Let’s read some Black poets today
Oct 21 2024

October 17 is annually recognized as Black Poetry Day, honoring the contributions of Black poets and writers throughout the world’s history, both past and present. I’ve got some AMAZING recommendations to celebrate!! I’ve gathered the names of a few poets – both popular and lesser-known – and the titles of some of their poems for you below. If you’d like to learn a bit more about this holiday and get some more recommendations, I encourage you to check out the American Writers Museum website where you can find a post on Black Poetry Day! Great poets to check out:1. Gwendolyn Brooks
I was first introduced to the magic that is Brooks’ work in university (THANK YOU DR. MILLER!!!) She was an American poet, author, and teacher. Her work often dealt with the personal celebrations and struggles of ordinary people in her community. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry on May 1, 1950, for Annie Allen, making her the first African American to receive a Pulitzer Prize. Some of her most famous works include:- We Real Cool – the poem that introduced me to her! – (1959)
- Annie Allen (1949)
- The Bean Eaters (1960)2. Langston Hughes
Another poet I was introduced to by my favorite professor (thank you yet again, Dr. Miller). Langston Hughes – full name James Mercer Langston Hughes – was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance. Some of his most famous works include:- Let America Be America Again (1936)
- Mother to Son (1922)
- Harlem (1951)3. W.E.B. Du Bois
And yes… yet ANOTHER amazing poet Dr. Miller introduced me to (I owe him quite a lot, especially since I came from a small-town French-speaking high school and went to an English-speaking university). William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was an American sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in a relatively tolerant and integrated community. Some of his most famous works include:- In God’s Garden (1912)
- El Dorado (1908)
- Sorry (1895)Hidden-gem poets to check out:1. Alan King
Alan King is a husband, father, and artist, who lives with his family in Bowie, MD. He is the author of Crooked Smiling Light (Plan B Press, 2021); Point Blank (Silver Birch Press, 2016), a Washington Post bestseller; and Drift (Aquarius Press/Willow Books, 2012). He’s also an award-winning documentary filmmaker and poet. 2. Crystal Boson
Crystal Boson writes short, dense poems that lay bare the complicated geographies of the United States and the lives of the Black, queer, and marginalized bodies that dwell within its boundaries. She currently writes about, and resides in the midwest.She is a Cave Canem and Callaloo fellow, and was awarded the Langston Hughes Creative Writing Award in 2014. She has work published in Blueshift Journal, Pank, Parcel, among other locations. Most recently her work: the bitter map was selected as the winner of the 2017 Honeysuckle Press Chapbook Contest by Saeed Jones. Check out:
- the bitter map - Honeysuckle Press. July 2018.- The Queer Texas Prayerbook - Seven Kitchens Press. September 2012- The Icarus Series - Seven Kitchens Press. October 2009.3. Tariq Touré
Touré's poetry and prose has been featured in award winning publications such as Muslim Matters, Salon, Washington Post, Al Jazeera, The Nation Magazine and Sapelo Square.
Check out:
- Old Bay (2020)
- Colin Kaepernick: For the Love of The Game (2017)
- What Maya told Chappelle (2017)As always, please don’t hesitate to share your favorites in the comments! Whether they are individual poems, collections, or the poets themselves – let’s chat about them!