales in Hi chigan, and others ( see b ibliography). By far the r,: ost faithful representation of secular or reli Gious folk materials in the written poetry is in the work of Sterlinc Brown (see b is Southern Road, especially Johnson's introduction, and his critical comments in Hegre Poetry). Brown takes exception to Johnson's comment that dialect poetr:r ~~as onl:r two stbps-"humor and pathos "--and ir,1plj_es that Black poets up until his time had be en remiss (or lazy) i□ not de veloping hroader uses and deeponinc; the n ean in.c; of Black life t 1 ·, rou gh tbe use of folk materials. The tradition of "tall" tale-tellinc is, of course, submerged in the American my tbos. So t }1c Blac k narrator found a flexible atmosphere into wbi ch r: e could introduce b is own manner of stor:rtelling and his own tradition of song . As he had done in the Spirituals, he c ained a resourcefulness in the use of langua ge , acquired instruments to accompany tbe song or story, and developed an a½ility to seize upon a good or amenable context in which to tell or sing J1is story; b e also made use of themes and ideas fro m the vast ethni c potpourri of America. the Spirituals. The Seculars greH up side-1.J:r-side with The Spirituals emerged from tbe atte mpt of the slave to web together h is disparate (yet r.mtual) wounds. Spirituals represent t he slave 's perserverence and (in many instances) bis l10pe and faith in mankind. T1-1e Seculars, also �developing in the shadows of the 11 :.·i i g h ouse, 11 reflect the social life of the Black American on the plantation and later. In songs and ditties, the Black American couched his longings and bitternesses, but voiced his bopos and cynicisms through the oblique, eliptical and encoded words and seemingly unintelligible phonetic symbols. These African forms (see Rappin' and Stylin' Out, Kochman) have continued up to the present. Few Black youngste-rs are able to side-step the rigorous (and sometimes painful) verbal desterity demanded by playmates during verb al sparring matches that inevitably take place. The forms of sucb behavior were in tact during slavery--wb en a slave r.1 i gb t b e discussing a. master's "moma" or "old lady" during a rather harmless "rap" (rhapsond? rapport?) with his fellow field workers. Frederick Douglass reports (Narrative) tbat slave over-seers thought slaves sang because the~r were happy. We know tbat such was not the case (se DuBois Souls of Black Folks) and that such refrains as "stealinG away" implied a lot more than wanting to reach the arcs of Jesus on t he cross. similar codes in his stories and poer::s. Henry Duraas chronicles And Viel ·w atkins (Amistad 2) discussed an updated version of at least part of this phonenon in b is article on folk sinGer-bero ,Ja~;.es Brown. Though be is discussing a secular character, Watkins' revelations are similar to Dr. Thurman's: that in the absurd context of b eing owned by someone else, it is not life or death t ~ at loom so importantly. One lives, Ellison suggests (Invisib le Man), tbe day-to-day 49 .' • ~ " I ¼ :, -;•.r. - ' �absurdity in a sort of comic-tragic vi ce. ~atkins says: James Brown's initial acceptance by a 'b lack audience is fixed in this crucial factor. From the moment he slides onto t h e stage, whether unconsciously or intentionally, his gestures, his facial expressions and even the sequenti~l arrancement of his materials are external affir2ations of a s~ared acceptance of t::1e absurd or, n oro iD cenously, of jiving. Tbe i mpecah ly tailored s uit s, 1-11·:d .c:J b e brandishes at the outset, 1)e co~.~e rneard. n:_;less accoutrements as his act pro c;re sses and, sweatj_n; and straining , he s ets c.mm, li teraJ.l: down on 0 t he floor, to wrinG the last drop of emotion from a sons. Watkins is incorrect ab out t h e dress ½e co~ i ~s "meanincless" to a Black audience, but his senernl thesis is o~ target. Elsewhere Watkins, fir :11ly understand:i.n:::; t} ic i;.1portance of verbal agility amonc Blacts, so..:r::3 ":i.t is co n ,;:on to h ear 1')lack women discussinc a ~an 's 'rap' or 1 as tbe:r discuss :l is ba nl:: acconr..t. 11 proc ra~' on t he same level Bla c ks ce~,erally witb1:)old their judeu1ent on (or acc ep tance) of a 3penkcr or entertainer stands t>:o ,-._'(,,.,_._~_-LS""', _•_ i1r;: tl·,::, ;..,1 r 1 .. ..._.. ., • •, c.;;.. !v ·:-: -~ '"' L .l .,_,,, C'11CCC~ l .. .l 1 :"' "•1-· l •. ..,,, 1'"nO't·''· !!,-,,7 ,o•;rl l:ll -- ..... "C:_....... t.A,.1. ... v . .. ... L'\. " l.1 bards.n Roturninc briefly , to our histor ic al assessment, we can now see boF tbe folk strain in Bl8.clc wri tt:en nrt e•rol ved. �. ' . Dey g i '·.) us de J..::.quor, ~ And say dat•s ;;ood enons> for: t h e nisger. to the fear of 11 d0 Cun jaI: Ho. n II ca p tured j_ n rrGullo.b II b y Campbell in the latter part of t he 190O•s, De Cunjab man, de Cu,15a1:1 ii1 a_n, O c h illen run, de Cun j a h man! the decepti vel:r 11 si np le II enrlo:rc ent of fol k ex pressions have prevailed as an i □ rortant antidote for the social maladies inherited by Blac ks in t he Wes ter n Hem is plie re. :nan" is, of course, equivalent to the in the nigb t II 11 t1-1in13s tbat g o b u mpinc in Ireland--and tl''ns }ms ti es to g eneral folk supe1~sti tions and nytholo 6 y. man 11 '1De Cunjah But t be re was also tl-1e "huggah- (Dunhar 's "Little Broun Baby"), t h e "ra:::r, ;:-,a n ", "pee;-leg, " "raw-head at:d bloody bones" and (in places like Trinidad) the "obeah ma.n. 11 Most of these supernatural ch aracters are throw backs to various African reli g ious and ritual practices. Of the new generation of poets, Is11mael l"tG e d (Catecbism of a neoamerican hoodoo church) is the inno·:ator in t h e use of' supernatural the mes and vocab ulary. The theme of tho 2nd Annual Jobn Henr:r i'fomorial Authentic Blues and Gospel Jub ilee (b eld in Cliff Top, 1:J. Va., in August and September of 1974) was "Tryin' to Get JT ome. 11 How stea.d- f'astly the folk tradition runs like a v ein t h rour;h Black history. In the Seculars (and the Spirituals) we repeatedly h ear something similar to the last stanza of 51 11 Raj_ nbow Roun Mah Sboulder": �I' r,1 gonna 1:Jreak ri ;:;l1t, b reak ri ::)1 t pas t :rn.t s h ooter, I' m g oin 1:~ ome, Lawd, I' m ::;oin ho1;1e. Again tbe use of the ·work "Lawd" in a "secular" song further bears out the communal inte 6 ration of t h e folk expression. My own sisters often interject or exclaim "Lord" or "Lawd" in everyday discussions about life. It is next to impossible to list all ( or eacl, type) of the Seculars. We have mentioned Professor Talley's ~ioneering efforts at classifying t h e m. But ma ny ob stacles lay in the way of recorders of secular folk lj_fe. of censnreship of language. One prob lem was that Such censuring :narked all types of Black creativity, fro m tbe slav e narrati ves to reli g ious songs. Hence the more "protesting " aspects of t}1e works were deleted as Here 11 offensive words." Anyone w1, o 11as h eard "authentic II Black folk songs knows t b at t 71e:r reflect the convergence of madness, absurdity and h ope i n tl,e Black body. Subsequently what are kno".·m as ttcurse" or "ob scene II words are sprinkled tbrougbout much of the "secular" lore. Brown dis- cusses the "realj_sm" in t lrn folk r h y mes alone with an attempt to slassify at least some of t h em ("fiddle-sin e;s," "corn-songs," "jig-tunes, 11 "upstart crows"): Ballads, Ballads: Ne c;ro Heroes, John Henry (folkified in sone; ), Uor k S oDcs, Tb e Blues, Irony and Protest. Irony and protest, of course, run t h rou ~1 Black folk and literary poetry fro m tbe earliest days (W1i tfield, Harper, . anti-slavery songs) to the r.·1 0s t rec e nt times ( Josh Wbi te, 52 ., , ,. �Leon Thomas, Don L. Lee, Joh n Ech ols, Joh~1n:r Scott). Some observers have pointed to t h e silli ness of ma ny researchers who, white as ever, appeared i n perso n to as k Black folk song writers arrl singers if t b ey endorsed "protest,,: t b en went away satisfied with a "no" answer. Gi ve n t h e nature and history of race r elations one can und e rstand t he reluctance on the parts of Blacks to tell wb ites t h e truth a.bout "anything 11 let alone ab out such a sensitive are a as "protest." Yet in the dog-eat-do g world of surv ival, the fol k person knows that "If h e dies, I'll eat h is co 1 n; An' if he lives, I'll ride ' im on. 11 In summary we can say t h at u nli ke oth er etb nic i mmigrant groups ( the Afro-American was not a willing i mmi grant!), the Black American did not simply transplant h is stories--keeping them in their exact same for m. He fou nd American or European language counterparts for his t h e mes a nd v ocabularies. But his phonology, style and spirit were informed by tbe African tradition. The student of Black fol k poetry will want to compare and contrast t h e Seculars to oth er eth nic stories and songs. Boasting or "lyi ng ," for example, is one ingredient of' the '1tall 11 tale. . 11 Shine, 11 . How does t h e Black s onG or story (i.e., nsi gnifying Eonkey," etc.) fit this motif? 11 Dole,:li te, 11 nFrankie and Johnnie," How does it co nceal deeper meanings on the issues of slavery, inbuman wor k condl tions, or contradictions in Christianity ? ".-f oat are the si milarities between the Seculars and the Spirituals? 53 Bet1.•reen t h e Seculars and '' �the literary poetry? These and oth er que stio ns (on Black heroes, cultural motifs, blues the mes, langu a ge and endurance) will lead one through exciting corridors of Black folk creativity and thought. V SPIRITUALS GO DOWN, HOSES Go donw, Moses, Way down in Egyptland Tell old Pharaoh To let my people g o. 1,-Jhen Israel was in Egyptland Let my people go Oppressed so hard they could not stand Let my people go. Go down, Moses, Way down in Egyptland Tell old Pharaoh "Let my people go. 11 "Thus sai tb the Lord, r, bold I1o ses said, "Let my people: If not I'll smite ~our first- b orn dead 'Let my people go." 54 �11 :No more shall t hey in 1) ondag e toj_l, Let my people g o; Let them come out with Egypt's s poil, Let my people go ," The Lord told Moses what to do Let my people g o; To lead the children of Israel thro ugh , Let m:r people g o. Go dm·m, Hos e s, Way dmm in Egyp tland, Tell old Ph araoh , "Let r.1:y peo ple g o! 11 S IJ-i. VImY CHAI IT Slavery chain done broke at las t, b r oke a t last, broke at last, Slavery ch ain done broke at l as t, Going to praise God till I di e . Way down in-a dat valley, Praying on my knees; Told God a b out my troubles, And to help me of-a He please. I did tell h im how I suffer, In de dungeon and d e ch ain, And de day s I went with h ead b owed down, And my broken flesh and pain. 55 �SPIRITUALS (cont'd) Slavery chain done broke at last, broke at last, broke at last, Slavery chain done broke at last, Going to praise God till I die. I did know my .Jesus heard me, 'Cause de spirit spoke to me, And said, "Rise my child, your chillun, And you too shall be free. "I done 'p'int one mi eh ty captain For to marshall all my hosts, And to bring my bleeding ones to me, And not one shall b e lost." Slavery chain done broke at last, broke at last, broke at last, Slavery chain done broke at last, Going to praise God till I die. NO HORE AUCTION BLOCK No more auction block for me, No more, no more, No more auction block for me, Many thousand gone. No more peck of corn for me, No more, no more, 56 �SPIRITUALS (cont'd) No more peck of corn for me, Many thousand gone. No more pint of salt for me, No more, no more, No more pint of salt for me, Many thousand gone. No more driver's lash for me, No more, no more, No more driver's lash for ~IB , Many thousand gone. SHOUT ALONG, CIIILLEN Shout along, chillen! Shout along, chillen! Hear the dying Lamb: Ob! take your nets and fol loii me For I died for you upon the tree! Shout along, chillen! Shout along, chillen! Hear the dying Lamb! SWING LOH, SHEET CHARIOT Swing low, sweet chariot, Coming for to carry me home, Swing low, sweet chariot, Coming for to carry me home. �SPIRITUALS (cont' d ) I looked over Jordan and what d i d I see Coming for to carry me home, A band of aneels, coming after me, Coming for to carry me home. If you get there before I do, Coming for to carry me h ome, Tell all my friends I'm coming too, Coming for to carry me h ome. Swing low, sweet ch ariot, Coming for to carry me h ome, Swing low, sweet ch ariot, Coming for to carry me borne. STEAL AWAY Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus, Steal away, steal away bome, I ain't got long to stay here. My Lord, He calls me, He calls me by the t hunder, The trumpet sounds within-a m;y soul, I ain't got long to stay here. Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus, Steal away, steal away home, I ain't got long to stay h ere. 58 ' ./,1 ~ .~/-1;':""''' �\ C::ii,\PTrn VI FESTIVALS & FUNE10\LS: JJLJ\CK POETRY OF THE 1960s & 1970s They winged his spirit & \1ounde<l his ton gue but death was slow coning Who killed Lurnumba What kill ed Halcolm festivals & funerals festivils & funerals festivals & funerals & festivals & funepal s .,...... Overview: ---- Jayne Cortez The space between festivals and fun e rals can be infinite or ·it . Gau ·be deathly short. her poem. an<l trl J So Jayne Cortez say s throu gh th e twistings anJ turriings .in But whatever the spnce, or the pace, we all s llp, s lide, .soa r; _ as we make our way between th e polarities (assl Gncd ca.ch at ·.birtii) of life we live and the kind of deatl1 we die. 1970s often faces life and death "stra i gh t up": Black poetry of th ~ 1960s and though, ns we have seen, Black poets in other times did not cringe from the breaches of racial ni8htmares, violence, sexuality, unbeautiful lan ~ua ge , wicked or reli g ious folkism.s\ and . th e demands of music which each of them seemed to hen r--albeit from "differ en t drununers. 11 To attempt a discussion of contemporary Black poetry is to turn ·ochers' ton gues into · flames: "blasphemy !, 11 "I was the first!," \ �_JIWe started it!," "That anthology was incomplete since it didn't include me!," "It all started in this place or that place!," "llis/her poetry is not Black enough!," and so on. Nevertheless, the "smoke" from the sixties is beginning · to . clear and, while more htngsight is n~eJed, there are important observations that should be made. Hence in this. chapter, the format will follow preceding ones-- with a noticeable de-emphasis in bio graphical-critical notes on individual poets. Most serious poets who began writing in the late fifties, sixties and seventies, still have much growin g and threshin g to do. volumes really contain earlier poetry. i\lso many recent So it is not easy to evaluate .(or .· even list) Black poetry pro~uced over this period. Yei, historically spe~kihg , certain undeniable trends have occurred, and they i~ok ro ughly like .this~ Black Poetry since the llarlem Renaissance (see Brown, Redding, Henderson, Jackson) has had cycling currents of "ra ge and . "fire" thou gh not the sustained gush witnessed in the mid and l ate sixties; Black poetry after 1945 e~pressed a belief (see Ray Durem) th0t white liberals were not really interested in mounting the · "final" chariots of fire on bcbalf .of l3lacks (despite .CommunistSocialist pronouncements); Black poetry of the 195Os and early 196Os provided a Civil Ri ghts groundswell for the volcanic burst of the later sixties; In Black poetry of the early sixties there was planted the anvil which shaped the stylistic, attitudinal and lin guisti_c character �of what is known as the N~w Black Poetry; Current Black poetry, despite "evolutions" and "chan ges," has not radically altered or laid to rest the best work of Hu gh e$, Johnson (both), Davis, Too.m er, Walker, Hayden, Brooks, Tolson and nodscin: E;-:cept for what Stephen Henderson calls "tentative" i1nswers, Black poetry defies all definitions (like Hari Evc1ns's "Black Woman")--splintering off into ennumberble directions, styles, forms, themes, considerations and ideas. This chapter, all above considered ( ! ) will. briefly sketch the of poetry from the fifties into the mid-sixties. continuity · Again, chronoJ ,03y will be , related since many of the poets listed were writing in the forties · and fifties; but most did not receive attention until the sixties. ~ The sketch will include general look at transitional poets (older and youn ger) as thelc vork ·appears primarily in about a half dozen anthologies (from I Saw llow Black .1 Was, 19.58, to l(alei<loscope, 1967) and what · few volumes were being brought out _at the time. From this juncture, the examination (see Locke's and Bontemp~'s division of the Renaissance) takes up the poets ·who came to reco~nition . under the banner of the Dlack Arts Movement and _who loosly fall into the cate gory of New Black Poetry. Older poets--l~ydcn, Biociks, Randall, Walker, and others--will be briefly re-visited to see if tln2 "new" mood wrought any significant change:::; in . their views and/or their poetry. Though also a critical history, this book is primarily a historical guide--designed to aid students, teachers, and lay readers in their explotation of Black poetry. Only a naive person .. •.' �( \~ould att empt, at this stage, a full critique of the poetry of the 196Os and 197Os. However, there are stylistic patterns, similarities, and thematic clusters which will be pinpointed and assessed from time to time. Some of the most provocative of recent studies of contemporary Black poetry are Henderson's Th e .Milit a nt !Hack l·l riter in J\frica and th e United States (19.69, · with Mercer Cook); Joy Flasch'~ Melvin Tolson (1972); and Understanding the New Black Poetry (1973); Shirley Williams' s Give Birth to Bri 0 htness (1972); Gibson's Modern Modern Black Poets (1973) and Jackson's and Rubin's Black Poetry in America (1974) (also see bibliography). Literary and Social Landscape~ Assassinations, hi gh political corruption, uph eava l, violence, chan ~e, persistent ideologjes, flaming rhetoric --- are terms used to des i ribe th~ contemporary period. Revolutions (of all kinds) mock and mol~ th6 world. From Cuba to Vietnam, Harle., to Chile, Pakistan to Watts, Nigeria to Indonesia, Kenya to Berkeley, Jackson State to Kent State--tl1e faits rind symbols of change have been dramatic and violent. Meanwhile in the Black sph e re, Be Hop was declining (by the mid~fifties) and Jazz's greatest living interpreter, Charlie Parker, was dead .. Nusiciaris and v~calists began probing new forms ·u~d~r the leadership of Miles Davis, : John Coltrane, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Wes Montgomery, Duke Ellington, Ray Charles, Count Basie, Ornett~ Coleman, Billy Eckstine, Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, who died in 1959. Miss lloliday's name and fame · a8ain reached a worldwide audience when, in 1972, Diana Ross, form e rly of the Supremes, starred in the controversial movie, Lady Sings the Blues. Saxophonist Coltrane, a major influence on the current generation o f musici.a ns and poets, died in 1967. An innovator, he sparked new interest in music with �( his "sh e ets of sound" approach 'to playing, influencing poets as well as musicians. The Fifties also witnessed the maturation of Rhythm and Blues, popularized primarily by Black radio disc jockeys who developed lar ge foilowi.ngs. Inter- weaving with .l.ively Illack · social news and cor.imentaries with the news, t)iey • anticipated the new ora'i poetry of the Sixties. Spin-offs from these broacl- castjn g styles were programs like Bandstand (starteJ in tl1e late Fifties). Young white America w.1tch, d Blncks dance, listened to Little Richnrcl ,:mJ Chubby Checker, and trieJ to i111itate it all on TV and in their homes. This period eave birth to the first white superstar Soul artls t~~ Elv~s Presl :Y, . . . . . Black c ritics and soc:i.al h:i.storians note that the new Black s ot L1l rnus ic, an<l the dances accomp;:inying it, freed \lhite Arneric..11~ youn i:, sters frt,l!l the . prudish and self-righteous inhibitions of their foreparents. Generally, American science and industry developed more ·r011i<lly thnn in previous periods. Russia launcl1ed Sputnick, a feat which was followed by funerican-Russian science and space-exploration race wl1ich still continu e s. Tel~star paved the way for televised coverage of global activiti e s . while biochemical warfare and atomic research became the nightmares people lived daily. The funerican literary scene was swamped with ,political nov~ls, satire, writings on the war and experimental j c:) Urnalistic prose. The "underground" newspaper emerged as a majo'r vehic.l .e for this new writing. The symbolism an<l . (, psychology, employed in e arlier writings, is still present. llowever, the influence of the writers • rom the Depression and wnr years is . r,ivin .-:; way to gadnetry and a new wave of existential concern. Black, J ewish, Cl1icnno, Indian and Asian writers are grabbin g more of the literary sta ge. �Contemporary white and third world writer s of influenc e include: John Cheever, N. Scott Hornaday, Ralph Ellison, Bernar<l Malamud, Frank Chin, John llersey, Saul Bellow, Norman Hailer, Chiua Achebe, Ernest Gaines, James Baldwin, Paul Chan, Flannery O'Connor, Albert Murray, Ishmael Reed, _William Styron, James . Ng ug i, William Demby, Shawn Usu Wong, John Barth, William ~elv in Kelley, a nd Irvin Walla ce . Black writers are inclu<le<l in the ge ne r a l listing - bec a use during tl1e cont emporary period, many of them achieve<l recognition on par with the best \ITiters everywhere. (Reed, for example, wa s nominated in two categories for The National Book Award in 1974.) temporary poets are: Some import a nt con- Sumley Kunltz, Cyn Zarco, RobC'rt llayde_n 1 JUc hard . . . Eberhart,. Robert Penn Warren, Jose Montoya, Gwendolyn Brooks, Lmvson Ina<la,. Theodore Raethke, Karl Shapiro, Robert Vargas, Helvin ;l'ols on, Johi1 Berrymin, · Henry Dumas, Victor llernandez Cruz, Robert Lowell, Daniel Halpern, Richard Wilbur, Paul Vesey, James Dickey, Imamu Bar aka, Sylvia Plath, · 1{.illiam Be :1.1 . . and James Wright. Hayden receive<l a National Book Award nomi nat: lon. . fn .1972. Many of the Black prose writers and poets (some from the pre- and post-,iar schools) died during the contem~orary period (Tolson, Bontemps, Hu ghe s, Wright, Durem, Dumas, DuBois, Horne, Rivers, Toomer, Malcolm X, etc.). Ind eed de_ath, in one way or another, not only pr e occu~ied writers (white and n1ack), but was often romantically pursued. Beat po e t Kenneth Rexroth asked 30 American poets committed suici<le .·since 1900?" 11 \~hy have· Those poets not concernec.1 with death were investiga ting deca de nce or the cleuthn ess of society. The development of contemporary poetry cannot be vi ewed properly without . unclerstanding the 11 Beat 11 period. As a partial product of th e .Be Bop era in Black music, Beat poets emulated tl1e hip mann e risms a nd aped the "man alone" (drop-out ) image) associated with musicians. Be ilop 1,as one ..,,ay th e Blackman used to fi ght the commercialization of his are. He also .used it in playing �( 11 Sometl1ing, 11 in the words of Thclonious Honk, "they can't play." meaning whites). (Thev, Important among Beat poets were Lawrence Ferhlinghetti, Rexroth, Allan Ginsberg, and Gregory Corso, among the whitc,s; and Bob Kaufman, Leroi Jones and Ted Joans among the Blacks. Ano tl1 ei a~ack po~t writing at the -time and loosely aligned with the Beat image was Russell Atkins who founded Fr e elance -in 1950. The Beat Movement, which nurtured occultism, rejection of the Establishment and an existential view of life, was centered in Ne\1 York ' s Greenwich Vill.'.lge and the San Frnncisco nay area . The movement died in the early Sixties . Knufman is viewed by many as the unsung patriarch of tlie·. .!3eatern. . . . . . . . . Black critics say major white poets of the movement enti1usia~tically t ook their cues from Knufinan 's innovations, but were not so passionat~ in re- . cognizing 11is influence. his two volumes: Sardine (1967). Ka ufman's poetry is found in anthologies and in Solitudes Crowded with Loneliness (1965) an<l ,. Go'J.den As a kind of spiritual heir to Toomer, Kaur'man is .a·complex , sometimes fragmented, but brilliantly orir,inal poet. llis work, like thrit of mpny of his cont emporaries , is influence by Eastern religious thought and the occult. Stylistically, Kaufman has the "swe~p" of \vhitman coup·le<l w~tl1 the best techniques of modern poetry. ne pclssionately experime11ts wlth jazz' rhythms in poetry and often invokes jazz themes, moods and musicians; Many Beat poets and enthusiast~ l~ter joined or were spawned by the Civil Rights struggle wl1ich' was intensified by several things : Martin Luther King's Montgomery bus boycott in 1955-56; sit-lns and otl1er dramatizations of segregation and discr~nination; the challenges of Jim Crow in travel in 1961 (CO RE); the widening activities in SNCC (1961-64) and the March on Washington (19 63) . Other significant activities enflamcJ and �. inspir e d the hearts and imagination of Black Ame ric a n youth especially. The Nuslims' (Nation of Islam) growth to 50,000 members by 1963 and the Congressional action on Civil Ri ghts Legislatio n were two seemingly unrelated but strategically important eve nts. The growing in f l~ e nc e ~f the Huslims su gge sted t ha t ·many Blacks no lon ger believed America was sincere in its pled ges t o i mplement even when th ey became law. Abetting their distrust were the continued killings, night-ridings in the south and harrassment of Blacks in public places and their humes. 1./ith the bitter taste of Emmitt Till's murder still on their tongues, Blacks reeled under the killings of Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner, Malc ol m X, Me dgar Evers, Kini , the Kennedy brothers, and the three Black Pa nthe r s ( c ~~ned down by police in their sleep in a Chicago apartment). • lly 1966, - llciwev1=r, ]Hack Power signs and slogans began to replace the "He shall ove rcome-l.llack and \Jhite Together" exclamations. Young l.lL:ick America,· adornin g Afro hairdos and African jewelry, attended cultural festivals, ba cf~to~ Africa rallies, poetry readings, and began readin g con~unity news published in r~volutionary broadsides and tabloids. Rhetorical forays by JI. Rap Brown and Stokely Carmichael, youn g SNCC officers, set off a flurry .of state and national laws against incitinri to riot and the transp6rtation of w&apons across state boundaries. ·Lar g~ and small citi e s ignited in flam e s that set the stage for gun ba t t _l:es between police nnd the often "imagined" snipers. These i.:onfla ['._ 1~a tions were rep e ated in scor e s of cities after Dr. King was assassinated in 1968. \./atts po e t Quincy Troup e captured the sho c k and horror, and chronicled the official r eaction, in his po e m "White We e kenu": �The deployed military troops surrounded th e Hhite !louse and on the steps of the Senate bi.iildinr?; a soldier behind a 1:inchine gun 32,000 in Wnshington & Chicago 1,900 in Baltimore ~~ryland 76 cities in.flames on the landscape and the bearer of peace still lying in Atlanta ... In . th e last stanza, Troupe notes with curdlinr, irony :_. Lamentations ! Lnmentations! Lament0tions ! Worldwide ! But in New York , on \lall Street the stock market went up 18 points At this writing , fallout from the Black Revolution reverberate s ·. ar.o und · th e. globe . Black journalist Thomas Johnston reports Irish revolutionaries . sinr, "hie Shall Overcome." Posters and emblems commercialize every!=hing· from African l1airstyles to the raised clenched fist--the initial si~bol ~f Black unity and defiance . A wave of lllack movies--calleJ Blaxploitation-~ beginninr: with "white " experimental flick s like Putney Swope (1969) is capturing a multi~nillion dollar theat er patronage. Dlack movies retrieved the cripple d movie industry from th e brink of disaster . Heanwhile, the murder, incarceration and political ha rrassr,ient of Black men and \vomen made them heroes and heroines in Blacl~ conununlties--yet ironicnl] y symbolized the ton ent aml Hhat some nJac:k journalists called the " ~enocidal schemes" of Amer lea (sec Samuel Yette ' s The Choice) . �( Crlss-crossed by paradoxes, poli ti ca l contradictions, social revolts and relig ious and amb ivalenc es , the Black comlilunity is nevertheless regenerated by its singers and performers. Black popular mus ic . l1as not only r ea ch ed unpr e cedented audiences, but unprecedented money-making capabilities. Rhythm and Dlues , ·said to have uied abo ut 1965, gave way to "S ou l "I Im a -S ou l Man," Sam and Dave announced in the l a t e Sixties. 11 -- The Impressions t old lovers that you " go tt a have soul" and Bobby Womack reminded listeners that th e "Woman's Cotta Have it"--pr es ur.iably "Soul." DL:ick recording cornpanies are in a boon, the two largest ones being No Town ( De troit) and \fotts-Sta~ . (Memphi s ). The current peri?d has also seen th e . npp c aranc c . . . . of t!t ~_ Black super s t ar--often called "sup e r Nigger"--in everyt hing tram sports t o .i110vles. · · Curtis }~yfield's soundtrack album Superfly (1972) sold more than 22,000~000 copies and Marvin Gay' s lfoat 's Going On (1971) set records for i.l_lbum sales. · Recently, however, Stevie Wonder has surpassed th em all. Lit eral l y dozens of singing groups--modeled on the quartets and ensembles of th e Flfti_e s -'-are rel eas lng a lbums regularly. These folk or "soul" poets hav e become .· more · "conscious" in r e cent years· and many now imbibe th e ir songs with pol_i tic a l messages and exaltations of Blackness. Much of this new wave came on the heels of severe criticism by Barake who n-q monished the singers for doting on unrequited love. Too ma ny a re preocc(1pied with "my baby's gone, gone " themes, he said. Bl ack consciousn e ss activity-~and creativity in gene ral--now flourishes .. Related involvement includes: development of Bl ack acting ensembles; opening of free scho ols and Black universiti es ; establishment of Black Na tionalist/ cultural communes; increase in the number of Black bookstores and African boutiques; establis~nent of Black Studi~s pro grams on white and Black �( _c ampuses and, in some cases, quota systems for enrolling Black students; the escalation of Black demand for "cream of the crop" jobs such as tv announcing and the hosting of variety shows; expa nslon and creat ion of new roles for Black newspapers, magazines and radio stations; for.ma.t;ion of national and state Hlack C6n~ressional caucuses and similar units in most professional associatio~s 1n<l, finally and importantl y , n ew engagement with Africa and her problem s and possibilities . Ind eed, future trips to Africa-- to the "Mother country1 ' or "Homeland"--are discuss ed at all age and social levels . Much of this r enewed inter es t is und erstand able in light of the emergenc e durin i the contemporary period of several African ·na tion s tat es ·. . . .· .. ' .. and the increased fraternization among Africans and Afro-Americans . Mn1co lm ·x , cannonized today by grent n umbers of young Black~ ~~d Biack int ell ~c tDnl ~ , did much to foster this current intere st in Africa . Shot to de a th at a rally in Harlem in 1965, Malco l m (El Hajj Halik El Shabazz) ho.cl ·already .been . . .. . ' expelled from the Nation of Islam, and had formed a splinter ~ro uµ kriown as the Or ga nization of Afro- American Unity . His Autobiography of Nalcolm X (wit,h Alex Haley, 1965), which (as he predicted) he did not ge t to·. see in print, chronicles his odyssey as Malcolm Little, . hustler "Detroit Red,'' Nalcolm X, and El -Hajj Malik El Shabazz: Nalcolm w;1s lionlz ed .by Carmichuel,- H. R·a p Brown, Ossie Davis, Darnka and various other shcolars, act .l vists and artists . Black poets , especially, have found Malco lm (and Coltrnn e) a limitl ess source of inspi'"n'tion . can b e seen in For Malc olm : A partinl indic at ion of his i mp;__i ct on poets . Poems on the Life and Dea th of Malcolm X (1967), edited by Dudley Randnll and Margnret G. Burrou ghs . Shabazz " Robert Hayden not ed tlwt: In "El-H njj Mal ik El �lie X' d his name , became his people:' s anger, exhorted them to vengence for the{r past; rebuked, admonished them , The ir scour t er who would shame· them; drive them from the lush ice gardens of their servitude. At the First World Festival of Negro Arts, held in Dakar, Senegal, in 1966, Hayden was awar-ded the Grand Prize for Poetry. A major event, the festival was attended by experts , scholars , artists and enthusiasts of the Dlack Arts who gathered for 24 days to hear papers and discussions , view art exhibits . . ~ . . .. . and cultural performances, and give prel~nanary direttion to the lilack Arts Movement . ' ' ' . . Presiding over the festival was Leopold Sedar Senghor, Senegalese Pr esident , and one of the architects (with Aim~ Cesaire anJ l~cm Damas) of . lfor,ritude . . . '• Negritude is a philosophy of Illack Humanism which cnsco-n ces; according to its originators , tl1e Black mystique or religiosity . The term gr ew put of the associations of nlacl<. African intellectuals , French· .writers and a r tists , and Illack funcrican expatriates . African-ori ented publi~ations such as Presence Africaine and Black Orplicus have renewed their interests i n Bl~ck American writers . Likewise, · Black American journals nncl popular magazines (Black lforld , Journal of Black Poetry, The Black Scholar, Essence , Encore , Ebony, Jet , etc.) have beguu· to p ublish more materials by and about Africans . The revolution in the Black Arts was signaled by many events including t he First Conference of Neg r o Writers in March of 1959 . Langston Hughes was an important figure there--as he was at the Dakar gatl1ering seven years later. The First American Festival of Negro Art was held in 1905 .a d the Second AFNA �· took pl.:..tce in November of 1969 in Buffalo, N. Y.