People have all kinds of ideas and things to say about what poetry does and does not do. I hear people often quoting William Carlos Williams saying:
“It is difficult to get the news from poems yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there.”
I tend to disagree with the suggestion that you cannot get the news from poems, but I think that is conversation for another day.
Today I had the opportunity to use poetry in a manner that will empower people to do something for themselves and others. As part of Activate! IFC’s advocacy program I conducted a poetry workshop on writing poems of Self-Definition and Self-Determination. Activate! IFC serves populations experiencing homelessness, voter disenfranchisement and a range of equity centered issues. You can learn more about them here .
I had the privilege to listen to people telling their own stories and writing new ones that would be mantras for them to use as encouragement for themselves in dark times. I saw them offer encouragement to one another to share their stories and to advocate for themselves in their own words.
I had them writing short poems using the prompts “I am…” and “where I’m from…” that I got from Willie Perdomo. I was always so moved by Willie Perdomo‘s poems from Where a Nickel Costs a Dime because I the speakers in his poems sounded like people I knew.
I know that poems may not necessarily put a roof over some the workshop participants heads, but a poem could be the thing that moves them to advocate for themselves for more affordable housing or a livable wage, so I am thankful for that. If poetry can do that everyday I think poetry does a lot.
I have some changes and updates planned for my website, so please bear with me as I try to keep up with this thing alongside everything else in my life.
Thanks for your support for the faithful who come here looking for info about me and my work.
Over the years it has been so cool to see the work of so many poets who are friends, who I have met or whose work I just love on The Academy of American Poets website (and Poetry Foundation too).
To quite honest, I never thought anything I had written would find itself there. So you can imagine how beside myself I am with gratitude and jot that 2 of my poems Austerity and Currency are now on The Academy of American Poets’ website. One of those poems, Currecncy is included in The Next Verse Poets Mixtape Volume One: the 4 X 4 (Central Square Press) which you purchase here.
It’s been a long time since I have posted an update, but that is going to change soon. As many of your know I have been selected to serve as Carrboro’s Poet Laureate, soI am trying to figure out how to reconfigure this space to best keep you all informed and engaged about stuff that I am doing.
Stay tuned…
Hey y’all
I am having some issue with my website. The Center For Poetic Thought section is not opening and my url redirects are not working bear with me as figure out what is going.
If you have any questions about what The Center is just hit up the Contact page.
Me @ Studio Sidibe, The studio of renowned Malian photogrpaher, Malick Sidibe.
As usual, the end of the year puts me an introspective mood, which sends my mind all over the place. Very often I find myself thinking about the future, what the next move will be for me, my art and my family. But quite often before I dive into the future, I find myself thinking about the year that has passed, what I have lost, gained, learned or even what I am going through at the present moment.
As those thoughts pass through my mind, I am in a mood of gratitude in general , but also because of some recent good news…
A few months ago, one of my poems was accepted by The Editors (Mahogany L. Browne and Amanda Johnston) for the #blackpoetsspeakout issue of Pluck! Journal of Affrilachian Arts and Culture (click here & here for more info). Needless to say it is an honor to be a part of the sea of poetic voices speaking up for our people as we face the crisis of state sponsored and sanctioned violence, through police and law enforcement who are supposed to be serving and protecting. Because I am living abroad, it hard to watch and to hear about all the things going on and not to be present to be a part of protests or to help out in someway. But I also realize this is a global issue and that the work I am trying to do with empowering Malian (and other West African artists) is a part of that struggle too.
Because of the vision of the guest editors, that this issue of pluck! was intended to be used as “a personal amulet, a tool in the classroom and a hammer in the streets. Get it either way, but carry it forward.” Editor Amanda Johnston goes on to say “Because this work is for the people and these poems have work to do, pluck! issue 13 is now available for FREE online. Click here to read now.”
Here is how you can get a print copy for you or your institution:
Pluck! $15/copy mail to:
pluck!, 1215 POT
University of KY
Lexington KY 40506
$30/subscription for individuals
$100/sub for institutions and organizations
Secondly, I am grateful that Sarah Browning accepted a few of my poems for a forthcoming issue of the Delaware Poetry Review that will be out Spring of 2016.
And…
Last, but most definitely not least, I just found out a few days a ago that a small dialogue that I recorded with Kwame Dawes ( find him here & here) will be included in the final cut of Furious Flower III. I cannot even explain the kind of honor this is, mostly because even though I have been to thelast two Furious Flower Conferences and other tributes and events in between, I still walk around kind of starstruck to be among some of my super accomplished peers and folks whose work has shaped and continues to help me shape, my own work. So to be in the video presentation really means a lot me.
I am beyond grateful, thank you to Dr. Joanne V. Gabbin, for grabbing me by the hand that day back in September “to go with her to talk to Kwame” and many thanks to Judith McCray, of Juneteenth Productions for crafting Kwame’s brilliance and my babbling into a really nice dialogue (I almost sound like I know a little something).
I also want to thank the few of you who take the time to read my random and often infrequent thoughts on this and my other web presences. Please know that it is EXTREMELY appreciated!
Onward & Upward…
***I am also super thankful for my parents, The Joiners of Bowie coming to visit The Joiner of Bamako for 5 weeks and for our upcoming trip home to the States for the holidays, this is the first time we will all be home together for the Holiday Season.
