Blacks (ONE BOOK, ONE CHICAGO) Special Limited Edition
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This Special Limited Edition for “One Book, One Chicago” was funded by the Poetry Foundation and printed by Northwestern University Press
Gwendolyn Brooks
a capsule course in Black Poetry Writing
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In this handbook, four authors write on the same topics but with varying emphases. Gwendolyn Brooks sketches the background of Afro-American poetry and offers practical hints and exercises for writing. Keorapatse Kgositsile discusses the role and situation of the black writer. Haki R. Madhubuti (Don L. Lee) explains an author's commitment and discusses the use of words, metaphors, symbols, and characters. Dudley Randall analyzes the syntactical and rhythmical structure of verse and gives suggestions on marketing. The book includes lists of books and articles for background and technique, answers to questions asked by beginning writers, and work sheets showing the growth of a poem.
Sonia Sanchez
Home Coming
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Her first poetry collection, Homecoming (1969), contains considerable invective against “white America” and “white violence”
Gil Scott-Heron
So Far, So Good
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A collection of poems written by the progressive jazz artist, Gil Scott Heron. These works are very political in nature and comment on the current matters of interest during the period of the 1970s and 1980s. The artist shows himself to be a keen analytical observer of the society and its impact upon the people.
Gwendolyn Brooks
Aloneness
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A little boy reflects on the difference between being lonely and being alone
Gwendolyn Brooks
Riot
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‘Riot’ by Gwendolyn Brooks is a poem that illustrates the dissonance that exists between the privileged and those who are driven to desperation to riot.
Amiri Baraka
Wise, Why's, Y's
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A poetic voyage in five parts that charts the ebbs and flows of the African-American movement.
Gwendolyn Brooks
Beckonings
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"The aching loveliness of these poems is sometimes close to unbearable. Through the magic of Gwendolyn Brooks' words, we hold in our souls' eye a vivid image of our beauty, we glimpse what we might yet be. An incredible woman, this poet: she would urge us into our ultimate, our transcendent humanity, with her love."
Gwendolyn Brooks
Near-Johannesburg Boy and Other Poems
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Brooks writes about Africa and the African Americans.
Opal Moore
Lot's Daughter
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Chronicles the migration of African Americans from the echoing expanses of Mississippi to the hustle of Chicago life. Chicago-native Opal Moore's poems speak of long-ago ancestors whose presence resonates through time, life, and love. Noted for her graceful wordsmithing, Moore tells of the transgressions of transplantation with heart-wrenching honesty and skill.
Gwendolyn Brooks
Primer for Blacks
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Brooks talks to her Black sisters and writes a short statement about the need for Black self-awareness.
Gwendolyn Brooks
To Disembark
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Unforgettable poetic imagery by one of the greatest female African American poets that captures the viality and complexity of Black life.
Allyson Horton
Quick Fire
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With prose covering such relevant topics as abuse, racism, slavery, and sexism to music, hope,
Haki R. Madhubuti
Don't Cry, Scream
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In this classic collection of poetry, the reader will find a bold poem for each crucial issue of Black life.
Philip C. Kolin
White Terror Black Trauma
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The 61 poems here concentrate on some of the most traumatic events in Black history from colonial to contemporary times, from the arrival of enslaved Africans in 1619 to Black revolts, Civil War atrocities, incalculable lynchings, the Tulsa massacre, the brave sacrifices of Rosa Parks, the Freedom Riders, the heroes of school desegregation, the murders of Emmet Till, Dr. King, Fred Hampton, Malcolm X, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, George Floyd, Breanna Taylor, Eric Garner, and Tyre Nichols. And so many other Black tragedies. Each poem here carries a brief head note identifying the person, place, time, or event that addresses the historical context of the poem. Some poems are written in a his/her recollection of the historical event. Above all, each poem highlights the topography of Black trauma, be that a Civil War fort, a lynching tree, a prison, a school, an island, a ghetto, a river, a national monument, a church, or city street. These resistance poems are chronicles, laments, petitions, heroic recollections about racial attacks on Black people in America.
Pearl Cleage
Brass Bed and Other Stories
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Readers will be enlightened by this chronicle of common experiences from the author of ""Mad At Miles"" and ""Deals With The Devil.""
Mzee Lasana Okpara (Fred Lee Hord)
Straight Wobblings of My Father
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Hord focuses upon his relationship with his father, but other poems of love, friendship, and commitment to activism are included in this book.
Nora Brooks Blakely
Seasons (Paperback)
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Seasons: A Gwendolyn Brooks Experience captures her life and work in a new book filled with thematic collections of her poetry and prose; photos; memories from family, friends, peers and mentees and gripping illustrations from the award-winning artist, Jan Spivey Gilchrist. Now more than ever the words of Gwendolyn Brooks demonstrate their continued relevance in the 21st century. The national centennial celebration is one part of a resurgence of appreciation for her powerful work and the impact she had on 20th century literature as well as the Black Arts Movement.
Keorapetse Kgositsile
Present Is a Dangerous Place to Live
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The poems are penned by a South African who observed and absorbed the culture of African Americans. These verses contain his observations of this Black culture and the connections with his native South Africa.
Ginger Mance
I Say a Prayer for You Black Men
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This book-length poem is a love poem and prayer to all Black men, a wake-up call for America to atone for its injustices towards Black men, and a voice of instruction for Black women.
James E. Cherry
Honoring the Ancestors
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The frustration, anger, and restlessness caused by African American oppression are exorcised in this moving collection of poetry. Speaking initially from the perspective of black struggle, these works evolve to invoke the common denominator of all humanity. A familiar voice laments the feelings of a shared past, including tributes to Paul Robeson, Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Muhammad Ali, as well as non-African American icons such as Che Guevara, ultimately offering a more thoughtful and transcendental vision of human suffering and injustice.
Regina Jennings
Race, Rage, and Roses
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In this collection, Regina Jennings' poems passionately reveal the beauty and tragedy of women in the Black Panther Party and beyond. She explores the often haunting reality of growing up Black and female during the spirited, tumultuous 1960s and 1970s. In spare, often brutally honest narrative verse, Jennings spins stories of home, homelessness, and rebuilding home.
Gwendolyn Brooks
Winnie
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A group of poems dedicated to Winnie Mandela, the wife of Nelson Mandela who was the first indigenous leader to hold the office of President of the Republic of South Africa.
Aneb Kgositsile
Shrines
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This collection of poetry explores the intimate beauty of our most sacred places. The landscape of these poems is as far-reaching as the continent of Africa and as close as the next room.
Kelly Norman Ellis
Tougaloo Blues
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This collection of poems explores the author's southern roots through a blues/narrative voice and revisits her Mississippi youth, while revealing the contemporary voice of a Black woman searching for place and community outside of her southern past.
T. M. Stringfellow
More Than Dancing
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Challenging modern America's perspective on love, history, and race relations, these poems deviate from such techniques as free verse and abstraction to concentrate on structured forms such as odes and Italian sonnets. The unifying idea of the book also comes from the classics: the poet views black artists as Prometheus figures, giving fire and inspiration to American culture even when they are barely acknowledged. The poetry's message, however, is gritty and emotional--and sometimes deliberately sentimental--as it pits the joys of love, romance, and racial pride against the sorrows of slavery and segregation.