· Int e rlacing these and other conferences, syrnposi.1 and conventions, we re e xc iting dev e lopments and experiments in New York, Chicago , \Jatts, Philadelphia , Atl a ntn, Bnton Rou ge , St . Louis, Cleveland, Detroit and ~Ja shing ton, D. C. Durin ~ these peri ods if social turmoil and artistic upsur ge writers . . . and poer.s often align e d themselves with ideological positions and r eg ional movements . Consequently, Black Arts communes and re gional brands of Black consciousness grew concurrently . and Black Nationalists wer Splits between older Civil Ri ghts workers paralleled by splits between older writers and younger practioners of "Black Arts . " The splits we r e not alw::iys c lear-c_u.t, . . . however , for many older activists and poets joined the new mood i i ;pirit, thematic concern and pe rsonal life style, while some o·f · th e youn r;e t~ wi:lte.rs retained the influence of the earlier moods . Complic.1tin~ thin gs even more were the variants on the domanant themes of each camp. Gwendo:j.yn Brooks., . . . Dudley Randall, Har ~aret Danner, Nar:;aret \Jalker an<l John Oliv er Kill ens are among the older group of writer s who vigorously took up the ba \1ner of the n ev.; mood. Younger writers whose works imbibe some "tradition 11 ·. include Henry Dumas (Poetry For Hy People, 1970 and Play Ebony Play lVl)ry , ·1974) ~ Conrad Kent Rivers (Th e Still Voice of llarlem, 1963, etc.), Julia Fields (Poe~1s, 1968), Al Young (Dancing , 1 96 9, etc.), and Jay \fri ght ( 'l'hc Home coming Singer, 1972) to nnme just a few. Th6 :creativc promise of this period was dealt a severe blow by the 'u ntimel y deaths of Dumas and Rivers in 1963. These poets are deeply influenced by the moods and preoccupations of the period (self-love, racial injustic e , violence, war, Bla c k Cons ciousness and History) but they wor' alo!1 g t e st e d lines and ex pe rime nt within careful and thou ght-out frames of references . ~ - - - - - - - - - - -- -- - -- - - - Most of the writ e r s of the pe riod �(th ei r styles and ideolo gi es notwitl1 s tandin g ) hnve found the mselves eng ulf ed at one tir.1e or another in ·ieated debates over questions rel_a ted to the "Black Aesthetic," the relationship of writer to reader, Bla ck vs white audiences, and the part po litic s should play in their life and work: · At this writing ,_ these disc ussions continu e in most s e ctions of the :Clack World. The flurry of ideological anJ aesthetical debate amo ng the poets (and otl1er writers) has often been precipit a ted or attend ed by critical writings, historical sutdies, social essays and public political statements . Some of th e individuals associated with initiating the plethora of rhetoric on the question of a "Black" a e_s thetic (and related · i ssues )_ a r i:; Ron. Karenga·, · Gwendolyn Brooks, Bar aka, Addison Gayle, Jr., Ho y t W. Fuller (Bl ack lvorld), Edward Spriggs, J. Saunders Redding , Ralph Ellison, Larry Neal, Ernest Kaiser, Mel Watkins, Ron Welburn, Dudley Randall, Le rone Bennett, J_r ., Nathan Scott, James Emanuel, Toni Cade-Bambara, John Henrik Clarke, Don L . . Lee, Ed Bullins, and Stanley Crouch. A number of important studies, . literary and cultural, by Black and white writers, aided in whetting or prolongin3 the critical thirsts. are: Some of the important and/or controversial \-i~iting s The Militant Black 11r iter: in Africa and th e Unit ed States (1969); Cook and Henderson; Black Expression (1969) and The Black Aesthetic (1971) · Gayle Jr., ed,; Nun tu: Literntur c : The New African ·c ulture (1961) and Neo-African A History of Black \fritin g (1968), Jahn; Lnnr;ston Hughes : Black Genius (1971), O' Daniel, ed.; Rlack Poets of the United States: Paul Lawrenc e Dunbar to Langston llu ghes (1963, French edition; 1973 Enclish trans., Douglas), Wa gner; Before the }~yflowe r (1962), Bennett , Jr.; Shadow and Act (1966, Ellison; Understandin g ~he New Black Poetry (1973), llenderson; Colloquim on Negro Art: First \forl<l Festival of Nep,ro Arts, 1966 (1968), ~ - ~ - - - - - - - - -- - -- - - - �f.<liUon s Presence Africaine; The Ne ~ro Novel in America (1965), Bone; ?-!other is Cold: A Study in West African Literature (1971), Rosco e ; The Crisis of the Ne~ro Intellectual (1967), Cruse; Native Song: A Critical Study of Twentieth-Century Negro ~Jerican Authors (1 968), Ma r golies ; Dynamite Voic e s : Bl ac k Poets of th C! 1960 ' s, vol. I (1971), Lee; Blues People (1963) , !Hack h us ic (1967), llome: Social Essnys (1966), and l~ni s e ]face Rays ltnze (1971), 13araka; c.rnJ Give Dirth to Bri <; htn c s s (1972), Williams. A nwnber of 13lack critics, artists, and activists heatedly de- nounce ,,hites who research or criticize )Hack literature, saying that only those who have lived the Black Experience can writ_e about it:".. An o th e r · group holds that whites can report on Black writing if t l1ey ar~ sincere and syrnpathetic. The Black Arts Move1:1ent , as the contemporary period is sometimes called, took place in the shadows of what many Black social critics h~~e ~allec.l thi "second lteconstruction." Hence, much of the writing is a revolt a Gainst political hypocrisy and social alienation. In the angriest poetry~ authors .show~red disdain and obscenities on the "system" and whites in gen e ral. Refusing "integration" even if offered, younger poets derided Americ_an va_lues and attitudes. "Unlike the Harlem group," llayJen noted, "they rejected entry into the mainstream of Americ.a n literature as a desirable i:;oal ." Of course, more than a few of the olJ6r poets were writing in the Sixties and are writing today. Man~ of the~ , however, were sometimes laid aside by youn g readers who were unable to separate "p oetry" from the fiery declama- . tions of Carmicl1ael, Brown and innumerable local spokesmen and versifiers. Often tl1e poets exchanged supe~ficial indictments, indulgeJ in name-calling and , as groups or individuals, bep,an ratin g each other on their "levels of Blackness" even though no criteria existed then anJ non.e _cxists toclay for �$i.1ch jud g ing . Huch of the dispt.ite centered around the question of who "started" the Dlack Arts or New Black Poetry movements . :rn an article in the Spring, 1971, issue of Confrontation: A Journal of Third Horld Literature, Eugene Redmond stated : While it . ts true that there are leadinG lights of the Ill.:1ck Arts Hovement , it is an emphatic lie to say one geographical region of the country is solely responsible for either the main (and Major) writing output or kicking off any tradition of Blacks writing about themselves. To take such a contcmp- tuously arrogant stand would be to write off the Blacl~ musical past. Aggression has b een the tone in much of the cont~inpol."ary poetry. This is partially due to tl1e presence of some who selected poetry as a meJium of expression because of its deceptive simplicity and briefness.· · Hanh of ' '' the new "poets" obviously have no genuine interest in becoming goo<l . or . excellent craftsmen. On the other hand, the current period continues to witn~ss a growing and wide-ranging concern for poetic craft and knQwledge. During the sixties and into the seventies , literally hundreds ·of Black poets started writing and publishing--i~ tabloids, magazines, broadsides, anthologies and individual collections. . Also showcasing the new poetry were the ne\-.1 publications : of Black Poetry . regions. Umbra, 1Hiick Dialogue, Soulbook , and The Journal Significaht clust~rs of poets developed in geographical And the atmosphere was enhanced by a number of African thinkers , a rti sts, poets and novelists who arriveJ to America to teach,. lecture, perform and travel. The importance of this inter;.1ction amon:; Blacks from various parts of the r,lobe cannot be overemphasized. nlnck writers and student s now read African, West Indian and Afro-Lntin writers. Langston �Ilughes acci uaint ed Ame ric.::m audiences with African lit e r a tur e in his anthologies: An African Trensury: Essays, Stories, Poems by Bl ack Africans (1960) and Poems from Black Africa (1963). Whispers from a Continent: In 1 969 , Trinidadian \Jilfr eJ . Cartey edited The Literature of Contemporary Dlack J\l'rlca . · Marie Collins co1,1pileu .Jaack Poets in Fr ench (1972) and Keorepe ts e Kgosfrs:ile edited The \ford is llere (1973). Other scholars <lnd wr it ers also wrote critical studies or edit e d ·a ntholo gi es of Af ric an and C<lril>bean lit e rature . Black writing rec e iv ed a signific a nt boost when in 1971 Senglior anJ Af ro-Cuban poet Nicliolas Guillen were nominated for the Nobe l Prize fo r lit era tur e--thus . . . . . . . . fulfillin g James Weldon John:,on ' s 1 922 prophecy th a t th~ first lllack Hr .i.ter to achieve substantial internationa l fame \JOuld not .c::ome from America~ Height e nin g the feelin g of the period was Charles GorcJone ' s wlnning of t lic Pulitzer Prize for drama (No Place to Be Somebody, 1970) . Hany' non:--Amer:i can Black writers now publishing or living in th e U. S . are Nigerian nov elist:--poet Achebe , exiled South African poet Kgositsile, Nigerian poet-playwright Wale Soyinka, Ghanaian poet Kwesi llrew , South African crltic Ezekiel Hpliahlele, . . I Nigerian poet-playwright Ifeanyi Henkiti , Martinique po e t-playwri ght Aime I I Cesaire and Guianese poet- scholar Leon Damas . chang e ideas and compare styles . The writers fraternize , ex~ l~hnhlele , for example, has writt e n critical st udies of Black American writing (Volccs in the Hhirlwind, 1972) while Niss Brooks has praised African ~riting (Intioduction , Kgositsile ' s tfy Name is Afrika , 1971) . South African poet; Mazisi Kunene, wrote the Introduction I for Ce sa ire ' s Return to}~ Native Land (1969 translation). Several Afro-American exp;:itriate artists and writers returned to America during th e current periocJ for either temporary or permanent residency . AddecJ to this flurry of accivities and · changes were the es tablishment of • �Black publishinz houses (Broadside Press, Third \Jorld Press, The Third Press, etc.) and hundreds of new news organs and litetary journals. Durinr; the contemporary period a number of important ;;m thologies have also been published. Some _of the more notable ones include He~ond TI1e Blues, Pool, 1962; Six es and Sevens, Breman, 1962; American Negro Poetry·, Bontemp s , 1963; Soon One Hornin~: New lhiting by American Negroes, 1940 - 1962, Hill, 1963; New Negro Poets, Hughes, 1964; Kaleidoscope, HayJen, 1967; BlaclVoices, Abrahams, 1968; Rluck Fire, Jones and Neal, 1968; The New Black Poetry, Major, 1969; Soulscript, Jordan, 1970; 3000 Years of Black Poetry, Raoul and Lomax, 1970; t:ew lHack Voices, Abrahams, 1972; The hl n~k r ~e t s .; . Randall, 1971; Black Spirits, Kin g , 1972; and The Poetry of Black Ame rica, Adoff, 1973. In ad<.lition to thesf; and other nationally distributed antholo c ies, many collect1on.s of Black Literature were compiled and publishe<.l in various re ~ions: . Watts, Watts Poets and Writers (Troupe, 1966) and From the Ashes (Sch~lber g , 19~9); South, Fress Southern Theater by tl1e Fr e e Southern Theater (Drint: et .ali 1969); Chicago, Jump Bad: A New Chica 30 Antholocv (llrooks, 1971); East St. Louis- : St. Louis, Sides of the I'!.iv e r (l{edmond, 1970); New York, Three IlunJreJ anJ Sixty De,~ rees of Blackness Co r.i in& at You (Sanchez ·, 1971) anJ ll~rlcm: ·. Voices from the Soul of Black America (Clarke, 1970); PhiL:i.delµhia, Blac k Poets Write On (Black History Huseum Committee); Newark, Soul Session (1972); Detroit, Ten: Antholo~v of Detroit Poets (South and \~est, 1968). ln many regions several components have merged to form cultural and performing arts conglomerates. It is often at these centers that white movie anJ theater moguls find ne\1 talent fo1. the current wave of Black movies. At this writing , the contemporary poetry scene is embro iled in vi t; orous debates anJ conferences dealin g 1,ith "directions" for Black writers, consolidating publishing houses, �.and r, ett Ln~ published materials ·into schools (especially into Black schools) , Caught (sometimes unknowingly) in the midst of :these issue s and qu e stions are the older Black po e ts--s ome whom have rema i ned s il ent in face o f rhetori~al provocation . Others, however, have been quite vocal as in the ca s e of Gwendolyn Ilroqks and Dudl ey Randall . }[iss Brooks ~ives a ctive support to th e youn ger writers b y wa y of - financiaJ and moral encourn r:ement. She sup e rvises writers workshops, establishes poetry prizes with her own money and travels to read before conferences and classes . Recently sl1e withdrew her affiliation with Harper and Row and began publishing throu ~h Broadside Press. Randall est.:1blished Ilroa<lside Press in Detroit in 1966 _and a lso has set up poetry awards with his own f~nds. llay<len, who often shuns ·public di~pljys of his allegiances , admonishes the youn g poets to k eep ' h i gh writing· s.t a n<l ci nl s . Ile is recognized as a brilliant te.:1cher as well as poet, and is known to · work quietly with youn g writers and scholars . llayJen pluyeJ s m~j o r role in gainin ~ recognition for Lucille Clifton (Good Tbne s , 1969; Good .Ue0a About the Ea rth, 1972; and- An Ordinary Homan, 1974), one of the most sple.n<lid of the ~ew poets . Some new and older names closely linked to the current pe riod are Pinkie Gonion Lane (I-IL.cl Thoughts) , Hichael Hµrper (Dear John, D.e.:1r Coltro.nc, llistory is Your Own lleartb e ::it, · etc.), Haring Cuney (Pu zz l e s), Troupe (Embryo), Sterling Plump (Half Black llal( Inacker), Jayne Cortez (Pisstained Stairs .:1ncl the Monkey Man ' s Hare s , Fest ivals and Fun c r., l s , etc.), Dumas (Poetry For Hy People and Play Ebon v Pl.av Ivory), Rivers (The Still Voice of Harlem, etc .), Nikki Giovanni (nla ck Ju<l r, ement, Black Feelin g , Black Thought, n. e : Creation) , Recd (C a techisr-1 of A ne oamcrican hoodoo church , etc .), David Henderson (De Hayor of Harlem, etc.), Arthur Pfist e r (Bullets, Deer Cans & Things) , Baraka (Black Ma Bic, etc.), John Echols (Ho~e i s ITT1ere the Soul Is), Arna Bontemps (Personals), llay<len(Selccte<l Po ems, Hards in the . '· . �( Hournin r; Time), Lee (Think Black, ]Hack Prid e , · etc.), Sonia Sanchez (Homecoming, etc . ), R.::indall (Citi es Durnin f! and .lor e to Rememher), Stanley Crouch (Ain ' t No Ambulances for No Nig 8ahs Tonight), Hu ghes (The Panther and the Lash, etc . ), Atkins (Heretofore), Hay Hiller (Into th e Cl~irin g), Aus tin Black ·(The Torna do · in Hy Hou th), Tolson (Harlem Gallery), Young . (The Son ~ Turning Back U~to Itself), James A. Emanuel (Panthe r ~Ian), Vesey (lvory Tusks), Mari Evans (I Am A Black \fomnn), Julia Fields (Poems), Stephany (Moving Deep), Etl1eridge Kni ght (Poems from Prison), Gwendolyn Brooks (In the llecca, Riot, Family Pictur e s, etc . ), Roy Hill (49 Po ems, etc.), Ray Durem (Take No Prisoners) . Far from bein8 exhaustive, · thiti .. list is merely · . . . . ' . . . representative of the gre ~t poetic output durin g the current p~riod. Many of these poets--Reed, Troupe, Young , Crouch, Dumas,--are also · prose writers or anthologist . Certainly the list grows and changes con~ stantly, especially in view of tl1e continual unfolJing of surprises . Suffice it to say that the contemporary mood of Black poetry is multi~levcled ~nd complex . There are generalities; one is that most of the poets unreservedly satu~ate their work with obviouij Black references and cultural motifs. There is also an anti-intellectual flavor as many poets turn their backs qn academic or Western forms. This has brou r, ht a ~eneral disrer,ard for the esoteric, · literary and sometimes secret allusions, · employed in much of the current white poetry. There are exceptions; ~f course--notably in special s~nbolism ' . I of Muslim poets (Marvin X, Askia Toure, Bar.:.1ka, Sonia Sanchez, and others). These exceptions can also be seen in works of poets who explore ,\f rican Ancestor Cults, Voodoo, mysticism and African languages. [videncc of this ca n be seen I in the poetry of Ishmael Reed, .Askia Toure, llenry Du111a s , Norman J o rdan, Sun Ra, K. Curti s Lyle, Bob Kaufmnn anJ others. Generally, tl1ou gh, Black poets are �framiqg their allusions, im.:iges and symbols in tlie more concrete cultural motifs, .:is indicated in a line from Eur;ene n.edmond's "Tune for a Teenage Neice" where he views the neice as beinp, "spiccid as pot-liquor . " TIIE POETS i\llD TllEIR TOTEMS : A. 1 Soon, One! Mo rnin g : · Tlireshhold of the New Black Poetry Hy Blackness is the beauty of this lund. ---- Lance Jeff e rs Richard \vright called the Blacks " America I s metaphor" and Lance Jeffers referred to "tlie beauty of this land." i\nJ both of the.s e definit.e su1nc~s· · were taken well in advance of " Black Pride" poetry of the s·ixties and ~e·ve1~ticu. Margaret \folker ' s discussion of her plnymates in th e···Aiabuma "dust" . (19J7) is . not self-deprecating ; and Gwendolyn Drooks ' s portrait Sa tin Le gs Smith (1945) is far from being unhappy. These are only four randomly s e l e ct @d poetic affidavits of lllacks viewing themselv es "ppsitively" before th·e ;:idvt:,nt of the New Black Poetry . We could , of course , bring up l1undreds of examples from the p_o etry of Phyllis Wheatley throu gh that of Lan gs ton llughes. But the point , already made, is simply that one is seriously remiss in }ookiri~ at recent Black poetry without considering its history. t he poe t s who wrote and publish ed bet~een 1945 and 1965 , foi example , did not work in sealed chamoers of tuntcled vision. Each group , eacl1 cluster of concern , evolveJ from what had been written or said before . Some of these poets were heavily in fluenced by white wr i ters , teachers , and critics . llowever , the best of them applied their knowled ge and tools to the service of the Black l iterary tradition . Othe r s were under tl1e direct tutelage of Blacks (Pa ul Vesey studied with J . W. Johnson , Joyc e Yeldell with llayden) and became part �af a continuing line of Black-developed thou glit a nd writing (Vesey in turn t a ught Arthur Pfister). Whatever their make-up, or their mission, the poets as a group show grea t facility with lang~age, depth of insi gl1t and passionate concerns for their collective and individual hurts~ D$ Blacks and as humans. The work of these poets, and that of their older pen-fellows, can be found i.n several anthologies: Po e try of the Ne gro (19 49 , 1970); the bilingual Ik zag hoe Zwart Ik Was (I ·saw How Black I Was, 1958); Beyond the Blues (1962); American Negro Poetry (1963); Burning Spear (1963); Sixes and Sevens (1963); Negro Verse (1964); New Negro Poets: USA (1964, 1966)~ Poets of Today (1964}; the bilingual Ik Be n De ~lieu<ve NeP,er (1 Arn the New Hegre , 1965); m1d l(.'.l leicio- · scope (1967). Bontemps and Hughes edited Poetry of th e Neg ro in 1949.. The first major collection since Cullen's Carolin g Dusk, it was revised by Bontemps in 1970 after llughes I s death. Interesting ly, s01:1e of ·t~ c 1949 entries are deleted while the table of cont e nts has been doctored to make n~w·entrics (like Dudley Randall, }~ri Evans and nay Durem) coincide with thei~ age-line. Bontemps, a Renaissance also edited American poet who did not publish a volume until 1963 (Personals), Negro Poetry, a task which g.'.lvc him the opportunity : to pick the best from the past as well a s the present. The two bi--lingual ari'thol- · og ies. were published in Bolland and E.ng l and and edited by nosey ·Pool, with· the assistance of Paul Bremen. Dr. Pool· (1905-1973), a lloll ander , came across . Cullen when she was preparinc a pa per on American poetry in 1925. covery led to a life-long inter es t in Black culture a nd po e try. This dis- . During 1959/~0 she tour ed the United States on a Fulbright trav e l gra nt, spendin g several months visiting and lecturin g at 27 Dlack coll eges and univ ersi ti es . Dr. Pool's work in Black poetry has drawn mixed re ac tions fr01,1 cautious Black writers and critics. But her importance in helping to bring at Len tlon t o Black poets, �. despite cr i es of "exploita tion," is undeniable, Even more controversial i s nrcmen, Hho ap.i)ears to fancy himself as a n English J ean-Paul Sar t e ; he originated the ller'ita~e Series-_- "d cvo t ed en tir ely to the works of Afro-American authors"--with Ha yden ' s A Bal l,:frl ·o f · Remembra nce in 1963. Sin.c c that time · Br emen , who edited Sixes and Sevens and You !letter Beli eve It: Black Vers e in - Eng li s h (1973), has released more than 20 volumes of ,\fro -American poetry . Randall ' s Broadside Press services as the American distributor of the slim books which have included the aesthetical and historic al range of Black poetry: Frank Horne (Ha v erstraw , 1963), Do nt emps , Rivers (Th e Still Voice of Harlem, 1968; The Urir.>,ht Po ems , 1972), 1'1:'lr i Cvan.s (\.;here is . all the Music? , 1968 but withdrawn " at the author's request "), · Russell Atki,11s .. (Heretofore, 1968), Lloyd Addison (The Aura &. th e tJi11br'a, 1970), ,\'udre Lor:dCl (Cables to Ra ge , 1970), DuJlcy Rand a ll, (Love You, 1970), Ishmael need, whom Bremen calls "the bes t Black poet writin~ today" (C a t ec hi sm of .d ~~oamerican hoodoo church, 1970), James H. Thompso n (First Fire: Poems 1957~ l.9 .6 0, . 1970), ... Dodson, llarold Carrinf3 ton (Drive Suite, 1972), Clar ence Majo r (Pr-i.:v ate Linc, 1971), the " first non-American contributor" Mukhtarr Mustapha (Tho r ns a nd Thistl es , 1971), Durcm (Take No Pris oners, 1971), a nd ll ayde n (The Night-Bloomin g Cereus, 1972). Bremen notes that both llari Evans and Ra~nond ~~tte~son oiderecl their books withdrawn b ecause they " we r e·. :s uspiciou s of the cont·ract t e rms.:" In addition to such "suspicion," felt · aiso by o ther Black poets, there is great resentment of Bremen ' s fast-draw critica l evaluations of th e poetry--which I are often caustic, ridiculous, and na rrow, and r ef l ect a lack of gen era l know_led r,e of Black poetry. poets. He calls Durcm, for examp l e , one of tl.1e first "Black" His statement about Reed, cominr, as it did in 1970, dies violence to both th e author and the critical a tMosph e re in whicl1 Black poets grapple e veryday. Ile says Dumas was born in the "incredibly named town" of Sweet • �. llomc, ~\rkansas . Neverthe~ ~ss (alas!), one wonJers where these Bl ncl~ poets may have gotten published if such "healthy Jiscases" as Bre1.1e11 J.i<l not exist. Nezro Verse , edited liy Ansel1n Hollo , hns no inLroducti.o n or fonmrd, but does include a dozen blues and Gospel song-poems. edited by llugf1es with a Forward by Gwendolyn. New !e~r6 l'oets was Use of the \,ord "new" exemplifies the kind of spirit Lhat w;:is in ascension at th e time. Hiss Brooks, terse as always , is also her usual <lefinitive self: At the present time, poets who happen also to l>e Negroes arc twci.cc:-tried. They have to write poetry, and they have to remer.iber that they are Ne~roes . Often they wish th at . they . could solve the Ne8ro ci'uestion once and for all, anJ go on from such success to the composition of textuied ~onnets or buyant villanelles about the trnnscience of a rainJrop, or the gold-stuff of the sun. They are likely to find signi--:. ficances in those subjects not instantly obvious to their fairer fellows. The raindrop may seem to them to represent racial tears--and th , e might seem , indeed, other than tr::m sil'.nt . The go lden sun might reminJ them tlit they ar.e burning. There is an attitude in this statement that the Gwendolyn Brooks of 1968 will· reject : "poets sho happen also to Le Negtoes. 11 But she reflects Cullen in the "dark tower" and his ruminating _{lit -the "curious thing " of the Black poet . She also presages the twistings and turnings in Jayne Cortez's ''Festivals & Funerals ." Yet, in introducing the "New Negro Poets," she informs the reader that "here are some of the prevailing stars of an early tomorrow." \!alter Lowenfcls ' s Jecision to include "20 Negroes " in Poets of Today was spurred in part by liis recop,nition (along with Sh.::ipiro) that "most general �antholo ~ies of Amecican poetry exclude Negroes." An authority on Hhitman, Lowe nfels shared an award with E.E. Cumming s in the thirties, anJ has helped a number of Black poets make it into print: Dumas, Troupe, Pa tterson, ItedmonJ, Carrington, Major, Reed, Harrer, Hayden, and many others. Lowenfels' was the first new white-edited 4ntholo gy to inclu<le such a substaritia l _number of Blacks. The r e \•1e r e 8 5 poets in all. One of the most important of th ese anthol a~ ies is Burning Spear which contains the work of the Howard Poets: Halter DeLe gall (1936Govan ( ), Jeffers ( ), Al Fraser ) , Percy Johnston (1930- LeRoy Stone (1936- ), Oswald ( ) , Nathan Richards ( ) , and Joseph White. ) ' DurninB Spear, subtitle An . . . . Anthology of Afro-Saxon Po,~ try, was an out growth . of . t.h e llosci n Litera.ry Society, ·located at lloward University, which also published Dasein: Quarterly Journal of the Arts (1961-1969). as publisher while DeLegall was editor. A Johnston, its founJer, serveJ The:Lr connection with the _o l<ler group of poets and scholars is evident in the a dvisory board list: A. Brown, Arthur P . Davis, Owen Dodson and Eu~ene C. Holmes . Jeffers, Stone and 1n1ite served as contributing editors. Steriing Ftu s er, ·Govan, Po e ts in the inaugural issue of Dasein, which <loubleJ as a memorial to RicharJ Wri gl1t~ were Delores Kendrick , Clyde n. Taylor , Jeffers, William Jacks6n, Veinon A. Butler, n.obert Slaught e r , Laurn A. \falkins, Govan, Fraser, Pelo.re s F . Henry, R. Orlando Jackson , DeLegall, Johnston and Stone. There is no sing le unifyin g threacl runnin g throu gh either Da s e in or Burnin ~ Spear but Blnck influences and subjects are clearly imbeded. Burnin g \ Spear, for example, is published by Jupiter Hammon Press, another connection-in name --to th e tradition of Black po e tr y . In a back-cov e r note, the eight contributors are called "a new ·hreed of youn g poets who are to American poetry wh a t Charlie Parke,· , Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk and Niles D.:ivis �. ·are to American jazz ." After this import<.1nt analogy, the stater,1ent continues : These eight Afro-S<.1xon poets are not rnernbcirs of a literary movement in the tr adi tional sense of the \:•onl, because . they do not have in common any monist view about cre.:itivity or aes t hetics . CollecLi'vely, lim-Jever , they ,.ire indifferent to most critics and r<.!Vic::\1crs--sinc~ criticis1,1 in AE1erica is contrulled and written in the riwin by [uro-Americans. There is no pr efa ce or introduction or statement about poetics; these poems themselves fill the pa ges . Poems by DeLegal l, Jeffers, Johnston and Stone also _appear.in B~youd the Blu~s and in mrn1erous '' little" magazines. nut all of the poets 1~articiputcd in reading-lecture programs leading up to tl1e wider in~ ~r~sts in poetiy in ~he l ater sixties and seventies . DeLegall (Philadelphia) a mathematici.:in a~d e l eit r onic data processing specialist, published in many anthol6gles and. quarterlies , and haJ read his poetry and lectured at various eastei~ and southern colleges. Fraser (Charleston) is a political scientist with a . specialization in African Affairs. Alone witl1 DeLegall, Stone , Govan, Johnston and Richards, he has been recor<leJ reac.linr; his poetry _at tbe Library of Congress . Fraser cultivated a coffe~-shop audience for his .readings a~d appehre<l before colle ge gLoups . Hi is a -~hilosopher-matl1ematiclan . One of the older members of the Cro up , Jeffers (San Francisco) is credited with having "influ ence " on 't he llmv,frd Poets . He has taught English and writin)j , a t half a dozen American colleges and universities . His first volume of poetry was Hy Dlackness is the Beauty of This Lmd (1970) and . second , When I Know the Power of Ny ]Hack Hand , Hill be out in 1975 . Broadside Press . Doth are published by Jeffers has also written novels , short stories and criticism. �Johnston (New York) currently t~aches at a college in New Jersey and with Stone "co-authored the revolutionary verse pamr>hlet Continental Streamlets ( Also a playwright , Johnston published a pamphlet of his poetry, Concerto for Girl and Convertible in 1960 and was considered the lea<ler of . the ·11oward Poets. White is a nn~ive Phjla<lelphian whose work appeared in Liberator, Poets of Today, a _nd other places. He is a technician for FAA and has urit ten 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~ virtuo~ity and power. To be sure, these are "c onscious" poets; but-- avoiJing · slognns · ond sentimental hero-worship--they present precise analyses . and interpretations of their world. Nost of them gr ew up in the Be Bop era and so their sub~ects quite naturally include Hiles Davis, Lester Young, Charles "Yaqlbird" Parker, Clifford Brown, Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk, and other makers nncl contributors to that period. And a preoccupation with Civil Rights and the lll~ck. strur;gle is merged with their awareness of the "bomb ," middle class pretensions, history, mythology, religion, and the various trends in poetry : Beat poetry, jazz poetry and folk lyrics. rnoderniiy, DeLegall celebrates the !Hack presence ("My Brownskin Business") an.J satirizes a _pretentious Howard coed· ("Re qui em for A lloward Lady") who is "·cultured" and performs every social amenity perfectly. She wears "lligh..a:.heeled tennis shoes'; but he hopes, near the poem's end, that the president of The Universal Institute of Eu~enics will send a New species of female who will be robed in clothes of "sincerity" and who can be called "A Homan." ). �. ·.. . : . -In 11 Psalm fo r Sonny Rollins" he ·announc ed thnt ·_ he is Absor beJ into the womb of the sout'ld. I am in the sound The sound is in me . I: am th e sound. Rollins, the ·Harle!',1· pied pipe,r , will l ead his listeners to "truth," " Zen," · "Pol!t:ry," ,ind "Cod. 11 1/- Afte · "The 131:ist" (nuclear bombing) there wi ll be ... no I, no world , no you . Govan .-:i] so writes convincine; ly as in "The Lynching" : Ile was soaked in oil and th e mntch thrO\m. _ lle scr eamed , he ·e r led, he moaned , he crackled in his fiery inhuman dance. Govan' s interes ts span the turhul enc~ in "llun~ary ," space exp]ur.-:ition (',:The An~ry Sk i es Are Callin2 11 ) , and "Pr ayer " wherein he asks "Chris~." for a new dawn's light! Jeffers is a livin g ex.1mple of the 1,10re helples s plight of many a J.,lnck. writ ~ r. Although he had been writing for severol decad es , his ,-, orl: 1,a s white-listed by nnthologists and his poetry did not appear in book for1n until th e se venti es . " My lllackness is the Denu t y of thi s Lnnd" s L,inds as a rebuff t o those who suy 11 Blnck 11 poetry .1.Jas "invented II recently, · Jc£ fers:, s po em , wri t ten in th e fifties , is a t onc-e defiant and proud: My bl ackness is the beau t y of this l a nd, my blackness, tender and s tro ng , wou n ded and wise, The narrotor , af t er the fashion of tlargaret Wa l ker, chronicles the hu rts , th e h appinesses , and the hun ge rs of !Hacks. These h e stanJs against his �'\,Jiiteness " and th e perversions of larger America. mines the same vein: past . "Black Soul of the Land" rich relianc e on the wel.l;.-deep strength of the Black The "old black man" in Geoq~ia is "leathered, lean, and _strong." And these are secrets that " crackers coulc.l not kill": a secret spine unbent within a spine, a secret source of steel, a secret stur~y ru gged love, a secret crouchin3 hate, a secret knife vithin his hanc.1, a secret bullet in his eye . The poet ·asks the old man to pass on his source of streni_;th so that h~, and his fellO\,JS , will be able to "turn black" the soul of the nation . and America shall cease to be its name. Jeffer s gathers up a fury of love, anguish and conuuitment in ot'her of his poems: "Her Black and African Face I Love ," "The Han Hith A l-'urrince _in.llis . llanc.1," " Hegro l~reedom Rider," "H er Dark Body I Cluster ," " Dlack Han in A 1-Jew Day," and "Prophecy." Johnston echoes Jeffers, thou r.;h in a difft:!rent voice and style;_ in many of his poems. But Johnston's concern is .wi th Dlack music and ni.u sicians. "To Paul Robeson , Op us No . 3" celebr.:ites the multi- faceted talents of the man whose song " stood Brooklyn on its fee t." magnificent tribute to the President of j az z: tinu es to "ignite the heart." "In Memoriam: Prez" is a Lester Young whose music con- \. In " Fitchett ' s Basement Blues , Opus B" Johnston wonders why everytime I want Coltrane or Sonny all I get is Brubeck , ... �." De1-1ey 'Square ," with its "Beat" repertoire and interests in contemporary everyman, is a poetic summary of the collective.' history of Johnston ' s generation . I-Jarels for "unkinking hair, " recollections o[ radio shows, reminders of Relief and ITPA , an<l Duke I:llington, all leave Jolins~on with the knowledge _that nothing ·· flas · chang~<l but my postal zone. ln other pieces he surveys the current and past Black musical scene : " ' Round ' Dout Midnight, Opus 17, ' ' "V:iriation on a Theme by Johnston, " and "To Bobby Timmons." "Black is My Re1.arcl 11 Richards says, noting that Sorrow came, and I left the world ... An d experimentalist, his "Do Not forget to Rememher" ·. iric-1 uJes a " p·relude-" .' and an " interlude ." Like the other poets , he writes prinwrily in free verse ( almost no rhyme) and in the foregoing poem he repeats "A petal. [alls ." The llowarcl Poets all touch f;rief and anguish, as does Riclwrds in ''God .Biess This Child :ind Other Children ... Requiem. " In syntax and vocabular·y, it .