Of poetry & protest : from Emmett Till to Trayvon Martin

Cushway, Philip, (editor,, compiler.). Warr, Michael, (editor,, compiler.).

Summary: This work illuminates today's Black experience through the voices of transformative and powerful African American poets. Included in this volume are the poems of 43 African American wordsmiths, including Pulitzer Prize-winning poets Rita Dove, Natasha Tretheway, Yusef Komunyakaa, and Tracy K. Smith. Each is accompanied by a photograph of the poet along with a first-person biography. The anthology also contains personal essays on race such as "The Talk" by Jeannine Amber and works by Harry Belafonte, Amiri Baraka, and The Reverend Dr. William Barber II, architect of the Moral Mondays movement, as well as images and iconic political posters of the Black Lives Matter movement, Malcolm X, and the Black Panther Party. Taken together, Of Poetry and Protest gives voice to the current conversation about race in America while also providing historical and cultural context.

Record details

ISBN: 0393352730
ISBN: 9780393352733
Physical Description: 219 pages : illustrations ; 28 cm
print
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: New York : W.W. Norton & Company, [2016]
Copyright: ©2016

Content descriptions

Formatted Contents Note:

Elizabeth Alexander -- Amiri Baraka -- Wanda Coleman -- Kwame Dawes -- Toi Derricotte -- Rita Dove -- Camille T. Dungy -- Cornelius Eady -- Kelly Norman Ellis -- Thomas Sayers Ellis -- Nikky Finney -- C. S. Giscombe -- Duriel E. Harris -- Reginald Harris -- Terrance Hayes -- Angela Jackson -- Major Jackson -- Tyehimba Jess -- Patricia Spears Jones -- Douglas Kearney -- Yusef Komunyakaa -- Quraysh Ali Lansana -- Haki Madhubuti -- devorah major -- E. Ethelbert Miller -- Harryette Mullen -- Marilyn Nelson -- Sterling Plumpp -- Eugene B. Redmond -- Ishmael Reed -- Ed Roberson -- Sonia Sanchez -- Evie Shockley -- Tim Seibles -- Patricia Smith -- Tracy K. Smith -- Lamont B. Steptoe -- Natasha Trethewey -- Quincy Troupe -- Frank X Walker -- Afaa M. Weaver -- Ronaldo V. Wilson -- Al Young.
Opening pages, essays. Children's crusade / Tamara Ginn ; Preface / Philip Cushway ; Introduction / Michael Warr ; Talk / Jeannine Ambre ; Harry Belafonte / Black Power and the Impact of Words ; Protest poetry / Amin Baraka -- Poets/Poems. Narrative: Ali, a poem in twelve rounds / Elizabeth Alexander ; Wise 5 / Amiri Baraka ; Emmett Till / Wanda Coleman ; New day / Kwame Dawes ; Note on my son's face / Toi Derricotte ; Enactment / Rita Dove ; Conspiracy / Camille T. Dungy ; Emmett Till's glass-top casket / Cornelius Eady ; Superhero / Kelly Norman Ellis ; Identity repairman / Thomas Sayers Ellis ; Left / Nikky Finney ; Daytonm, OH, '50s & '60s / C.S. Giscombe ; Voice of America / Duriel E. Harris ; New rules of the road / Reginald Harris ; Some luminous distress (for Betty Shabazz) / Terrance Hayes ; Fannie (for Fannie Lou Hamer) / Angela Jackson ; Rose colored city / Major Jackson ; Infernal / Tyehimba Jess ; Saltimbanque / Patricia Spears Jones ; Tallahatchiue lullabye, baby / Douglas Kearney ; History lessons / Yusef Komunyakaa ; statement on the killing of patrick dorismond / Quraysh Ali Lansana ; Great wait / Haki Madhubuti ; on continuing to struggle / devorah major ; 10 race koans as presented to Charles Johnson on the morning of July 13, 2008 / E. Ethelbert Miller ; We are not responsible / Harryette Mullen ; Cells and window : after work by neogeo painter Peter Halley / Marilyn Nelson ; I hear the shuffle of the people's feet / Sterling Plumpp ; Poetic reflections enroute to, and during, the funeral and burial of Henry Dumas, poet, May 29, 1968 / Eugene B. Redmond ; Sweet pea / Ishmael Reed ; Not brought up / Ed Roberson ; Elegy (for MOVE and Philadelphia) / Sonia Sanchez ; x marks the spot / Evie Shockley ; At 59 / Tim Seibles ; NO WOUND OF EXIT / Patricia Smith ; Duende / Tracy K. Smith ; Such a boat of