We want a black poem. And a
"Black Art" by Amiri Baraka
Black World.
Let the world be a Black Poem
And Let All Black People Speak This Poem
Silently
or LOUD
Tuesday, March 2
- In class:
- Introduction to the Black Arts Movement
- Amiri Baraka (Poets.org) (Penn Sound)
- Nikki Giovanni (Poetryfoundation.org) ("Ego Tripping") (Tedx Talk)
- Assignment:
- Read Black Arts Movement in Princeton Encyclopedia
- Read intro and poetry by Ishmael Reed and Gwendolyn Brooks
- Watch Nikki Giovanni's Tedx Talk (link), respond to it in general here, and annotate "Ego Tripping" (link) by selecting excerpts and commenting on them. I encourage you to reply to your classmates' comments, to the point of having a conversation around the poem.
Thursday, March 4
- In class:
- Assignment:
- Read "New York School" in Princeton Encyclopedia.
- Read "Personism: A Manifesto" by Frank O'Hara
- Read Frank O'Hara bio and poems.
- Read John Ashbery bio and poems.