· bears. resemblence especially t _o the beats and to Bob Kaufman anll Ruf,sell Atkins . Words and phrases like " matronymic diva," "sepiacenic marty'r, " " albumenic hawk, " "womb-prize, " and "black aegis" convey the mystical and eerie ' sense implied in the repetiti on . of '.'sleep" and the innovat'ive typography of the poem . Also experimental · a nd original is Stone . Miles Davis 's " Flamenco Sketches" i ;; separ:ited into five parts: cannons, en:irt and bill . !!is study of ouvert, selim, New York is "r e<..! in weeping " aud Chicago is "Black- ·. draped" as Miles utters in "mut es ." The music captures the Dissonant nostalgi:i of one kiss of :i Spanish lady as it weaves in and out of transcontinental experiences and locations. Dnvls ' s use am! kn01,,led ge of ,1orlcl muslc is revered. Finally, �the 1,1u s:i c is aste<l to Conunent on a cloud of oriental ni n ths conu11ent ! In " Notes fro m. the Cubicle o'f A disgcuntled Jazzman" Stone becomes a verbal · maestro r _ipplng in "chan:>·s;" rattlint:, up "thirteenths," stormin~ the "minor mode," a1{<l whippin2; up "passing tones "--all " with impunity." White ' s " Black is A Soul" repe.::its "down" as the persona drops into " depths , " " the abyss," and the "infinite " Where black-eyed peas & gr eens arc storeJ . ... This poi gnant revelation is made in the end: I raise my dmrn bent l:inl:y head to chir-1.ic .. & shout I ' m black. I ' m black _14-f' & I ' 111 from Loo .. back . He think immedintely of titles like Tltink Black (Lee) c1n<l "S.::iy It LouJ-- .· I ' m Tilack and I ' m Proud" (James Brown) even thou gh this poem precedud them by several years--to say nothinr.; of Joseph Cotter , . Jr. ' s " Is it J,lcc:wsc I ' m Black ." But llhite can also do light and touching things as in " Picnic" an<l . . "Day is Done" which places "music in • t,l,ie c'lir" as he prepares ·for ·11 ~d and his "woman " sets her hair . llis ironic,- · satirical " Inquisitive" displays the ranee of these poets . The narr a tor wanders where "Gods " and " buddhas" hide if the earth and sky are both visible to man. �Little critical attention h·a s b e~ n g iven th e 110\vard Po C' t s or any of the other poet s who are appearin g Jurin ~ this time. including old as well as unfamiliar names: Jo~nson AckcrsoD, Cl1arl c s ), Julian Bori<l (1940- ), Eu g ene Redmond (1937- Anderson (1938- But they are le g ion, ' ), Katherine · ), Leslie M. Collins (1914- John Henrik Clarke (1915- ) ) , 'larp ar e t Danner, Gloria Davis, DuBois, Dur cm, Nari ), Gordon llenth, llorne, Ted Evnn s , Micki Grant, Juli.a Fields (193 8- ), Naomi Mud g ett, Jame s C. Horris, O'lli. r.,g ins, Pntt e rson, Joans (1928- ), Peter T. Ro g ers, John Sherman Scott, Carmell James Randall (1938- ) , l{obert Earl F itz g eral<l (19 35- Joyce Yeldell (1944!lcrntun (1') 3 2- ) , Lula Lowe \Jec<len (1 91 0- Carl !lolm,rn (1919Lero11e l~ennctt, Jr. Fuller (1927- ), Lati171er (1927- (1919- S.1111 ), ), Frank Yerby (1916- ) , 1:iv c rs, Mc}L \·,'r i r., ht, ), Ernest J. W 1 son, Jr. James l'. Vau g hn (1929- (193 0- ania Alba (1915-1968), Frank Lon <l on (1942- ·0'J2 0- ), Catherine C.:1rter ) , l[;uy Carter Smith (1 9.!.4), Roscoe Lee Browne ), Robe~t J. Abrams (19 24- ) , \,Jilliam Browne (1930- Ishma e l Recd (193 8- ) , Yvonn e Cre ~o ry Cornish (193 8- Brow,1 (1927-1962), Isabella Maria Hrown (1917- (1917- ) , Oliver r il c h e r ) , /\Ja m lb v id l \ill c r (19 22- ) , Don Jolrn s un (19112- M.ince \/illiams , Tom Dent, Ld~ol J o ,1 0 s (1 922) , B~ t cc D:1.rcie Herbert CL:irl~ Johnson (1911- ) , Roy llill, ) , lloy t ), Oss le Davis ), OlLver La Crone (1915- Pauli Mt1rrny 1910- ) , · Ci] v in · ) , James Em.:inuel (1921- ) , Sar a h Webster Fabi o (19 28 - ) , Carl r.ardener (PJ 31- Zack Gilbert (1925- ·· ) , Cl o ri a C. OJ 0n·, .H.Js c . ) , Alfred Duckett (191:3(19 28- ),, ), Vesey, Sarah Wright · (1929- Simmons, Jnmes W. Thompson (1935- (1923- ), ) , D.:1~id ll e n<lerson ) , Thurmond Snyder, A .11. Spellman (1935 - (1 934- ), Vivian .i\yers, Hel e n ), �) , Vil1iJa Ho\la rd, George Lcive, Allen Hor f_l .:in nrooks, Solomon Edwards (1932Polite (1932- ), Lloyd Addison (1931- ), ), :nurwood Collins (1937- Bobb Hamilton , ~foy Hiller, Stanley 1:urris, Jr. (1944 ),. This non-exhaustive list was often intermingled witl1 earl~ ~ne t s (as far back as Phyllis Wh ea tlL!y) and olJer ones (Johnson, Hcl:ay , Dunbar, etc.) , . and spiced wi~h a goo d offe rin g of post-Renaissance poets (Walker, Brooks, Tolson, llayden) . Names like Fuller, Denne tt, Jr., llolman, Yeruy, Davis, and Clarke , f.:111 in the category of 11 occ,1sionc1l" poet s --mos t of whom undertook f ull-time duties as novel is ts, editors , LH,yers or tea c her s . Other important movements paralles to this phase were th e emergence of lit erary 1.11i-1;~,1:~ines. · (Free Lance , Phylon , Ect . ), 'es pecially on BL1ck college c ..ui1pusc!s; Black newspapers' renewed interest in verse es tablisl11ne1;t · of ·poe ts-in resid~snces. for the poets at southern Black colle ges ; the flowering of regional " movements" or writing collectives--suc h as those in New York ' s Creemvich Village (Yug en, Umb r a , etc . ), Clevelands ' s Karamu House and area(Free Lance with ..Ca~~~r Leroy J ordan , and Atkins) , lloward I s Dase in C.roup , the Detroit poets , and Ceo r gia Do ugl~ss Johnson ' s home-based workshops at her home in Washington, D.C . Not all of these developments occurred only among Black µoets, however, t;.here . . . . also were racially mixed writing communes and editorial staffs . · Julia Fields, . for ex;:irnple , was in residence at the· loreaJ · Loaf \frit ers Conferent:<' in England and studied for a wh :lle in Scotland. Re~lmond , who won writing awards and pu blis h ed in l i ttle mo.gazine s betwec:n 1960 aml 1965, worked with the staffs of t he Thr ee Penny Broadside (Soutl1ern Illinois University) and Free Lanc e (Washin ~ton University ). Other poets and their oullets wer e Duma s (Trace, Anthologist ), Patterson , Jones (Fl oat in •'. Dear , Yungen), Gloria C. Oden (Urbanite, Tile Poetry Di ges t, Th e Half Hoon) , Rivers (Ken yo n Revi eH , Aritioch Review , - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - -- - - - - �Ohi.o Puvtry l~evicw), Spel]man (Kulchur, He tronome, Umlir.:i.), Ilance \-Jilli a ms (Blue am! Gold) , and Audre Lore.le (Ventur e ). }ljq_~aret Dnnner published a series of poems in Poetr y mag .:1zine in 1952 and in 1956 bec~m e an assistant editor . Of thes e, p .:i rallel move ments and developments, one other deserved speci a l notice . Thou gh not on r.:1r · with th e Howard Poets, the Umbr.J Workshop parti- cjpants aided in the production and distribution of Black poetry in tl1 e early sixties. Centered in New ~ork ' s Greenwich Villa g e, the Umbrn poets were founded by Tom Den t (New Orleans), Calvin Hernton (Chattanooga) and David Henderson ( Ne w York ). The workshop , which also :i.nvolV E;! Ll artists ilnd · fiction writerB, published the first · issue of its Umbra quarterly in 196J. · Oth e r issues c;ime out in 1%4, 1967-68 (an antholo 0 y), 1970- 71 (tabloi d• :intliolog y) and 197l1-75 (Latin Soul is s ue) . Dent first served as editor a111.l Ilenderson, wh o uow edits the public;Jtion f rom Berkeley, took over in 1967 .. Otlters attractell to the Umlira uorkshop 11e rc I s h1,iael He ed, Roll;Jnd S11 e lJ i n : :, :_; ·(now I Askia Toure) , Nonna.11 Pritchard, sini:er Len Chandler, dancer J\samc1n . Byron, the Patterson brothers (Charles and l/illimn), p.:1inters Gerald J;JcL :,_on ,:111d Joe Overstreet, Lennox Raphael, Dum.:1s, James Thorn_pson, Julian Ilon<l, · Sun-l{_a, Durem, Steve Cannon, and Joe Johnson. damaged by two events. The prontise of the Umbra 8 roup was · One was a f h ilur c to prin g un int e rview (c o nJu c ted · by Raphael and others) with Ralph Elliso n. : The s e cond, resul tin ti in .:1 split among members, was a controversial .Jnti-l~ennedy poem by Durcm. s e rious President Kennedy had just been nssassina ted when the Durc.~m piec e was npproved by the editors . taste . Hernton , Dent an 1 Henderson decided the poem (letter:) ,..,as in bad Others, ncconlin 2, to Hender so n, want e d the poem print e d and s uusequcntly · "kidnaprc<l Pritchard, who \,J.'.lS tr ea surer , thr e atening ltim 1-, ith bodil y lwrm , " �The incl.Jent is vie\/ed as one of the near-fatal blows to th e Umhra group . Later Snellings, the Pattersons, and others wc11t Uptown to \1 ork with the Jones' s ne1Jly formed Black Arts l{eper tory and School . The work of Umbra contributors range from the occasional · a1iJ :hu111orous verse of .Jul"i.,\n nonJ to the· serious commentaries of Durem. Poems by Durem; Henderson, Hernton, Dent , nndThompson , £ilso appears in the early anthologies alon13 \vlth work of other "Village " poets such as G. C. Oden, Spellr.1an, Jones (Newark ), and Joans (Cairo, Illinois). later anthologies : Some are .:ilso represented in two Bl.:ick Fire (1968) and The Poetry of r.L:ick America (1973). Though racial consciousness is not blutantly evident i11 these poets, · the _ protest is there, especially the works by Durem, lle11Jer so n,' anJ · ller11i:on.· Umbra r,iaJe clear its twofolJ aim in an inaur,ural issu e : Umbra exists to provide a vehicle for those outspoken and youthful writers who present aspects of soci.:il and racial reality which may he called 'uncornrnercial ' but cannot with any honesty be considered non-essential to a whole and healthy .society ... He will not print trash, no matter how relevantly _ it Jeals with race, social issues, or anything else. Dent views "Love" as a "blue tom" lurking "icily" in the darkncs·s.. Henderson • sees 'a "Downtown-Boy Uptown" and asks.: Am I in the wrong slum?_ llis "Sketches of llarlem" include the "CR.EAT WlllTE \JAY" and a small Black boy confusing the moon and the sun . 1'1, was horn in Seattle. Durem, who ran away from l1omc at age While still tn his mid-teens he joined the Navy clnd became a member of the International Brir.,ades durin~ tile Spanish Civil War. Hughes tried to find a publisher for his \~arks as early as 1954 . himself Durem said: "When I was ten years old I useJ m_y fists. Of When I Has ( .\ i �. thirty-fi.ve , I used the pen. I ·hope to live to use the machine gun . . . . The white North-American has been drunk for foLir hundred years. 11 His work does not have the finish of a Hayden or Diooks, but he provides an exciting shot in the arm for this period of Black poetry (though_ Jlrcrnen ' s r eference to hi.m as t:hc "first black poet " is umrnrranted) . Take No Prisoners (1971) contains many of · Durcm ' s memorable poems anJ a "l'osthurnous preface, 11 signed in 1962 althou gh he died in 1963 . " White People go t Trouble, Too" surveys the plight of whites followin g tl1e Depression, recession anJ war, and notes t hat suc h an intrusion in the affairs of whites does not equal slavery . After all, life (or history) calls for One tooth for one tooth . Most of Durem ' s poems are short, satirical, ironic~i a~<l musical js in '' Br oadminded '' : Some of my best friends are wh ite boys. When I meet ' em I treat ' em just the same as if tl1ey was people . lie writes of Black history , sL1very , social inequities, prison life; and '.'pale poe t s " to whom he confesses his is not "sufficientJy obscure" ~~ meet white critical standards . Stran~ely, Take! t1 o P.risoners does not incluJ c 11 Av1ard 11 - - "A Cold Hatch to the Ffll Han (who ha_s followed me) for 25 years--wiiich traces the agent ' s surveillance of 'the nar.ra tor throush the "blind alleys" of Mexico,. the high Sierras , the Philharmonic , L.A . , Mississippi, anJ other places of violence and mayhem. Piut it l s not all over, th e ar;ent is tol.J, for in the end I 111ay be fo llo\/in;; you! �'l'ii c work of Village poets Has hi z hlighted .by the vers a tile anJ prolific Jones (later Irnamu i\rniri Baraka), Spellman , anJ Ted Joans . Defore his new " Black" stance of the mid and late sixti e s, Jon e s pulilishe<l in lLttle av.:int garde ma~azlnes (editlnp; s~veral hiliisclf) and was identified .:is .the _ most talented I.Hae!~ among th e 1.:-eats . llis two volumes, Prefa c e Lo D T11enty Volumc Sui cide Note (1961) ,:md Tli e ·De Dd l e cturer (1964), show hlm as a hip, arrogant, musicn Uy-involved cat with a tou r., h intelligence . llis influences at the time, as he noted, were Lor ca , 1.Jilliam C;_irlos 1-/illi;_ims, Pound, .:ind Charles Olson. lie is an adventurer in style with an e lliptical and sometimes sacriligious posture. Such an aesthetical philoso phy was s hared _by . the .Black !lo uncairi · . poets: . . r.corge Opp en , Robert Creely, Roliert Duncan, Denise Levc·r tov, P:1ul Blackburn, Edwanl Dorn, Ginzberg, Corso, Cory Snydc~ ,incl f!icltncl ~le-C lure . · A music critic for such magazines a s Dmmbeat , Jazz ,:mJ Metronome, with an intense interest in Black music , Jones nurtureJ a careful ear f o r music in his verse. fensible. Hence , the belief that Jones "sudJenly bec.:ime Dlad:" is -inJe..:. In "Lines Lo Carcia Lorca"--the great Spanish poet--he uses a section of a "Negro Spiritual" as an inscription . Tile poem is typical of Jones 1 s .:ibility to merge numerous idens, symbols and images in one poem. Lorca's death is lamented as Jones uses excerpts from the C.:itl1olic mass, reflects on his childhood, explores ,ay tho1o g y, gatl)crs bits of poQtic con- · fetti from nature and hears Lorca "lau·i~ hin r: , Lrnghin g "--maybe mockin g his killers-Like a Spanish guitar. In "Epistrorhc" he finds peering out the \,inc.low "such a st;.itic. reference ." So he w1-shcs "some weird looking animal" woudl come by. In the title poem from his firsL volume--Preface--hc adjusts to the way " g round op e n s up" �he goes out to "walk the dog ." . anJ t;:ikes him in whenever Life is ;:is monotono us as the "static reference" of wine.low : \vatching : Nobody sings anymore . Joans, another Village poet closely identified with the neats, · published Beat, All of Teel Jonn s (1961), a nJ The llipsu~rs (1961). His most wiJely known poem fror:i this period Ls . "The .38" with its debts to Ilu r; hes (whom he acknowled ged ), Whitman and the Beats . Be g inning every line \vith the phrase "I hear," Joans narrates the murder of an unfnith[ul wife and lover by her husband: I hear it comin2 faster than sound th e . 38 I hear it comin :3 closer to my swenty forehead the .• 38 I hear its we.i1•d whistle the .38 I hear it give off a stcamlike nois ~ w~~n it cuts throu gh my sweat the . 38 I hear it si: 6 e my skin as it enters my head the . . J8 · 0 I hear death saying , Hello, I'm here! As a group, Joans, Jones and Spellman can be carefully compareJ to · t'he llow:ircl Poets. simil:ir . They are in th e same a ge range and their themes anJ inter C:s ts are Spellman, like Jones studi e J at Howard Univ e rsity µnd ha~ ncted as disc jockey \•dth FM rndio stations. His book reviC"ws articles ·on j clzz which hav e appear ed in Kulchur, The Republ.ic n~J The Nation . volume of poems, The Beautiful Days, \vas published. In 1964 his first : lie has also pu_blished a book-len~th study of JHack music . (Four Lives in the Be Bop Busin es s, 1966) .' 11 ·• In "Zapa ta & the Landlorc.l" the "thi ef ," the speo.ker, i s runnint; in "circles.· The poem is a humo rous treatment of revolutiono.ry struggle in u Latin American country. In "What is It" Spellman app lie s a s imil ar t echnique . This time a cat "hid es ln your face ," ln th e corne r s of th e mou th and .in "tltat :;trilcnge canyon" 1.Jehind the eyes. " A T,1eft of 1/ishes" is cxp~rimcntal ln its us e - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- -- -- - - �.of _jn 2,~~ eLl lines and shifts !Jecwcen th e tan:;ibl1 •. ,:mJ surreal \Wrlds. In the end we are tolJ that home is where 1H,! make our noise. Another po e t \·J ho j o i11::r this "irrevcnt" generation is the lleat innovator Bob Kaufman of th e S ,111 F r .:;incisco r~ay ar~a . :,ide:; f rom fcrlin1_;hcttl ' s City Li :~ ht s J:ooks : Ills first ,~orl~:, cari1 e out as broa~l" The aho111inist Vi.:111lfesto ," "Second J\pr i.l" aml " Docs the Secret Hin<l \._lhispcr ." !Zaufman' s poetry, con- veying protest throu[;h understat ement and irony, is m::irked by unusual and surreal images . His bo oks arc Sol i. tull e s Crowded with Lon ~l i rw ss (1965) · and Golden SarJine (1967). Solitmlcs 1•1 as published in Frcncl1 , · 11 i111111e<li.:.1 t c l y " achieving " a notoriety rare among books of poetry. by . for e i gn poet s . 11 Sardine) . (j ~1cket, Leading French m::i 0 azines reviewed tl1e book, publishers noteJ,. adding thut "Tod ay in Frnnce Kaufman is considered amoni; the tr.(2ates t Negro -American poets alive in spite of his continuing exclusion frorn i\meL·ican anthologies, ho th hip & .:ic;ademic . 11 ("A f:r:ican Dream 11 ) , Kaufo1.:1n' s themes arc racial me1:1ory jazz ( 11 \/alking P::irker llome, 11 "\Jest Coast Sounds-':-1956, ") other poets and writers ("Ila rt ••. Crane, 11 "Ginsberg ," "Camu s : I wan.t to i(now"), incarcer.:1tion (a series of 34 in Jail Poems), history, mytholor;y anJ religion; In " The Eyes too" he says Hy eyes too h:1ve souls .that rage .... A "Cincophrenicpoet " meets \•iith "aJ .l five" of himself where a vote is taken to " expel " tile "weakest " one who resents it .:ind so.1rs over all limits to cross, spir.11, and whirl. Somewhat typical of Kaufman ' s elliptical constructions and \Jacky ima r,ery is "13 eavy \later lilues": �The radio is teachin g my go ldfish ·Jujitsu I am in love with a skindiver ,Jl10 : sleeps un<l e n:ater, Ny nei ghbors are <lrunken linguists , & I speak butterfly, Con~o]itlnt e c.l Edison is thr ea tenin fl to cut off my brain, Tl1e postmau keeps putting sex in my mailbox, I put my eyes on a diet, my tears a re g aining too much weight . In tlLis form and style, Kaufman is not only related to · th l'! 1\~::i t s but t _o ..fones ~ Joans, S~ellman, Atkins, and the fictec.1 young Los Angeles poet K. Curtis Lyl~. Among the older poets who did not come into prominence unti l th e 1960s : were Ve s ey (Columbus, Ohio), Holman (Minter City, Mississippi), . Hctl. \vri i~ ht (Princ eton , tlew Jersey), O'Higgins (Chica go ), Duckett (Brookl y n.), Atkins (Cl eveJ.:ind), Emanuel (Nebrask::i ), r:.anda ll (lvashing ton, D .C.). .T h.1.2sc ·poets , and oth e rs of their generation, arc not similar enou gh to be lab e l ~.d a "school" or "mov ement '' but they c a me of a ge durin g th e intc z ration push when · words Black "id entity " and "humanity" engcnc.lere<l more philosophical (li.scussion ·t han they do today. These nre the men who went to \·J orld \Jar II, opposed lynching , · attended northern white g raduate scho<;)ls: academic or professional careers. Host were occasional poets pursuing Vesey as a poet and professionnl, brid ge s middle pas sage between African and .'\fro - America . At Fisk Univ e rsity he studied creative writin g under James lfolJon Johnson, then went on to law school at llarvnrd. l-n1ile studyin g at th e Sarbonne in Pa ri s some of Iris poem s were p ubli shed, through the interces~ion of Richard Wri ~ht, in the French ma ga zine Presenc e /\fricnin c . Vesey has h elpe d r:1;ea tly in the int e rpretation and - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - �and di.sscrnination of ~~ceritude . Paul Vesey (birth name Smnuel J\llen) is the name under which h e published his bilin,:•,ua.l volume of poems: Zahne (Ivory Tusks, 1956, Germany). Elfenbein Vesey works with skill nnd precision . "The Staircase" is a poe1.1 on which, Vesey says , "I 11oulJ rest my case , I think, anJ tha _t of the fJc ~ro in tl1is lanJ." (Blues) th1.:: poem studies th e .· Black predicament thr ou:~h the pli ~ht of a man for whom the "stairs mount to lii. s eterni ty." Perhaps, like Sisyphus , th e stair is purposefully "unending " since the rotten floor , the "dripping faucet" and the "cracked ceiling" also remain. The man is joined by a "twLn" who later ~oes "exalted to his worms." Vesey u l so 1vritcs an clciw for Dyl.'.1n Thomas ("Dylan, Hho i:.; ·nca<l"), .:1 praise for Black basehall 1 e~cnd s~ tch el Paige ("American Cotl1ic"), and piece intcn,,eaving two different iJeas anJ themes: ll 1;m.,c·rru"1 · one- vicwin;_; t"ho universe and th e mortality of man; the other kno1.,ring the reality of being lllack ,.1nd · called "nigger" by t1vo adolsecent r;irls . tribute to Louis Armstronf_> "To Satcli" is rcmin"l f>ce·nt of Tolson 's Speaking in the poem, Sa t chel Pai~;e_ s<1 ys one mornin~ he is goin g to brab a "hancHulla stars, 11 thrm-1 three strikes to - burn Jown the "heavens," And look over at God and say llow about that! ' llolman's work is among the few entries for poetry in Soon, One Morning. But h e is also found in other anthoJo s:i;e s. Ile has led an active life as a Civil lUghts fighter (Inforiuation Officer of the United States Commission on · Civil P-iGhts) editor (Atlanta Inquirer), writer, and teacher. at Chica 130 University he won sever:.11 aw~1rds for 1vriting. \-Jhile a studer1.t llolmnn, ,vhose poetic subjects range from complex psycl1ic meditations to racial pride, is very good indeed but much overlooked. The l e isure class finds c locks "intrude too �early" ln 11 ,\nd on This Sho re . " ·The [jCnera l indlf ference ls also captured: Across the c ups we yawn at privatci murd ers . " Picnic: The Lib e rat ed " examines th e shifting ·unccr tainiti cs vlith leisured southerners must live . The tension of everyday southern life . lie underneath th e merriment _of th e pic111c· g roun<l s where me,1 rot a te th e liquor in "dixie c u ps" an<l "ab sen tl y " c.l i sc u,, s !'civil ri~~hts , money and r, oous . " Yet as the "country dark" comes in and they return to sprinlere<l yar<ls and "morq~a ge <l houses " they do not know they a re Privile~ed prisoners in a haunt e d lantl . Yet this same poet can hear " Three Brmm Girls Singin ?, !I throu t:,h the ' 'rib s. of an u g ly sc hool building. " · Celebratin:..; th e Black musical pa~t, l!ol1nuri sees them Fuse on pure so und in a shaft of April li ght: ... ·Nell. \fright , no,1 a Federal District Jud ge in New York, \•his_. ii i~lncol~ University poet and Hith Hu r;hes and Cuney edited Lincoln Unive:i-si cv· _Po ets ( 195Lf) . Ile served overseas in World \·Jar II , later r ece ivin ~ law trainin r, a t Fordhc1m . lnlile he was in the Army in Hales, h e published a volL1111e of his poetry, From t:hc Shaken Tower (191,Li) . " The A~ric::in Affair" finds Md( Hri[\ ht on a safari to find out wh£it " Black is ." li e discovers it: in "prisons ,'·' in the " devils <lance ," where " desert s. bun1 , " the Middl e Pass age ; · :i nd areas · t o wh ich " conscience cannot )jO ." lli s ·sea rch carries him deep into Africa where " tr aders shaped my f .. thcr ' s pain ." In "Four Odd DoJkins for My An alyst " one finds that " out:ra p, ed flesh of secret guilt " has come from the pressures of "circum s tance " and " n ccJ ." Fi11c1l ly, " When You h a:,.,e go n e from Frooms " there are "never bloo1:1ing petals" nnd "neve r hurnin~1 suns. " Bontemps calls O ' Ili p,g ins a mem!Jer of th e "trib e of Hn n~lerin g poets ." �i\fter studying with Sterlin ::,, Brmm nt llownrJ, O' llig~; ins won Lucy l!oten anc.l lle l.:1ter served in 1forld I.Jar II, · )uli us ltosenwald F0llm-JShips in writ in ;; . after which he co-authored, with llayden, The Lion nnd The i\rcher (1943) . O'lliggins's style is less formnl than eit h er llolm.::m ' s or HcH . \fright ' s . He · is closer to Vesey, especially_ in poems 1 ike "Young Poet" and "Two tean Cats" in which · th e r .:.dn fell lik e "ra gGed jets" and made a " r,rav e along" the street . The lean cats , runnin~ in " checkered terror" intu a poolroom, find that a "purpl e billiard b.:111" 111.:1kes the colur scheme explode . The much antholo~izecl "Vaticide ("For !loliandas C:handhi") sees G.:imlhi "murd ered upright in the clay" and left \vith his flesh " opened and displayed . 11 Dut , who cre.: tL.cd tl1e " act of Jove" knmrn Lhe ~uUty ~:;ir_r y_ his ''llcatl1 to r.:heir. ·coo1n5."". r.andhi ' s 11 111:irvelous 11ounJ:;" contain tl1L! s un and the seas . Diffcccnt, y :t similar , these pocts sour;ilt throu~h their individual voices to ·duc.t l. with man ' s current and past hurts. i\tl~ins, for example, sa,, the '\;1.1 0llcn <lee:r" rise bii:,h e r as he ' '\;ent walkini " in section t1-10 of "Fant asie .•·•. ·A 1 '.r.e.st.J.ess experimentalist with a very hi g h re ;;.:ird for craftmanship," Atkins j1.:1s a _· founder of Frce T.nncs.,:. (1950) which JU. vers called the " oldest black-Loss c d magazine around ." Between 194 7 and 196:2 , Atkins 's poetry upp e.arccl in nu1frerous journals and other outlets . A fe,J a.re View, Deloit: Poetry .Journ :1 1, l! innesota Quarterly, Jlakcd Ear, Gall e y Sail Tlev.i e \/. Bis volu1ues of poetry are Phenomena (1961), Psychovisuul Perspective for I!usical Composition (1958), T110 by Atkins (The Abortionist nnd Th e Co rps e : Objects (196J), and ll e retofore (196 8) . as complex as the poetry itself . Two Poetic Dramas set to Music, 196 3) , AtLins ' s a es t:hctical ideas ;ire uften An early t:rainin c in music and literature, he said in Sixes and Sevens, that.he 1-1as t:ryin~ for " egocentrical phenomenalism: an objective construct of propcrtiet~ tci substantiate effect as object ." .... lie �searclHiS ;1fter the "J es i gncd im a~ina tiun." In " Ni gh t and a Distanl Church " lie moves " ForwarJ abrupt " tl1en "u p" throu !;h a series of interming lin g "mnun" and " ells " with words like "win d " and "rc1in." ti1ere is more . than Llle hint of Tolson' s ability to mca11Jer amonp, Crc1eco-n.omans and Af ru-Arner.Lcirn trnditions in Atkins's po\.:: try. J\ut ·J 1e · is unique. " At \for" informs the rccJ.Jer that beyond the "turning ::;ea's [ar fuam " the " epliernera " of a "mome nt's da\111 11 suJden ' d its appear .... Later, in the sane poem , after .::illusions to llcnunin gway , the s ilence splits: Listen a moment-- ! Sh ! Listen--! that hurry as of a shore of fuE;itlves. Onc e Atkins ' s technique is understood, how e ver, his . poe'try can be -c~t-ijoyeJ fur · lts witty, 1-1ac ky, off-beat, philosophical musings . In "Irrita ble Song " lie inver U,, reverses and convolutes re g ular syntax: Or say up on return Coronary farewell Leaves me lie. Dare, sir? Ugh! lie nay'u Tomorro.J, L01,1orrow in today? Atkins writes of th e fine arts, John Br own ' s i.:aid on Harper ' s Ferry, Black heroes ("Chr Ls tophe"), the "Tr ainyanl at Nil:ht ," the Cleveland lake front , and other subjects which fit his style and interests. At another e11d of the stylisti c and thematic pule i s Rallllall , a librariat1 by trainin g and trade who, as we shall see in our discussion of poets o[ the late sixties, fii urcs prominently in tl1e development of an audience for the . I d., ') l �· llew UL1ck Poetry . Randall also served in 1/orld War TI and Hritcs poems about the war, love, violence, art and the Dlack presence . llis \,ell knO\m " Uook.er T . anJ W.E . ll .,'' digesting the Washing-DuDois controversy, Has seen by DuBois and this pleased Randall. Tl1e poem first appeared in Midwest Jouinil, 1952 . Randall ha s aJso 1, ritten about and trnnsJatecl Russ-Lnn poetry . \Hth i'larg:uet · Donner he co-authored Poem Counterpoem (1966) and his Cities Burning appeared in 1968 . Nore to Rememlicr . (1971) pulls together Randall ' s poems from " four decades." Ills work has Leen published in Umbra, Ue.loit ro,try Journal, and other places . Ile initiated the Hroadside Series (pusters) in 1965 with dation for l1is Broadside Press , the most signifiGnnt Illack press in hLlerica . . ltandall's 1Jork of this period has the stamp of formality. Ile wri.tes in ballads and free verse forms but he has a tightness that will lie .n ilaxed in the lat e sixties and seventies. " I.eg.:1cy " chronicles the hurt, physical ~md . . . mental, of a land "Li t by a bloody moon ." . . Rut the one who is · 11 1i1oul_Je;<l from thi s clay " vows that My tenrs r edeern my ·rears . "P erspectives " recasts the time-immemorial them e of '\,e only paHs tlfis \la'y once ." There is no need to co111plai.n _;1 bout discomfort, the poem s:1ys , because even the mountai n s--in their hu ghenes·s_--n re Jissolved 11 .:11Jay" hy the seas . Randall ' s Pacific Epita.£!1s are recoile et ions of the war. are epi~•.rammatic and haiku-like . The short pieces .Here is a poignant one ("Iwo Jima"): Like oil of Texas My blood [_;ushed here . Prominent Ln a group of Detroit poets (tlargaret Danner, Oliver La Crone , Naomi Long Madgclt, .James Thompson and others) , l~andall often c1uneshes himself �in n sense of personal injury over his p20ple ' s hisc.ory. This t~ndency, and a c.lebt to the DL:ick po et ic tr adiUon (espcd.'.llly ~;terli.n:~ llro1m), cnn be seen in " The Southern Roac.l " where Lhe "bla ck . river" servqs .:is u "bounJary to hell." Tlie country is "ll.:i u ght y as .:i star " 1\nJ I set furLli upon the so uth e rn road . The variety of St.Jlcs ·,.md th emes [ounc.1 in tl1 ese poets i s found .:ilso in younger poets of their i:eneration : l'.:i t ter so n, Addison, Hrmm e , RL~Jmond, Jay Wright, Anderson , He rnton , a nd Polite co1ae r c.:idi l y to mind. poets , l'uttersou is particularly .int erest.in~; - Of these Ills "Bl ack ull Day " yie lded from it s seconJ line the title for I Snw Ilm, Black 1 \..';is. Patt .rso11 ; ;:mother·· Lincoln University poet , ,,1o n an mvard for his poetry while still o.n uudl.i.r.graduute . A native New Yorker , he studied politicul .sc L:;'. nce and l'.ngL.ish , and has Horked as a counselor for delinquent boys anJ an English Instructor'. Pa t terson said in Sixe s nnd Sevens that his fir s t po em was wriq:e n · cluring Wor l d \far II as the c onseq uences ." 11 out- g ro\-1th of a Cain-and-Abel conflict ,~itlio u~ _th e. tlire " Three Views of Dawn " incl u des the " silken shawl of. ni ght ," • t he ~i sappearance of " corner spe c t e rs " :md the " split.tin~" of " stillness·.·,, The musical " Tla Tla " presents fr ee ve r se sriced ,,itl1 a lliterntive l .:i ngual;e of landscape , se:ison :ind nat u re . Sitting " Alone, " the protagonist of the poern '" keeps poems warm" as he watch es. over the sle e ping lovers as well as th e " numb " who wak e and we'ep . Pa t terson did no t publish a h ook un t il 1969 ; and its titl e , 26 \foys of Looki ng at A Black Man , shows the influ e nce of irna g ists and modernists ( see Wa l lace Stevens ' s 13 \.fays of Looking at A Black Bini ) . It also revea l s mu c h about t he Black poet ' s ability to for g e .:ind merge his academic training �with hi s own in<ligcnis m. The spe a k e r in " Blacjz a ll Day " i s "lo oked " into "ra ge and s h ame " by a whL t e passerby ; out he vo11s th at "tomo rr m-, " I'll <lo as much for him. Patterson constructs a sol i d poetic foundation, "stone on stone," i.1.5 li e paints pre c ise · portrai _ts of "th e brav e who do n o t break" when provoked ("You Arl! the Brave"), or the "lost, the "tireless and ra g in g soul, " (" Envoi"). In the 1,o rk of Patterson, .:ind the yo un ge c grou p of th e period, one finds anger or prot est , thou gh th e gener a l t endc nc e is toward experimental verse which pinpoints th e surest and ri chest human feelinGS . jects more often than not r e fl ec t this fact. As Black poe ts, their sub- _ But v~n:.Lcty is - c~rtaj·nl y not shunned by th em . Neither ls variety avoided by their sisters of th e pen and image : Black women who have been an identifi ab le aspect of the long tradi~ion of Afro-Ame rican Poetry . Phyllis l-n1eatl ey was th e most well known fcinale p_o et until th e mid-ninet een th century when Frances Ha rper took u p t he , bc.tnner· of · fame thou gh not of skill. A later ne1,;r mood was evidenced in the work of An ge lina Gri mke , Ceorr;ia Douglass Johnson (the most famous poet after Franc e s llarper), Gwendolyn Bennett, Ann Spencer , Alice Nelso n Dunbar, itelen~ Johrison (a young spark in th e Rcnnissancc), M:rr?, ,ne t Halker, and Gwendolyn Broots. _Between th P forti es and sixties, th e n ube r o f pub]i shin g wom e n poets increased~ Po e try in America has remain e d und er the domain of whiles (men); and since wome n in gen e ral have not had th e .range of opportunities op0 n t o 1t1en, certainly th e Bla ck woman went tl1 e worse way of that flesh ! poets of the pe riod still remains impressive: But th e li s t of Black women Gloria C. Oden (Yonk e rs, New York), Naninn Alba (Mont gomery) , Marflaret Danner (Pr yo rsbur g , Kent11cky) , Mari Evans (Tol e do), Julia Fields (Uni6ntown, Alabama), Vivian Ayers �(Chestcr, South Carolina), Audr~ Lordc (New York), Naomi Lon~ }!a<l g ett (Norfolk), Pauli Murray (Baltimore), Sarah Writhe (Witipquin, }~ryland), May Hiller (Washin 8 t on, D. C . ), anct Yvonne Gre: •:,:iry (Uashv lll e ) , ainonr; the dozens of occasional and re eional names. In 1952--two years aft;.:,1· C\1endolyn :Ur-oks won the Pulitze:r P ri z c--G.C . Oden , who uses her i1titiuJs "us a \-1ay of ueing anunyrnou s ," r'(•cc.i.vcd ;:i John liay \·/hitney Opportunity Fellmvship for · ·. The I·l;i L ed Frame : A Love Poem and Sonnets . She has \•JOrkcd as a senior editor of a rn;J.jor puullslting house and currently teaches l.::nglish in 13alti111ore . the fifties, she joined the Villa g e poets in ln l..!w York where she re,1ll her poetry ln coffee shops, rcvic,1cJ boots and uorJ:.ed on a novel. has also arpeared in The Saturdn v l~cvicw nml ThL' Po,: try ]) lgest; Her · poetry r:ot: i.n:i that · she appeals "primarily to the intellect ," Hayden ( l:ul..iidos copc) co1i1 pared .lier to Cullen, adding that she " is concerned with poetry as an nrt expressi ng · what is meaninr,ful to everyone , not just a vehicle for protest ;:ind special pleading ." Although G . C. Oden uses a variety of forms, her poems .are 1.1 sually crisp and intellectually tart. "The Carousel" in an empty park rides me round and rounJ , and the dark drops for her as she gleans her surr:oundings with . explicit worcl-clwices: "si ght focusses shndow . 