Not an official holiday but this day was first recognized in 1985 and continues to be observed by communities, schools, and colleges throughout the country.

:toast:

October 17th is Black Poetry Day. The time to celebrate past and present authors like Langston Hughes, Phillis Wheatley and Paul Laurence Dunbar.

Spend this day appreciating African-American authors and spreading the word of Black poets through your friends, family members and throughout the world.

The birth of Black Poetry Day came as an anniversary of the first published African-American poet, Jupiter Hammon, who was born into slavery in 1711 on Long Island.

With the birth of the Harlem Renaissance, Black Poetry has strived to become what it is today.

Famous black poets include
Maya Angelou
Sterling A. Brown
Lucille Clifton
Toi Derricotte
Paul Laurence Dunbar
Jessie Redmon Fauset
Angelina W. Grimke
Jupiter Hammon
Langston Hughes
Claude McKay
Anne Spencer
Ntozake Shange
Natasha Trethewey
Margaret Walker
Phillis Wheatley (one of the first female black poets)


http://www.poemofquotes.com/articles/black-poetry-day.php

What a coincidence, we kicked it off last night (October 16, 2009) in Chat.

yes i can remember when it got started in 85.............may the poetic vibe of blackz continue on and
keep rising with lyrics and knowledge...

HAPPY POETRY DAY !!!

yes i can remember when it got started in 85.............may the poetic vibe of blackz continue on and
keep rising with lyrics and knowledge...

HAPPY POETRY DAY !!!




Yeah $$RICH$...it was nice, but we still need you and Miss Lady:)

working my way back into form brother Clyde

Wow, I never heard of this T.Y.:toast:

Ka'Ba

"A closed window looks down
on a dirty courtyard, and Black people
call across or scream across or walk across
defying physics in the stream of their will.

Our world is full of sound
Our world is more lovely than anyone's
tho we suffer, and kill each other
and sometimes fail to walk the air.

We are beautiful people
With African imaginations
full of masks and dances and swelling chants
with African eyes, and noses, and arms
tho we sprawl in gray chains in a place
full of winters, when what we want is sun.

We have been captured,
and we labor to make our getaway, into
the ancient image; into a new

Correspondence with ourselves
and our Black family. We need magic
now we need the spells, to raise up
return, destroy,and create. What will be

the sacred word?

Amiri Baraka

BOOKER T. AND W.E.B.

BY DUDLEY RANDALL

“It seems to me,” said Booker T.,
“It shows a mighty lot of cheek
To study chemistry and Greek
When Mister Charlie needs a hand
To hoe the cotton on his land,
And when Miss Ann looks for a cook,
Why stick your nose inside a book?”

“I don’t agree,” said W.E.B.,
“If I should have the drive to seek
Knowledge of chemistry or Greek,
I’ll do it. Charles and Miss can look
Another place for hand or cook.
Some men rejoice in skill of hand,
And some in cultivating land,
But there are others who maintain
The right to cultivate the brain.”

“It seems to me,” said Booker T.,
“That all you folks have missed the boat
Who shout about the right to vote,
And spend vain days and sleepless nights
In uproar over civil rights.
Just keep your mouths shut, do not grouse,
But work, and save, and buy a house.”

“I don’t agree,” said W.E.B.,
“For what can property avail
If dignity and justice fail.
Unless you help to make the laws,
They’ll steal your house with trumped-up clause.
A rope’s as tight, a fire as hot,
No matter how much cash you’ve got.
Speak soft, and try your little plan,
But as for me, I’ll be a man.”

“It seems to me,” said Booker T.—
“I don’t agree,”
Said W.E.B.

working my way back into form brother Clyde




Great $$RICH$$, hope to see you in Brother's Only Chat tomorrow at 7 PM Central.