Sad to say, my high school and university English courses were devoid of studies about African American literature or poetry. That’s what I get for growing up in the Rocky Mountains, I guess.
I knew about Alice Walker because of Steven Speilberg’s excellent adaptation of her novel The Color Purple.
(If you want to read some noteworthy notes on the novel in regards to African American literature and Women’s studies, click here. It’s prepared by Professor Catherine Lavender of The College of Staten Island of The City University of New York.)
My favorite African American poet...hell, she’s simply one of my favorite poets period...is Maya Angelou. Her poem "In the Pulse of the Morning," which she delivered at President Clinton’s Inaugural, ranks as one of my favorite.
But other than these two writers, my knowledge of African American poets was deplorable. So I’ve done some research this month and come up with a list of poets and poems that reflect some of the greatest.
I discovered the writings of Paul Lawrence Dunbar (1872-1905), who is known as the first recognized African American poet. I discovered the amazing works of Rita Dove, who served at Poet Laureate of the United States from 1993 to 1995. I discovered Amiri Baraka, considered one of the most controversial writers of our time. Nonetheless, his voice is strong and is poetry excellent, including his tour de force poem "Someone Blew Up America." And I discovered, by searching for other peoples’ favorites, the writings of Gwendolyn Brooks and Margaret Walker.
Below, I have linked to some of these writers’ most recognized and celebrated works. (And poems I fell in love with for some reason or another.) There are themes on oppression, slavery, emancipation, growing up, being a mother, overcoming our adversaries, being a poet, being in love, mourning the death of a loved one, being free, being human, and persevering. I hope you take the opportunity to go out and read all of them.
This aspect of poetry month, researching and reading the voices of African American poets, has been one of the most rewarding projects I’ve yet done. I’m a fan.
Maya Angelou
Alone
Still I Rise
In the Pulse of the Morning
Alice Walker
I Said to Poetry
The Old Men Used to Sing
Gwendolyn Brooks
We Real Cool
The Mother
Margaret Walker
I Want to Write
For My People
Rita Dove
Vacation
The Yellow House on the Corner
Golden Oldie, Exit, Dusting, and Lady Freedom Among Us
Amiri Baraka
I Find the Same Thing Looking Up
Someone Blew Up America
Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note
Paul Lawrence Dunbar
We Wear the Masks
A Death Song
Emancipation
Note: Other recognized poets I did not get the opportunity to study include Nikki Giovanni, Audre Lorde, and Jay Wright.
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