11 • In "Review from St.'.lten Island" an item ' in the viev, ls " spewed up fro ni h'.uter·. Later we are told that "One gets used to dyinr, livin g " and "even th e . rn g c disposes of summer." We hear the dislocated woman in " ... As t1hen emo·tion too far exceeds its cause" (phrase from Elizebeth Ilishop) . Retreatin g from h eartbreak , she admits that she t oo knew "lov e 's celestial venturin g .": I, too, once trusted air that plunged Yes, 1 ! 1,1e down. �Nanina Alba is similarly terse and poignant. The Parchments (1963) and The Parchments II were published before her.· <lea th in 1968 . She taught English, Husic an<l French in public schools an<l was for a long time a member of the English Departmen t at Tuskegee Iustitute. "Be Dael!alus " · makes use of r.reek Hy _tholo,w to chaw a subtle and analogy between Black and Icarus's "unwise" actions . Death cor,H~s as a "tax" fo r "par chin~" the sun: Suns can be brutal thini:s. "For Malcolm X" recnlls "History' s stonin~." Margaret Danner is slinilarly sensitive . Born in Detroit, she has spent the r;rea t er part of her life in Chicago where she was o.ne t _i111e cu.it.or of ·. Poetry. Iler poems in that publication in 1952 promp t ~d the John . tlay . HhHtH~y Fellowships Committee to offer her a trip to Africa . · AnJ in 19G2 · the. liternry gro up with which she id ent ifi ed in Detroit wns the subject of a special issue of the flulletin of Ne?.,ro History . She hns published four volumes:· Impressions of African Ar t Forms in Poetry (19 62) , To Flower (1962), Poe~ Counter0oem (with Dudley Randall, 196G) and Iron Lace (1968). A. former poet-in-residence at Hayne State University , she founded Boone ll ouse , a lively center . for the arts in Detroit, and a similar cultural program in Chicago: No]ogonya ' s. She employs A.fricnn t erminology anJ theme; but she can nlso write delightfully in other veins as in " The Elevator }\a n Adheres to Form." win gs " the elevntor reminds h er of " l:.ol'pco art ." The "t nn man who · Struck by his ele1_;ance--and "God speedings "--the she wonders why · so intelligent and artf ul a "tan" man has to run elevators . It is a meticulous poem, subtlety exposin g the lie that c<lucntion <JLHllifies you . She finnl ly uishes tile elevator man '.s services cound be employed toward l ift. in n th em 3hove their cripplin ~ storm . �Far Fro1n Africa : Four r oeus is ·a sh ee t of sights, sounJs a nd su gges tions carryin~ th e reader across "moulting days " in "thejr twili g ht," ("G.:irnishinr, the Aviary"), "lines " of "c lassic tutu," (" Dan.:e o f the Ab.:1kweta"), " eyes lowered" from " despair, " ("The Visit Li bet.I of ~:r(,en· moss , o[ the Professor of Acs tl1.etics ") and spa r kl in i:; as a beetle, tlari ]-.vans is anotht't" ·Lind of transit ionalist--shiftin g from Civil lUghts poetry of the early phase to, [ini1lly , i1 more obvious "!Ha ck " s t .:ince Her I Ami\ ];Jack \.Jo111::in \vas not publ i shed until 1970. of the l nte r perLoJ . She ha s 1vorke<l as a civil service em ploy ee , tv shO\v h os t ess ancl producer , a nt.I in struc tor of viriting . Sometimes refer r e d t u as technical, heir to Gwendolyn' Drooks , a .sp~r.it ual, if · not_· !..Jri Evans cmplnys irony, susileosion , . an<l rich folk iJioms in a -:- r ee ve rse sty le. " The l{~bel;" poncle ririg· his dea th and funeral , won<lers if Curiosity seekers want to LnO\•/ uh e ther sl1e hus really cl LeJ or ju s t wants t o cause "Tr o ubl e.·. .. ;" Ther e i s humor and sa tir e in manner of Vcscy 1 s 11 /\ 11 \-/hen in rromc " as th e poet int e r laces (in the Homen t, Please ") t\W diff e r e nt conversutions . 13lack mc1itl " Harrie dear , 11 is allo\Jc<l t o ea t " whatever " she likes· . . 'The Alternatini_; the maid 1 s silent r espo n ses with tl1 e reci L.:1 tion of a me nu of th e 111iJ Jle class environment ("Rome "), the poem incid_en·tal ly r ecords th e tra<li.tiona l so ul food i t ems whi ch th e maiJ craves. ." The Emancipat Lon of George-llector " ("the colored turtl e ") shO\,s a g rowing i mpatience with one - step-at-a -t ime social c hani_: e policy . The turtle us e d to stay in his " shell " but now. he peeks out, extend s his arms and le gs , and talLs. anti se ntL1,1entc.1 l. Bu t thi s s.::ime poet can wax philosophical "If th e re he Sorr0\·! 11 it s hould Le f or the tliin ::s not yl.!t· dreamed, realized or done. l\d<l to th ese the wLthholding of love, l ove �"restrnincd ." In " Shrine to what shoulcl De" an·. audience is asked to "sin g" songs to "nobility," an<l "Ri ghtousness. 11 The ch ildren should brin i, "Trust, 11 the women "Dr eams, " the old men "c onstancy ." fronically th ii a udi e nce is tolJ to ignore tears that fall like a "crescendo," and constantly as " a sof t black rain." Iler tribut e to Gospel sinr;,ers is telling in" ... And the Old Women Ca the reel." One cinno t (despit e "Rome") esc.:ipc one's self, the poet says, ns s he notices th a t the "fierce " and"not melodic " music lingered on even as "we ran." Julia Fields, truly sensitive spirits , studied at Knox Colle ge in Tennessee, in En13lanJ and Scotland, an<l has tau ght in high school an u· _c o llege . . . Her work appeare,l in Umbr a , Massachusetts H.eview .:ind oth e r journn1s. . . Along . · with H:up;aret Halker, Tom Dent, Alice \/alker, Pinkie ·cor<lun Lane, ·un·<l ·Spe llm_a q she is among the few good Black poets who now voluntarily live in the South. Her first book, Poems, was brou~;ht out by Poets Press in 1963, ·t .h~ · same year · she received a National Council on the Arts grant . She is sub s t u11tialiy represented in R. Baird Shuman's Nine Bl ack Poets (1968) 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 historr, "The Generations" come and go and in between there arc "Th e wars."- AnJ in between them are the seasons, flo\-i e rs, '.'lavender skies, 11 dawns·, " Sombre seas," and the "embry onic calm." "Arr dv:irk" has achieved "fame" since "Hulcolm · died and the poet muses: Looks like Mnlcolm helpecl Bring attention to a lot of things We never thou ght about before. She again salutes this martyr in "For Malcolm X" whose " eyes were mirrors of our a go ny." In "No Time for Poetry" the render is advised that miclni ght is �not time to beseech one's muse : too much " calm." the " spirit" i$ "too la gr, in g " and there is But the mornin~ is ideal sinc:e it carries "vibrntions of lau r;hter " and has no "oran:;e -Hhite mists . " As ·a "woman," listenin;~ near the · " broken-hin ged door " at a man talk of war ("I Heard A Youn ~ Man Snyin~"), the narrator "_somehow planned on livin p, . " world " sends 11 And the "bri~ht ~lare of the neon ['.,as-ivords· burstjn;-; free" in "Hadness One Monday Even in :; . " Pauli Murray and Sarah Wright are sometimes poets who also write other things . Pauli Murray pursued trainin g for law \-Jhil e s l1 e 1vun academ i.c aw;:irds and fellol/ ships for her writing . A Civil ni:>,hts pioneer, she published one volume of verse (Dark Testfr1ent, 1969) a nd a family history_ (Proud · Shoes ~·. 195fi). . In 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . \lithout lfarne , II she is revealed as a formal but excellent craftsm,tn. Tliere are no names for true feeling ; but let the "flesh sing ·.1nthems to - its . ;_n-rivaL 11 Sarah Wright , known as a novelist (This C.hilJ's Gonna Live), co-authored Give Me A child in 1955 with Lucy Smitl1 . About Black writers she sntd, · in 19Gl, " My motto is tell it like it damn sure is." " black outlines in livini:; flesh . 11 and traffic lights . I In 11 \·iindow Pictures" . s.l1e ·sees "Ur gency" vie\vS relationship bet1._1een drivers "God" is "thanked " that the car stops so the p~1ssenger • can " glory " a whi l e in the " time-bitten punctuatiqn." Of the "pause ·. " Vivian Ayers, the daughter of a blacksmith, GttencJed Barber.~Scotia College (Concord) and Dennett Colle ge . (Greensboro) \Jhere her major · interests were drama , music and dance. She publ.i5:l.1ed a volume of poems (Spice of Dawns) and an allegorical drama of freedom and the spnce ai:;e (llawk), performed at the University of Houston ' s Educational Television Station . lives in llouston where she ed i.ts a quarterly journal , ,\dep t. Currently, she ''.Instantaneous " features a man hein r, " :-; tunned" by th e bolt of " cross-firing energies" and grnbbecJ up jn a blaze resonant as n million hallelujas-- . �A 1,1.:1n j11habits another man who, dyin t:, g asps fi.lintly: "tly ~o<l--this is God .. , " Similar an<l different is N.::iomi Lon;~ Haclgett, who moveJ to Detroit from Virginia in 19116 to teach at a high school. from Wnyne S tat~ Univer s ity. She holds a Mnster's· J.e g ree AssociateJ with the Detroit group of poei$, she has published four volu1,1es: Son r1s to a Phanto1 '. 1 Ni r, htinr,ale (19L1l), One in the Many (1956), Star by Star (19GS, 1970), and Pink Ladies in the Afternoon (1972). Currently she teuches I:nglish at tastern Michi~.:m University and runs the newly cstablisliccl Lotus Press. projects was Deep Rivers: (197L1), which lncludcs .:1 A Port fol Lo: One of its first 20 Conte mpon1r v I\Llcl, A1ne i·i~:nn . Poets teachers' guid e prepared by Lhe poet. tJiL o r s fur Deep l~ivers include Leonard P . Andrews, Eunice L. llownrd, and GL:idys Rogers . i·!. The 20 poster poets are Pnulette Childress White, Jill \-iithersroon, \Hlliam Shelley, G. C . Oden , Haoml Ha<l g ett, Patterson, La Gron.e; Pamela CoblJ, Pinkie Con.Ion Lane, Etheridge !(night, Run<lall, l!i.lyuen, Thomps·on._; : Hargarct Walker, June Jordan, Gerald W. Barrax, Audre Lorde, RcdmonJ, Michael S . · Harper and l~aufman. Naomi HaJgett ' s "Simple" ("For L:rngston llu i~hcs) is realj~; tLcally humorous. Simple sits in a b.:ir, wanting to talk.· to so1ncon¢, when he is approached by a hand-out seeker who needs to cl,an r, e his clothes "but' rny lan ' lndy' bolled the door." Jo yce will tap "imputiently" .:ind leave the bar and Simple vion<ler n g what "he· \:1anted to say." In "Mort:ility" we learn th a t of "all the deat'i1s" thi s one is the "surest. 11 Some Jeaths ..ire merely " re:ice" but vultures "reco r, nize" the "sin g Je mort:11. thinL;" th:.it holds on to 1 ifc and they \,alt hu11 ~~ ari] y for the t i.mc ~ten hupe starts ~ta ggc rin ~ . Man must come to grips Hith the thinp,s of tlds worl<l, we arc tol<l in �"The Rec 1:oninf;" : And why nnd hm-1 nnd what, and so1:1l ·times even if. 0 Poems from Trinity : women and humans . 11 ( A Dream Sequence convey uncert a inties and fcnrs of One character has been besei ged by "dream and·Jream again " 411 ) ancl a n.'.lked day "corrodes t he silv er dream " b ut the music will not. " cea se to shiver . " ("Hl ") . · "After" ls a lan1e11tc1tio11 for "mortaJs" \vltliout "wln:1s " to fly awny fro1,, th e "purple sad ness" of ni;~ht. ,\ml "Poor J~enalJ0 11 is " deaJ and gone Hl1erever people go " \. hen they "never loved a sonr~ . " 1 even "hell" 1,1ust have "music of a sort." llu t Finally sculptcJ , like the ot 1ers, unre s tin13 , 11 Audre Lonle ' s 1,,1ork ref]ects sl~iJl a nd controJ. ·1n 'the early' :;i:-.t:ies she wrot e : I wn a :-~cg ro woman my realm of choice. i:111<1 a poet--all thre e things stand ouLslde Hy eyes have a pc1rt in my seeing, my_ breath in by Lreathing , all that I am in who I am . love .:ire of my people . All who I was not born on a farm or in a forest, but in the centre of Llie l;:ir g~st city .i.n th !.'. world-:-a member of the hui11:.in race her.u,1erl in by stone, ,1\•1ay fro111 earth ~md sunl.i.[;ht. COJJll!S J; ut \Jhat is in 111y · liJ ood ~ind sl~in of r Lclmess, Lhe roundabout j ourncy frou ·,\fr lc:i throu (jh sun i s lands to a stony co-1st , ancl t 'icse are· the gifts throu ,:h \Jhiclt I s in g , tlirou)jh \·1hich I sec . This is the knowled ge of the sun , and of lim, to love even where Lhcrc .i.i, no sunlL;-,l1t. Tl1ls · i s the kn0\•7lcdi_;e and the rich0ess I shall L, ivc my child rcn proudly, as a streneth against th e less ohv Lous forms o [ narrmmess and nil_;ht . �J\udre Lot; <le thus ~ivcs a balanced account of her self c1s a imman, Blc1ck and poe t. And al l these things she hc1n<lles qui_te well in her poetry-- on page ,.rnd in the air. She has published thrC(' volumes: The First Cities (1 968 ), Cables to Ra ~e (19 70) <:1nd From a Land where other People Live (1973) , which w<:1s nomi.natcd for r eflects Oi1 .:i :-rational Boo!~ Award . In her early poetry she "Oaxaca" ( Ln Hexico) where the " land moves sl01•1 ly " under the " carving drag of vJOod . 11 The drudging field work goes on while the hills arc "l irC\·ling thunder" and one can observe All a man ' s strength in his sons ' young nrms .... " To a Girl who knew what si<le Iler 13reacl was Buttered on " describes the girl as a " catch of brir_: ht t hun<lcr " apparently gu.1rded by (and e·uardia.n ·of) _ bones .. · Or dered to leave the bo n es , she watches as they ris~ - llkl' " an ace.an· and trample the one who orde r s her " into t h e earth ." . " for th in Lhc moonpit of a virgin ." The 11 or-stnl\v 11 . N;.1 mph 11 is brought In " How can I Love Yoll " the ui1\v<:1nte<l lover " comes like a thin binl"-- unlike the magnificent Phoenix bird _of myt holoey--later to become " great ash ." No wonder , the speaker con_firms_, that your sun wen t down . The " Hoon-minded t he Sun .. . " decrees that The light that makes us fertile s hal l make us sa n e . And we hear t hat the " year has fallen"- in " Father, the Year ... " Audre Lorde ' s work c u ts s h a r p pa t hs of insig h t nnd ligh t ac r oss the stealthing ignorance and diffusion around her . " AnJ Fall shall sit in Judgment" ex.1minC:!s lov e, co n cluding that " in all seasons " it is fa l se , but the s.1me . A much-neglec t ed poet is M□ y Miller , of Washin~ton, D. C. , and whom GwencloJyn Brooks acknowleJr,es as " excellent and lonp,-celebro.tetl " (Introduction ) �· Tile Po 12 try of Dlac: ~ Ame ric a ). 11i ss Drooks also laments Hay Hill er 1 s absence amon f\ tho se nn th o lo p, i ze J. lier work c<.111 be found in three volumes: Into the Clearinri_ (1 959 ), Poems (1962), and she is one of tl1ree poets r ep r esen t e d in Lyrics of Three Homen (1964). . Currently a member of ·the · . Commi ssion on th e Arts of th e District of Columbia, she has been c1 t eachur, · lectu r ·r, dramatist a nJ has published her poetry in a number of mn r.; az ines : Co111c1on Gr o und, The Ant ioch . Review, Th e Cr i sis , Phy l on, a nd The llntion . "Calvary Way" s how s n Christi.:m influ e nce with a twist of irony c1nll g ore·. Hary i s asked h ow she felt , "womb -h eavy with Chr ist Ch ild, " ns sh e tasted th e "du st " o f a n "un certai n _iourney." finally asks Mary: " Were yo u nfrnid?" Recallin :( th e .c.ruci.fi): 1 0 11., tile poem · The "r oi'lc;hes are winninr," in '' The last Wnrchouse" where humans seek to " abner,a t e s urvival laHs" and k.111 roaches until they are "saturated with their d e crease ." " 'fl 1e wr on13 s1., . l e o f· ,.'I orn1.ng . II were s 11a 1( en f rom a 11 The ch.:1racters in : s II.. a n d n.t• [: l1t111arc o f 1nng " mu s hr oor,1s of hu ge death" as th e poet power fully collects ima ~l! S ·. and . ,Ltyer •.J meani n~s . " Procession " employs the dramatic technique (m.:1dc famou t, by llrown and oth e r::;) of i.nterlacinr, t he formal Ln i.; lish of the poem 11ith itaJ ~cizecl Black reiter;:itive expletives .:111d r._;frains such as "ltin r, , ha11u1H2r 1 ri1ig ! 11 It is tl1e procession o( Chris t but t.lll : rc!ader easily unJert,tand.s, . noting the £lack idiorns , tl1n t it ls a Black v rocession throu g h the lab yr lnthes of slavery anc.l racism. Ther~ ls a s rl ~:; · O[ juxtaposed contradiction s like " Time i s t.oday , yesterday , and ti1 •10 to come ," "moving ;:md r.1otlonlc s s, " and . "i nfinite takes familia r form ," as all while " we s eek convictio n." Christian mythology pervaJes Hay Hiller ' s work (though she Black-bases it). In "Tally " the subjects "lay there drained of time" anc.l empty like the "bul ge of l1our elass" viltile " Lucifer st.r e aked to reality." �The Jeaths of Dumas and ]livers l.::ft voiJs .aml created still more anxieties , coming as they did (19G J) in the midst of r acial turbulence. Ilowever, by the miJ-sixties both poets had written a grea t Jeal of poetry and a great deal about themselves. Rivers died an unnecessur y clc~.tlh in what has been . called an •11 ill1pulsive" act. white policeman in other. c1 ,;ew Ybrk suhway. Dumas \HIS shot to death by 3 Both deaths occured 1,1on ths of each Rivers was born in Atlantic City, · iew Jersey, and attended public schools in Pennsylvania , Georgia and Ohio . His colle~c Juys \1ere spent at \Hlberforce University, Chica~o State Teachers Colle~e anJ Imli:rna University. In hi gh schoo l (1951) he WOll the Savannnh St::i~e· poetry prize .. Rivers was g reatly influence·d by llu r,hes , \frieht anJ his uncle l,ay itclvC'r. llis five books , two of them published posthumously; are-: Perchance co Dream , Othello (1959), These Black Dodies nncl This Sunburnt Face (1962), Dusk a t Selrna (1%5) , The Still Voice of J:arlem (1%(3), anJ The \Jright Poems (1972 , · with an Introduction hy friend-novelist Ronald Fair). Ohio Poetry . Review, Kenyon Review , and Antioch Review were only a few magazines in whicl1 his work. appeared. Respondin g to a request (1962) to comment on himself as Black man and poet, Riv ers said, among other things: I write about the Negro because I am a Negro, and I am not at peace wi.th mysel f or the world. I cannot divorce my thou r,hts from the absolute injustice of hate. I cannot reel-on w.itl1 my color . I am obsessed by the ludicrous and psycholoeical behavior of hated men . And I shall conti.nue to write about racc--in spite of many 1,arnings-- �until I <l.i.scover myself, 1,1y future I my real race. I do not wish to capital i:~e on race, nor do I 1vi sh to begin a Crimean \Jar: I am only interested in recordin['. the truth squeezec.l from .my observ:1 t.i.ons and experil!nces . 1 am Lirc<l of hei.ng misrepresented . .i\clding tu the sta tement, Rivers said "b eauty anc..1 joy, whi.ch 1 ✓ ns in the world before and ltas been buried so lonp,, hns got to come back." But Rivers s.::iw little "beauty ancl joy" in his own mind's eye. His poetic landscape is often bleak .:inc.I filled 111th Jeep psychLc ye:;n' nin,~s and wnn<lerinr.;s through the ambivalences or l\lack-11hite rl!l,1L'.lons. is also tonicnt and brood Ln l: . 'l'h.c t:l' · In this way he bears Sll1:1~ .· k.Lnship to ·Dµ,m:is . .· For both delve deeply into psychology, but are nt the same tim~ accessihlc. Rivers spent much tLr.ie researchin['. his past an<l rendin g from the _ grea t volumes of world literature . During the mid-sixties in Ch Lca r.,o ht:! parti_.,.. cipated in discussion ~roup s--involvin ~ Fair, Dnvi<l Llorens and Gerald NcWorter--out which this grew the now well-known Orr,anj 211.tion of TIL1ck American Culture (OBAC) which figures prominently importnntly in _ tlte -'Black arts programs of that city . poems ... !livers talks · about his own <leach in ·several "Postscript" ls a poem wliicli · " .s hould not hnve been publisl11.2,l. 11 The · narrator says lie 1,as "livin::; and clyin; : il1.1d dri=amlng" all ~t the saue time in Ilarlem. /\nd , toyin~ 1--1ith ,h l s 01v11 fate i.n wake of \/1-i;~ht ' s "sudd en Jl.:!ath, 11 he rccnlls the elcler writer· s "rropll ecy " 1-ms that he too " soon 1vould he deau: 11 The tl1eme of denth--oftcn 111orc1l, spirit ual or plty!;lcal .:is ln llayc.len-- can be found iu pi~ces 1.LLc "Th e Death of a l~e2,ro Poet, " "Pr elude for Dixie," " Four Sheets to tlie \Hnd , " " Tlirce Sons ," 11 ,\sylu1,1," and all of The \Jr i gl!t Poems. �In 11 \!atl ~J , 11 he cap s ules r,ene rations of fear, h orro r , histor y unJ anguish i nto e pi ~r ar,mia tic fury--with n c.lec:cptlvely a ppircnt ease : Nust I shoot th e white ma n Jeat.! to free thL~ ni gge r in his head ? In ,.m incredibly 1-1e, k Ut;!;eswuent of nLv..:rs ' s poetry, llakl 1-la<l huhuti (L ee ) said thi s poem " :1sks a r c voJut .Lonar y qucstio11 '.1 (l•yn:11,1 lt c VnLccs, Vo l . I) . Such a ( " question, " ) of course , continudlly tui:ns or r e volve s . Dut , semantics ::islde , the cor.1111cnt is blinu to Rivers ' s \.TL'.sll i 11,·~ w.i Lil • the dc~•p · fears a11Cl sores cni.:cndere<l by /\Jueric;i ' s ni g htm:, r c. . IIc• knew no s i111pli. st·Lc answers or verbal jousting wo u ld make th ese~ hurts <l"isapp ec1 r . 1',,11y11ay , such crltlcis111 violates the poe1,1, robbin )j the poet of his rnany-laycr<.:d· c;q nccrns unt.! a nalytical p01,crs . 11.lver l s not all soml,cr ang bleak , hm,cv e r i. in " Th e Still Voice of llarJ cm" h e .:mnouncf!s : I am t h e hope and tomorr011 of your unborn . Ev en m:tlllst the contraJictions ant.! un cc rt;:iinties of racl.::il/politlc:11 ping-pong ("In Defense of ]Hack Po e ts " ) /1,, black poet mu s t remcmbc.or ' the horrors . Especially since Some black kid is bound to read yo u. The " Note on Black Homen " asks t hey te a ch t h e poet "honor, " "h umor ," and " how to <li e , " presumnb]y th e rcbornin :_<, de.'.lth . s h eet . The \!ri. c~ ht Po ems l s an elcgaic " To lUchard \Jd g hL '' excla.i1;1s alr.iosl witl1 dcf'2 a t , tll.'.lt �To be born unnotic ~d i s to b e b o rn bla ck, anJ left out of the g r a 11J adv e ntu r Q. Another " To Rich.:ircl lhi;~ ht " piece refer s to the nov e list .'.lS youn g J os u s of the bl.ack noun .:ind verb . Other po e ms find t.h e poe t \-hmJerin t o r s e.:irchin z throu ~h th e "spirits" or "bon e$ " • of \Jri g ltt . In " A Nourninr:; Letter from Paris" Rivers r ec .:ills knowin ~ and feelin g "Harlem's honeyed voice." Some times similar in feelin g :.inJ theme, but almost never in voice and form , is the work of Dum.:1s who " Nc•,•, ritu c.le ran g es acro ss tim e a 11d s pace . II_· . . . . . Dumas was born in Swe e t llomc, Arkansas, moved to Ne\J . York \Jh~n · he wns 10 . ye.,1r s old and completed public schools in that city. He ~t~erided City C6lle~c of New York and Rutgers between stints in the Air Force and other activities. Active on the lj_ttlc m;i,;azine circuit, he won a number of :11-mrt! s and helped establ 1.sh several publications. /\t the time of his d e ;:ith, h e v1; 1s _L_e jching at Southern Illinois University's Experiment in llighcr Education i11 East St. ,Louis. In 1970, SIU Press published two posthumously collectc,_l volumes: Poetry for Hy People and 'Ark of Bone' nnd Other Stories, edit e d by llale _ Chatfield c1nd Redmond . Random House re.:..issued the poetry (Play "Ebony Play Ivory) and i-;tortcs (same title) in 1974 uith Redmond as editor. Thou l\ h there have been no full-len g th critical studies o f Dumas's poetry, Jny \Jri ght and Bnraka assessed him in the SIU editions ,1r1cl Wri r, ht 's Tntrocluction is retained in the ne11 releases. Wright, himself a major po e t of the era, e l c ;ined th e linguistic skill and th e 11111sical ran g e of Duma,,: None of this is pe rverse, int e ll e ctual pla y . of Dumar;' sense of hi story . It is indicativ e In "Fmoyeni, Plnc e of the I.Jinds," �he Hrites "I see with my skin and hear with my tonr;ue ." ... The line , I su~nest, asse rt s some elementa r y truth about Dumas ', and not alone Dumas', poetic techniques . is gro unded in that line. Thi~ hook ... What Dumas means i .n that th e re arc ract al ancl soci.a"l Jetenninants of perception, ideas tha t he was jus t berinnjng -to develop . The mind articulates what the senses hnve selcc t e J fro1,1 the ficlJ, crnd tltis articuL1tion is , in part , dt.!tcn1incJ by 11hat the perceiver has learned to select und articulate . There is CL~rtainly no consensus among thinkers ttwt this is 1vhat happens , but there j _s · s0m12 evidence for believing·, as Dumai:; did, that it docs lt:1ppe1r. · ln 'lJ] h ear with 111y Lonr;ue, 11 Dumas asscrLs th ..it· Lh<:; l anguage · you speak is a 1,J[Jy of de[inine, yourself 1vitliin u ~ro up. The language of the Illack community, as 11itl1 that o( any ~roup , takes its form , its imu3ery, its vocabulary , becu~se l.Huck people want Lhelil that 1,uy . Lan 0 u<.1ge can protect , exclude, express value , as 1-Jell as assert lu en tity. ii, 1Jhy Dumas ' language is the 11ay it is . Tlwt In the rhytlu11 o.f it, ls tl1e act, tl1e unique n1anner of perception o( a lH..ick man. \1ritin ;>; with the rc111ovcd pass:ion of t"lie friend that he was, \.Jri.ght makes vital statements not only about Dumas hu_L i1bou t the whole area o.f Black creativity ,_. pcrcepti.on and stance in the 1,1orJJ. Indeed Dumas juLteJ all th ese ante:nnue from his poetry whicl1 he Hrote to maintain " out precious trad_ltilln . 11 Lin- ~u i s tically , Dumas ' s base is fon11al Ene,lisli , a lJlencl of Black II.fr lean lun c uag es; · Arabic , and r.ullah from the islands off the Carolinas .:ind Ceor1~L1 . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - I! ls c·os111os �is !:,,ltap1.2J by the rich t ex tures ot .!Hack reli g i o us and spiritual lite, expecinlly old time church services a nJ Voodoo:. \Jri ght notes: anJ gospel mu sic , particularly , 1-1er c his life breath. " The blues Only Langston llughes knew more , ar a t lea s t as much , . about Gospe l an<l ;~ospel s in ge rs .. '. .·· Mu sic seemed to UL11nJ i~ to Le ;1ble to carry th e burden of direct participation in the ncl of living, as no poem , thal 11as not musically str u c ture<l, coulJ .... " "Du rn.'.ls 1-1 as searching for an nn.'.llagous structure for poetry ." ,\s a poet, Du111as comb ines the past , present and tuture, of t e n in s..:para bly, as in "Play E!Jony Pldy Ivory": for the son~less , th e <l ea d who rot the earth all the se dcaJ whose sour mut ed ton g ues speak broken chords, all the~e ag in~ peopl e poison th e h e art of ~arth. Curs'e s and curdles, rnysLlcism , \)less i.n gs a11cl v1arnin1•,s abound : Vo<lu g reen clinching his waist, obi purple ringing his ,neck, Shan~o , God of the r;pir lLs, 1-,1hispcr in g in his car , thun<lerligl1t stabbin g the island ot blood risin~ from hi s stull. Later, in thi s same poem ("Rite"), th e 1,1onl tak es prece<lent over a ll; wliat mu st come , must come : �No pO\•l er can stay the mo j o when the obi is purpl e and th e vodu is green .:ind Shango is whisperin g , 1:ith e 1111>. in bloo<l . I am not clean. Hi s intercontinental, inteq~alaxinn so a rs e1,1ploy nny unJ all Jevices nt his comm.::ind. Dumas explores the dense rhythms ("of pcrcention") as in "Ngoma" where he compares the lielly of a pregn.:mt woman to the drum ltead. The Joctor listens to the ba'by's heart; the dru1!llner listens · tO .. th~ ~oice s, ~f the·· anccstors.: .iiwa aiwa it is th e cl1es t-sound same that booms my chest aLwa aiwa a strong sound runnin3 like feet of gazelle aiwa aiwa The crescendo, with its built-in call-.:ind-rcsponse pat tern, rneq~cs 139a t skin and woman I s belly in the <leathenin c f C llr:. the ~oat-skin sing s th e bo om-sound louder louder sin gs the g oa t-sl~in louder the goat-skin sin)js th e hoom-souncl louder sings the goat-skin louder louder louder boom the 3oat-skin noom-sound loud e r louder louder The rich, experimental lan gunge, couched in scv e rnl "traditions," is seen �ever y\Jh c> re i n th is major voice ("fr om J .:1 cklw.mr.1 ~ r "): Th e j a c kj:i c k b.::ick in g back a n d s t n ¢. k i n i~ s t one c it y - s t one int o cn:ick~d hyclrn u lic · echoes of d us t Or ( " n oot So n g "): Once 11h en I \g1s tr ee flesh c ame and wo r s hi ppe d a t my r oo t s . Or (" J\ · f,o n r, o f fl e sh") l o v e a n d maddened so:1r a ncl need : Hh e n I a wok e I took th e ~l eep in B ~ou n ta in s of yo u r b r e asts t e n de rl y t e nde r ly b e t ween my ri uiv'Pr i n g li ps a nd I r:uilJot inc <l th e s t a llio ns, drown e d th e eag l e s, an d drov e t he ti g er fish back into th e s ea of your heart. Ther e a r e a]s o "many" po e t s in Dum as . ll c r e i s a c ombination of DuJ'.l.bar, .Hughes, \falk ~ r, coupl e d with th e b es t o f th e r i mi n g po e t s o f the s i x t ie s t u produce th e san p, uin e a nd humoro u s Bl a c k t ruth ( " l La ugh Talk Joke "): i l a u c h t a l k j oke smoke d ope s k i p rope, 1,1:1y tcJke j ump u p and d own, unlk a r ol111cl dri nk mas h an d ' t alk Lr :"1s li bea t a bl i nd boy over tl1e hea d with c1 br i ck knock a no - Legge <l m:in t o h i s bende<l k n ees .:1 coke �( cause I'm a muvin~ Iuul never been to school ~oJ raiseJ me and the devil praised lllc: praised m1..; catch a pr1..;::ic.lrcr. in a l>o:.it and slil his throat pass a church , 1 mi~ht pray hut Jon ' t fuck witl1 me cause I c..luu't pl:iy There i°ll"C epic poems likl! "lio saic llarlem " and " C:ene·s is · cin an f.nc..ll · ss Mosaic," 0 a blues series, experiments in ,\frican forms (u sin~ spontaneity anJ ritu,il); and mystical/exploratory poems like Thou/',hts/I1t1i..1 1\e s, Kef , 11:ef-s an<l.:iab.:i :. In one " Saba " Dumas uses bizarre i1i1._,~i <.!ry to render the harJ Lo· J0sc.r.ibe -: sx w::iterin~s streams striking c1orta vibraphones sx veinings myriads of flagella flutksing rite Dumas possessed a soundless love for tl1e acoust ical leap and the dramatic " implosion" ( as he put it) of ideas in poetry . have on Black poetry remains to be seen . What influence his iJeas will It would hilve heen indeed interesting if his oork , much of it 1-.rr it ten i.n t'.1e early and mi.J-sixties , haJ been �availab] ,., in collected form 1-1heri tlw first ri;;nrous battle of th e Neu Black Poetry 1-:a s being fou~ht . The American t ernpera1rien t (disfavorin f; Black writers telling their truths) kept Dumas a nd Rive rs running. in the deep v1el l of his 01-m Dumas sou~ht ltis peace folk culture and in occasional excursions into mystlci sm , /,[1:i r.:a , ;ind \'tJodoo . l~ iv,,rs LurieJ hiusclf in the 11 iJc:2ntity 11 issues and urooJeJ ov..;r his -plight as a brilliant Blacl~ in a country where th e t110 adjectives to~ethcr are neither believc1ble or le~itimate . Yet they Loth left le8acies . B. Gr i efs of Joy : The Poetry of \Hngs & The Clack Arts ~lovernen t No nothing remains the sa,ne .And my spirit reaches out t,) _ you my love 1-1ithout apolozies witho ut emuarrussment 1-1ith only the thoup,h t that th is is right for us that moving · towards you is like touching leaves in autumn .... . .• .. .. . . . . . our minds and spirits interlocked like J12ath . ---- Pinkie Gordon Lrne , " griefs of jo y " One 1najor difference between t he cultural/political upsur ges of the tw e nti es and the sixties/seventies was location: the Renaissa nc e was centered li t erarily , if not ah1ays ?,eor; raphically, in llarle111; but its �·recent r;_uccessors can be found in every Norlt American community \vi th a substantial Black porulation . political interaction. /mother differc' ttce was in de p, ree of artistic - To be sure, the culture and political arms of the Renaissance were, on occasions, interlocked. But such weddings n·e ver reacheJ th eir ·curr e nt state of ''l-1 l10leness " and "continuity." In the early_.· clays of th i s period th ere were (are) "stars" of the NeH Black Poetry; but the f itt er often attenJeJ the activities of poets " outsiJe" their poetry. Or, put differently, the stars so111et-Lmes put "outsi de " topical anJ emotional stimuli "in side " what vms indefensible as "po etry ." This 1neant the star .. . . poets h.'1J no connection whatever with a ]Unck lit c r:ny .t>r [oJ k p.:10Lic . . d 1t1.on as sue lL . . . u<.1-_· I nstealI t I1e1.rs . . ". o f·. 1.m111el · 1·1acy, po 1 I· t.1ca. . 1 was a " tra ct·1t1on ur gency , and newspaper ltea<lli11es, comliinecl with hi;_;lt-sclwol type , pu nclt-lin ing . This is not to say good "po e tr y " (of whatl.!ver definition) was (is) not being written or that clrnrlat.cins 1.;ere a]ways on "t ake. " There i~; much evidenc_c to support the belief that Jozens of these soothsayers were sincore. an<l· honest--and had chosen what appeared to be the "simple s t" and "fa stes t" . vehicle for expressin[; thoughts ·.:ibout " Revolution, " and " Black Together" : or raising the " Col] ective Consciousness" of their people. Sucl1 LJ s:;i.tuat.ion was not helped by the learned poets-activists who sometimes advised young Black writers to give up "western " in.flucnces in a 1,hite lanp,ua~e. advice (ln America!) usually impl i.cd L,1<J things: This that an African language was easier to m.cis ter and that sinc0n~ expression , no mntter ho\v poorly arrange, could carry the day for Blnck poetry . However, th e insincere versifiers more often than not fell by the wayside in a short time , pavin~ th 0. way·, like the Phoenix liird, for still more soap box mounter s . At the sa111e time, a number of poets --who se wits and crafts were �-not obout them in th e ear ly phase--took to the wooJshed t o become much better h a ndlers of th e wor d . .:1 " panormn.:1 of violence . 