In which I look back at how I’ve grappled with racism over the years, along with the books that have helped me do so.
Tag Archives: Lucille Clifton
Using Lit to Grapple with Racism
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "note to self", Invisible Man, Morehouse College, racism, Ralph Ellison, St. Mary's College of Maryland Comments closed
On Clifton, Columbus, and Indians
A Lucille Clifton poem for Indigenous People’s Day, which shows us the need for the holiday.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "killing of the trees", Columbus Day, Heather Cox Richardson, Indigenous Peoples' Day, Trail of Tears Comments closed
Gwendolyn Brooks’ Primer for Juneteenth
To mark Juneteenth, here are poems by Gwendolyn Brooks and Lucille Clifton celebrating Blackness.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged “my dream about being white", “Primer for Blacks", Gwendolyn Brooks, Juneteenth, systemic racism Comments closed
Fighting the Erasure of History
Black history month is more essential these days than it has been for a while given Trump’s desire to erase it. Black writers are important in keeping it alive.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "i am accused of tending to the past", "Life Every Voice and Sing", 1984, Black History Month, DEI, Donald Trump, George Orwell, James Weldon Johnson, racism Comments closed
MLK’s Lesson for the Trump Era
MLK’s birthday coinciding with a white supremacist ascending to the presidency reminds us that MLK refused to give up in the face of such reversals.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "We Are Soldiers", "which side are you on?", Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King, Trump's inauguration Comments closed
When the Light Knocks on the Door
Gwendolyn Brooks’s poem “truth” dramatizes the conflict between disturbing hope and familiar darkness. Think of it as an Advent poem.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Light that came to lucille clifton", Advent, Gwendolyn Brooks, hope, John Donne, T. S. Eliot, Truth, Waste Land Comments closed
Clifton Poems for Cancer Sufferers
Clifton knew cancer well and wrote about it eloquently.
Rosh Hashanah: Running into a New Year
Clifton’s “i am running into a new year” works as a Rosh Hashanah poem.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "i am running into a new year", High Holy Days, Rosh Hashanah Comments closed
Hearing the Celestial Voices
Two shepherd poems to mark the shepherd references in today’s lectionary.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Hollow Men", "Journey of the Magi", "man who killed the bear", "Shepherd", "Song of the Shepherds", 23rd Psalm, Annunciation of the shepherds, Dante, Jeremiah, Paradiso, Richard Bauckman, T. S. Eliot, William Blake Comments closed
