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Apr. 30, 2005 There are those who might argue that poetry—at least in the traditional sense—is a dead art form. But afrocentric poetry websites, books and writers are making their way into the mainstream, led by a cadre of young poets like Marcus J. Harris, Linda Dominique Grosvenor, Tzynya Pinchback and Walee, all of whom seek to capture the uniqueness of black life. Haki Madhubuti defines himself as a poet in what he terms, “…the African griot tradition; a keeper of the culture’s secrets, history and short tales; a kind of rememberer.” (Haki Madhubuti, “As Serious As First Love,” Black Genius, (New York: Random House, Inc. 1999, p. 55) Madhubuti adds, “It’s pretty much common knowledge in academic circles…tghat you don’t teach political poetry. The way I feel about it is we’re leaving out probably over sixty percent of the poetry that has meaning.” (“The Reason Poets Are Not Legislators: An Interview with Haki Madhubuti—Pt. I, by Quraysh Ali Lansana, www.thirdworldpress.com) This is particularly true of Madhubuti’s poetry dating back to the 1960s and 70s (much of it written under his given name, Don L. Lee) and that of his contemporaries Sonia Sanchez, Gwendolyn Brooks, Amiri Baraka and Maya Angelou. These works were written during a time of unprecedented political unrest in America and abroad. To understand the history of any era one needs look no further than the art –written and otherwise. It was a time when phrases like “Black Power,” “Black is beautiful” and “Say it loud, I’m black and I’m proud” had special meaning in the black communities of America. Like Spike Lee, Madhubuti uses his unique mode of expression to elevate the level of consciousness among black and white Americans. Both stress an understanding of history, with Lee focusing on the events of the past 50 years (Get On The Bus, Malcolm X and his documentary Four Little Girls). Madhubuti lived at the heart and height of the black nationalist movement and was part of the development of the Black Arts Movement. He states, “History, accurately understood, is very important to our struggle. As former chattel people…we would be foolish…to turn to former slave traders for answers.” To understand our history and tell it accurately is to focus on more than our history as slave laborers, but to study and discuss our common history as artists, innovators and intellectuals. If all we know about our history is slavery, then it holds that we would embrace a sort of slave mentality. Knowing our history, that is common experiences, shapes who we are. We must more importantly, learn the subtleties thereof. Madhubuti illustrates this idea in the following analogy: ”…a blue, plastic airplane with blue wheels, a blue propeller, and a blue string on the front of the plane so that I could take it home and roll it on the linoleum floor. Then the following week she took me and my sister to Dearborn, Michigan where she occasionally did domestic work. This was back when our mothers cleaned up white folks; homes. Dearborn was where the men who ran the automobile industry lived. I quickly noticed that they lived differently. There were no five and dime stores in Dearborn at that time. There were craft shops. There were hobby stores where white mothers and fathers brought their children airplanes in boxes. In the boxes were wooden parts and directions for assembling and gluing small airplanes. After the plane was put together, the little boy did not roll it on the floor. He took it outside and it flew. I was learning to be a consumer who depended upon others to build the plane for me. Translating that into the larger world, I was being taught to use things and to use my body from the neck down, while the white upper class boy was being taught very early to prepare himself to build things, to run things, and to use his body from the neck up. My world depended upon others…His world consisted of controlling, running, making things and having other people work for him.” (“As Serious As First Love,” Black Genius, p. 64) “In this slice of life you see two different kinds of consciousness being developed. In my case and that of the other poor youth, we would buy the planes already assembled, take it home, and hope it rolled on the floor like a car or truck. But it was a plane! In Dearborn the family would invest in a learning toy that the child would put together, and through this process learn work ethics, science, and math principle. As a result of that, the plane would fly. Like Lee, Madhubuti created his own financing plan to create his own publishing company, Third World Press and the Institute For Positive Education. Madhubuti raises the question what do black geniuses and intellectuals owe to the black community? The answer is to contribute to the education, cultural enrichment and economic development of that community, or as Maulana Karenga asserted in 1969, “make the black community more beautiful than it was when we inherited it.” “The Quotable Karenga,” 1969 Saidi Publications, Los Angeles, California) Next: Angela Davis, Jocelyn Elders and Gwendolyn Brooks ------------ About the author: Timothy N. Stelly, Sr. is a 46-year old poet, novelist and aspiring screenwriter who resides in northern California with his three youngest children--Lawrence, Kimberly and Dante. He is a member of various writer's groups and has three novels in print, his most recent, "Like A Straight-Up Sucka," is available at www.lulu.com. website: http://stellbreadO@tripod.com Email: stellbread@yahoo.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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