11 All thi s occurre<J, Lirry Neal note s , a p,ainst Indeed by the late sixt i es Black conu~1unities .:i ll over America lrn<l b een turned up side Jown hy po li ce and spokes1i1 ~n/suppor t crs of th e Ulack. Re vo lutt on . Youn~ shoe!: troopers like Carmichae l, Brmm, Charles Koe n, Ron l~nr:-en 13a , · 1luey Nc\vton, and Eldrid ;~e Cleave r h ad already for ced the " olJ time" Black leadership t o ta ke a se~1t . llOh', with f:ithcr having destroyed son (l-lilli.nrns , lfr1 ldwin ), tl1 e poe t s were free to d ec l a im, procla i r.i and e xhort. Th is trend a l o ne \-1::is a shock to the poetic tradition-- since it created a flood of polemicists and pamphl:iteers 1-, Jw · couldbv0uld not dis c uss poetry in histor 'i c a l co nt ex ts . Tt caused fu rth er s hock by labelin f; itself " Black" nnd rene[;o ti a tin r, its 01-m "r oob, ." (th e .wo'rd ''Black" h as appenre<l tl1rou fl hout the history of Black poetry , hut before th e sixties it was not used as a categorical term for the po e t r y written b;'.. Ar°r:-o-J\meric.ins.) Bence much of tbe New Black Po e try has been viewed as non-poetry or .a·nti-poet r:-y ( in a traditional lit erary context) Lecausc .:11wnz other thinr,s, it · did not depe;td primarily on subtlety an J recondite references . Yet it r em,1i.n s to be seen what impact this s t ance in Black poetry 1-ti ll_ have on the l _it en1cy t rends i.n Afro-America . Blyden J.:1ckson (Bl~1cJ.... Poe try in /\merica) , for . ~x:.11ap J c , be gins his own discussion of th e 1k1-1 .)H.1ck Poetry by buildinr; a · convi ncing· analo r;y between th e rise in JHack li t<.'r:1cy and th e popularity of poetry. Stephen Henderson (Under stanJinr; tl1 l' ;~ew Dlucl- Po0tr y ) ass ure s his readers th a t Bl.:1 ck reade r:-s or listener s clearly "un,lers t and 11 whc1t their po~ts are sayint.; an,1 nre participati.n~ more an~l mor " as jull~es of Black aesthet i.cal qualiti e~ in the poetry and th e po e ts ' \vill conclucfo Hith a fC\! lcliveries . But \Jli ile t h i s c hapter bro:.id critical observations , t he inunedi.:1te c1im i:::. to �conLlnui:o the ske t ch of the poetry ' s dcveloprnenL, int erpo L1tin r., from time to Lime pertinent critical and illuminating d.'.ltn. : There a r e dozens of 1vays to approach t he :-hc\.J 111.'.lck Poe.try . One could, for example, e~:.:1min 2 its th er;ie , struc ture a nJ sntura t-Lon (lle11lk.rsnn) , or its several t ypes (C.:uoly1\ · Rod[;e r s , sec bibli ogr.:iphy) . irnport nn t names i s ..1notl 1c is ano th er \1.:1y. Neal , Dumas) . Sta rtin g with \Jay ; the :C l ac k Aesthetic (Gayle, Fuller) appro.:1ch Th en there is the rnar;ic of Black poetry (Dar11ke, To ur e' , The mus ic is also a favor it e path (Stanley Crouch, Michael Ilarper , J ay ne Cort ez ). One could go on :rnd on: but the poetry has been written and one pl a ce to start is with its emer gence: New York cert a inly played a k~y role in the new mov~nen t; but it JiJ n o t, we said earlier, play the key or only role . Arc~s of the Enst . (Phili- delphia, :Goston B.::iltimore , Washin g ton , D. C. ) enhanced in the boon . Midwest centers were Cleveland , Chica go , Detroit, East St . Louis-St . Loui~~ and Kansas City, to nnme some . TI.elate-I events also took place in :th e .South where there was another '' risin~" in Atlanta, :lashville , Jackson, m1 t on Ro ug_e , Tusker,ee, Houston, .'.1.nd Too i~a loo. The Hest added richly fro111 Los Angeles , San Francisco Day area, Sacramento , and .Sea ttle . Int e rweavin g dev elopments related to poetry were numrirous Black.Arts activities (connecte~ t o cultural or nationalist programs·) -.loc.1ted a t settlement houses , conununity centers , museums , centers for the di. s::;em ination of id e olo g i es , anti-poverty projects , and ed ucational ihstitutto ns . The !1igh Enthusiasm and vi gorous spiri t were also evident in the plethora of t a bloid·s-(B lack-orient ed , journnls, ....; flyers , posters, books, pnmphlets , anJ record ~ . And of gr ea t .impo rtance were the neH Black bookstores , African curio shops, 11a ll s of "respect" (Cleveland, Akron , Chica go , St . Louis, New York, Newark, e tc . ) , art exl1ibits, weekly •·. festiv a l s and jubilees, writers ' conferences , writin g wo rk s hop s , the flood . . . �of . ] iber a tion fl[l::;s ( bl.::ick-;-~reen-red), J3lnc1:-orienteJ tv u1lk nnd vnriety sh01vs , and other physi.cal (power si ;>, ns a!1ll han ~lshakes) or cultur.:11 (African c l othes , hairdos and je1velry) . new conscious n ess . New York was ah important sh01,-p1<1ce for the It lrnc\ the r esi.clue of the post-Rlenaiss<1nce y ei'lrS ( t he Sh omhur::; Lihrnry and !'-liC'h e: m1x 1 ·s · Bookstore) in Hnrlem as wel1 as numerous surro unJin ;:; conununlti es ,ihich plu gg ed into its sockets . New orp,anizntions such .:is the Barbara Ann Teer ' s Nationnl Black Theater, New Lafnyette Th eate r, and t he llarlem Cu ltural Council flowered in the amazed ligh t of olde r i n s t itut ions like Freedonn,ays magazine (Clarke and Earnest Kaiser) which has p ublished many of th e new poets: Tourk , ( Snellings) M.::idhubuti (T ,c ~)~ Hender~on, Cla r ence Reed, Welto n Smit h ,' Ll9yd T . Delaney, W. D. Wri riht; Joanne ~onzjle~. · Ma ri Evans and o th ers . Frcedomways also offers livel y' reviews and commentaries · on poe tr y, litera tur e a n d th e Bla c k Ar ts scene. From t he vurler,ate<l atmosphere o[ New York p,ushed forth Black poets, some who lwd made tllelr marl: earlier: ( 1937- _tld.., of 1:enderson; · Lan.:y N<?.a l ) , Reed, Patterson, Sun-l ~a, Dumas, June .lorc.lan (19]6- Soni.:i Sanchez ( 1935( 1936- :.1 ) , S. [. Anderson (19l,3- ) , llernton , (1uintin Hill (1950- Baraka , Audre Larde , John Major (1948Lennox Eaphael (19l10- ) > ) , Albert l!ayn ~s ) , . llm, :ird Jones (1941) , N . B: Pritcharc.l (19J9- ) , John,\; \Hll_iai,1s, Levert Dethune (LJJ7- . ) > ) ; ) , Le thonia Gee , Bobb llamilton , Q . R . lland·, '/usef Iman , Ray Johnson, O<laro (Barbara . Jones, 19l16- ) , Clarence.: r,eed, Yus e f Itahman (Ronalc.l Stone, JLirliara Simmons_, Lefty Sims, Welton Smith (1940Clarence ~lajor (19J6(1939- ) , Spellnan , [dw.:1rd Spr izs (193L1- ) , Lorenzo Thomas (1944- ) , Jay 1-lriglit (1935- 1938- ' ) , RiclwrJ Thom.::is ) , Ted Wllson, Lloyc.l Addison (19Jl- !~attic l·!. Cun1ho , James Arlington Jones (193G- ) ) > ) , Jayne Cortez (via \Jatts , ) , J:manuc.:l , Ci1lvin for!Jes , ,\le. · is Devt2oux (1950- ), Nikki Giovanni �) , Tom 1/eathe rl y (1942- ) , Hae .fac kson (J 94G- Djangatolum (Lloyd }I . Corb ln, 1949(1940- ), Jullus Lester (1939- Simmons , Felipe Luciano (1911 7(19 47- ) , Ron l·kluurn (l :J4L1- ) , l•: louis c· Lofton (195 0) , Charles Lynch (J 9!13- ) ), Joe Johnson ) , Judy ), L.v . Mack ) , lU10nda rlills, Quandra l'r c ttym,:m, Larry Thompson (1950- and K.11. Prestwid g e . · ' ) ' Tlic:: 1;e\-1 ·York I.:lack Arts scene (po e try specifically) was a Ll- a -1,hir Hith the excitement of pul i lishin r_; and re:1dln;~ poetry <1 loud at the infinite nun1ber of gatherin r,s . older , often revived ones . his death in 1967 . Joining these yount_;er \!ritcr s were llu [~hes oversaw much of th e proc ee ding s until And there Here olt.l , .:is well as n e w, . o.utlL!ts (or· Lh i; poetry which was being read at the Apollo , Carnei3ie llall, Ne\✓ L:ifay'et:Le Theater, Slugs East, l!ount Haris Park, anJ in countl.ess .co mmunity. ·centers.· and churches . Most of these poets w~re not native Ifow Yo rLers; and a g n ~<) t 1~~rnb er · were not perpetually there during th e heig ht of the Black ,\rts Hov~in_e1\t~but often in outlying areas like Bridgeport , (Youth Ilricl~e) Yale, Fcedo n .i a, Brockport, !Zutgers , Brooklyn , Boston (Elma Lewis ' s Center for Afro-America n Culture), and Bedford Stuy ves ant . But , Hhile they had scpdrate Black Arts programs, most look ed t0 the movement in llew Yori:. Workshop there were : In ndJition. to the Umb·ra Harlem \fr iters Cuj 1 J (Cl:i rke, Klllens) , Fn, Jerick Douglass Creative Arts Center, Poetry \hirkshop, the Afro-l!lspanlc \forkshop , Workshop for Young Writers , 'the CoJ _u111 bi.a Writing program (Killens), BJack Arts Repertory and Theatre/School (J:.:1rak;:i, Snellinr,s), Among the new journal s were Umbra (1963) , Soulboo .. (196 l1) , l~Ltck Dialo r', ue (l9(i5), Journal of Black Po etry (l 9(>G) (lroni.c al]y , the la :, t Lhn.!c \.Jer e l>e ,:, un on Lh~ \vest coast) , Pride , · Ill;1ck Th ea tre (1969), Cricket (1969), BLick Creation (1969)', Afroi\r.1eri.ca11 :· �. '/\ Third \.'orld Literar y Jou "" nal (197 3, Syracuse) , BOP (lllncks on PapL!r, Drown University, 1964), Continuities: \Ion.ls (ror:1 the Crnn111unities of Pan-Afri ca, City Colle ~ e New York, 1974), Im11ressions (1 974), Cosmic Colors, (Fredonia, ]975). Durint~ a speech at llmmrcl University's First t,,1tj'onc1l Conferen ce of -Afro-.i\m ~ rican 1·/riters (Novc>r~ber, 1974), Tourt recounting the tumultuou s years a nd dc>v c·lupi11cnts, s.1id those responsih] e for tlH' "Ul.1 ck arts anJ aesthetic movement" were "activists as wel] as artists. " It seemed so , for thi.s particular pn tt ern wc1s most obvious c1s Bnralw returnec.l to Newark (renamin g i.t "N ew Ark") and chan~~ed his nnme (Imrnnu Amir i Rnraka), reflec tin g the f;reat influence of the Na tion of Islam and his interests in African culture . . !laving BART/S "to re-educate the nenrly half a million llarlc111 N0groes to find a new pric.le in the color ," he 1:1ovecl to establish SpLrit ]louse · (Newar k) , and such spin-ou t s as Spirit llouse Players and Movers, tile .'\fri.can free Schoo] (with its l~awaic.la doctrine), Jihad Pu!Jlications , Co1:{miLtee fui:" a Unified tk1-mrk , and to help l..1uncl1 S'2VC~ral national Black 1)L)lLl-i_c~i _CL)Uventions. lie 1-, as a founder (1970) of Lh c curn2ntly scr.Lfe-ridJ e n C,>11gr12s:; of African Peoples . DurLn~ tl1c l9G7 rials (insurrection:,) in llc\rnrk, l~aralw was .urrl2:,ted with sevcr..11 companions anc.l chnr~eJ with . possession of two hanc.lgu11:, and ammunition. Between his arrest anJ tli'u t c_.ial 1' Black Poeple ! " was publ Lshec.l in Evergreen l~cvie1-,. The poem openly· 12nc,)uraf'.ed looti11g, whites, anc.l t,eneral insurrection: \,e-2k"; " You knO\✓ 11 L112ft, murder of \.Jiat about: t:k1t baJ short you List S:.lh' how to ~l'.t it, you can get it, no 111 onc;y dmvn , no money never"; "li e owes you .::rnythLn~ you \JanL , even his life"; "U p ai..;alnst tlie \/all mothcrfucLer tltis ls a stick up!'.'; to gether and kill him my 111.111 11 : 11 I S1.1,1sll the windu1•1 at n .i.,~ht"; "Let s e,et �... let ' s ge t to :s.e th cr the fru it of the sun , ll;t 1 s m...1ke :i 1-1 orld \JC•1vant LL1ck cliiLlren to P, rm, a1td l,-=:! ~lrn in do not l e t yo ur chilJn!n ,.,hen tli,!y )'. row lo ok in your . f,ice and curse you Ly rityin ~ your tu,,tlsh w.:iys . It \1L1s th e kind of nuJf.C and raBe th.it c lwr;:ic t e ri zeJ D:.ir;:ik;_i ' s ( and o ther J;lack µoets 1 ) output Le twe e n 1 96 5-1969. s i gnificant developments occurred. Dur in;_~ this pe ri oJ , l1 01-1 ever , <1 nu1nber o f I mpresscJ Ly thL· TJS ~'.roup o( l~on Karenga (whil e teaching briefly .:i t San T'l.·.:.inc Lsco S t a t(: Colle[:c. in 1 96 7) ,· J\:,raku returned to llewark and organized the 13 l ack Cor,ununity D<.!ve Lopm en t an<l Derens1.: · · Or~anization (BCD). llis effor t s eventually a ided iii th e e lection o·f BlacL mayor (Kenneth (;ibson ). · ;J Th ese thin gs were h a ving g r ea t iii1pc1ct on reBional and national lllack political/po e try scenes . ll;:iraka ' ~ ~ictures (with bc1ndages from th e 1967 scuffle \vi.th Newark police) be ga 11 nppcarin8 on walls of cultural centers, dormitories .ind homes. Many observ e rs, however, · were . somewhat wary of llarake , havin )~ see n him go throu gh the " clwni:es " from neat poet ,-,itlt ;i 11hite wife, to llarlem .:md !Unck Arts, into Me\~'.1 rk nnJ political \1ork (for g reat insi ght inLo a11 this, see TheoJore Hudson's From ' LeRoi Jones to Amiri Dar.:ilrn, 197'3) . . · Yet r.aral.~o I s influences were felt in most centers of the lkw Bla ck Poetry~-and even i11 places where liis poetry hacl not actually li een read; ' or, if .rea d, not fully understood and Ji ge sted. It was not unusual to hear a Black youth q11ote a few lines from a poste r-poem . or fro m a live reading, but who, vhen questioned nbo11t Darnka ' s works , did not know th e name of n single on~ . After Th e Dead Lect ur e r, Rar nl~a (nlso playwr i ~h t) rublished lHack Magic : �Poetr y l ~J(, ]-1% 7 (1 % 9), ln Ou r i.'c rriblcnl.' s s (197 0 ), Sp irit, !! encl (19 72 ), (19Ci o ) 1vhich , a]on [~ wic h J:a jor ' s Til l' '.l<.!1-, !: l ncl· ( o e tr y (1 9Ci 9, s hm,,-c ;1 seJ the new poetry) . lu t he Forward to !Hack Fire , B.'.lraka cullcJ Black ;;_rLi 1~. ts "the the pm,er of out· bl:li e: r s , by · Lhe puri.Ly :ind s tren ;; tlt of our acLi.on:. ." The Ll a ck man . hol y 1i1;1n . The black art .i.st. The 111 ..111 maker of pcuce . you s e ek . speaker . you seek . T\1 ' lover. Look in. The voice, cyeclosings. Co on . Tlte The climb e r t h e s triv e r . Tlie 1-1n rior . FinJ yr self . The \·le: arc th e y 1,Jhom Find the bein g , th1; tlw hack Just h o ver in yuur so[L Is you . or minus , you vehicle! :;elves . The blacL 1,wn . Is the cre.1tor. ls notldnt'.·· · \le are presen tin g . \·Jc a re p resc:n ting , f ro1.t r.otl , :::i l'lus \'our various tone , yu ur own . Now . lie thu s sets the "tone " for poets / philosopilers , rei t erati.np, at the sallte time · much of 1Jha t had been exclaimed in other 1vri tin gs . lleal, a perceptive critic and halanced thcoretici..111, has pnhlisllctl volumes : Black lioogaloo: Uotes on Bl n ck 1.ibcrntion (l9G9 , Jounrnl of Black. Poetr; Pre!..i::; , FonmrJ by Jones) and Ji., n d,)u liollcrin ' l~~liop Chost s llts Aftenmrtl to !Hack Fire is tanta1 111,1i11·_ L to llu r, hcs ' th e tw enties . t\JO (ICJ75). famous tlcclaration of Prcse11Ling " ntt Lst i.c _;i nd po] lt Leal 1-JOrk" t:ltat 111ust be " c<.1llcd a r adi.cal perspective" !:lack Fire should he read "as if it 1,l.!rc a er ltical re-examination of Hes tern J• .> lit ica l, sc,ci.11 and artistic vaJ ues." and exhor ti ng other writers, Nea l contlnuetl: We have liel.!n , for t l1e 1110s t p:1rt , talkin ;•, :il.ioul contc:111porary Cli;:i llenginl,; �r.;a l ities. Ive have not bce·n ti.llki.n )'. nbout. a return to some 2;lorious African past . total past . But \-IC reco g ri lze the paht--the Il.::iny of us refuse t u accept -.i truncat eJ N,, ,; ro history which cuts us off completely from our African ancestory. To do so is to accept t:1 c very racist assumptions which we auhor . Kat her , we wnnt to comprehend history t o tally, anJ understand the manlfold 1,,1<.1ys in 11hich contemporary problems are affected b y it . Speakin g ag.1inst the hinJsl g ht of psychology anJ turbulence, Neal iJdJed: There is a tension within Black Americn . its roots in the ge n e ~ai history of rncc!. .And it ha.s · The u nnncr Ln H:1lch we see this history Jcter m.Lnes how we act. should we sl.!e thi.s history? it? 11.:hJ Oh;.1t sho uld 1-1e feel abot1t This is lrnportnnt to k.11011, bec:luse the sense of how that history should be felt is 11lwt eitl1er unites or separates us. Final_ly, he sums up \•Jhat can be cal Jed th e creJo or modus operanJj uf the tle1{ Black Poetry and tl1c ]}lack Arts Novc111 nt: The artist and the political activist are one. They are both shapers of the future r eality . . JJoth under s tnnd a nJ manipulate the collective myths . o f ·. the race . 1,,mrriors , priests, lovers and d·t.!s tro ycr s. Both arc For the first violence \-/ill Le intcrnal--th c d~struction of a wenk spiritunl self for a nore perf c t self . be i1 n e:cessa ry vjol c nce. nut jt Hill It js the only Lllin g that wiJ 1 dcst roy th e douli] e -cons ciou~,ness --th c te nsjo n tlt a t is 1.n the souls of bl. .:k folk . �.I t wns the ki.nd of clwllenr,e th.'.lt sent many a 11cwly Blackened poet or activist in t o th e lon 8 night of the soul t o purB0 hims e lf of real or imn fl ined enemies of hi s people . Poetically speakin;~ , 1-iowev er , it was Ba r aka ' s " Black Art " that set mu ch of th e pace, form and violcint tone in the New Dlack Poetry. Poems arc L~llsh it unless they nrc t e eth or trees or lemons piled on a step. Or black l~Jies Jyine of men leavinG nickel hearts beatin~ them Jown. Fuck poems and they ar e useful, ,:<l thL!y shoot come u t you, love \vha t you a re, breathe like wrestlers, or shuJctcr stran~ely :ifter pissing. l~e wc1nt live 1v0rds of tile hi.p worlJ live flesh & coursinc hloocJ . :Ie,Jrts g r <1 ins Souls splinter inti fir ' . '.k 11.:.int poems like fists hentin[j ni: ;:.:,e r s out of jocks of 01.; ncr- j e11s . Black puems • Lo smear on g i.rdlemununa Hhose brains uce rec.1 1,1t.t1 '"i t:·co bitches ju Lly stuck between ' lizabeth taylor ' s toes. 1n10res ! 1_;uns . \.'e \Ji.Int St inking "poeJ:lS t:l1;.it ki1l." Poems tl1a t wrvs llL.! cops into alleys �nnd ta k e th e .Lr weapon s l oa v.i n;~ th f'm J e ,1J 1-1.ith ton 0 e s p ulled out ~mJ s ent to '. Irf'l.-rncl. pO P l\lS Knockoff f o r ,lo pe sell.ill L'. wops or s li c k h :J] f11hit e politi c i a ns Airplane poems rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr n· err rrrr r r r r rr . . . tuhtult tuh t11htuh t uh tuh t ur1 tuh ... rrrrr rr rrrtrrrr ... Se ttin ~ fires and d ea th t o whities as s . • • . lie want a black poem. AnJ A l:Hacl: ~/orld. I. e t th e 11o r] J h e· a BJ a c k Poem AnJ let /,ll JHack People Sp L: ak This l'1..lli11i Silently or LOUD " Black Art " wns often cited a s the s cm ;_; uin e e111hoJ.i111 e nt o[ t h t2. Taact Aesthl.!tic anJ a reject.ion of white cultur e a nd life style. Pol.!ms, 1::.iral:a · s t a t es, must not only hav e ,~uts a11J carth.incss (lik,.; lHacLs) but th~ y 111ust a l so be weapons and shi.elJs at.;ainst racism , police, merchants, hu s tJcrs , crooked pollticians anJ sta tu s - climh.in1 : IHack l>o11r2eosie. Ahov ~11.1, they s h o ul d exalt Blackness (" sons , 11 "lov e r ,,, 11 '.'warriors, 11 " poets , 11 :irid " all th e lov e liness here in this wor l d . 11 ) Th e se· then are the dominnnt themes in much of th e New Poetry and the phi1osophi ~s stated (witl1 radical divergencies) from coast t o coast. Baraka ' s purge ext,.;nds throu g h poems l.ike " Poem for lla lfWhit e Col l ege Students, 11 " The R,1c.Lst ," "Littl e nro1✓ n Ju r, 11 ('.'Wr. i\RE CODS "), "W.H. 11 ( attack o n wi~-wearin~~ women), " CIVIL JnGllTS POEM" ("Iloywill: ins is an eternal fa g1~ot "), " Ka ' Ba," and finall y , in " lcr oy ," hi s la s t wlll nnd testc1ment: �When I die, the consciousness I carry I uill to black people . Nay tl 1ey pick me nii.irt and t al~c th e us e ful par t s , the sweet rnea t of my feelin 3 s . And leave th e bitt e r bullshit rott en u hit c. parts But th ere arc also sc.,ns ltlvc· love poems in the L:iter period , poems cau~ht up iu the str·cssed life of I3L:1ckr1~ss ("St er lin ~ Str eet September"): "th e benutiful black man, and you, g irl, child ni ghtlove , ... : We are strange in a wny because who we are . \JC. know Black bein r, s passing thr n u:.;! a tortur ed p£1ssage of fleslt. In his Fonrnrd to BJ ack Boo ~a loo, Baraka s:iys of th e world : · " tlte solJi c r poets Hi.11 change it ." What Neal ' s volu me clwn g ed has not ye t been . ascer tai.n ed but it c e rtainly contain s ambitious a n J s uc cessf ul poetry . His :debt to th e older genera tion of poets, artists and thinkers, can be seen in pocii1s like " Queen tlothe r ' s Sermon ," " The Hiddlc Pass a ~:c and After," " Love So ng. in th e Hiddle Passar,e , " " Garvey ' s Ghost,." "Lady Day, " "Harlem Gallery: Inside," 11 1-!alcolm X--An Autobiography . " musico 8raphic interpolations. Neal (re: Fro111 the _- Hatin g u se of mysticism, chant and Dumas) is e[fectiv e--movi11~ ,sensing , and feeling: Olorum Olorum Olo rum The h o rr or o[ " The Middle Passa ~e Aftet· " is seen in t he "Decked·, s tack e d, pilla ge d" sJ av es . "Lo ng Song in Middle Passa;~e " Red g l ow of sea- d ea th mo rni~ ~s . vi c\ ✓ S tli l" �Other pO<' lllS ("Son f:, " "Jihad," "Kuntu," " Orishas ") r eveal Neal 's interests in supernaturalism, African philosophy and the a]iusivc, mystical powers inherent in the 1 '110rd." Il e seeks poe ticall y to implemet1t the ideas l1 e stated in Black Fire and a special Black issue of TDR (The Drama Revi.eH) in sunn;irr. of 1968. The issu e, edited by Tl)R's ·contributin g edi tor Dulli.ns, compj}pc[ i.dc.:1s and · plays root ed in whal was then· cal led the "new" consciousness also featured work by Sonia Sa nche z and Adam Dav.Ld !tiller . or the co1tccrn1, of ti1c· :~e\.J BL1ck Po12tr y . The spec.L:il issue projectC!d many ilcal ' s "ThL· Llack /.rls i,'.ovemC!nL" w:1s a bluc-pr.Lnl for J:l:ick Arts :ind po1itical chan~c. J.clio.Ln ;.:, state1:icnts in THack Fire, hC'! ar g ued against "nny concept of the art_i;, t t\\:i t ,1li,·11 .1 t e :;; l1.[ 11i [ro1,1 hls conununity ," anJ not~J: Black Art is the aesthetic and spiritual sister of · t!1e Black P01-1cr concept. As such, it envisions an cJrt that speaks directly tL) the needs and aspirations of Black Ainerica. In order to perform this task, tl1e Blact ,\rts Movement proposes a radical reorder in:; o[ tl1e western cultural aesthetic. 1t pr.opuses a separdte sy1nbolis1;1 , 111ytl1olo~y, critique, .:ind lconology. Th<2 BL1cl: Arts .:1nd Black Pm~er concept both rcla le.! broadly to Lh'2! Afro· American 's Jeslre for scl[-dctcn .tln;i.Linn '11\d nat Lonhood. noth concepts arc nwtlon:1lislic. · (Jne ls concerned with th e relation between art and p_,)litic:s ; the otl1er wlch th e art of politics. But his idea of .:1 11 separ:1te 11 a12sthcti.c was not embrac.ld by .:111. rnack poets, artists, or intellectuals. !~either \JaS unJ erstan,l ln ~) amon:_>; it::; own proponents. tltere a complete ,1r;reemcnt (or For example, Spri~r,s, a versa til·e �•artist an d thinker , l ed a l>oyc o i:t of l!ajo r ' s 'Lhe ;Jew l~lnc:k Poetry on the g rounds tk1t it \vas bl:in /~ l>rou;1ht out l,y ;J white publisher (Intern ati on, l Publish ers) . Dut Spriggs h;.icl not obj ec ted ear 'l ier to use of his work in Black Fire , also published by \.ih lt es (Morrow). llis position starl.!f,ient appeared in Tht: Jo ur n.1 1 uf Llcick Poetry (Fall, 190 ~.;) : how ln tll e hell cHl~ · the ·black pub 1 i slw rs ever t~oinG t o ,',e t off lnto it if not by the assis t ance of the! \ffLtt:rs. how are distril.Jutor s hip s ever .:;o i ng tu mature wlth th e publisher.., if the highly marke t able \10rk s o[ wm kelly , j . killens , j a wrns, l nenl , e bull..lns , ler o i j , o r the like n1;ver . comes th e ir way? does th e concept of black power .:mcl hl nck ;Jrts extend t hat far? l say yen, i say yea , yea . Sp1 izr,s jo Lned a l a rge n umb2r of critics a nd \H;Jctiuncrs of tlle 13 1::ick Arts--To ur~, Heal, Crouch , Bullins , Goncal ves - -in the cont rovcr.s·y ·over Jilack writers ' roles and responsil.Jilities . Despite the controversy, how~v~ r, Major ' s anthology appeared as a kaleidoscopic offe rin g of the Ne1.; Hlac J(.Poe tr.y. Majo_r incluJeJ a perceptive and fitLin~ Introduction: TUT:: i;rni:R crisis of l>lack r ea J ity is often s tudded in th ese poems by the svift , vividly crucinl fncts of social reality; ' which cons is ts in p;.irt , any1,ai, . of all the implicati o ns and forc es of n1ass media, th e soci~.11 · pc1tter nr; , the 1.Jureaucr;:itic and meclwnical rnc.d iums' of hu m~pi percept ions, ev ·n of th e quickly evolving nature of the hu1aan psyche in thls hi f~hly h o moge niz ed culture., in all of its e l ec tri c processes a nd specia li st fr ag11w nt at l on . Clnc.:I~ real lt y , i n otl1er 1-1orcl:; , is ULe any other r cc1 lity profouPdl y effected by tec.:hnolo !-_'., y . The �crisLs anJ drama of the lat e 196Os overwhoJms nnJ threntens every crevice of human life on enrth . Th ese poems nre born out of this tension. In his own poetry, Maj or ensconces Vietnnn,, alienation, i.mpendin:; uorld des true tion, Rlnck history,· music, mythology , and personal excursions into · dreams. He publislwJ Th c. Dlctionnrv of Afro-/\meric.:111 S J ang (1970), Sw..1llow th e J.r1 ke (1970), Symptoms and l!ndn 12ss (1971), Privo tc Lin c (1971), The Cotton r.]ub (1972) nnd The Svncopnted Cnl~ew.:ilk (197L,), as ,-i el] els novels and essays. He hns also clirecte<l the Harlem Writers Workshor. In the acknow- ledz ements to Poetry, 1!njor indebts the a ntholo ;o,y to l'l:rny :i,nflu c nccs : Lowenfels, Ishmael ReeJ, Raphael, Art ner ge r, He lton Smith; Hoyt FulJ.er; Nat !lend to ff, Dudley Randall, Russel] Atkins, Bremen, ,\l Young, nntl° David . Henderson. Maj or ' s "Down Wind i\gnins t the 1-lighest Peaks" is typical of his style: sharp and angled twisted language, spacings tl1at replice punctu~tion, tidbit s of world knowlecl3e applied to tl1c rncl.:il stnteMent (satir-2 ur· cxhor~ tation), and experimental typo graphy . Recnlling his 11 pass.1~c 11 h<! s l;es "Tonto SmnlJo Willic"--notin~ thnt even Hcxico--- "an asskissing nation"--now has the " super-blonde " on its " blllbuur<ls . 11 In the rni<lst of ;ill these events, Li1e poets vir:o roui, l y prOLioLed pro;_:1· .. un:.i · wliicl'·, e:..:tenJcd their concepts nnJ vl :-:, ton~: Sprigg$ und /\li1,1ed L\llwrnisi were corresponJin~ ec\icors u[ the Journ ~iJ; ·ear.::ika, l'.c1jor , Nazzmn Al Sudan (nO\J El Huhaj ir) nnd Neal ];ecoine 'c ontrll.iutLn[: editors . was later joined l,y Tour~. EJitor-at-largl' Bull Lns In the s2venU.es r::rnie Mkalimoto was .:icl,ieJ as a contributin 0 editor with Major ' s n omc J-Ls:.ippeurLug. lb jor, R.:tnd:111, lit.:! Ul, Spri:3g s , Bullins, liaraka , nn<l ,\Jhauisi h.::iv~, all s12r v cJ as ~uest special ec.lltors. · 1\.n important influence o n (;1nd outlet for) the n e1v pol.'.try , th e .fo un1al 11.::is �~'in 1;1 a ny \•Jays Lorn or So ulboo k ·anJ Di .::i lo r uc " (f:o ncalv e s, e ditor) . bo.ne , Journal nO\·J l1i1 The magazin e c o ntinues t o print the :n e \.;est poetry, z •niin:i in on other areas like the He s t Indies (Su111r.1er, 19 7 j ), print in t; ] i vc:l y ne\vS and announcements , as we ll as reviews and criticism . Its Spring , J9Gn , issue , for exampl e , _v1as Jedi ca t~ d· to Joseph T . Jol1nson, Los Ant;el~s po e t \•1ho had -· recently been k ill 0d . /1..lidul - Karim eJiteJ Ula c l: Dialo i•ue \vitli Sprlgr,s , Tour~, and Go ncalves servin g ;_is associ a t<~ editors . r,clocntin;,:, .i.n New York in the late sixt .i. es , Ululocu e ' s new editorial board was repr~senteJ by S11riggs, Nikki C:iovanni, Jaci Ear ] y , Elaine Jones, S . E . Anderson and Jam e s llinton . Alhamisi and Carolyn Rod g ers becnme Midwest editors; Spellman, Julia Fi e lds ~nJ ' ' ' Akinshiju became eJitors for the South; anJ Joans <1nd Ki..;ositsil e toot over ·as Africa and at-large editors . Soul1>ool: ' s editorial boa·c~l now incfwjc s : Hamilton , Alh.:un isi, Carol Homes , Baba Lamumua, Zoli li, Ng qondi Hasimini and Shango Umoja. AmonG th e administrative staff is Donuld Stone · (.Rahman ) whose . . work appears in Black Fire and all the _journals. . I . Alon e with Spri ~j s, Toure, and Larry Hiller (Katibu), Ralman aiJeJ Baraka at Spirit !louse. llis " Transcendal Blues ," full of chan t/so ng and line-experimentation, fuses th e world of Black music ( a nd mu sic i ans) wi th the " strife riddled concrete botto1,1~ of i,kyscrpper seas ." that ·. a Rahman ' s influences, obvi o us in his name, are seen in his statemen t 11 riff 11 so hi gh and grand "Coul<l be Alla h." Final l y windinr, the poems into a tribut e to th e Bl ack woman ("Hitter bit her bitterness humming "), h e rejects Christians a nJ whites and ~ a rns that My spears sha ! l rain .... The Islam influ e nce is a l so seen in other poets of the pe ri od : . Spriggs , I Toure, naraka , Iman, Ne<1l , Alhamisi , Dumas , Harvin :: , Sonia Sanchez, who along with Hikki Giovanni eme r ged as one of t he: most v1ell -knmm poets of th e �ern. Th(, se 1101.ien poets an<l others--.'\uJre Lorde, June Jordan, H.J.c Jackson, Kattie M. Cumbo, Jayne Cortez, Alexls Deveaux, Eolise Loftin, Odaro llarbara Jones in the general area of new York--lrnve crca tecl a ne1, 11ave of excitement about the possibilities and potentials of Black uornan poetry. A.Jdin r, to this flurry of active and interest are the new Black women ' s m;i r, azines like [ncore and Essence . The mo s t [.J.mOus of these poets is Nikki Giovanni, who is a profounJ thinker and provocative speaker, but tl1ese skills and insi g hts do not come throu g h to her poetry . Her route to New York was by w.:iy of Tennessee and Fis!: University where s h e was a member of Killens 1 \-lriters 1.Jorkshop. Fame came in the lute sixties after she penned n ser_i _es of .vol.1tilo pros~-l il;e statements which 1-1ere startlinr, : nnd even more so, co111in r>, ·from a wo;nan . In · the sixties she privately published her poetry and ,~as LJter broui~ h·t: -oi.1t liy _ Broadside Press and Li.ri~er publishers . lier volumes include Black Feelin,~, . . . Blacl~ Tnlk, Blacl: Jud~ement ( 1 9 70), He-Creation appeared ( 1970 ) ., 11y Bo u se (1972 and a book of poems for children, Spin a Soft IHncl ~ Son,' (1 9 7L) ·. Her antlioloiy of !Hack 1,ome n poets, Ni nht Co111es Softly , was publisli.eJ in 1970 and she has recorded nlbums, written an autobro g rnphy, and puliLished a series of "conversations" with Har3aret lfalker . . llighly contr_o vers.L.11 ai:1ong the new poets , she hns been accordeJ accolades: recip icnt of \Joi:wn of the Year 'Award; featured in mai3azines ll h ~ I'. hri11y, an<l Essence; appearcJ on the · Johnny Carson Sltow; constantly sou g ht -~1 fter as a speaker on the colle g e circuit; awarded an honorary' doctor Hte cl ~ree by Wilberforce University and labeleJ the "Princess of IHnck Poetry" by the I<la Le1-1 is, Encore editor. Denounced as an "individunlist " by 1-laJhuhuti (Lee) R.nd prn ised . by fbr g nret Halker aml Addison Gayle , , 1 ik.ki Giovanni dL:nied (Carson show hosted by Flip Wilson) Lein g n "n.evolutionary . 11 lier sin l3 in ~ of "CoJ [;less America" on �nutlona1 television , .:::ifter receivin g the 11 \/01,1.:::in o[ the Year J\\varJ, 11 prompte<l letters t o nlack publications questlonin~ her ~incerity. Durin~ th2 slxtles s ite wro t e " Of I.ihera t ion" : Dykes of the uorld arc united Faggots r,ot their thinr, tor,cther (Everyone is organized) Black people these arc f.:icts lfucre ' s your power .... Honkies r u le the world .. . The most vito.l commodity in America Is 131.::ick people' Ask any clrcumcized honkil~ . .. The final sta n za of this poern Ha r ns : Our choice now i s Har or death Our option is surviv al Listen to your own l3lack hearts 11 Concernin13 one Responsib] e Negro with too much Power" echoes other· t h emes in th e New ~lack Poetry . The " responsible ncgros " are " scarcJ" and on -the run . Sh e tells t hem that your tonr,ue mus t be rei.h)Vl.!d since yo u hnve no brain to keep it in check I n " Reflections on April 4 , 1 968 ," she calls Dr . J:ine, ' s assassinntion "an ac L o f war ." In " The Great Pax Whi t e " she pnr..1phrases a section fcorn Genesis in t he Bible , noting that the word was " Death" ; " deatli to all niggers ." Occusionally a l ine of inte,: est jutteJ Ldrou3h the otherwise pole1~1ical concerns . The pnnts I L.( \0 �oi . "lh:!autiful Ulack Men" "hur,h 1~hat i like to hug." There is the characteristic repetition anJ emotion-freighted lang11::ige as ii1 "The True Import of the Present Dialogue , elack vs Neiiro" · Nigger C.111 you kill Can you l: iJ 1 Can a ni[:l;er Lill Can a nig;~er kill a honkic Can i1 nl13ger kill the llan . . . Can you stah-a-jew ... Can you run a protestant clown with your ' 68 Eldorado .. . Can you piss on a blond head .. .. The poem continues , reciting names of the " enemy " and catalo~ing crimes and ·. wrong-doini3s visited on Blacks, fina]ly asl:in~: Learn to kill ni~gers Learn to be Black r.1en Mu ch of what Nikki Giovanni was saying in the sixties moved Black yciuth--it was not always safe or chi ' was a<l1nirablc . " l1y Poe111 11 ..."nd t_o disa ,~rce even if you w.1nted to--ai1d some or it · But these things do ·not in ci ke her work dcfensil,lc a:, poetry; 11 J)oe111 for· "'retl1"" ar•'~ cc rt.nin · 1 y wor tl1y, even no bl e, su b Jee · t·s b u t u t h ey fall leisurely down the' page, anelinG here ilnd there but revealin~ nothing of the insight into human beincs or poetic power tl1at one finds in a poem by llelene Johnso n , Margaret lfalker , Gwendolyn Brooks, or J.1yne Cortez. "Nikki-Ros·a," J1er most often quoted poem from the early period, is a hi c h point in her work. It hns .:i believable flow in the conversation-lil~e lan ~u.:i ~c (ch.1racteristic of �hc' r ro c• try ) :i n d the detnils pull on the. inner re.ac h es of the. collective Blac k exreric.nce a s she. un fo l ds the story of rantily Fun :i ncl misfo rtun e : your bio;;raphers n ever und erstnnd your fothcr ' s pain c1s h e sells his st ock ·anJ anoth c• r drear.1 g oC!s And tltou ;: h you ' r e poor it isn ' t poverty that conc e rns you My House is a n e wer Ni~ki Giovanni . The v e nom h as l csseneJ , thou~h s ome of the ramra~e is e vid ent in n poe111 like "On Seein µ; BJack Journ a l a nd Hatching Nine Negro Leaders f:iv e Aid and Comfo rt to the Enen\yt~ r)u ~ t c Ric.h,ud Ni xon ." Ag ain tl1ere appears to be no vi 3o r ous inter es t in stylis ti c o r lin~uistic development. The poems d a l with love, the city , childhood (.::ilH.:tys her rites of \,oman-possar,e), Africa .:incl Afro-Ar,erican culture . Iler pro mi SLt anJ poten tial can be glimpsed in " A(rica I": on th e bite of a kola nut i was so high th e clouds bLmketin:.:; africa in the 111id r,1orni11g f J j :)1 l \ Jere pu slt c J away i n nn an:~ry fllcLC'r of tl1e sun ' s ton~;uc .... Ni kki G iuvannl I s i111portancc lies 1.10J"c• :L,1 her pc rson.:il ln[lu12nce (e s pecially her 3re<.1 t drama on albu1 ,1s anJ in p1i l> li c ) which !tns inspired many young I.Hack . women t o ,,ri t e al.io ut th emst= lv es and their world . Jac kson who 1-1011 Hut so111c of tl 1em, like Hae l\L.1ck \lorld ' s Co n rnd Kent Riven; Av.rard , have yet t o s how th e "stu ff " of poetry in their writ·in ~s . 