Of Poetry and Protest: From Emmett Till to Trayvon Martin

This collection of poems and essays from 43 African-American poets, with photographs by Victoria Smith, functions as a platform for some of America’s most prominent black poets to share how they came to poetry, how poetry functions in the social milieu, and how poems can address social justice, protest, and history. In his preface, editor Cushway writes that he aimed to produce “a book that would contain reverberating elements that appeal to nontraditional readers of poetry.” As an introduction to some of the country’s finest black writers, it succeeds. The anthology largely focuses on established, prominent poets writing in accepted modes, though a handful of younger poets round it out, along with quotes, stand-alone essays, and art displayed prominently along with the portraits. The poetry itself addresses topics such as slavery and reconstruction, the civil rights era, Martin Luther King Jr., Move, Malcolm X, France’s May 1968 protests, Obama’s presidency, police murders, and the Black Lives Matter movement. Amiri Baraka, in his 2013 essay “Protest Poetry” (reprinted here), writes that African-American literature “reveals American lives, culture and history in a depth that nothing else is able to do.” Through the stories, struggles, beliefs, and work of these living black poets emerges the story of a nation. B+w photos. [em](July) [/em]