BLACK POETS REMEMBRANCE DAY

JUPITER HAMMON   1711-1806 - Poet

One of the founders of Black Literature. The first Black writer to be published in America.

GWENDOLYN BROOKS   1917-2000 - Poet

The first Black poet to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (1950)

MAYA ANGELOU      1928-2014 - Poet

In 1993, Angelou recited her poem, "On The Pulse of Morning, " at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton, becoming the first poet to recite a poem at a presidential inauguration in 32 years.

GIL SCOTT-HERON    1949-2011 - Poet (Bluesologist)

His poetic style has influenced every generation of hip-hop artists.  

POETRY CHALLENGE THIRTEEN

IT IS GENERALLY CONSIDERED THAT (13) IS AN UNLUCKY NUMBER. BUT WHAT ABOUT WORDS? WHAT MYSTICAL POWERS DO THEY POSSESS?

WRITE A POEM FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH USING THE FOLLOWING (13) WORDS. THERE WILL BE (3) GROUPS OF (4) WORDS EACH, AND A (1) WORD GROUP.

CROW                                                      IMAGE                           WALL                        TEARS
SWAN                                                      MYTH                             ANCIENT
IMPROVED                                            TERROR                        DAWN                  
UNCHANGED                                        SWEPT                          DUSK

POETRY EVENTS - CHICAGO

PERFORMANCE August Wilson: From Poet to Playwright Thursday, March 25 7:00 PM Poetry Foundation 61 West Superior Street Free Admission

Although best known for his “Century Cycle” of plays detailing the African American experience in each decade of the last century, Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson began his writing career as a poet, creating pieces of uncommon beauty and energy. As part of Goodman Theatre’s six-week celebration of his life and career, the Poetry Foundation is pleased to present a special program of Wilson’s poetic writings.

POETIC BIRTHDAY

AUDRE LORDE was born on February 18, 1934 in New York City.

The youngest of three sisters, born to parents from the Caribbean, she was a poet and writer.  A recurrent theme in her writings explores pride, love, anger, fear, racial and sexual oppression, urban neglect, and personal survival.

Audre wrote her first poem when she was in the eighth grade. After high school, she attended Hunter College, where she earned her bachelor's degree in 1959. Two years later in 1961, she received a master's degree in library science from Columbia University.

Her first volume of poetry was published in 1968. A second volume followed in 1970. 

Throughout her career, Lorde wrote at a feverish pace; and as she grew older her poetry became more personal and open. To her, writing was more than a choice, or a way of making a living,  it was her responsibility. As a result, she has produced numerous poetry and non-fiction writing collections.

Audre Lorde died at the age of 58 in 1992 .

To read a more detailed bio and check out her poetry collections Google-search her name

READ THIS POEM OUT LOUD

Willow Poem   William Carlos Williams

It is a willow when summer is over, a willow by the river from which no leaf has fallen nor bitten by the sun turned orange or crimson. The leaves cling and grow paler, swing and grow paler over the swirling waters of the river as if loath to let go, they are so cool, so drunk with the swirl of the wind and of the river— oblivious to winter, the last to let go and fall into the water and on the ground.

POETRY CHALLENGE TWELVE

THE LAST LINE OF LUCILLE CLIFTON'S POEM  "WON'T YOU CELEBRATE WITH ME," READS AS FOLLOWS: "come celebrate with me that everyday something has tried to kill me and has failed!"

WRITE A POEM WHICH DEPICTS WHAT STRUGGLES YOU HAVE FACED AND HAVE EMERGED FROM TRIUMPHANTLY.

POETRY CHALLENGE ELEVEN

WRITE THE POEM THAT DEVELOPS INSIDE YOUR MIND WHEN YOU MUSE ON THIS IMAGE.

POET PROFILE

George Marion McClellan was born on September 29, 1860, in Belfast, Tennessee. He was a poet, writer, minister, and educator.

Although very little is known about his early life, in 1885 at the age of 25, he got his degree from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, and two years later he received his master's degree, also from Fisk.

During the beginning of the 1880s, McClellan composed poetry and in 1895 published "Poems," a collection of his works. He republished this volume in 1896 under the title "Songs of a Southener," and in 1916 he published his second collection of poetry, "The Path of Dreams."

Although his poetry and other writings were not considered protest poetry, like a lot of the early Black poets before him, his works did express some consciousness of race and the struggle for equality.

In 1891, McClellan received a bachelor of divinity degree from the Hartford Theological Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut and later served as a Congregational Minister back in Nashville.  

Between 1894 and 1896 he worked as a chaplain and teacher at the State Normal School for Colored Persons in Normal, Alabama.

In 1901 his poetry appeared in an exhibit at the Pan American Exposition, and a subsequent review in the New York Times compared his work to that of the renowned poet Paul Laurence Dunbar.

Throughout the remainder of his life, McClellan continued to fight for racial justice, dignity, and equality for Black people. He died in 1934 at the age of 73. 

TO READ A COMPREHENSIVE BIO AND SAMPLE HIS POETRY GOOGLE-SEARCH HIS NAME. NOTE: To avoid confusion with someone of the same, name please Google-search George M. McClellan, poet 

POETRY CHALLENGE TEN

WRITE A POEM PAYING TRIBUTE TO CHARLIE SIFFORD. 

If you don't know who Charlie Sifford was, log on to jcdudleypoet.blogspot.com to find out. Look for post of 2/5/14...In Memory Of...

POETRY EVENT - ST. LOUIS

Home / Events / Dawn Lundy Martin Reads From Her Poetry

Dawn Lundy Martin Reads From Her Poetry

February 5, 2015 - 8:00pm

Hurst Lounge, Duncker Hall 201

Dawn Lundy Martin is the author of A Gathering of Matter / A Matter of Gathering (2007) and DISCIPLINE (2011), which was selected by Fanny Howe for the Nightboat Books Poetry Prize and a finalist for both Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Lambda Literary Award. She is a member the experimental black poetry and performance group, the Black Took Collective, and Associate Professor of English at the University of Pittsburgh. Her most recent collection Life in a Box is a Pretty Life is published by Nightboat Books.

POET PROFILE

Langston Hughes was born on 2/1/1902, in Joplin, Missouri. He was a poet, novelist, playwright, and composer. At one time he was considered the "poet laureate of Black people." 

Hughes' interest in writing came at an early age. While attending high school in Cleveland, Ohio, he wrote for the school newspaper, and edited the yearbook. It was also at this time that he began to write his first poetry, short stories and plays.

His first poem, "Weary Blues," was published in 1926. His first novel, "Not Without Laughter," was published in 1930.

Hughes earned his B.A. degree from Lincoln University, a historically Black college, in Chester County, Pennsylvania in 1929.

His poetry is filled with images of rural and urban class Black people and their experiences in the cultures of blues and jazz. His eloquent prose and poetry is considered some of the very best work of any writer in the first half of the 20th century

Hughes died in 1967.

To read more of his remarkable career Google-search his name