A review by msgtdameron
African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle & Song by

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

5.0

What can one say?  This is a fantastic collection of African American Poetry that is a must read for thoiseof us trying to understand what it means to be black and American.  I will be honest, I'm a white 61 year old male who can NEVER actually understand what happens when a black person is pulled over for minor traffic violations.  My skin color protects me from that.  And that mere fact is so so wrong in this country.  I try my best in this Red Racist Town of Abilene TX to support our black community and use my privilege to do so.  I loved this work!!  I learned much that I Brady new but poetry express's the feeling of being raped, beaten, cut out of the system so much better than history or even photography.  The Lost Baby by Lucille Clifton or Rape by Jayne Cortez show how ineffectyive the system is when applied to blacks.  A poem about my rights by June Jordan expresses how few rights Black America have.  Building Nicoles Mama by Patricia Smith hit home as a former HS bio teacher.  How the teacher is substituting as Mama for so many of her 2nd graders.  My daughter, who taught 1st grad had the same issue.  But in poetry I could feel the strain even more than when E-beth told us about her day.  #Say Her Name by Aja Monet really hit home.  As I drove around Abilene with Say herName on the back of my car I got both yea, Right On, thumbs up and race traitor, were going to beat you, and spit at.  ReRead first line.  My skin color stopped the actual violence.  Bigots thought process " If he was black the cops won't believe him, but he's white with Disabled Veteran Plates.  The y will believe him and we'll go to jail."  Now jail is where these bigots belong but until they swing?  Any way The last work that is going in my copy book is Dear _______ by Delana R.A. Dameron.  My family came to this new world around 1640 to 1650 in the Tide Water region of the Chesapeake.  The Marsh has our nam.  Some time around 1760 65 we became land poor.  We freed our salves and moved west.  SO I hope that after 250 years or so Ms. Delana would forgive our family sins.  I will be finding and purchasing her poetic works before the year ends.  I will also ask my younger daughter that these works should be bought for the Library she works for, she's the purchasing agent, as a forever tribute to both Black America and in a small way for one of the few good things my ancestors did.