19G9 hy BL.lck Dlalo i3 ue Publishers . Ca n T po e t \Jitli You \.le s published .in !!il·_ki Giovanni lffOte the Introduction and I • �Ila~ .bcL::un, in turn, Je,licated the Looi- to h'-:r. Po~t is full of the "complaints" that riuickly becane mono tonou s in; th e poetry of tli e s i x ties . In themes ancJ usa ;-;es , the poems resc1,1l.Jle tllkl:i Ciov.11111.i. ' s \:orl:. Reactiona ry ," " To the ile~ ro Intelle c tual," i1nd 11 " To a :':o t e frou ,\ f L,/\.d :l .i.1;:e r , 11 are fa m.i.li.ar .to the confused crnJ di.sturlied ann::ils of the ne\J poetry . Sonia S.:mchez, clo~,t.: l'y· .i.denLif .i. c J 11ith the rtC\J poetry and tltc ne11 conscio usness , alternatL!S betueen terse, explicit ver se , :rnd the spr,n1lin3, prosaic m~a1 Ller.i.ngs tk1t often s,,rves the auJitory Je1:1;:rnds of the ne\v aucJ.i.ences . formerly marr .i.cd to the poet Etheri,l~c 1.:.n.i.ght, she has nc tiv e ly 1,orkeJ as a play1vr.i.ght , po2t ancl teacl1er . Iler books .:1re llomccomi.n'.' _(TCJ69), \·l e . People (19 70) , It ' s a Hc\1 Day : . . . . . :1 l~:1c!JJJd. . Poems for Youn:; Drotltas an-,l SH;tus (1971.) ,· Love Poems ( 19 73) antl an antholo~y from her younG 1/r.i.ter s \/orkshop · .:it th e · Co untee Culle n Library in New Yori: , Three Ilundred nnrl S.i.xty Dc r~ rCL!S of Blackness Cominp; at You (1 9 72 ). " Halcolm " is a l ament arnl a ni :jht-f.i.ll'c!c_l memo ry (or h er : Ye t this m:m this drc m1c r, thick-] ip[)etl with words will never speak agajn anJ in each wi11ter wh e n tlte cold air cri..lcks · \·11 th frost, I ' ll brca ~he h is breath and mo u rn I my eun - fi ll ed nigh ts . lier " for unl>0r n 111alcol111s ," however l s :motlier appro;:ich . str u cture, .:111J Constri.ctine words , stt e mptin ;:; to achieve a nJaclc strC!ct speech , she tells Bl ack!:> • �to 11 ['. i t th e \</Ork out" t o the "1nn n/ boy " murder e r wh o is tnLin r; il "holiday. 11 !Hucks a re "hip to hi s s hit" and \/h e n "blk/prin c e s ' di e .ip,a in whit.:: ''fa gg ots" "will die too." An exp e rimcntnlis t, Sonia Sa n ch e z a clcled h ~n:- v o ic e to the flood o( an ~;ry, cynicnl a n d dcr isi.ve lnn g ua ~e in the n e w verst ("c! Gnition for blk/chilJr e n"): n poli c . :!l!ln n is n pi g nnd shd be in a zoo with the oth e r pi i~~W ,:mi nw l s . nn:I until he s tops killin g ~ lk/people crackin i: o p e n their h e ads rememb e r . th e policeman is a pig . (oink/ oink .) She · lso .i olned th e poetry of Til ac l~ .l uv~ -:mcl mn11-wom~1n unity, Sl' L!kln[\ throu gh her particular style and voic e to !1 0a l wounJ s of Jouht, mistrust nn<l loneline s s. In "to all sisters" s he s a y t "hurt" · i s not th e "bag " women "sh<l b e in." Th e y ; ', are advised to love the Black man \vho make s th e rn "turn in/side out." Hc::r journ ey has cnrrie cl h e r from lhe fire of the hlntnnt r e volutionary to the quiet e n e d turbulenc e of Lov e Poems--l.ieing , ma ybe, a mo n :; th e fir s t of th e n e w poet s Lo fullfill l{andnll .' s pr e d'ict ·ion tha t DL1cl : po e tr y would "mov e from til e �declamatory to the subj e ctive mode." Jun e Jordan published \Tho J,ook at tic. (19 69), Some Chnn:.~es (1971), nn antholo EY , Soulscri p t (1970), and a vol11me of poet r y by s tu dents in her Brooklyn creative writin n work s hop, The Voic es of th e Children (1 970) . lier la st vol111w o·f poPt x- y is This is a tleH Day (1974). Concis e , analy tic c1l. and b ool:-fo lk bas ed , h e r poe try is a l so a fre e verse style characteristic of prnc ticnlly all t he recent IHack peocry . " Unclc; Bu ll-b oy " relates the cle.:itlt of a rnnn whose eye!:i " were pink \Jith alcohol ." Tl1c lirother (uncle) reminisces, in th e 1ni1nncr of n l ack men , about tht2lr si 1ar i11 g of s l n.!et-t:1lk , expens iv e shoes , anJ a lcohol. And finaJly : llis brother dead [ rum d rinl: ln:;. l'>ulluoy clrank to clear l ls Lhinl:lng saw the roach i ns id e the ri.dclle. Soon the bubbles from hi~, g lass ,1cre th e only bits of charm wh ich overcnme his fold eel an1s . Audre Lor<.l e ' s " Rites of Passage " ([or l!U( Jr) eulogizes Dr. King: Now r ock th e boat to fare -the -w e ll. and r emembers hirn thi s \Jay Quick children kiss us we arc grow in g t hr-ou2,li Jrvan . lluch· of ,\udre Lorde' s r ecen t work conc erns yo u ng peorle; even th e title of " her late s t Lool: , From a L AI \!here other People Liv e (1973), carries the m1c a ncl dre am of th e child ' s world . She writes nm1 a Lout teach(!rs , men-women re l a ti on~, , sea~.ons , drew,1s , "As I Gro\l ui) Ar~ain ," and "Elc1ck tio th c r \!o.1c1n" �v7!to ll1"i.11l, s of her O\m 1,10ther 1 s stren~th when "stran i_::e rs co1;1e to coupliml!nt" her: I learneJ frow you to Jeny c1yself throu g h yo ur Jeni.:.ils. Among the younger t:c,; Yorl<,· i10r.1cn poets, Judy Simmons , Alexis Deveaux nml Elouis , LofUn sing out . .JuJith' s Blues (~rondside) ,.ns puLlishcd in 197J. Tl1e poems submert~c themselves in the troubled human psyche. ("Schizoplircnia), :.ind explore the "Youth Cult," " Homen ," and "Daffoclils"--althou;~ h th e titles do not reve.:il the poet ' s pithy se.:irchint;s. l{cflecting Judy Simmons I s ~1st,1inccl study of psycholoi;y, Llie poc'try yields its me.::min~ as tlte 1i1ul L.i:pl e laye rs tensions :inJ insights are uncovered. In 11 of Schizophrc.:nL1 " the "ani m.il. ~.;c1u~1.t s 11 next to th e " piano" in a ,. (:Or ner" with nn abnormal nu mber of legs , anns , and a mouth th.Jt stretches from "for ehead to nbdomcn ." Bu t the poe,t' c1ssures herself that if she Joes not lose control it \JOU 1 t come bacl~ inside of me Elouise Loftin ' s poetry (JU111bish, 1972 , Emerson llall) hns youtl\ful, ·. zesty in1.:i~ery, inJic.itlve pcrb.1ps of these ne\v teclmiclans' e.:isc . "l:_a :ln Spreadr, informs tlwt Last nii3!1t threw her le g s open to me .... ' She has the new woman sc:nsibility, a 13 00d knm, ledgc of social lamlst::.ipe, and the cynicism often foun<l among toJay's young , sifted and !Hack. cau:;ht " Jispl:.iys h~r humor anJ wit: if they cntch yo u ~-. ··• " ,., .,e ttin • �1-1 ith your p.:rnts do1-i n Offin~ your ~uarJ or peein B for free if tlicy catch you <lo_in g s01o1ct!ii1Lr, cra2y vtith qu otes a round it anJ try to ma t e you feel lil~e you bec~n catche<l you must be doing sonc thing ol~ Spirits in the Streets (1973) is Alexis Dcvl!aux ' s st r an;:c but fascinacinc prose-poetry ac count of ~ rowing up in Harlem . A Hest Indian nio_thl!r , <lispail'.'s over a husband ' s misuse of his wife a nd chi] drcn, co111plains: lord why he beat that 1rnm.:.m so? and them children god only kn0\1 wlrn t ' s bo nna happen to them . e:i tin poison. jesus have mercy . children. has lyc. cat you up inside you can ' ~ be too careful with y ou got to watc h them every scconJ . The 1-,orld is s o evil h onl!y : yo11 knov, what i iuc,.111? merciful' jesus :;h,1 mc th em \vi.th th e la st word . Tliese examp les represent only a f i: act ion of the n w poetry U(linr, 11ritten by youn [; er (and older) New York ar.:.~n poe ts. Sorn:! o th e r s arc Cath erine Cuestas, .· Phillip Solor.iun, Gayle Jon es , Stephen KH,Htlcr, Vanessa llowanl, Rhond::i lli.11s, �nnJ (:len Thor'.lpson, to nm1e just a hnnJful . the earlier perioJ also publisheJ new it cr'.ls . Forest (1967) bears no <.bte . H.lS introJucec.1 by Jones . Poets who ::,o t their sturts in l!enJerson 1 s Fel i.x of the Silent T!1e 111e;1eor;raph,~J Th't • Po-2try of Sou] ll e nlso pu.ilishec.1 De Hetyo r of 1-brlcm in 1970, tll r- sar.1c year h e re- located . to nerk elcy . · f'.ssenti,::i 1 l y a llarlcm poet, lf c n,lcrson surveys_ e v ery thin~, from the "Harl 011 RPbel] ion, Summer 1964 " to "Harlem Anthropology . " The transitions and ou trcac~ lngs of these poets are also evident in et poet 1 like To u re wh o in 1968 wen t to teach Black. Studies at S,'.ln Francisco State Collei_;e . liis \vorks nre J~(l970, ThirJ \forlJ Press) and Son 0 l1td the lat tcr puLlisheJ by Songh,'.li P rcss unJ intro,luc..::d by Ki 11 ens ; ! (1972) , ',.lourc'1 ;,·. " Soul-gif_ts" ,::ire amply s 11ice~l 111th philosophy , ClacL his to~y, . !)lack. music, IsL:11.iic influ e nces , and " Juju " 1-Jhicll snys Coltrane ' s llllrn ls " cas<i<lin:_, · fountains of ulooJ .:incl bones. 11 Son:.,hai ran~es frur.i satire~, of Diana l~oss anJ Dionne \l.::irwick to insincere act iv ls t s ; the 111a~ical power o[_. 1,onls to . the structure ideal nlack society. Tour~ ' s list of influence s (se~-Fot~1var<l) expl.:iins much about sOiae of th~ P.L ck poetry emanating from the tleH York area i tle.::il, Durn.:is , Dar.:1ka , Goncalves, Coltrane , Pharoc1h Sanders, Cec il HcBee--all called " Poets of a Hation-in-Formatiun." Related developni;nts of the: new York movement can h · seen f°n such proj eels as the Ghetto 1 GC (Sol Bottle) n,11 tholo1.:,y of the l!orkshop for Youn~ Hriters in llarlem; \/akra, a neu Bost.011-l>nscd journal dcvoteJ to the examina t ion " of events , the arts,' iJeas".; Retch Ain ' t (1974), Ccles Tisd~1le 1 s antholo:_;y (nro a JsiJe) of "Poems from At tic a " ; a new antholOL\Y of youn:; poets, \,Jc Be Poetin ' (19 74) , Tise.Lile; and \Jritcrs \:orksliup .\ntho l o,•y . . 1-~o unifying threaJ runs through th e work of Nc:11 Yoi:k area poets, c:,ccp t that of a relentless acceptance anJ pursuit of their nJ :1cJ.:: ness. . _ _ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - ---'---- - -- -- One notes, ho1vever; �-that 1;1y,-;t icism, e:~a1nin.1.tion of t·he occult, cosnic-music1l f orias anJ subjects, u11J the influence of IsL.1u are 1,1ore evident th l.!re than in the poetry of other regions . But these urc , of course, r,eneraliti 121; wbicl1 mwit 1:1ore hindsir,ht and resl.!ar ch before they can r,.e fi11alized and presented as signjficant phenoraena in the _l.'.ir ~er t npcs try of the poetry . finally, for th e IleH York area, the fire of the oral Lru Jition was i ~ nited by the drama tic incantory (Jrumaccomp.1.n ieJ) declamation s of " the Last Poets" nn<l "the Ori'•innl T.nst Pocls." /I.long Hith Gil Scott-lleron , theLr impact on the Black masses hnvc been obvio u s , if tcmpoi· ..11:y . Th e re 1-JL! re boo;:1c ran g i_n:..; L!Ve u t :.l ,,•hie h p r,)V id eJ . :1..::1.,' ·YO r l:·_ . \i . i Lli . . .1 . C\111 ti nu. 11 . flO\.J of l _ife Llood v1hill~ it repaid other arens throu ~h t.:xch:mi;e progr0ms among puets and teachers . Neal, for example , is a PhiL:1Jelphian 1~ho ·attc1i.J2J· Lincoln, but has ended up in Harlem , with occasional short su1ys nt - Yale, llm-1::ird , Southern University, anJ l~ent State University. Simi L:it patterns can be seen in dozens of other poets who criss-cross th e country·. a1iJ· the uorl<l, sometimes yearly, teaching and writin g . During the New York. rcsuq:~e nce a number of things were going well for Black Poetry in Pcnnsylvsnia; Lincoln llniversity--Hhich proJuced Tolson, llu ~hes, et al--delivered another diverse of poets durin2 this period : Carl C:rc ent! , M.'.lry-Louise Horton, Ev.irett lloa 1;_lanJ, S. E . Anderson, Kelly Benjamin, C:il Scot-Heron, Bernadine Tinner, lUta Hhi tl.!h12ad, and othe rs. lloaf;land is a Broadside po.et (BL1cL Velvet, 1970) anJ Scott-Heron_. (Free Will, Pieces o[ .'.l l!an,· etc . ) i s a r aco rJin g poet-singer . Conver i in g at · po intG lil ~e the Muntu Black artist r,roup--founclcJ by Noal, C . H . Fuller, tl1eoreti.cL111 Jimmy Ste\lart, and !larybell e tloore--Phil.::idclpllia poets found various kinds of assistance. Otlter Phi],ad e lphin poets are Greene (1945- Smith from Lhc older school, I,' .J . Br ya nt. (19/i3- ), Lucy ) , Clarence Malone y (1940- ) , �·Pat Ford, Joseph Bevans Bush, .T.:met M. Brool:s, -Dour,h try Long (1942Caro] Jenifer, Don Mizzell . Bl ack Poets Brite On : \fo r ks by some of these youthful poets are i n An Antholo ~v of Black Philadclnhia Poets (1970), publ ished by the Black History du ction stntes: ), !useum Conunittee . llarold Fran}: li .r1 ' s Intro - " A f;L,\Cl ( POET IS A KIND OF HJ\RIOR" --thus linkin ;,, Philadelphia s e n t i ments to those in n ew York nnd Boston . The Hlacl: Butterfly , Inc ., was one of t h e severa l c ro ss -road s f or v a riou s cu ltural / political activities in Ph iladelphia . Its founder was lialoney (no\1 Chal,a Tn) Hh0s,! Dl1,1c1t:;io11s of Morning 1,ms puLlislicd in 1964 i11 Puplona, Sp:1in . celeLrutL:S a " sultry brown iirl ' \·.'ho " sepln sircn " also holds II Sl.!llle!J 11 ,;ecms a supcrlor . ,1n i1_1al. 11 2 i~. ! l. 11 "C:o,lll Frl.,Lly: • p aS S l<)ll. poets explore city 11.fe , ,\ft·ica , and exalt BL1ckncss . 11 · 'l'lrts· II l. lierc ls, · ttio, the . rnge and vehemen ce of t en found in Ne1-1 York anJ Chl.ca:;o poetry . A sense of 1vhat k1ppens on "Cool lllnck Ni;;hts " (Traylor) also captures dri_.ving s t reet rhythrns anJ thymes: them hard-loving hnr<l-t.:ilklng ha rJ-lov in:; Cool blact Judes and ' them fine-lo,)ldn::; f ine-1-1a lkint; fjne-tall:ing fine-loving the111 fine soul sisters .. . . In P .it t:,buq~h there born tlie short-1 i.vcJ J;!acl: LLncs: StuJiet, (l<J70) . /\ Journ::il uf i3Lick lt published P.ittsbuq;li :.irea poets l.ike EJ l~uberson , August ·,: �_\Jilso, ·, .foann e :B ra x ton, i.1S well as poe ts from th ~ ;•lid\vcs t like Al Crover Arrnstrong and Hc<lntond. The univ ersi ty of Pitt:sl>ur~h Press opened up to Black poets tltat sa1.1e year , pul>lishin~ Michael Harper ( Dear Jolin , Oear Coltro.n e: , 1970; Song: Can I r;et a 1·/i t n ess , 1973) , Roberson (111 wn is a Eoy , 1 97.0) , o.nd Cc,pLI Ba rra x (Ano ther kind of !~ain , 1970). Thy l~ing ltuber so n ' s poetry runs the gan1 ut of Lhemes .:ind styles--from ne:.1t Llram;:i t o slan ted spacini~s and 8lc1shes. In " :nayday " there is a n " und e r s ide of heuve11" ~rnd the warnin~ from one misunderstood that he is " armed" to fingt the fin.:11 kinJling of your <lrew,1ing . " Othello Jones Dresses for Dinner " is c1 so.tirici.11 lo9k. :it t}i~ _" Cuess _\!h0 1·s . coming to Dinner" Lh c m2 . . . . After J a tin ;_; a white wom;:in, the narr.itor as:;ures her parents that he is '\,e ll munnereJ ." Roberson a<lds ·]tis voice · ·t o g r o up of Pittsburg poets whi ch includes Kirk Ho.11 (19 L,!f- Ll · !_\r-O\dng ). Poetic talent wo.s being sired soutlt1mrd in \Jashington, n·. C . 11here Sterling Brown continued to teach into the lat e sixties . llOIJ .:i r J , -1,y nb 1v. leaJing all Black universities in tl1e new consciousness , was the s~ene of a n u.mber of significan t disturbances . t oward the new trends. The Jis turbances nud ge d the·. school While Hownrd ' s poetic history can be tr ace J _throaul1 the early days of Sterling 13r01vn ( ,.tnd into the How..:ird Po e ts) , th e school has pro<luccJ a number of youn ge r writers -: Clay Coss, !Uc hard \!ehley , ~- Et helbert Mi l ler (Andromeda, 1974), . ;:ii1d Paulo. Giddin g s . The school ' s new imc1ge atmosphere was deepene<l anJ broaJenecl b y th e appointments of the Cuianese poet Damo.s and Stephen ll end erson ( Cn i3 lish Ch.:iirman at Mo rehouse) who heo.ds the Institute for the Arts anJ llu1:ianities . wo.s playeLl out ae nins t ..1 However , Ho\lnrd Llro.m.:1 series of J e velop1~1enu; in the surrounding communities _:· Federal City College (Scott-lleron) , Center for Black ~ducation (Garrett ), - - - - - - -- - - - - - - �Uew Th.i.ng in Art and Architec tu re (Topp h~r Care\·/ , Gaston Neal) , The ~Jev1 Sch ool of Afro-American Thought (Gaston 11eal ) 1 anJ Drum & Spear Booksr.ore (and Pr ess) , the D.C. Black Repertory (H ooks); In addition t o D,.J?nas ;inJ llen<lerson, the Instit u t e h.:.1s aJJcd ~bclh ubuti (L ee), Killens, Goss, l:rown , ,\rtl1ur P . D.:ivis and J\hmos 7.ul\o l ton . the pro:;r;11a ' s service tn 1-iocts hns h een inv:1111;:ible. Alre"1_Jy · Se l ec: t cd [or honoring so far, have been nar;:i] ~a , C\.rendolyn nrool:s , Joans, ;incl Dodso n. poets ucre a l so fe a tur ed in th e First Annu.11 Sy11posiur:1 : /\ nu mber of Lucllle Clifton, Cos s , Sc ott-lleron, Ad"sJnya AL:il:oye , l!iller, and tl<1ri Eva n s . ' Toure, Johnston and Kgo sitsile were g u es ts for a pror,ram exil!:Jin in:: · tl, e Af r:f c.:i n · Cultur nl Presence in th e Americas. Several poets h .:ive been in\/i te<l t o· r ead and be recorded for tl1e perman e nt Ruclio / vi<le6 liGr.1ry: Ja yric Coit ei , Crouch, Dnvis, S.1rah Webster Fabio, Ha rper, Jeffers, Joans, Redmo n_d , Sonia · Sanchez, Scott-lleron, Bruce St. Jolm, Margaret \·l..'.l lke r, and J,iy_. \Jr .i.ght. I n 196 8 Gaston Heal said his " philosophy " was "to purge 111yi,clf. of t;.he whit eness within ne aw.l link cm,1 p] c tely \Jith rny Blac:.:k brothers iu th2 s-Lrug~le to tfestroy t:1e enemy anJ rcbuilc.l ;:i I'i l:1ck ::.:.1t ion." Ue appe ared tlJ ·be work lni; at that task for a 11hile before the Af r o-J\meric,rn school closed. In " Tuday " he said the tone of h js llfe rcsl!1:llJled a " g rm1leJ li1ini:l 'cl 11 th e groan of the µ..is t .. ·, . anJ h e la mented th e j un;;les v1!1ich h:1d hL!cn Jeflouered by 'nap:11111 . .:. L1rl Car t er , another ll . C. poet, ~1p1;e,irs in ll1hl 'rsLrnd in: , the New 1nack PL)etry. lie evokes t11e spirits uf the " llerocs " of Oran~~cbur;_; , .L1ckson , . lfouph is, ;1ew York, anJ Jbsh ville, recallin G th:.1t durin~ llidlnt:, some11 h ere in !,1y ,1 riot i n ::.1shvi ]l12 h<.: 1r s uind with Ll J r ld;_,,e CleJ vcr ... �" noot s " i.s u n un s uccessful l a n::;u a~c \-titli .J u tt e1;1pt to f11sc:: th1.: .Jr:11 ,1n o[ co ll oq ui. --11 J;l.:1ck f onaal i:11:-:lis h n:.irrn tive a Lout: h i s gr-.:1 n<l1:1o th e r. poets livin g or- publishin;_: ir th e !J . C. c1rca d u i·ing th e s i :,cics i.lnLl sev e nties ) , llcn l-211 Qui f_\ less (19 !+5- were Berna<lette Colden (1949Nurphy (1 908- Other ) ,. irnJ 0eatrice ) , \,il10 ·uver the years has contributed grea tl y to th e ;_:,ro1-.1tlt of Black poetry . ~;hi:: cditcJ tl1r ee i1,1port;:int un th l1 l ogics : Ebony 1";l1ythm (191.i 7) n nJ To day ' s Ncrro Voices (1970). tlePro Voices (l 9JJ), · lier O\m volull\es of poetry are Love iG a Tcrr- ihl e Thinf' (1 9L1S) a nd, \lith l~a ncc Arnez, The Rocks C.rv Out (19 69 , llrnadside). li er- U\m poe tr-y ha s 111oveJ [roll! meter t u a tr:.iditional free ver-s e dealin~, in Ll k caused hy overemphnsizing Jirec t or o[ 11 \;hite " .::ind 11 .'.l traditLon.::il n _\v p!i;:isl',- 1-1 it h tl1nslons . BL.1ck , 11 nnJ 1-,.:ir . Sh·e i:.:l . cu rr- ent l y the Negro Bibliographic nn <l nesenrch Cent c·r _- and serves editor of its publication Bibliographic Survey : ;_i:,:; The l{e11ro in Print . ·munng Lr_1L~ Poetry by other D.C. area poets can be found in Transition , a journal _.of l!m,nrJ_ ' s Afro-Ame r-icc1n Studie s Department. Editors are Miller , Tris llolid a .y., '[lla llarJin r.; and Veronica I.owe . . Adjncent to D . C., in Baltimore mo r e strength i s atldeJ to the totem . Lucille Clif ton (1936- ) , Sa1.1 Corn i s h and Yvette John son (194 3- produce<l poetry tltat holds them ln ;•,ood s t ca <l . ) have Good Tim es (19 69 ), Good llews About th e Earth (197 2 ) a nd An Ord Ln ar v lhi111::in (197L1) c1re volumes produced hy Lucill e Clifton who a]s o writes man y clri l<lr e n ' s books. She currently teaches at Coppin State College in . lLll timore where she liv es witlt her husband . and six children . tempcrnment. Even her titl es suggest somethini; ahout li e r spirit a nd In the swamp of depression n ntl bleakness , it is. ind~e<l \•/armin g to see someo n e procla i m Good News ! which will not "ru st or br eak ." . . _ _ - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - -- ~- - - " Eldri<lp,e " i s compared t o a mc.:i t "cl ei.lver " And th e re is hu1;1o r, lrony anJ truth in - �11 L1 t l l'y' ': uh e r e th e " nlw;iys dru nk " ct eliver y ma n s:iys: and n ll th e white h oys .a_re yo ung£'r than me . But whiJ e some sin 0 goo d times in the kitchen, there nre also other a cknowlcd ge1:1cn ts: "Malco]m, " " Eldridge," " Bobby Sen l e ," nnd th e s tutl c n t-participants n t Jacl:so n and J(cnt S tat cs . Go od lle1vs About the [arth ~ives a temporary settinr, to Rihlical stories. D] ack or con- Most arc uniciue, like " Mary ": this ki.s s soft as cotton over my br e asts al1 shiny bri r,ht somcthin ~ is in thi s ni ~ht oh Lore! have mercy on me i feel a r,,1 rden in my mouth b etween my l egs i see a tree An On.linar y \.loman is conscio u~ly ,.,Onan and th e poems, like those in other volumes , d ea l with everyday thin r: s-- " ordinary" thing s. However, she has become more of th e mystic, usin i; surreal and n]lusory imn °,e ry . as in " Ka li," "Th e Coming of Kali, " "Ile r Love Poem, " and " Snlt ." "Co d's Mood" is: �lie i s tir e,! o[ Lone, it breaks. Ile is tired of eve ' s fancy and adurn ' s \/hinj 1g ways . Cornish . i::; a poel , LL!acher and editor . ll i s l>oob; incluJe An!:lc.:s (19G7), \lint er:, (1 9CS) , Your lLinJ · i n ~!ind (1 970 ), r.encrations ( 1971 ), and People lle11<.::tlh tlie \✓ ind01-1 (n. d . ) . Hitlt \·/ . LucL:rn, h e edited Chicory: Yuuni• Voices from th e B]ack Ghetto (19f, 9) \,hi ch d,~velope<l iul o a series stil l b2ini_; publish e d by th e Enucl1 Pratt Free Library (Comrnunity Act.Lon Prur, r;..un). editor of Chicory is He lvin Eu\.J<H<l Brown . Current Corn i s h _Jp:; 1:1uch · :. tyli!:,"tic a1:im u- . · . nition and is a precise nav.i r.;a t or of lan~uuge. lle tells " IHUDLE CLMl:. (;JRLS 1-JITII CRIPPLED fHICEnS Wi\.ITINr: FOl~ HI: TO LIGHT TJICIR CICARETTS" : yo u r fingers folded in y our lap control the se rpent in your eyes your foc c nev er s t u rin ". with a sm :i l e in your ruffled color your eyes popuL.1 te th e L rick . �Tlt~se B:iltirnore poets, and others, contlnuc the vast Jine of poetry outp ut that e1:1braces the South 1-1here many poets -now live: Spell1a:1n, Jeffers, ) , PinkJ c Lnnc, tl1e l~ lXAP,TSOUTll poets (New Orleans) , the Ex-U111ura poets (north Caro1i.n,1 Cent ml Univcn;JLy), Uetty Cates (Mlle:.; Colle~e, AL(Lar.ia ), Cer,1ld ll,nrn:{ (19JJPowel]), Leo J. l!i.1~;011 (.\tla11t.:1), Lor enzo Thomas . ) , L,dcl c X (Lesli e· The South hns received and giv en 11e1-1 blood to poetc/ t\1rou ~:h exch.1n~e pro2,r:1mG 11hi.ch, since tlte ]ate fifties, hi.1vc allowed for n flow of poets and te,1chcr,; to and f'rom th~ South . Some wel] known older n.:1mes nn! Johnson (James), Br:1ithwc1i.t - , Tolson, l!:iyd en, Jeffers antl Vesey. Some ynun~eL· poets South arc i\udr~ Lord~ (Too;.>aloo), Redmond (Sout h ern ),. Wri r,ht (Toognloo and Tallnder,a) , Spcllnwn (!Jo rehouse), and Kgositsilc (North C,1ro) 1.na A & T) . The South, too,· hns c.xperii,11c.o,l · tr emendous a nd dramntic clrnnges as a result of the Black Consciousness Move-' men t. Some symbols are everywhere : The Free Sout h ern and the ·n;,ish iki theaters in New Orleans, SUDAN Soutn/Hest poetry-music theater p,roup in llouston·, . the Th ea t er of /\fro-AL·ts in Miami , anJ ,\tlnnt:i ' s B]at:I: 1111:11.~e . ln /\tL.1nLe , S1wllman or~.::in.i.zcd the Center for lilack Art \·1 hich pul;llsher, 1~11vth111 (1970). editor , l:bon (Sl~cmonde l:J1;1rlo:, \·Jimher] i) poetry of essays anJ features . Jircctor o( 0 .• S.Lone bec:111112 llLur ;,ind SpL'll11wn· cdi.to:r The su1111:1l!r (1971°) lss11, of lU1vthm \las ,il!;o the \Jrltcrs \.Jorb,hop at 1.'1,°;L . h3cl puhlished three books: GrLih:rn1, \•1ho \·!3S ;i]so .'.l ~t 111l!111orinl· musician, iiJack Sun)', , ~iou1 HoLion , and Soul MotiDn IT. l~hythm E;n Ld he " via ... runnini~ one of the badJcst workshops ln thl! South " ::i.nd "t eacl11ng at the Revo lut ionary PeoplL''S co]let:c in r:::i.:;livill ·• ." . :-llssis:;ippl, hosteJ Ln 1cn3 the bi-cL'ntenni;,il ccle!ir.1tion of the puhlicatlun ~ - - - - - - -- - - -- - -- - - - - - �of Phyllis \/heatle y ' s PoeP1s . lier ll\!ll po0try, :10\.levcr, h:1s chnnL>e~l sol!1ewhut from the s tance she took in ror l'.y People . Yc·t: Propltcts for a i(0\J D:1v (1970) and October Journe y (1973) c1re difficult to jud;;,c i.lf~:.iinsL her 0tllt.!r worL She turned to th e novel Ln the fifties and sixties hut several po~1.ts .Lu Octoter were puhlis liL,d in journaJs between 1930 and 1960 . Prophets is a chronicle! of the Ci.v Ll It:Lghts noveme nt up to its allLrnce \vit!t ilL.1ck Po\,•er. She writes nbout " Birmingham, " " Street Demonstr..ition," " Jnckson, Mississippi ," on Hnshington , :ind the new prophets: " JeremLih ," "Is nL.1h , 11 11 the March 1\mos, 11 unJ " Joel. " In "Oford l s a Le gend " she says some " fought th e civil war all over again ." . New prophets are Halcolm, He.d r,ar Evers, Andy Goo;lman, fl iL:luel Scl 11,L'.rnc1:, c1nd James Ckiney , who fought "oppression" in Louisiarrn, Mi.s s Lssippi and . C:cor~~ia . October is a quieter 1;100,l, halla<l in "Harri et Tubman . 11 employing a variety of verse for ms including :the ller own unique sonnett is seen in ·"Fo.r. Mary McLeod Bethune " and " for Paul Lawrenc e Dunbar ." The earlier poet is suggested in "I want to \Jrite" with the poets telling us: I want to write songs of my people. Alice Halk.er, novelist and 'poet, shares the state of Mississi,ppi (llockdale) with :Margaret Walker. Iler volumes of poetry are Once (1968) and Revolutionary Petuni:is (1973) th e title of which , juJgin1.:, from other statements she has made , is pro}nbly Hl:.rn a pun. Her poems cover her own civil ri g hts activities, general experiences, and some satire. A poem in Once relates the story of the youn;_', lllnck man who wanted to int egra te n white '· bench in Alabama--in tlic " nuJe. to Petunias : 11 She: announces her debts in the dedicntion Ceor:.3e Jackson, "h eroes and heroines, ancl friends of early StJCC, " Bob Moses, and Fannie Lou !lamer· . These poems (written in personal tones) deal · �with history anJ folk-strength am! th e stuff the l~ lacl: South is made of: "romance " that " blossomed" in pews Ctt funerals~ w, imen with fis ts thnt " battered " doors; " Sunday School, Circa ]950"; ·-a "bnckwoods wolllan " who kills her hushanJ ' s murderer , then reinincls her e~:,, cutors to water the petunias . An<l she ,i] so writes of a different kin,\ of "Rn ge ": The sil ~ nc~ b~cween your words rams into ne like a sword . Yet another Mississipian and poe t is Julius Eric 'c'hompson, a history teacher at Too~alo o . Hopes tied up in Promises vas published in 1970 anJ njms at lifting the new consciousness above mere "hopes . 11 Thompso~ writl!s· ahout be i ng a Black man in Hississippi, "Delta Children,'' Ma.rtln Luther !(i n ~ , - and "Black Pm-,er . 11 Th e re is also a seri.cs of poems on Africa. In Louisiana much new poetry has be2n arribing from the pens of you_n g and old poets alike. Zu-Bolton, now in D.C., edits Hoodoo ma~ n zine _ throt.i;~h Energy Blacksouth Press in DeRidder . lie formerly co-edited The Las t Cookie baseJ in DeRi.d der, San Francisco, and Cenevu, New York . lloodoo I , Jedicated to two Blac k studen t s killed by policemen on the campus of Southe1 ,1 Univer·sity i.n November of 1972 , contained wori'- by l.on~n,:o Thomas, Hay Mi] Ler, · Pinkie Lane, Kalainu Yu Sa laam, Jerry \/arJ, anJ utr.er s·outhcrn-b.ascJ poeL ; , lloocloo 2 E. ·J , a double i.;sue published in 1975, cont.1i.ns \Jorl; of 1:1ore sot c her-n poets: Arthenin Bates Mj llican, Al'.i.cc \J:i lLcr, anrl Charl e s Rowell, frora the broader \Jorlcl of IH.:icL wr itinr; . 1s well as sclecLioa , Energy BlackSoutll Press will nlso publi s h A lti:,;1;crer Amen , Zu-Boltun' s first volu1;1, of poems. Under tli c guidanc12 of tlll' late English chairman, Helvin A . 13utler, '.; outhcrn est:abl isheJ the short-1 ived l:lacL faq~eriencc , the first issue of \lhich contained severa l �poci:1 s 1,y Alvin Aubert, a Southern alu1,111us who nm, resides in :·ic\l York ar"!d edits Obsidian: 13lack Literature in l~cvie1-1. ,i ubert I s ,\•1 ainst the Blues (1971) surveys blues, love and his Louisiana h~ritage . Pinkie Lane, new En13lish Depnrtment head at Southern, publislH~d \!Lnd Thou ~; hLs (1 <.! 72) ~is 1wll ns several eroaclsi<les: Too PocE1s (1972), Poems to t :v Father (1972), and _ Songs to tltL~ Di.aly s i s !·l..1chine (1972), all ]nought out by South and \·lest, Inc . , of Arka11 ~,,1s. South and \·Jest is also the pulilisher 0£ ti1c i.lnnual Po(~ms by B]acks (1970, 1971, 1972) for which l'inl~ie L~me has beco,ae pcrm,rncnt eJi.tor . Butler inauv,urated the annual Black Poetry Festival in 1972. In the program of the first festival, he stated: The IHcick Poetry Festival provides .:i rare opporLunity Lo urLn,:; to~ether professional and apprentice poets in : 111 <i f. fort to dcfLn.::: · and ler,itimize nll forms of Blnck poetic talent as n preludl.! and postlude to defining and legitimizin~ the renlity of Black_.pcople. Hopefully, the results of our efforts will be a better uulerstandinB and n 3reater appreciation of the lives , aspirations and achievements o( Dlack people. For the festivals, Southern has nttracted a number of poets: l!adhubi_ti, Sonia Sanchez , R..:inc.lall, Redmonc.l (1vrltcr-i11-resic.lence , sunuaers 1971-72), Zu-13oltci'n, Knight , Aubert, Lucille Clifton, HcLaurin . Ki.!1~11111 S;ilaam , l'leal, Audre Lonie, anJ Irma The festivals, which includ<ld· student poets nnd musicians, lwve inspired a Poetry Hritin~ Workshop un der the supervision of Rowell, an Enilish ,instructor . The first two volur,1es of Poems by Blacks contain a r icl1 loc.le 0£ soutliern poets : Leon E. \Jiles (Phi lander Smith Collc.•r:c) , Elijah SaLb (Little Rock), Booker T . Jackson (Lit tlc RocL) , Eddie Scott (;ll!1.1pl1i.s), Otis \.Joodar<l (Memphis), Arthur Pfister (Tuskegee Institute, Beer Cans nullets Things & Pieces, �19n), l!;)ton Pears on (J ac kson, !!i;;sissippi), J:.tcqut'lyn Drynnt (HcrjJ i an) , Lo i_s Hiller (Daton n.ou~e), Borbnri.l Jenn K11i;;ht: (Shr eveport ). J\ltliough Pinl~i e La11 t2 did not ed it: th'-" fix st t\ , ,1 _i :ssuC'.S or Poc·1,1s , she nctcd ns ad visor ond her o e, i ftecl , (''.c-rnph i s) anJ J:atlieJ L!Cen !teed 1- 1ord...:111a ni mm 11ork w1 . ; s 11list c1nti.:. l ly r ep resent ed . · Sl -.c is pu l :1to r with soncur.1111nte skill ancl passion . t!nrr-h of Baton Rou ~•, e i.n New Or l e.1ns, th e Fr c0 Southern Thc:1tcr hod burn ed out Ly the 1.:. t e sixt_i cs , but out of i. ts uorkshops c.1me _!:)_1 :ornhC?_ \vhj -: h corrj es th e work of BLKARTSOUTJI lffitcrs. FST, and Kalamu 11011 j ointly ed it the pub]ication. \foshin g t oi1 a nd J ol m O ' l!e:1 1. tozetlwr--excep t the Tom Dent, one of th e founde r s ,1£ 11 Some BLl:1\RTSOUTll pocl; .:. re A3.1in , no sinsl<.2 thrc.'.:ld t-L L!s th c:.;e puL!L~3 1i1,1ve111ent " in th e Suu th. But their concerns· Lor th e; movement are oft en expresseJ bett er outsjJe of the poetry tk111 l n ; BLKAln'SOUTll published individual volu1.ws oC 1,ue1,is Ly ~;alaam ('i':1e !\ L t!CS ·l,:rch;.in t), (Vis-Lo ns Fro m th e r:Jwt: to) . Afro-~\rn erican salvation. Jrinki11 :1 anLl l!lore time " Eacii,t Psycl10Lherapy " is Black ' s blue-.;,ciilt for. lie advises ]Hacks to spcnd le ss t.i1ae n1µpin~ a1iJ \·✓ 0rl:.i11g for t 11L' c:, cts<.2 . In " P,ay Cliurl L•.; , .. ,_ His.!; lss.i.ppi State" Dent s uys tl. e ir ltec1 n s .... Of "Tlte I\ lu cs ," Salon1:1 s.::iys : it i s not: s ubmission .... But too mucli of h is oork is speechy . Sn l:-i :m has a l so pu bli sh<.2J llofu Ni Kwenu : tly Feor Is For Ycu (1 ~17]) \.lh.ich ·rece iv cJ a l'i.ixed rcv.i.::•1J [ro111 Ko1,c l] i_ u the �SepLc1.1li, .c, 1974, issue of DJ ;icL· ',!or lJ. !!cw Orlei:lns-ba se,l Blacl- Co lJ cpi:1:1 . " Be<lti1,1e S tory": ironic.:iJly tl1ey Fcllu1-1 P, T.iC.:.\lrl'SOl1Tl'.erner :! ..1yu l.'riLC'~, a an c:..:ch:.inr,c l.H·t11e cn uotlier ;1.nd s,)n nbout "revolution. " Answer.i.11 0 the son ' s question , " when si:lys " soon ~:u.n ." Sa la :11 .. i s _, 1 s ,) nn ,. l i tor of the WL.: 0 01111 ..1 have the rev0Jutili1)? 11 , th' mother Till' 0Ll1L:C puets cnsti.~ate whitey :111,i pn1i!,C Jaac.:ks . 1-✓ rile V<'r)' 1ittl,· nl;l1 ut southern li[ · . the Co11~0 Squ.:1re \Jritin'.~ 1-Jorksh op . But, . Dent cucrcntly le.:ids 'j'lJere ace also 1Hitint; 1-: orkshops :it Dillard cmd Xavier Universities . Julia Fields, still livin~ i.n North Carolina, brour,ht ,iu t E:1st of J.!oonlii'ht in 1973, but one of h er 1,10sL eloquent t..:sti.L1.0 11ie:,· i. '.,_ II og II Iv h. 1c I 1 " gut " or 11 . I1es I1er rJ~~ . l 1l to l 1:1ve esta b 1 i.; J 01·1 l ." II • II c:.1v1ar or 11 Hi ,; h _,H1 _t!1e: .. - I.e1 II ,>vec . . ., l 1rirnp soul L . II l ' So111e menus and polit i.cal stances arc; ·nver-cxot •j·c i:~ed ·by' revolutionaries, she says , and she ha s " earnet.l " th0. rir,ht to <lo v1hat sh1:~ likes. She has even heard " Haus 11::i u s " scrL.:1rning ilncl "Romanticizing p'c1i11 .·11 But sho has paicl her dues, and h.::id enoui;h prc~;sures from both sides of Ll1L! color lln e . The subtle nudge, but direct pom~r of Julia Fields suggests that Black. poetry is i_n good han<ls in tlie South . North of North Cc1roJ in.::i, came John Oliver Killen :, irnpoctant \Ir 1 tl!rs . Confc:rences at Flsl· University, the mus t important one takin :; pl:ice :[n SprinL; of 1967 . Ila yden , who hnd bee11 at Fi.!;k ~;lnce the forties left in 1968 after a series of brushes with proponents of the Dlc1ck Aesthetic . The 1967 con- f erence (probcibly the stra\/ th:1t broke th e cnrnel ' s b:1cl: for Hayden) is seen by some as a major junctuce in th e Mew Bl;1cL 1ffiting . GuenJLily11 Brool:s tc1ll:~cJ about it .i.n her autoliro/iraphy , Ha r r,c1ret \7i.1J kcr Ji.scusseJ it w.ith i!ikki Giovanni · in thei.r publis h ed " convl~rsations ," nnJ lloyt Fuller 1-Jrote "- lowin :; l y of it i.n Black \!orld . \!rit ers attc.nt.l:i.nt: t'.1e confl.'rcnce \vcre Dav id Llorens, Fuller·, �!ton tlilner, Clarke , Bennett, Margaret lbnner, Nil:l:i Giovanni, R.::ind;1ll , Le e , Margaret Halk e r, Soni.-i Sanchez , JonC!S, and ?iari;ar ,·t Bur r ou~hs . Probably ]JQlJ in the South [or symbolic r easons , the conference prov id ed the f ir st real national dramatic a r e na for old a nd yo un r, writer s. Gwendo lyn Drool~s ( a 11 Ne 0 ro" then, she has · said) rec.'.l lls beins "co ldl y respect ,• d " after .iust havin r, flown. to Nashville from "whit e whi t e South Dakota ." ll01 •evc r, sh e was among th e first (with Randall and Fuller) to tnke u p the ba nner of th e Bl.::ick Aesthetic and the causes of th e yo un c writ ers . Sue!, a ction of course, was displeasing to a number of whit e and Black poe t s , not the lea :;t rn:io n g them Ha yden uho refused to ackn0\·1l edp,e the existence of a 11 sC'pa ra te 11 aest!1etic · for · 1n:,cLs (Ldeido,,co'1f', Januar y , .1968, Black Horld p oll). Althou r, b the Fisk c onfe renc e has b een followed b y ~ozens of l!laik colle ge s all over the South, Midwe s t and East, ther e is still no monolithic stand on. "directions" hut so111c Hr iters keep tr yin 0 to give tlieu nny,Jay . · One i nJ i cation uf th e healthy dive si t y BL.1cL 1-.1ritcrs is the jouril:i_l i~oot:, , .:11:1011 0 pulilished a t Tex.:i.s So uthe rn Universit y . Turn1.?r \Jlwr to n , and Hnnce l.'ill i.:iJilS . l.dLtors are Tou1:1y_ Guy, Je f.Cree ·Jawl!s , Voh11 ,i.:: I, number I contains es.s~1ys , . ar t · and th e works of se ver al poe t s, mo:;t of tl1c1:1 southerners. o[ The -ppoetry , Ji::v oid mo notono u s th eme or sLyle , reprl; ~;en t,; n broaJ ran~c of intcr12~ts in lln""'.' 