Back in Black History Month (February) I mentioned I would write about some of my favorite Black American poets such as Nikki Giovanni and Maya Angelou. All through Black History Month of February and Women's History Month of March, I was reading the poems of these two poets, among others. Now here we are in National Poetry Month of April in the U.S.A., and the life and biographies of Giovanni and Angelou span the themes of all these most recent three months. I add the book Speak into this post because Maya Angelou is mentioned frequently as a key personality in this important novel in which a teenage girl who has experienced trauma learns and manages to find her voice--finally.
Nikki Giovanni and Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea
Giovanni emerged during the times of the Civil Rights Movement and Women's Movement to become "one of the most celebrated" poets in America. I suggest getting her later of poems called Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea from a local library and reading not only the poems but the front and back flap covers for a remarkable description of her work. It is always good to remind your students to read the front and back covers and dust jackets/flaps to get more information about the book and its author--even with children's books, then children who will grow up to be artists can at that young age learn that their talents are important too and not just the author's or writer's. I will highlight here that it says she is both political and intimate or personal. She does this with great finesse. I am sure if you read this book of poems that you will find examples of that.
I love the first poem in the book entitled, "Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea" after which the book itself is titled. The subtitle of this poem is "(We're Going to Mars)". We can see in this poem how eloquently the poet combines the world-at-large goings-on with our own personal lives and this is regardless of our skin color. In this poem, she compares the idea and goal of going to
Mars with the Black American experience when first brought to the North
American continent; we all hear we are going to Mars and maybe colonizing it someday and we all are alien in that sense, imagining what it might be like to be the strangers in a strange land and how will we survive the atmosphere and terrain,.
This idea of going to Mars being an alien race like an African brought here to America takes me back to the film The Green Book in which a professional pianist who happens to be black, upon his tour to the southern United States, is given a Green Book which lists the hotels in which a black person is allowed to sleep and so can sleep safely and the restaurants in which the black person can eat and stay safe. The tension that results in this film is emotionally gripping. And there is Jung's theory of opposites in the tension and then the transcendence and meeting of minds and friendships made between black and white Americans, namely a Black man and an Italian man then in the end also the Italian man's family. The Italian man was the Black man's driver (through the musician's performance tour down South. I found this quite refreshing. At one point the Italian man is chided for working for (/with--it comes to pass they work together very well) a Black man and being his friend.
The Green Book reminds me of a story my dad and mom once told me about what happened to them one year on their way to Florida for a vacation. They stopped at a restaurant and were stopped outside, refused to be let in, because my dad's skin tone was too dark. He tried to tell them that he was Italian, but he was told they didn't care, he was still too dark to be let inside, but they set up a table for my parents and their friends (my mom's cousin and his wife who was my mom's best friend). As she told that story, my mom often looked sad as she told it and sometimes gave a look of disbelief even though knowing racism and prejudice is real.
Maya Angelou: Walks in Live Performance as if with
"Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes"--
She Walks in Strength!
Every
book I read and every poem I read teaches a lesson. I never feel too
old to learn. You can even learn old lessons in new ways as you age. I
learned a great lesson in my 20s when I heard and saw Maya Angelou
recite her poems live in an auditorium where I had an aisle seat at
Bowling Green State University, many years ago. She was close enough to
me that I could almost physically feel the power in her voice touch me
and my being. She gave her poetry reading by heart--she knew all her
poems by heart, from the heart and to my heart and the hearts of those
in the audience who felt a resonance with her. I can still visualize her
facial expressions during the reading also, full of convictions. It is
worth mention that just as many men were there as women. She is a women
poet but not just for women. What I learned while thinking about this over the years is that every time I think about it, including now in my twilight years as a grandmother, I still learn from her and from her strength in her voice in her poems. I have also watched some videos of interviews with her on YouTube. She is always worth hearing. And she teaches women how to speak up for themselves and honor themselves. (Much of this paragraph is borrowed from a post I already did during Women's History Month.)
Speak, by Laurie Anderson
This is a book I used to use in my Children's Literature Class for college students who wanted to become teachers in early education through high school onto and through college. The class was also for parents and aunts and uncles or grandparents or any relatives or older siblings who wanted to share storytime with the children in their lives or who wanted to work with children perhaps as a babysitter or caregiver. My list of books extended to books for young adults.
Speak was a 1999 National Book Award Finalist for Young People's Literature.
In this book a high school freshman named Melinda is made to be outcast for calling the cops at a teen party after she is sexually assaulted at the party. No one understands why she had to call the cops and report the party but she was afraid to speak up and tell anyone why. The boy who assaulted her is an upperclassman at her high school so she hides a lot in a janitor's closet where she works on her art. What helps her learn to use her voice and what helps teens and young girls who read this book learn howhow to speak up and use their voice are the posters Melinda taped on the closet walls of Maya Angelou's poems, an example of a strong voice and proud voice to be even furthermore proud of. The boy assaults her again but this time Melinda fights back, breaks her silence and gets a "degree of vindication." (I quote here from the article on "Speak by Laurie Anderson" in Goodreads, retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39280444-speak)
There is so much symbolism in this book of material things standing for abstract things like strength, finding one's voice, and virtues that it makes for a great educational tet for those wanting to learn more about writing for teens and young adults. It is another great way to introduce the use of symbolism to many a student new to literature of this genre or any genre for that matter.
The poet in the closet image is priceless--being a strong and popular poet as Maya Angelou makes it even more dear.
It is a perfect book for class discussion using these tools as prompts; however, sadly enough this book is sometimes banned in schools below the college level when it could actually be beneficial for high school students. If a high school allows sex education class, it should in my opinion allow this book in the curriculum.
To end on a happier note, again, the posters of the poet in the closet is dearly priceless, or at least worth their weight in gold or diamonds for the soles of every girl's shoes. The irony and image is that this high school who was so quiet she was unable to barely speak at all so greatly admired Maya Angelou's voice. It serves as a beacon to her.
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