3 uist.ics , s ubject s and fon:is . ~azed forever b ack1-mrds . 11 rn' Jo fn 11 ,1 love supreme" says In 'sh e' 1-l nc:,ve r k n mv'' J-lj 1 '.:111 rny :yes cb.,y Lcl.rnd write s of vari o u:; aspec t s o f th e socia l a11<l p\1y,dcal lanJscape:, inclu<lin~ the "KLnl-y l1aireJ boys " who LuilJ 1 \ 1rsena l s of stra1-1." Cl;1ren ce \!arJ notes in 11 11..mging On" that the rent ltas gone up, eviction is inunenent, there is no food [or th e baLy, nnJ llangi11['.. on a in t easy .... �_j • .:1lrn1ad j . ' s titl e " ilarJ llo ..1d Makes a So ft Pss " iI.1plies tlie poem ' s statement. And fan t asy cterna li z,:s , "liLe a ~oo,. i i~h , 11 f,)r To ,rn1y Cuy in " lirothL.:r ." But th e themes of 1 tity, self-e ,;te2m , t he African 11 mot he rl.:1nd, 11 and unab.:i t ecl anger remain i n the new poetry as the HiJwes t .:ind \Jest cQntr ibllte i mmensely t o the . br illit,nce and th e controvecsey . Ohio, for c~xamplc , ropr.e- sente<l a unique za th eri;1~ of d i ver~w views on th e new conscio u sness , attr.:ictin g ) , 1\tL ins, J~.uHes a nu1,1l.Jcr of poets to aid the worl~ of :~o r nia n .lorcbn (193JKilgore, (all fo r m Cl e v ela nd ) and Hern ton. Redmond \;ho ,1;1s ~low at OGerlin , Ilernton succeeJed writ er -in-r es idence t he re (1969-1970), the same year Troupe be zan a residen cy a t Ohi,J Univ e rsity. durin g Hern t on ' s l euve- of-absence . Sarah Webster h 2s also t.1u ..'.,ht ,1t Ob1..rli11. II ,we ver, Cleveland ac tivity was spurred by a loni tr ad ition of Bl ack 1vriters ncluding Hu ghe s , Chesnutt (<inL.: of the: fo und e rs of Kara111u ll oL,se ) and Atkins. This continuum produceJ Jordan an:! a host of young e r poet~: Anthony Fud ge.: , Lnrry lloward, Larry W<1de , .\.r Nixon, Clint Nelson , Robert rl erni ng (Ku \Jais 11 aiazi ne), Alan Bell, P-.olanJ · Forte, Te<l llayes , E . Bufor d an J Bil l " usscll of the Munt u Poet~ . Other participatin~ wr it e r-artist s uere Clyde Shy , l\p1eer Rashid a nd Ane tt a J cf[erson . for poet s and t heir oct iviti es ca1:ie from v a riou s p l aces : Suppor t the Clevcl,md Call and Post, l\fro -Se t Black Arts pro jec t, United Bl a~k Artists, Fred Lance anJ Karauiu llou sc h w re Jord::m ' s play s wer·e p roduced. l(il :..;ore \!r ites o ut of a stro11;>, trnd iti.on of Black hum ;:i nis m riurt ur ecl in reli g iou s hon1 ,!S . lli s volumes a r c The Big Buffalo and Other Po ems (1969), Hidnip.ht Blas e (1970) and A Time of Black Devotion (1971) . Th e poems ex pose the contradi ct ions in Am e rican De1n,1 cracy and s urvey the "llig h ·JUs8 Dre a ms" of metr o poliran Bl acks cau ght in t l1e urban r enewa l scrabble. Devotion, dedi- cated to Core tta Scott King, vibr ates w:!-th conc c rns fo r Black stuJents, Third \ �lfo rl d survival, nnd .'.l fascinatio n wit h F r .'.l n z F;mo n. A d iff e r en t k ind of poe t, Jordan i s somet iI:1e s a n gry, c y nic a l a nd vio l e nt; o th e r times p r o ph e t ic and mystic a l . He ha s p ublished thr ee volwnes : D~s tin a ti on : Ashe s (1 9 67, 1971), Abov e lb ya (1 9 71), n nc.l uith Na r c h a C:: .:1 g e , Two Po e t s (197 Lf) . Dedicn t e d to th e " Cor,1muni t y ," j)(:!S tin.a ti o n c on t ain s Jordan' s b es t anc.l mos t memorabl e po e ms . I n Cl ev e l and he 0~eig e d a s a mn j or fo rc e i n t h e n ew Il l.'.l c k po etry, unit ing the older tr a di t ion s yr1bo li ze<l b y f r ee Lan c e , a nd th e Huntu Poets . De stin a ti o n, f irst pu l, lishe d p riv..i t e l y by J o rdan, was l a t e r bro u ght out by Thir d \·/orl d Pr ess ( Chica go ) with an Intro du ction b y Lee , uho said h e "learn e d" th a t Hu gh e s h a d n o n eed to " re - writ e and r evi se ." (! ) " An yway , DestinatiQn chronicl es J o r dan's own deve lo pmen t fro m th e pe r iod of civ il ri g hts throu gh Black Power . Uis p o et r _· is a ll f r ee ~ e r s e , usu a l l y simp lis tic narrativ e makin g am p l e use of dram :1 ti s p e rson .'.l from ev e ry walk of Black li fe . Th e r e is al co holism, violen ce , po v e r _t y , lon e lin es s and ex altati on · of · Blackness . " I Ha v e Seen Them" d e '; c rib e s thos e on r e lie f, hun r, r y 3. n <l cold praying fo r "mira cles ." Ne llie Ree d u sed t o be a hirl-ab out-town, "Lnughing and dancin g , " put now a t 26 she ;is dead and he r gh os t "tr emb le s" i n an a ~l e y . win e bott le "nc ecii11 ~ a f i x ." Jor da n a l so sp, ofs 11 1!iz h Art n n d Al l t ha t J;12z 11 Fue l: y o u un<l yo ur d amn v e rb s le t rnc te l l it like it is 1v1:i,t;,,£..¥ arnl f i.;,;_lM;~ . " Feed i n r~ t he Li. o.1s " (1966 ) i s hi s r:1ost antho l ogized poe m. Tiu.~· "army " of bri ef - c CLr;e- c arr 1 in ~ s ociaJ worker s inv a d~ s Bl ac k n e i ~l1bo rhoods each mo rn inL\ , pass ou t che c ks , r,1ov e qui c k ly f r m one Joor t o ano t he r, ;:inu , af t er f i l l i n g : �L--- - - - -- their c1uot:.i~, leave "before cl ,rk ." • Th,~r~ are also poems about 111ys ticis1.1, reli~ion, rnytho OBY, c1nd b,n.1n , inclu dint.', drawings of eyes, trian g les and circles--all re Ucct in g th e many influenc e s on Jo rdan I s work unJ the nppro;.1chi11::; new mood (Abov e , [.:1y<.1) . But Destination, with its short, e:-:pizr.::inma tic verses and parab l0s , sees tilrou._;h allusory, romantic "unity" near the encl and no_unt s an atta .k on revolutiona ry clia'i-lo.tans , b a ck-sliders of the P10vement and those v:ho vie1·1 violence as the only solution to rncism. Yet "Cosmic Witchdoctors" reaffirms his faith jn 1310.ck writers working far into a "liquid nieht'J they provide the [o u11Jati on for tomorr ow ' s liber1tion. Jordan's belief in the 1.1ys tical, mag ical pm,ers of the word can be seen in the name Vibration, a Cleveland rnazazine 1.;,ith which he was closely .:issocL.1te<l. It is "Dedicated to the Resurrection of the :-~entally and Spiritually Dend ." Other Ohio poets found outlets for their work in Vibration ;ind other . journa ls: Black J\scensions (Cuyaho ga Community College), Proud lllack Ima?,es (Ohio State University) and Lifeljne: When America Sin:::,s She Croak s (Oberlin). Oberlin students also produced a ,spe cial Black issue of tl1e college is Activist macazine; it contained poems by bith students and well known poots. a staff m.:!mber of Rlack Ascension , , publishcJ Higration in 1972. Cleveiancl poet , D. Felton (1934- Judg0, /\notlier ) ; _ broucht out Conclusions wilh an Intr·o- duction by Atkins who praised tl1e y oun~ ~oet [or not consciously engaging in the "<lis[igurement of perceptions" to polemicize a " constrictcu kinJ oE 'rele va nce .'" In 11 /\n Elegy to Eternity," Felton, n vibrant poet, s.:iys: Tear-ducts swe Ll, bursting in a delight of flood and fury. Garfield Jack son, a young prize-winning poet, is one of tl1e editors of - ------ -- - - - - �Prou,J 1nack Im,H;cs. pages: Hany young and old e r Ohio : poets arc .includ e d .::unon:; its Forrest Gay, Dianne Gou:)..<l, Jackie Toone, Ebrahim /\ ljahL:z, Hohssen Asl.'.lm (Chri s Jenkins), !3 attuta LuL:::.mba Barca, Linda Callender, Beverly ChceLs, An tar Sudan Hberi, Leatrice Emeruwa, Roslyn Perry Ford, Ray Hon,t p,omery, Kilgore, Jordan, und o_tlwr s .. Al thou~h the jour,Hll I s title set s the conceptual pace and plac e s iL in the s tremn of the new con ; ciousncss, there is no unifyin c thei:1e or idea in the poetry . John \Jhittaker calls "Singers, Dancers," the "doers of initial d e eds" and Impl ,~ menters of the inevitable Black life. Hernton, who :i ttcnc.lcc.l Oj1io schools, b e came writ c r-i n- 1_-L·s hlen c l: u t Ccutr i..! 1 State Univer s ity, .in th~ sixtiL'. S . House of Nightso 11 Il e p ul>lishcd Th f> Ccmin:•, of Chron os LO th e in 1963 and since then he has written many books and ,1rticlcs on America' s soc L i 1 / scn1a 1 h a n g ups . in the first issu e· of Confrontation: One of his most powerful po ems appeare·d A Journal of Third Wor1 d Lit ~ rnture (summer, 1970) founded and eJi Lcd by Troupe at Ohio University. " S tr ee t Sc.enc" sho\1s Hernton pla , (ul _ly lookin r, at the identity ·question alon:; with other things . When he · c ets am! spenk·s to his "dream" on the "street, 11 h e rccc.ives this ansner: "Go • o hell, sonofabitch." ' Confrontation al s, publishes o t her Ohin ports; yet, its concerns nre bron<l as seen in the names of contribut .i ng e<lit6 rs: Damas, Sergio Mondra~on, FernanJo Ale~ria, ,•; c.'.11, l:c:dmon<l, Tam Fi ur :L, David llenderson, .Melv:Ln L<l\mr.<ls :ind \Hlfr e J Cart e y. In oth er Ohio co1,11,1uni L i. L'.:; related events oc c urr '-' J, Black Arcs Fe s t i v ,1 \J.J S Cincinatti' s [.ir s t ,n g an.i. :~cd li y ti :Lkki Ci.ovanni in 1 9(J7 and out of tli.is effort g,- l!•.J The :: .: Tl,L!.:.tLer. li'e rh er t Ha rt ln (1 9 J3- �i[j J l iO! -1 : J Other Poe1:1s (1 969 ), maJe :rn jru;ieas u rabl y vdlu.:.ible con tr ibutiun to th e un<l crstanJing o f Blacl~ poetry \Jhcn he o(;_,c11 i~cd the P: ul L.:.iurencc Dunbar Centennial in l:J72 a t the University of J)ayton . In<li.::ma h c.:iv ecl forth preciou s \,or<ls from Gary , Indianapolis , Purdue , Te rre Ha ut e auJ- ot her ar.:~as . t!ar i Evc1ns or~.:.i ni zc~l c1 rL s an:1 consc-Lou snc::::;s progr:.i11t,; in Indi:.in apul ii; u •,J J l oo .,in ",ton. f /\Jn :1 Blnck Wo111an, containin g poems wriLLun over scvcr.:.il years , unf o tunately did n o t fin d a pubJ.ishcr until 1970. llowever, th e book de se rv ed ly r ec~ivcd th e! Black .\ca dcmy of Arts a nJ Letters Second i:\nnunl Poe tr y .'\~tan! . She~ hets been closely identified with ac tivi tics in Chlc :.igo ,,here Tl1 :Lrd llorld Press publishes her _ch .i.J dn~n ' :; vll"it:ing'.;, li er tit le pOei.l i_s a spiritual , psycltolll~ical n nJ lli.storicnl journey o( till: J;lack \ uoman 1-1hosc "tri gger 1. re/<l finger s " no1v seek th e so ftness of 1;1y 1varrioc ' s beard ... A major poem arnonfj tL new poetry, it combines the best of th e modernists techniques with a cltart-work of mu si c so as to give the impression o f someone sin ~~ ing or hununin g a long with the re a dinr; of it. Mari Evnns scans other fie] ds of 13lack li fe , writing about lonel y a nd Jej ect,~J wo111en, self - pr iJe, . violence., Black unity anJ Af1-ica . In " Hho can be l\orn Black" she joyousl y anJ Jefi_a ntly asks : Who can be born and not exult! Also closely a ssoci.:.iteJ with the Chic a~ o nnd Detroit movements is Ethrid 0 c Kni g hL (] 9:33 - ) , 1vho 1,1as scrvint a 20-y ca r tcn,1 in InJL:ma State Prison i1hen Poem!~ fr om Prison (1968) appeared in 1968 wi th a Preface by Cv,cndolyn s �Brooks. She called his poetry Vital. Vital. This poetry is a 111ajor announc eme nt ... And there is blackn es s, inclusive, pos se ss c J and Biv e n; freed ~n d . terribl c uriJ beautiful. Her own version of th e ],l a ck Aesthetic was expressed in the snme stat:ement: "Sinc e Etherid g e Knight is not your stifled artiste, there is air in these poems." Kni g ht roams the deep crevices of Black spiritual .:ind p s ychic experiences as he combin e s the L:in r~u::ig e of the prison sub-culture with the rhythms of Hl.:ick Arneric;in street sp l~ ech . He bounc es o r dri v· s . hard-- n poetry of "hard .boµ"--lookinr, nt prison l i f e , love anJ ancestry . Exce µ tional pi ec es are the folksy "Hard Rock Returns to Prison from th e ll os pital for thc.: Crimin i> l Insane," the mysti c al anJ mythical "lie Sees throu r:h Stone," the g enealo g ical "The Idea of Ancestry," the innovative Haiku sections, and "On UniversalismJI ·which warns ;i g nins t applying "universal laus" to "pains" and "cl1ains" in America. llis technical abilities .:ire poignantly displayed in lwiku "9": Hakin t~ jnzz suing in Sev e nte e n syllables AIN ' T t o square poet's job. Knight, who W.'.l!, lnter released from p ris o n, also eJited Black Voices From Prison (1970) c1 nd in 1973 Bro.:idsid e . rr e s s published J; e lly Son g and Other Poems. He los e s his reach when he tries t o over-intellectualize in his poetry . And though it may be a bi t uncharitable to say , Belly Son g proves tl1at he wrote better poetry in prison. slips into pol e mics. The last book has some fine moments but it sometimes However, .Kni~ht is still stretchin r; out as a poet, currently doinL: research into oral lit e ra turc with the aid of a Cu :~g enheim ~rant. �Bel] v shous him pursuing this traditi on in "Th,, Rones of Hy Father" ,_.hich smile at the moon in Mississippi from th e bottom of the Tallahatchie. Finally , n _numb e r of · poe ts from this p;eneral re ;; ion of the Midwest and South are included in a specia l J3lack Poetry issue of Negro American Literature· Forum (spring, 1972) eJited by Redmond . The Forum is publisheJ by In<lianu State Un .Lv~rsity School of Educ;.ition and ec.litcd by John B.'.l.yliss, an Eng,lishman. It rcr;ularly revi e ws Jllnck litl.!rat11re. Chicai.;o is a l'-lilh-1 e s t h ,1rt ard h.:is a long tr.-:iJ _itto n o f DL.H.: l~ ,'..rts, go in 1: 0 back to, . and before, Count Basie ' s openin r, at the Sunset Club in 1 9 27. !iO\.ve vcr, some of tile more recent forces lielpine to sliape the n c 1, poetry move11 h.~ nt ther"t:-: are : South Side Community Arts Center, Johnson Publications, Kuumbn's Root Theater (Francis and Val \lard), the DuSable Museum of African· American History, OBAC , 1nstitute of Positive Ec.lucation and Third \]orld Press (Ha.<lhub-iti) Free Dlack. Press, Afro-Arts Theater, ,!nlcolm X Coller;e , Oscar Brown , Jr., l'luliar.rniad Speaks , Ellis Bookstorl:!s , Chic<1go Defender , Philip Coli ran (Artisti·c ller.i,tai.;e . J•:nsembl<'), to name just a few. As a major point - bet1,1cen East and \! _• st/North nn<l South , Chica go remains a city in transition. ~ Much of the ne~, poetry scene · i:.;ene·r ates from the hub known as th e Organiza tion of Black M,1erican Culture and (;\1e11dolyn Brooks . Fuller , Blc1c l~ \io rld managinc editor , is also advisor to OUAC I s \friter ' s \lorkshop·. In J. 9 G9 (fall) issue of Nommo , the workshop ' s journal, Fuller said: Hlacl is a way of looking at the world . The poets of - Ol:AC, in revealini.; their vision, celebrate their blackness. In tl1is moment in history, 1,hat might under clif ferent circum- �stn~ces be simp ly assumed must neces s a ril y be asserteJ . And the OBJ\C poets know--if others Jo no~ --tlwt pille men out of the He s t do not <lefine for mankind the peri111eters of art. Tbis th ey wan t all bl ack people to knoo . In the Journ t 1·• i, win·t er issue of the s rn,1c year , Fuller sa id OiAC 111emb c rs · ,-1 ere 11 seekin t; " to b·e "both si11pl e and profound. " They displ ay an "ima gi native re- prese ntation of the ir e,:per;iences, 11 but th ey also seek "to be rt=volutionnry." In t:he first quote, Fuller's tone, carrying the battle-baiting phrase , "even if other s do not , 11 s ee1,1e d to h..1ve been a siGn.:il fo r, among others , Don L. ), to continue his att.:ick on all fr onts . There were no sncred cows, as Lee saw it, and since "oth ers do not" know what the youthful Chicago Blacks presumably did l(now , Lee's assignment was to teach them. C\!Cndo l y n Brooks concurred with 11ost of this feeling , embracing as it were a 11 n ew" Blackness and (unfortu11a tely) occas ~onally engaging in a kind of self-defrecation: "It fri g hten s me to re n lize that, if I had died before the .:ige of . fifty ·, I would have died a ' Neero ' fraction. 11 Lee followin g the examples of_ RanJall .:inJ naralt a, began Third World Press-.:..a valual>le vehicle for th e new pocts--and changed his name in the early seventies to Haki R . Nadhubuti. Be also estab- lis hed the I.1stitute for Posit ive I:duc::ttipn which publishes Bla ck Books Bulletin wilh himself as eJito r. Sterling Plu Ptpp (19L10- J, Other poets Johari Amin i included in the eJitorial st.:iff: (J ewel Latimori..!) (1935- ) , Ern~rnuel, Sarah Web s t ~r Fabio, the late Llor e ns ( who launc hed Lee 's national career in Ebony , l~rch 1969), anJ Randa ll. OBAC was foun ded in 1967 and poets of varying. t emperaments were a ttr acted to it and Gwendolyn Brooks ' worksh.o ps : ) , \h1lter Bradford (1937- ~ - - - - - - - - - - - -- - -- -- - -- - ) , Carl Clari~ (1932- Ca rolyn ) ' (i - \l �Hike Cook (1939- ) , Jm:1es Cunnin gham (1936- Sam Greenlee ( ), Phillip Royster (194 3- Lee, Linyatta (194 7(193 3- ) , Sharon Scott (19510 ) , Ronda Dovis (1940- ), ), Pe~gy Kenner (1937- ), ) , and Sir,emonde \-/il:1berli (Ebon) ), and continual str e..:im of newly arrivinG poets. Other Cliicazo area poets are St cp h .i ny Fuller, Eugene Perkins, Irma McLaurin, Lucill e Patterson, Jerrod, Zack Ci]bert (1925- ), Alicia Johnson ( 1944- ) , Rmm Chiri and n.ohart Butler. The work of many Chica go area poets can be fo11nd in Nornmo, Black Expressions, BJ ack l·Jorld, Black Writers ' News, Muhammad Speaks, and in the antholo~ies ~ Broadside Tre.:isury (1971) aqd Jump Ila<l : edited by C\vendolyn Brooks . A New Chic.:1 :~ ,1 .\ nLl 1o lo ·,v (1971), both They can also be found .h1 the numerous ot:1er na tionally-Jistriliuted ant:1ologies and journals alre.:idy listed . · Illa ck \,/or lJ , as naw:~ anJ concept, was concession won by Chicago area artists and activists , who protested a~ainst the old nar, e Negro Dir,es t in the lnte sixties. Fuller continues to g uide the ma~azine ' ~ new i1:1age through the ti cklish · \Hltcts of · controversy and chani:;e. ... as Black \Jorl, . ' s But many renders h.'.lve been critical of uhat is seen pnrticularize<l stands , lack of " open" foru m on pertinent Blnck issues, .:incl a tern.L:.!ncy t0 circunscribe indivldu::ils and iruups. But . the jour?al has .:in indispensable aid to many Black poets and writers, printing their Hork, identifying antholoLies, ·11otln:3 books publishec.l, and serving as facilitator for prizes and Benerul contac t. Amon~ all nc~1 poets, N.:1dhubutl is second only to Nikki Giovanni in the number of accolades ancJ the comr::ercia l attention he an~! his poetry h.:ive received. A sampling of critics, poets and schola rs who feel he is one of the greatest of the new poets oould !1:.1ve to · include Stephen Henderson, Full12r, Gwendolyn Brooks llargaret \folker, Pa ula Giddinr;s ,' Barak.a, Hari Evans , Randall and Gayl e . �CwenJolyn Brooks has sai d Maclhubuti r .:csenhles Jesus Christ an<l her IntroJuction t o Jump Dad hails hi1:1 as "the r:10sl significant, inventive, .:ind influential black poet in th e country . 11 Overlookin3, for th e 11101!1ent, the necessity of reading "all" the poetry in the "country" before making such a state111ent, it si1,1ply is 1 ot wis e in view of the "collec tiv.:/' policy--and the nnti-individualist f~-.;lings --which .:i lle gedly form the cornerstone of th e Ch ica go poetry scen e . Lee has published five volumes of poetry: Thin]: Black! (196 7) , Black Prid e (1968) , Don ' t Cry, Scream (1969), He llalk the Way of th e New \lorld (1970), Dir ec tionscor e : (1973). Selected and Ne,-; Poems (J 971) aml Tl1c Book of Life His Dynamite Voices, Vol . I (Broadside), publi s hed in 1971, is a study of lLf Black poets of the sixties; but it reveal s , like his other criticism, that hen hazy thinker, who lncks discretion and firm understanding of the Black poetry tradition. lie spends an entire page , fo r examp le, illuminatin8 ,md apparently advocating the use of the word "motherfucker ." And any book about the sixties should not come off the pr e ss without exami- ning - th e poetry of Le Roi Jones/I~amu Daraka . Madhub u ti attributes the fathership of the New Black poetry to Barakn , but apparcntly: is incap a ble of discussing the man's poetry. There arc oth e r, incredible flm-1s in the book; for which this youn g poet's older mentors must ·s har e some blame . As a critic, he did not (could not!) cultivate the " distance " of a Johns on, Drown , Redding, or Henderson, and consequ e ntly--alrea<l y lacking discipline and training--could not really see the poetry. But in fairness, it must he said that his bihlio ~raphy and oth e r random bits o f information about the new poetry arc ·usable. As a poet, Lee far es bette.r, emplo yin3 wit, irony, understatement an<l signifying . nut there are excellent poets in Chica~o which h is politico-poetic - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - -- -- - - - - - - - �ima ,.~e has dwarfed (Plumpp, Cunnin~harn, Rodgers, Gilbert, etc.) ran Ge from what Arthur r. llis themes Davis has calleJ "The !Jew Poetry of nJ.ack Hate," through love and Black pride, to the ha-cared pontifications in The Book of Life wher e h e r e -arran:~es sayings and parables stated better by Aeso;i, b ush Africans, Plntd, and nnraka , and Tolson . 1.ike Nikki Giovanni an<l others, his ea rly \lork re-inforccJ the self-love concept, castigated whitey an<l encoura~ed !Hack unity. Host of his themes are sumned up in the titles 'J'hinl~ 1:l « ck! and Black Pride anJ his devices arc ~very<luy conversation, often not wcllwroueht hut sornetir.ws quice startlin~~ and musical rhyth;11s (" The 1/all") . These he aJjusts in nn often effective typography which columns verticnlly or horizontally on the pa:1,es . 1,tLWl..! ::i lit pc1r.1llel In IntroLluctions to h is books and critical articles Hadhubuti :.il,_.ays gives "directions" Lo l:lack writers -- ns he does in much of the poetry itself . "First Impressions of a Poet's De.:ith , " his ele[;y for ConraJ Kent 1'.ivers, subtlely revenls the often un-talke<l-about thin cs th ~1 t cause prcraature !.\ lack Jeaths . Speakin~· of · '.' too much" sex ,:rnd drink, he s:.iys many "poets who poet" sel<lom die from overexposure. But he can unknowinzly dilbble llith tlt e ,aost complex aspects of !Hack life as in "The So.;lf-llatre<l of Don L. L2e 11 ·,.,1iere, after studyin~ !.lnck history , he l earns to love tile " .i.nner" person my light bro\Jn outer . ;:i;HJ hate (\/ith vehe1:1cnce) �Cert.:iinly .:i profound and tra gic dilemma i s stated here : si nc e h;iting o ne's color will not change it; and since one lws t o li.v e wi th it for the rest of one's life. It is a go o d poem for studying th e so-callee! " sol ution" th.:it some Black wr .i.ters claim tu have "found " to th e iclen tit y pro!Jle1:1 . 'l'lle r e are other peaks of .r evelry and · dunGeons of confusion .i.n Ha Jhulrnti' s poetry . . One of his mos t fanous poems 'is ·" Don't Cry, Scream ." Praised hi (jhly by Stephen llenJ erso n, the poem paraphrases th e heratical rantin gs of Ron l~arenga who e ncourag e J Blacks to renounce the Blu es . Hadhubuti's poem, ,3 tribut e to Coltrane , is lar ge ly crap l1ic with occas iona l areas of int el li g i b ility. Then there is the self - d is gust : i cried for billy hollidny . the blues . 1•1e ain't blue the blues exhibited illu s ions of manhood. Even the Gernian Janheinz Jahn knew bet tcr. must face the question: it"? And certainly , toJay, Hadhubuti · if the blues were destructive , then Lm-J <lie.I iic• "make Inc.leed, how did any o ne "make it" without th e tot em of surviv a lisms· necessary to "cro s s over"? Madhuhuti's influence on the new poetry • h a s been . substanti.:il, however, thou ~h in most instances the influence ha s b ee n in ~he area of politics rather t han poetry. C:irolyn H.odc c rs' volu,.i e s arc Papc~r So u l (1968), Songs of a .Blackbird (196 9) , 2 Love R~1 ps (Br oadside ) (196 9), · Blu es Gitt in Up (1972) and Ho\J I C-:ot Over (1975). l·!oma nl y ,m ·d convi nci n z , she \;rite s of younr, women, love, revolutionari e s and music. In "Pho enix " sh e recall s traveling "with the wind" and h ea ring the m;iny voi ces screrl1!1ing blooddrops of time . "Jazz" describes "thr ee " nt the bar, the clicking of drinking £,lasses , and the murmur of thick mouths .... �" Rcbolw3lLi.nary x - r1as/ens tuh julie 4/etc . etc. 0.cc . 11 is a sati.re on " militan t s ." And she t el l s us that hits o f r.-ic sp linterecl in to a mir ror in " Lo ok .::i t Hy Face a Coll ag e. 11 These idea s and th emes , :1 nd nwny others , c a n a lso b e fciu:i1d .in th -2 poe try of J oh a ri Am ini , Plumpp , :nul Cunnin3hc1m. Jolrnri /1m ini ' s books incluJ e Imaf'eS in ];lack (1 96 7), A Folk Fab l e (br oadside) (19 (i9 ) , Le t ' s r.o Somewherp (1970), and /1 l!ip Tnl e in lle., th Style (1972). She relies heavily u po n Black co lloqu i a lis ms , usu n ll y achievi n r, s uc cess . But she has other rRn f,es as ca n be see n i.n " Brother" which lon gs for the "s o il" of Hlack p o ep l e, where th ey can fe e l the univ e r se s huJder Plumpp ' s Portalil e Soul ( 1969 ), Half Black, Half Bl ncke r t o Bre a k th e Circle (1975) . (197 0 ) anJ Steps A southerner with a b.::ickground in psycl)o l or,y , li e h as also writt e n a provocative study call ed Black Rituals ( ). His interes ts are see n in titles like "From "lanless Sisters to Bi g llad Rappers,'·' "Black Hessaie!:> 11 ("believe in us"), "T.ivin?, Truth" ("bl nck history ... a k1nne<l ep ic"), an<l Egypt (For Black MothcrhooJ) ,., : an everlasting s unri. se awoke . . . One of th e most perceptive, skillful anJ innovative poets, ·. h u\vever, i s· Cu n nin glt,11,1 . ll is one volume i s The Blu e Iw rrator (1 974 ) nn<l li e has been p ub- li. slicJ 1,idely ln peri.oJicals . " The.: Ci.L y Ri.ses " as a sad s ti ff \100Jet1 pl;., ce " St .. Julic>n ' s J.:ve: For Den nis Cros s " he wo11Jerfull y mi xes the senses; the n ar r a t o r is tlt e " ear " hy Brahm s, and th en there ful]o\vS ;; reat poo2try : th e wind - 1,w.n t cnri.n~ at th e briJ 6 c as a man stnnds wonJeri.ng �why does the river float up to th e sky In a Tolsonian thrust, "Rappin13 Alon~ 1,1ith I'-.on ~l;_i Da vi s " i s ,1 de li ghtful combination of }'. oon hea1:1s yams E.. aml slto11s Cunningl1.11n I s :1 hi lity to pL1ce dispar a te orJ e rLn ~s in lils poetic vis e . 11 /\ Street in Kau fm an-ville: place" is u stu<ly of the 11 or a note thrmm to c,tr o l yn f r o:!1 r o<l ge r s fra3ments" of Bob Kaufman in whom th e poet sees a madness unlike my own . . . . Arriving "From the Narrator's Tra nce," a song thumbeJ-dO\vn a cruiser for a r iJe .... Cunningham also writes of other poets anJ artists . In conductin g Id s fascinatin g experiments with the language, he celebrates the wide span of the hybrid Afro-American heritage. And certainly, here is a po e t co be closely watched. AI:1ong other Chicago poets who published volumes are: Gilbert, I-lv Own llallelui a hs (1971); Chiri, An /\cknowled ~ement to Mv Afro-American Brother (1968 ) ; Perkins, Black is Beautiful (1968); Winberli (Eben) ~h e cto Scenes (1968) and Revolution (1968) (' 'a new Ina·ck voice to .:ilar01 the establishmerit"-Perkins); Hargaret Durroughs, \-Jhat Sha ll I Tell mv Children W1to ·a re Rlack (1968); Greenlee, Blues for an Afric11 n Princess (1971); Lucille Patterson, Moon in Blacl~ (1974); Steph~ny, Hovinc Deep (1970); Royster , The Black Door (1971); Kgositile, Spirits Unchained (1969) an<l For l'!elb.:1 (1970); Butler, Black Visions (1968); and Jerodd To Paint a Black Picture (19&9). Yet a newer group, not all Clticagoans, have been published in Third World Press ' New Poets series : Anr,ela Jackson, Voodoo/Love Ma r, ic (1974); Damc1li (Denise Burnett), I Am that He May Be (1974); Fred !lord, After Hours (1974) and \ �Sandr c1 Roy ster, \/ome n Ta lk (1974). Th e se yo u ng po e ts d ea l with a v ar i e t y of subj e cts, thou gh with a s ma ller variety o f f o r~ s ; mostl y , however, th e y are concern e d with revolution, self-prid e , h e t e ro sex u a l r e lat ions and Tilack lif e in urban Am e rica. Amon g t he _ 1:w ny ,',oo d thin g s which e me r g ed fr om Chic ago was th e "n ew " Gwend o l yn Brooks who, as we s aw in Cbnpter V, ha s c1 l.ways been s olid in her Blackness a nd wonderfully ma g ic in her po etry. The Bro oks of In th e Mecca (1968), Riot (1969), Family Pictur e s (1970) a nd Al o nenes s (1 9 71) is not drasti c all y diff e r e nt from her form e r self • . In Report From Pnrt On e (1972), her autobio graphy, she appar e ntl y approved the u se of a MA<lhub11ti Pr e face which t e lls more about his own rcadin ~ an tl writinz pr obl ems th a n it J ocs about this g reat woma n's poetry . Madhuhuti com p lc1ins . ah o ut h e r c omp l e x vers e ; but her poetr y has never b e en "eas y " to read (prob a bly never will) and I'-iot c o ntinu e s that tradition of tou g hn ess , a po e try whi c h yie ld s men nin ~ after many readin g s. She employs mytholo gy , histor y , sarcas m n_nd ·d rama t ic dialo r, ue to reveal Hhite middle class pomposity even in face of a "lUot.," · lat~r incorporating Bing Crosby and Melvin Van Peebles, and aspe~ts of love. The ''Black philosopher" is th e thread that spines the section call1::d The: Third Sermon on the \farpland. Th e re a r c traces o f h e r t e r se c.i rli c r s tyle, p a rti c ul a r ly h e r unique word-sound .pro g r es sions: as he r und e rfed Ji a u nc h_c•s ·je r k _j azz . And a wh it e J ih e r a l, o l>servin 6 a r .io t, ask s "But \JJJY do Th e s e Peo ple o f fe nd t he:msL:lvcs? " a Jdin ~: th a t lt i s time to "h e lp." Fam ily Pi c tur e s c o ntain s th e s na ps hot s of h e r n ew y o, 111~; heroe s , th e p eopl e wh o h e l pe d h e r be come "Black." But despite 11c ll- r.1ean L11g sci lut e s to K0 o s itil e , Don , Br a d fo r d , a nd yo un ~ Afr .i ca ns , th e re i s a 111o not o ny of praise. Admitt e d l y, no on e is pe r fec t, a nd s h e i s a p pa r en tl y _____________________ _ ....__ �struf.?)in['., .:is har d with conunitment ns she is \-Jith the ncH poet r y . " Spee ch to the Youn1.1, " dedicated to 0\·111 In chilJren , the sensitive mother-poet gives advise that many ano t her young person might cuddle anJ cherish : Live not for The-En<l-of-the-Son~ . Liye in ci1e a16ng . Su ch advice comes at an i 1:1po rtant juncture when the world is mov in g righ t .ilong, to use a clich e , and l eavi ng behind those too mired in their own "self-revel.itions" to look , lis t en .::ind learn . Yet one c rownin g salute to this gre.::it lady of Black l _t ters wc1 s an impressiv e antholo:1y of poe t ry and t es t imonial s , To Gwen Hith Love : A Tribute to Gwendolyn llroois (1911), assembled by MuJhubut i .::ind others. Chica~;o poets were only a skip from places like Gary , Indianapo lis, Detroit, c1nd St . Lo uis , Cleveland , Kansas Ci t y , and the closeness provided interchan ge s and excha nges on all levels . Hotm-m ' s poetry output , like that of other communities , was also interwoven with related symb ols· :1110 ·· expressions of the new consc i ousness : ~~rgaret Danner ' s Boone Douse for · the Arts , Rev. Cleage ' s Shrine of_ the Black Hadonna, Motown Records, Bro.::idside . Press , Vaugl1n's Books t ore , and area Black studies projects. The poet~y h~b for the l ate six t ies and sev enties , of course, is RandalJ J s Erondside Press . Randail has changed as a poet and per so n, he says, in ways that pe rhaps parallel the changes in Gwendolyn Bro ol~s ·. A "f.ither" fi g ure among some new Black poets, he publishes dozens of them (over 100 at this writing ) , releases new books of his own poetry , serves as distribu t or of Breman ' s lle r itage Serles, and t ravels \.,,idely cJ.s .::i l e cturer , teach e r , libr.::irian anJ tr :msL1 tor o f Russi.::in poetry. A formalist by training anc.1 temper.::iment, T(andall c.lescribe<l hls new poetic stance in a statement in Modern a n.J Contemporary AfrorArnerican Poetry �(Bell, 1972) : ~fy poetics is to try to write poetry as we ll .:i s I can . I think I have said elsewhere th.:it the function of the poet is to write poetry . My earlier poetry was more formal. a· I nm tryi11 2; _to wri.te No\,r looser , more irregular, more colloquial .:ind more idiomatic veise. I abhor logorrhe.:i, and try to make my poems as concentrated as possible . Indeed, It~mdall h.is tried to do just th.:it- - moving from a traditional to a loose conversational verse. This he attempts in volumes like Love You (1970 ) and After the Killinr, (1973) . village o.r the "Miracle " e, -c \Jhen Randall is descrihin g a g;i.rl in an Africnn · love , he comes over genuinely and s tron::; . nut poer:is like " Green App l es" and "Words \fords \for<ls ' 1 show him out of · his field. These and otl1er pieces are merely vertical prose , appearing as rou~hed-obt lett~rs . But he is primari l y a librnrian , publisher , and eJiior whose service to Black poets has been and remains invaluable . This is seen not only -in his prod uction of their work, but in the many antholor,ies which he has edit e d . With , Chicagoan llargare t Burro ughs , he co-edited Malcolm : Poems on the Life and Death of Malcolm X (196 7), a foresigh t ful and - cornrnanclinn work . · Also to hi s e d it ing c r edit are Black Poetry (196~ ) and The Rlack-Poets (1971), the l atte r imbalanced a nd a ppa r ent ly quickly thrown toge t he r since it has practically . no Introduction and contains no bio-:bibliographical material on the poets . In addition to 11,m<lall and Har[iaret Da nner, other poets "i.n this upper Midwest area are James Randall (1~33Thomas (1939- ) , James Thompson (1936- ), Richard ) , William Thizpen (1948-1971), Naomi }~<lc ett , Hayden, Rocky Taylor (Teju1aol1 Oloi3lioni) (194_5- ) , Pearl Cleage Lomas (now living in ) , Malalka Wangara (1938- ~ - - - - - -- - -- - - -- - - - - - - - ), �Re;~L11:1l ,l 1./ilson (1S27Leonea<l l~aily (1906- ) , SoneL-2yatta (1956) , He lLa Boyd (1950- Jill \!itherspoon (19.'.i 7- ) , Carolyn Thomp son (1944) , Sh irley 1/ooJson (1 936- ), La Donna Tolbert (19~6) an<l Frency llo (1950- ,.1. ~ . .t~ • ~ t~t:~ - t,: ), ), Ste ll a Crews [;CS (19 -'f0- · can be [ound iu· Te n , .\ ,~1:oa<lsicle Tr c,asu ry, The !Hack Poets, anJ (l(..,. ), jn ). They t he sn, 11 iJ\ ?,_J indivi ,lu .:1 1 volumes re:..;uLirly puLlishe<l by Hroc1Jside Press. For further de- tail s on Detroit anJ other P.roadsidc poets see Broadside Authors and /\r tists (Leonead Bailey, 1974). James ltamlall h.:is published Don ' t /\sk He \·.'ho I /\m anJ Cities .:rnd Other Disasters (1973). llis poetry is i ntense , con11'iandJn)3 and dr...i 1,1atic . In " Netuork. . News," we are told that For years he ' cl watched the ~:rowin g 111:idi1<.~ss of the State . There ls irony and pathos as in "Street Games" where a b oy is blacl~ as the ancient curse of Africa A different kind of poetry is written by O]ogboni \Jho intennin:1lcs drum rhyLhms , incantatory meditations anJ sharp estLblish1nent-dlrected Larbs in Drum Son;'. (1969), Intro<lu,ed by C:,,,endolyn Brooks . The poet is also an artist who tells us in "Untitled " that the nir,ht contains indifferent stars . . .. · llayJen has Le en teaching at th ,! Uu iv ersity of Hichir,an , his alma mnter, since tb e lat e' sixties when' he le ft Fisk under pressure. l!is Words in the l-lournin°, time (1970) ~mticipatc the theme of J ay n e Cortez ' s overpower.lng " Festivals c, Funerals. " He seeks a place v1here man Hill no longer be called ni gge r, gook , kite or hunkie , _but " man. " Th e re nre fri ghten in f, poems ,::md terri[yin g images in \.Jords as Hayclen surveys the " Sphinx" ("my joke and me " ) , . i " Soledacl " ("cradled by drugs , by jazz" ), - - - - - - - - - - -- - - -- - -- 11 Kodachror.1es of the Island " �("fin gerless hands " ) nnd " El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz" ("the w::ikinr-; dreai:1 11 ) . "Zeus over Redeye " refl ec ts on n visit to the r,~'dsto ne J\rse1rnl. It is an intense drama, joining other great poems ns a major statement on our times . Western man ' s mythic totem, his depravity, his quixotic movements at the speed of a 1,lur, the hur:wn "loom" of t ens ion--all a r e sta~ed aga inst th e hacblrop missile arsenal where decith-machines bear th e names of ancient Grneco-Roman mytholo gical fi gur es . mythologies" to "cor.1e to birth ." Such namin r.; allows death-denline "new Among terms associated 1.Jith Hayden ' s nightmarish world of visibl /invisible and anticipated violence are dra gon, hydra, basilisk, tulips, corQllas, Zeus, J\pollo, Nike nnJ llercules. The missiles tower ("st as is") as a sacred phallic grove . .. . Apparently the guides cit th e arsenal cannot satisfactoril y ans1,er que stions about the missiles ' des tinies and dan ge rs : Your partial answere reassure me less than they appall . I feel as thou r;h invisible fuses 1-1ere burning all a ro un d us burning all around us. Heat- quiverin ~s p,itch dan ~e r's hypersensitive skin. The very sunlir,ht here seeri1s flammable. And shadows r.; ive us no relieving shade. Dismal and final, Ha yden ' s poem adds its own pa rticul a r tone, style and language to the leng theninf totem of the New Black Poetry. For, desp it e his disa r, re cments with the Black J\esthcticians, ther e is no doubt that �"Z eus " r ea ffirms a b e li ef expressed b y youn~er, sometimes loude r, poe ts: that the Hestern world is rloomed to d est ruction at its m-m hands (uill "off itself," a yo unze r poet mi ~ht sa y) and this is . what has been decreed. In fact, the theme of an approaching end is quite "American" in poetry, still being pre.:ic hed by whit e poet s. and spokc~s1,ian : from Dobby Dylan to Bi lly Graham . Rich con tri b ut ions liuvc illso been made by poets lllinois and Hisso uri. i.111J ar ti sts in so ut hern Eas t St. Louis anc..l St. Louis, thou ;;h located in t\✓0 different states and separated by the Mississippi , have a mut u a l hi story tha t ~ocs back before th e days of the f:.1mous Dred Scott Case . These Blncl~ co11m1unities , alternately mir ri n~ anc..1 loving , worked closely to ge ther duri11 6 th e 1tei~ht of t!te Black Art:s Hovcmen t. Poe t s and artists Here drawn to or s upported by HAG (!Unck Artist Group ), House of Umoja, The Blacksmith Sltop of CJ.ne t Cul tu .re , Black Liberator projec t, the House of Truth, Impack llouse, the Experiment in Higher Ed uc.a t i on at SIU, Sophia llouse, Katherine Dunham 's Performing· Arts Train.ing· Center ( EIIE_- SIU ), Black lliver lfri ters, and the So uthend l,ei~hborhood Center. Some of t he poets in th e area wer e Bruce Rutlin, Rhea Sharlem Carant, Sherma n Fowl e r, Red1 ,1onJ, Cynthia Conley. (who later joined OBAC), Arthur Dozier , J.,obb. Elliott, Austin Bla ck (192 8- ) (who went to Los Angeles), Pved Horton;_ Dwight Jenkins, Romenethn Washington , Donald Henderson, .Henry Osborne, Jon TTil shn , Vincent Clark, Gloria Walkir; Vince nt Terrell, Reginald Al len Turriage, Hayne Loftin, Derrick 1.Jright , Crcgo:ry ·Anthony, Katherine Dunhm:1, and others . Hritings by th ese poets are in c luded in Sid es of the River: ,\ Mini-i\n th olor,y of Black 1-Jritin5s (196 9 , Redmond ), ne tt y Lee's St . Louis-b ased Proud magaz in e which offers prizes, Th e Hil l Creek Intelligencer, n special issu e of Sou ' wester (fall, 1968 , selected by Redmond), The Black Libe r ator , Th0 Crea t or (1969) , Tambourine (19 66 , \Jhite and Schwartz), Collectiot1 (196 8 ), �Volume I of Poems by Blacks (1970). Dum.:ts, \Jho t;:iu r.,h t for a year at E..1st St . Louis (SIU-1.:J-IE , 1967-196 3 ), an<l ReJmond co-sponsor~<l writin~ prograllls in the l'...:tp-\Jrite Now \Jorksl10ps and Black River hfriters group . Collection was stu<lent-proJuceJ under Dumas' supervision, with Fowler an<l I.inJa Stennis serving as editors . EJ liot t writes, in 11 T11C· Dream Time," about the "spirochete wornb" of the mo th~r of the universe, the Phoenix, and the Jeath "f ashioned ut the end" of 500 years . Great Phoenix that she was, the mother of the universe now leaves the dreamer 1-llth only her creut murky sexuality .... Elliott is a dreamer anJ durre alis t but !Hack ushers in a diffl!rent tc1:1perument with his The Tornado in My Mouth (1966), Ile 11as the irrev erence of · the Beats, the funkiness and <lrive of the hard boppers, an<l the s_e_x uulity of one in hou pursuit. ''Asexu.:tl Flight" says a lllan's last wish is to h e banishe<l to the island of remiss and loose his love. Another mood is presented in "Razor Mama Democracy/. the ache in J-D" where the blue haze !Jurts and now the hair is turning " into ,:in ach ing r;rey." Black salutes "the gladiator" in "Coeval Drums for Lc-roi " hut in th e meantime he covers quite a bit of ~round : "the dea<l arterial insanity"; "futility in jil[rneJ crags"; "Kierke gaa rd/Sartre"; "lil~e drippin g, brine"; "ov er th 12 \-1ln<low of my being"; and f lna lly " Iler pmwr in howlin g \vinds" bring s A DIUJHBEAT FO:R LEIW I . -------------- -- - -- - - - ,. �f . "Blnck & Funky" i s subtitled " a hyrothctical orr,as1:111 onJ there is irreverence in "DAHH YOUR god ! II His II (a poem fo r HALCOLH . :n II is sub ti t l d "th e lib erated war-h orse ." In " Ca rryin~ a S ticL " Fo1-1le r c.sks : \11110 c.:1r c s, that I h ad yesterdny I s stale g um for breakfast? "Thinking " n llows v ar i o us ·i rnnges s tr eam nnd burst forth vomiting tictin z s only the mind can h c nr . Student-mother Romenetha Was hin g ton writes about tl1 0 pressur Ps on tnJay ' s Black woman watchine people Scurryin ~ from sun to sun •.• Also pulled al o n g , she says I protest but still I run. Loftin, a youn g poet who writes with economy and simplicity, su111marizcs Wrlght ,. and IialJwin up in "Reali ty": out of t!t e cotton fields anJ bur'nlng suns t o overcrowded citi es _ and s h ~,des of slu1J1 !; Itc:Jrnond anJ Fooler fonnded th e !.; Jack JUver Writer s publishin'.':, co111p.:111y \vhich brou~ht out Sides of th , Itiver . Currently under the supervision of Ca'ther-i.nc Yo un1.;e , t!t c pre:;s lws µublisheJ 1:.ed111ond ' s volumes : Toms (bru:.1dside) A Tale of Two (196 3 ), ,\ T::ilc of Ti1ue &. Toilet Tissu e (µ a 111phlet) (196 9 ), Sentry o [ the Four ColJcn Pillars (1970) , River of Eones nnd Flesh and Dlood (1971 ) , Sonus Fro:: an ,\fro/Phone (1 972) , In A Time of P..ain & Desire (197]), - - - - - - - - - - - - -- -- - - - -- - - -- - - - • • �anll an Lp , lHoodl Lnl:s , Thin;, s \73S nu Sacre<l P l:1c c s (1 973) . Consider L,rncliness as Thcs~ published in 1973 1.Jy C . nt ro Stucl i r Sc.::rn1bi J nto.nwzionali in lLv.ly. Redmond, a ncJ.tive of East St. Louis, strives fro Black famil, hoo<l (irmn~J i a t c and extended) in his poet r y ; thou~h he a ttempts to do this \tithout forced .::il]egianc ,,~; ,_ h1 itl1out 11 disfii3u r enent of per c ep tio1 s ," but by al lO\vin g the Je e <l - s h:, pinG wore.ls co11c naturally and historically . lli s poe try ranges from humo rou s folk portrnits like " Invas i on of the No s e ": llis nose was his r adar , l!is eyes ic y darts that moved fas t e r tl1 a n s peed - of-so und jets. Il e could rap like a pneumi.l tic drill Or croon like Smokey Dill when th e occasion ::i ro si:> . to consiJ~rations of lov e under s train as in "Inside My Perimet er ": Inside my perimeter Of fear s A unit of g uerillas S tri kes at Lhc barbed-\/ t. l·e llovels th .1 L ·hoard ou r love: Tha t inc arce rate our needs-An insurBent army Ston, s the bastille u f pride Shells t h is fac a J e of custo1,1, Knells t he collap se Of th e st r aw men inside us-Accepts t he sun, Al lO\•.'S tl l(· co ntort ed face · of ,: �Stress to smil ~ again-To s low a ga in ! Allows Love to Live . Els e\,hcrc in the lar 6 er nrei..l there \Jere/are other i3oings-on _in poetry : Im-. .'.l , Neocas k a. a n,1 Kc1nsas . City wh e re l!llbur Rutl eJg e (1 9110- ) a m! ot!i e rs as8oci n t (•J \•l ith the Af ro -American Cultural Center and the JH.-ick Wi:iters Horlu ;hop r e ceived , s sistance and exposur e . Amon ~ these poets ure Nary Ruth Spicer, Guiou Tay ,1r, Hi l lesse Hes t er and J ,1 ckie Hashin g ton . in Anth o l o;,,y: Black Hrit e r ' s 1-lorl~s hop (Kizna, 1970) Some o f th c r.1 are incluJ e d ;:J 1Hl Wnshin g ton has pub- lished Jomo (1971) . Locat ed nt the University of Denver for the year 1974-1975 where he s ubstituted for Hphahl c le Juring a leave of absence, Kg ositile U.93 8emb o di.es Pn n-Africani ~, m in fact a ll d symbol . ) Ile was born in Johannesbur g , Sou .h i\fricc1, nnd has be e : exiled in the United States sine 1961. His . articles , poems and interviews ha 1e been published on an international scale, and he h;:is t n u :>; ht at several Ame r i can colleges and universities . In ad,lition to books a] rc:id y menti o n e d, he h . s publj s hed Hy }lame Is Africa (1 971) ;:incl edit e d The \lord is ll e r e : Poetry from l·lodern Africa (197J). llis own esthetic is stated in hi s Introduction t o the antholo gy: Poetry, th e word at its most ex·p re s sive, can be a prayer, an appeal, condemnation, encoura r~ment, affirmation--thc li s t of en de avors is endless . And i f it is authentic, as anythin ~ else ex p ressiv e of a p e opJe ' s spirit, it is al, ~ays sociaJ . This con c ept he e mbraces in hi.s mm poems, especially in Africa where in the Introduclion, Gwendolyn Brooks writ r s thnt his Art is life wo r ked with; ... �llis Afro-Ame r ican brothe r s incorporated the Africanisms into their works and, K~ositsile combines his own indiginisms witl1 u mastered fluency of American Bla c tisms . He assays the ,~a l e of our turnu tuous times (in Africa and America), in terming linr; a n a c f[ u ired Bl a c k st r eet l an ;: uage wi t h a der:iand i ng and strin r, ent form . One cf tlte mo s t ;:ible crafts1nen, he unites excellent poems about chilJren, women, v i o lence, 1 usic, 1l~1 lcolm X, Lur.1un1ba, Gwendolyn Brooks, /1.frican Jances , eLll y llo]liday, or ''The Nitty Gritty" in ,,hich the~ once furious SLrngs ,1re nm, frozen on battered black lips The poets of t:1e. East , So u th , Hid,,,est anJ near West are a bit more than a hop, sl~lp and jumr from California , but many of them \•Je r e ln ~; pir 2 d by tv appea1anc c> s , lli!L ion~:l na 6 ..tzinc coveru~e, and cross-country tours of the W.:itts poets . Born, ,, ,:; i t 1-1ere, ie t ween the Cnlifornia sun a nJ tl1e rebellion of 1965 , the H.:itts \-lritcrs ' \ .orkshop was initially umler the direction of BudJ Schu luei:g . vision 0 ( Later , .:is 11lJer wr iters left unJ newer ones came in, tl1e super- · the \/Orkshop ,-, as assumed by Har r y Dolan and Herbert Simr,1ons . Related centers of culture and influence included the \!atts llappenin~ Cuffee House , the shor t-J.lveJ 'hreu magazine , J:,he \fat ts l~epertory Thc.:i t er , the Acquiarian 1 Bookstore, the Sons of \latts , the Bla c k Ponth~rs, Karenga s US oq1arii2ation , nnJ Frederick Douglas i; lhi ~e r s ' House which housed t l 1e \/a t es writers program . · Among those associate d with t his n nJ i.1ther writing groups were tl.llton HcFarlane , ) , Troupe Bowen, Pamel.:i Donegan (19~3- ' (1 9 131 ) , Robert ), Stanley Crouch (1945- ) , -Emme r y Evans Lance Jeffers , Lino , K. Curtis Lyle (l94L1- (1943 - ) , Fanita (1943 - ), Vallejo Ry.:in Kennedy (19~3- ) , Blos;,01 Powe , Ojenke (1\lvln Saxon , 19L,7- C . k . Horclnn<l, Jimmy Sherman (194 !, - ) , Johnie Scott (1948- ), T:dna Gipson ) ' ) ' ) , Ernest ) HayhanJ, Jar:ies Tl omas Jackson ( 192 ,'- (1946- ' (1947- ) , Simmons (1930Eric Priestly .) ' ); Jayne Cortez (1933- ) ' �l\lo s so1 ,1 Pmvc (19 29- ) , Sonora Hcl~eller (1 9],!f - Blr<l 2ll Chew (1913- ) , Riclhian, , anc.1 other s . antholo 0 i e s: ), Harley Hims (1925- ) ' Their \vorks arc in t\vO From the Ashes (19G7, Schulber3) and Wa tts Poets and Wr iters (196 8 , Tr oupe). Other poerns are scattered throu 2,h such periodicals as Los Angeles Ha :- ,:.1z.ii1c, Sitreo , Confrontation, and \le st . Seen as a movement, the Watts group, in quality a nd quantity, emerge ns one of the most powerfuJ_ on th e New Black Poetry scene (roughly res embling the magn ificent lloward g roup) . For although the poetry is not uniformly good or excellent, th ere i s cournge i n the visions, styles and th ewes th.:it one looks ha rd t o find in othe r groups . This may be du e in part to tl1 C' ml :; ratury patterns of lll ncks in th e Hest--most of these poets were not born in Los Angeles-- and the racial kaleidoscope of California . Whatever th e reasons, th e re is a prismatic rani3e in the poetry that moves from th e earth-1101.wn musicality of Jnyn c Cortez, across the a llusory nnd often mysLica l _ex_c ursions of Lyle, t o the si gnifying blue s interludes of Crouch who has a l so writte n s01ae <larin,_; and seminal criticism in Bla ck World and the Journal of Black Poetry . :.in' t No Ambulances for • no Ni13guhs Tonight (1972) is the titl.:: of both hi s hook and Lp recording which includes "r ap " as we ll as -poetry , wiL.h liner not e s hy Lyle . Crouch uses folk forms ancl themse i ntercwined with mus ic a nd variou s <lramntic t ec hniriues . Many of th e poems are deJicated t o mus icians lil: c Pnrl~cr and Co ltrane; oth e rs at t empt th e complicated s pont anei t y of live j az:: solos . The ti.tle poc1•1 anti cip.1tcs th e day of the f ina l riot when there wi l l . not be "no " ambulances for "ni g~ahs". But the poem's hero , Honkey Junior, · " go t on his job" like Na t Turner- . I Lyle says l1i s influ ences a te Artaud, Octavio Paz, Cesar Vallejo, Cc saire, and other s . His poetry is •,rounded in elliptical. phrases and obscure information • �which h e co nstricts into frightenin ~~ , surreal ima ge s and states. " Sometlmes I Go to Camarillo & Sit in the Loun~e" <lescr j_hes ho\v the poet s t.-ires into "an awnin)j of spirit ," viewinr, t he uorld as yellow tru11pets of starving blues Yet he;:ir i. n~ a _\'ietn ;:i: ,-.: Sc i,;othe r' s " ultra-hl[.)1-frequency screaw, ." told that "cob al t LulL~L!. ' ~.1i10 s '. t the henrt or t liere j_s a need to Sc ream." or \!e .ire t il e "J one ranie:r " i.n "Lacrlnws llm:ever , Lyle ' s most fa1 ;1ous poc' i,1 is "T Can Get it for You IT11olesalc ," .:.1 staten ,·,1t 0:1 the contempornry politi cal-r eligio u s- raci al scene . Oj 'nl~e has nn u1tllr1ite<l ran:3 c or intell e ctun l anJ s,h:la l concerns is he s c ul pts _1i i. s poetry from tlte <liverse in~re lien ts that produced the Ah-o-,\Jncrlcan . Apparently well-versed, ref lect ln~: hls f~ r eat knm1leJ1;e o [ Graeco-Rouau cLJs ~ Le s , " l\letck Pmver" has th e lyre of " Blnck Orpheus " pierce the dark solit u de of a 11.Jdean world : Ile wo1tders into anci e nt Greece .rnd in the same poem . is a cui.uuot i un caused by li~hlning nnJ frn'1ine, assassiu.J.ting tin people and whole grass-blaJ,. s? Later on Dio Lc nes, Socr.:1 tes a nJ th e Ora cle of Delphi e nt er tl1 .- poem. Blit these: characters only come t o \Jatts to fi nd pc1op le escapinr, lnto .J " toxicant " s ane t oo - true truth .... O_jenl~e :.lso 11ro te an Ln tr )ci uction to Evans ' b ook Tile Love Poe t Ev ans ' r e.::i Jin G ability, Ojenk.: said: (1971) . 1'Emmery is crying slyly into you r cnr .'' F,)r this poet, Evans ' ,, " Roach es " d epic ts n f.::i1;1iliar scene to -sor.1c : t 1vo ro aches dance across th c1 room to the tune of pover t y ; ... About �Scot t is one of t he mo re ucll Imo .r11 of the 1/o.tts poets . In "T he Fi sh Part y ," he s.:iys The fish are r;athering again tonight, ... And fish-watchers, i r_; norant of th e wor ld's prob l ems , ze t th e ir cha r ~es from trying t o 2ue~_s \-.1lwt th .:: fish will do . During th e conversation , Sco tt t .:.ilks partnt hetica lly about ,:~rind pover t y, but all i s Hey , look ? 11 excla □ atnrily interrupted: · Goldie has ea t en J es us up! 1-latts , 196 6" is a poem millions he ard on nat i onal tv . It has th e familiar th eme of Blacl: ra ge and ,,h it e indif ference . • Dut Scott closes it on memorab l e lines : The wrn named Fear ha s inh er it eJ half an acre , a nd is <1n[jry . Other l~tt s poe t s deal with love, viol ence, contemplation of fr•cdom and music . Hany left \fatts after th e l a t e sixties. Troup e wen t to Ohio Universi t y . (t o e dit Confron t a tion) and publish ed Enb r yo (1973), As h Doors and JuJu tui t ars (1975,, and co-edited Giant Talk: on to New York. Third World Voices (197~), a f ter moving Lyle, who has _not published a voluem, went to Was'hingt.Qn Universit y in St. Louis, and recently returned to Los Angeles~ Ja~ne Corte~ went to New York where she has lived and wrote since the late sixties. Her thr~e books are Pisstained Stairs and the Monkey Man's Wares (19o9), Festivals and Funerals (1971) and Scarificatioris (1973). She has also recorded an Lp, Celebrations and Solitude, ' (1974). · Her themes and styles are broad, but mostly embrace music as aspect and form. Africa, as stru gr; le and s pirit, is also a dominant th eme in her poetry. Pisstaincd is especially rich in its · t erweavings · in o [ mu si· c an cl s t r _u zg 1 e. "The Road" and is 1· s "where another l{anl<. moans'.' �Stoney Lone s ome "Lead" describes the kind o f hard li f e th a t i s "cra cklin ho t a sunrise." Lead, of course, is Lead P,~lly whom the "nigguhs" de s pera tel y want to hear spit th e blues out. li e r strur\g l e s a r e no t simple "contrivances" as they chronicle the ha rdshi 1J s a nd i~ ood times o f Dinah, Birc..l, oi:-nctte, Coltran e , " fa ts" Navarro, Cli ffo rd Brown a nd o thers--a veri f iable poetic ta pe stry o f Black e xp res s ion in d ef i a nc e o f death, f rom one who would ... eat mud to touch the r oot o f you .... Among other Southern California poe t s are Robert Dow en (1936lloze (194..,- ) , Arthu.r ;, ) , Dee Dee McNeil ,l:;,...,J- ), Kinamo Hodari (1~4v- Bill Thompson, and Lance Williams. Northern California has also been characterized by in- anJ t rans mi gr a tion o f Black poets and wri t er s. Indee d a l is tin ~ o f poe ts f rom th e ~cne r a l a r ~a o( the Sn11 Fr a ncis co Bay re a ds like a na tiona l conv entio n : Reed, You n3 ( 1939- ) , Anr, cl o L '1i s (1 950- ) , Mil ler, Lm1rc nce McC :.iu~;h (19L10- (Ha rv:!.n X), Lco ua \)e lch ( Hcifoir ( ) (n m, a t Br own), Conyu s (19 4 2- ) , Hnr per (] 938- Cl ycle Ta ylo r ( (1 947- Con cn lv~s ( l937- ) , He n a.:rn f'. r o1 111 ( ) ), Jo s eph ) , Gl en llylc s (1933- ) , Da vid llend crso11 , ,Jo n Eckel s ( Cc·o r:;c Ra rlow (1948- ) , ) , L.V. Ha ck ), El Muh aj ir (1944 ~ ) , Jo yc e Ca rol Thomas ·( 19 38- ), ) ) (Muu mba ), Pa t Pa rk er ( De Leon Ha rrison (J 9L1l- ) , Sarah Webster Fa bio (192 8- a nd }~ya Ange lou (1928- ). , ) ' ) , \H lli arn .\nde r s on : Ba y a re a ac tiv i t y in th e ar ts has been he i r,ht ened nnd enh a ncc<l b y the Sa n Franci s co Af r o-Ameri can ll l s tor i ca l a nd Cultu ra l So c i e t y , bookst ore s su ch as Herc , llarcus .::md New Day (Go ncalves ), nc tivit i.cs o f l' a nthci-s an J s i mila r t ro ups, the Rainbow Si r,n cultura l c ent e r i n ll e r l~c ley , J·"'\ I ,• �Nairobi College , a nd nume rous other cultura l a nJ lite ra ry pr uj octs. Poems by man y bard s are inc l u<led in Hill e r's Dice s of Bla ck Bones ( 19 70), J ourna l o f Black Poetry, Yarclbird Rea der (a semiannu n l e d it e<l by Reed, Yo un g , Cecil Brown, Youn g and My le s ), Umbr a Dl nckworks (H end e rson, all issues, esp ec i a lly 1970-71), and o t h or nationa lly di s tribut e d antholo r.; ies a nd period ic a ls. Re cd ha s published three voluuc s: c hurch (1971), Conjure: and seve ra l novel s . critics: cat e chi sm of d ne o.:11.1 e r i c.J n hoodoo Selected Poems, 1963-19 70 (1972), Ch.:i tt anoo ga (1973), His work has dr awn a curious misture of nt!je c tiv es from "brillia nt," " c ute," "jumbles a nd puzzl es ," "imp ort a nt," "bad comics" and so on. Tnceed ,Re e J wr it e s hi s po e try i n Lo h i s nov e ls ·and his nov e l s i n t o his poems . In this s e rvic e , h e emp l oys .dialec t s , Voo doo , t he occult, whimsic a lity , wit, mysticism, satire, which he obviously e uj oy s, a ll reinforc ed by .:i ssorted libr a ry information and stre e t-instinct s . lli.; violates time ba rri e rs, placinG an ancient Cr e el~ fi gure in a contem po ra r y poem, or vice ver s a. His verse f orms are experime ntal, rou ghly recallin ~ th o Beats and o tl1 e r r ecent or p.:1st stylistic irreverencies. There a r e no s ac red .cows for ReoJ \vho sometimes lambasts· Blnck nationalists nnd whit e lib e r ,1 l s in the same poem. Gen e r a lly, his techniques wor k (some a re a st oni s hi n: ; ); bt1t he often s pends to o 1:1uch time a tt ncki n;'. re a l or cr eat ed a nta [_;o nists a nd liavi nG fun at tl i.:.: expens e of r e aders. lli s titles alone are enou [!_ h to keep you slapping your thi ~h or scr~tching yo ur hea d: "I nm il "Re por t o f t he Reed Con:111 is s i on , 11 cowbo y in the hoat of Rn ," "The r e 's a whal e in my thi gh," "The fera l pioneers," "The Blac k Cock," "G r i s Cr is," Pinto, which She al s o Rout ed." 11 AnJ the Devil Sent a ford In 1973 Re eJ b cc aic1e th e f ir s t Bl a c k \ffiter to b e n ominat e d fo r a Na tio na l Book !'-. wnrd in two c c1 te go r ies . - - - - - - -- - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - �GoncRlves ( Dinga ne), an occas i on~ l po e t , i s u nique in his int elle ctualt yp o grap hical tap es tr y of ideas (se e BJnck Fire), but h i s serv i ce to Black poetry has been more obvious in h is wo rk as found er-edito r of Jonr n a J of HL1c k Po etry. He also served as poetry ed it or of Black Di.nlor;ue. A q ui et , but stea d y , i nfl ue n c e o n t he t!cw Black Poetry , h e has 1ff.itt12n some of t he most informed cr itici sm t o co11ie o ut of the period. Currently h e: ru n s/opcrat8S Neu JJ.iy nook.store in San Frnncisco, where Th e Journal nn<l its pres s ;.ire hcndquartered. Amo n g poe t s publish ed Ly the presi; arc Nenl and Uelt o n Sm.i.tli (Pen etrat ion, 1971), a virtuoso poe t 11ho was horn a nd rais e d in San l'r a n c i.sco . " tfa l coJm" enc.ls discuss.in t th e l~incls of tracks t e ,irs 1,1,, h.0 nncl t0.l l in}~ t l1e. · reader tha t in my h ea rt there are many unmarked g rnves. There a re a lso word- g ifts in "the dan g er zone,'' "If I could hold You for . Li ght, 11 "for a sorceress" ("you kee p chang ing me into air") and "Blac·k · Mo ther" ("an odd ecstasy movin g "); these join blues, excursions throu p.,h ·city streets, and thoughts on Africa .. Youn1; and Harper both teach wri ting at S.tanford and Brown. Yoi.m g has published Dancin p, (19o~) and The Son ~ Turnin P. Back i nt o -I t self (1971), as well as nov els a nd articles. His 'p oetry satirizes militants ·, salutes white and Third World po ets, and inc or porates legends into a bro ad base of linguistic knowled 8 e, t i tles o[ hi s books. There is a consistency of interest as seen in the In "Erosong " he finds himsel f dan cin r "naked" thou gh J\11 my shores had been p ulled u p 11 '' es, the Secret Mind Hhls p ers , " dedica ted t o Kaufmn n , calls poetry a "tree" forever at y our door .... - - - - - - - - - -- - - -- - - -- - -- - �('. Yo unR ran Res over the whole of the life experience, writin ~ about squirrels, jazz musicians, Spain, Stockholm, ni ght time a nd sorrow. His poetry is markedly diff erent from that of Harp e r who le ft California in 197u. llar pe r's volumes are Dear J ohn, Dear Coltrane (l:,7-., ) , llistorv is Yo ur Ch,m Heartbeat (1,711, Photo grn phs: Want a Hi tness (1973 1 (1::,,4). Nega tives: , History as Apple Tree ( 19/2;, Son,~ Debridement (l'.- 73 ; , and Ni 1~ht ma re Ber, ins Responsibility Praise for his poetry has come from a wide spectrum of eminent critics and poets, prima rily academicians, including Gwendolyn Brooks and Ha yden. Critic M.L. Rosenthal recently sing led out Har per and Bar aka as important examples of Black poets contributing to the new Arne r -i can po etry scene New York Times Magazine, November 2..,, 197 -, J. ~ The Laurence Lieberma n has also praised Har per who received nominations for the National Book Award as ~ell as the Black Academy of Arts and Letters First Annual Poetry Award. Har pe r has kept a consistency o f tone which critics pa rticul arly en joy a nd though his poetry sometimes lacks metaphorical tension ~funk ? ) to ignite the important statements he makes about Black music, there is a f irm intelli nince at work. His themes are illusion, pained creativity, war, racism, ja z~, nature, histor y, death, and the mythological evolution of mankind. Huch of his poetry is personal, confessional , and he interweaves a medical vocabulary into some of it. and musicians. He often inclu.-;ies chants, hums, and names o f songs His musico-poetic concerns can be seen in these lines f rom "Dear John, Dear Coltrane": Why you so black? caus e I am \fuy you so f unky? caus e I a m �Wh y yo u so bla ck? c a use I a m Why y ou so sweet? c a use I am Why yo u ~o-.E_l a ck? cause I am a love supreme, a love su p reme: El Muh aj ir (Marvin and ad amantl y Bla ck: ... X1 is a different kind of poet, Is l am-in f luenced Fl y to Allah (Bo 'o , Black Man Listen , bu ~;, Woman-- Man' s Be s t Friend ~l i7 3;, the l a tter obvious l y a reje ct io n of wh i te America' s · f eti s h fo r a nima ls. Ea ch book s a lutes All a h a nd cont a ins some occasionally well-turned poetry interming led with proverb s, parab les a nd song s. He p r a i s e s Eli jah Muhammad, Tommy Smi th, a nd announce s th a t "Bi gg er · Thomas Liv e s!" I n " The Or i g ins o f Bl ackn ess " he says Bl ac k is no t a color. bu t t h at All color e c ome f r om Bla c k ...• Myles a n d Eckels are also at di.ff erent e n ds of t he poe t ic S[kCtrurn v1hile lfcN;lir is i n t he middl e. of h i s drm1 i nr,s a n ci poems. My l e s published Dow n & Co u ntry in 1 97 l1 . . ~H, a col l ige He surv eys cont empo r ary li f e , his u pbrin~in:~ on " Bebop and blues in Ph oen i x , " a n c.l his experiences as :rn artis t anc.l art s tuden t . Ecke l s ha::; mo v ed from a p o <..! t ry or- :rn r: e r and prote st to a " p o e t ry \lrit t e n by a ln1man b e i nr, , for huma n b e inr, s." lli s books include Black Dawn , Th i s Time Tomorrow, rnack Ri g h t On, Tlome is Wh ere the Soul Is (1969), 011r Business is in the S t reets (1 970 ), and Fire Si ~~n ( 1973) , whic h giv es its name t o his press . In his early phas e Ec kels wrote ·abou t " Black Is, 11 11 1Jcll, Mary, 11 �"In Men,ory o[ Marcus, " "A Respo nsible !·l ee gr ow Le ad e r," a nd other poem s a lso coining an inter e stin g tenn : Western Syphilization Fire Sir, n " f or th e fre e and will be," s hows a thema tic a nd cultural b readth 1/ as he writ <: s l ov e po ems ,:rn <l salutes freedom in 2, enera l. NcNa ir, a cosmic poet who brid ges African spirituality and his own psychi c revelatio ns, has published Earthliook (1972) -and Juba Girl (1973). Cert a inl y the world \Jill hear more from this gifted young wri t er. J\rnon~ northern California women poets, Haya Angelou i s prima ril y a prose and script tffit e r , but ltas pµblished a book of poems : Drink of Water 'For I Die (1971). Ju s t Civ e l!e A Cool It wa s nomina t e d for the Pulitzer Prize. Pat Parker's 1rnetry can be foun<l in an excellent little volume called Cli.il<l of l[y s e lf (1972) and Di ce s. She uses her ovm woman- feelings t o asse ss landscape of the current upheaval. "Brother" reveals contradictions in the love -but-hurt approach some Black men take towa rds their women . The "system" she has just been struck with, she says, is calle d a fist. Otl1e~ poems deal with humor <1nd tra ged y in husband-wife r e l a tions. In "A Moment Left liehin9 11 she asks Have you ever tried to catc h a te a r ? "From Dee p Within" says the way of a woman is turbul ent with many forces and colors of feelin gs, but A woman 's body must be tau ght to speak-- ... Pat Parke r's work searches b ehind the cosmetics and the vo gue to tl1 e truth and t he disturbance . So does the work 6f Joyce Carol Thomas whose two books, �Bitterswee t (1973) and Cryst a l llreezes (1974), were pub lished by Fire Si gn Press. lle r poems are about women's moods, church, Black mus ic, children , and love. There is a moder n feel and te x ture ih her lines which e conomize and without <lisp] ayin g a bru p tness or und cciph er al1l e code. Yet he r s tren gth is unmi s tc1kable a s in "T .rnow a Lady": I knO\J ii Lldy A careful queen She bows to no one lier will is a Fine thr ead of steel .... In these poems, and the works' of Pat Park er a nd Leona ·ueld1, one sees a .. strong hea lth a nd future in Bay area \JOmen poets. Welch's first book, wa s published in 1971. lH n ck r.tbraltar -, Leona Here and there, one fin ds sub- dued ra ge and impatience before racism and ignorance; but her poetry also exalts th e Black woman a nd speaks in low tones to men. from f olk e xp re s sions to formiJl examinations of love. Her la11 ~ua ~e _ranges "Status Quo" i ~ th e study o f a Black with "class" and di gnity: Got my white poodle by the leash. Less able than the o ther women, he r poetry salutes n nu mb e r of l1eroin~s including women in her fnmily and tlil.i~i Gfovannil Fin;-illy there is tlte muc h-travel e d .Sarah F;-ibio, instrumental in Black studies developmen t in nortl1ern CiJli f ornia, but who now lives in Io wa. publi s hed two vo]umes, A ~ irror: She A Soul (1969) and Blacl~ Ts a Pa nther Caned (1972), and then without notice, brou ght out seven volumes (!) all in 1973: Soul Is: Soul Ain't, Boss Soul (also the name of her Lp), Black Back: Back Black, Juius & Jubilees, My Own Thin~, Juius/Alchemy of the Blues, �<" ',, and To µ-~ther/to the Tune o.: Coltrane's Eciuinox. Her later Hark is more formal than the later which shows that she has j oined the new poetry movement completely . One of her more memorable earlier pieces is "Evil is No Black Thin~" in which she takes all dark things traditionally a ss_ociated with evil an<l · reverses them; or, allows them to be seen in a lar ger context wherein they invariabl y embrace somethin~ that is li ~ht. Her later volumi- nous efforts deal with experimental blues, ra p-sty les, folk narratives, and the reconstruction of a c eneral Black oral histor y . This she does quite well on her album but much of the writing in the new books is too conversational. Cruz has published Snaps (19...,9) and Nainland (b7.,;. A Puerto Ric a n now livin g in the Bay , he writes with brevity about other poets, New York Cit y and other large northern cities, and Spanish mythology, often interpolating bi-linp, ual phrases in lines. Barlow (Gabriel, l':i 7--.; has done i mp ressive. things with language and history. Il. Rap published Revolution Is ·\17~~; and Netamorphis of Superni8cer (1973;. \-n1ile an inmate at Vacaville, Brown (Muumba) published Some Poems and Thinp,s (1~71). In Sacramento, the youn g poet Clarence }!Kie Wi ~fall has shown promise in The Other Side . ~1970), while Wes Young published Life Today (l7JQ, and Ramblin g and Thin~s tl97L;. Grant High School young Hlack poets 0ere included in Omnibus (1973,. At A number of youn ger and older poets ar e itudying with Redmond, who has tau ~ht at California State University since 19iO. His workshops are located on the campus as well as in community sites like the Oak Park School of Afro-American Thought. Meanwhile, in Seattle, 13lack Arts \vest is attractin g many poets; and across state at Washington State University poet Primus Sc , John writes and works with other writers. � 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_55 Title A name given to the resource Copy of Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History, typed manuscript, Introduction, Chapter I, Chapter II, and Chapter VI 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.