Overview

This collection of 36 poems spans three centuries of poetry in America. The voices of these African American poets range from lamentations to celebrations, while the poetry juxtaposes themes of resistance and reconciliation, hope and despair.'

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9780395895993

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Reviews

A splendid, rattling good collection of African-American poetry. Represented are 25 poets (and 35 poems), some of whom are household namesW.E.B. Du Bois, Maya Angelou, Rita Dove, Gwendolyn Brooks, Amiri Baraka, and Langston Hughes. There are examples of the influential Harlem Renaissance poets -- Angelina Weld Grimk, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Jean Toomer, for example -- and the first known poem composed by an African-American, Lucy Terry's Bars Fight.' The brimming anger of James M. Whitfield comes through, along with the injustice of lines that had to be transcribed by others because African-Americans were denied by law the right to put poetry to paper. Clinton includes short biographical sketches and critical snippets on every poet, and these only further the impact of the tragic, warm, sad, and ferocious voices of great presence that survived beyond all odds. Alcorn's elegant illustrations have an expressiveness that honors the words.<br>Kirkus Reviews

A splendid, rattling good collection of African-American poetry. Represented are 25 poets (and 35 poems), some of whom are household namesW.E.B. Du Bois, Maya Angelou, Rita Dove, Gwendolyn Brooks, Amiri Baraka, and Langston Hughes. There are examples of the influential Harlem Renaissance poets -- Angelina Weld Grimk, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Jean Toomer, for example -- and the first known poem composed by an African-American, Lucy Terry's Bars Fight.' The brimming anger of James M. Whitfield comes through, along with the injustice of lines that had to be transcribed by others because African-Americans were denied by law the right to put poetry to paper. Clinton includes short biographical sketches and critical snippets on every poet, and these only further the impact of the tragic, warm, sad, and ferocious voices of great presence that survived beyond all odds. Alcorn's elegant illustrations have an expressiveness that honors the words.Kirkus Reviews

A splendid, rattling good collection of African-American poetry. Represented are 25 poets (and 35 poems), some of whom are household names - W.E.B. Du Bois, Maya Angelou, Rita Dove, Gwendolyn Brooks, Amiri Baraka, and Langston Hughes. There are examples of the influential Harlem Renaissance poets - Angelina Weld Grimke, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Jean Toomer, for example - and the first known poem composed by an African-American, Lucy Terry's Bars Fight. The brimming anger of James M. Whitfield comes through, along with the injustice of lines that had to be transcribed by others because African-Americans were denied by law the right to put poetry to paper. Clinton includes short biographical sketches and critical snippets on every poet, and these only further the impact of the tragic, warm, sad, and ferocious voices of great presence that survived beyond all odds. Alcorn's elegant illustrations have an expressiveness that honors the words. (Kirkus Reviews)

A splendid, rattling good collection of African-American poetry. Represented are 25 poets (and 35<br>poems), some of whom are household namesW.E.B. Du Bois, Maya Angelou, Rita Dove, <br>Gwendolyn Brooks, Amiri Baraka, and Langston Hughes. There are examples of the influential Harlem Renaissance poets -- Angelina Weld Grimk, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Jean Toomer, for<br>example -- and the first known poem composed by an African-American, Lucy Terry's Bars Fight.'' The brimming anger of James M. Whitfield comes through, along with the injustice of lines that had to be transcribed by others because African-Americans were denied by law the right to put poetry to paper. Clinton includes short biographical sketches and critical snippets on every poet, and these only further the impact of the tragic, warm, sad, and ferocious voices of great presence that survived beyond all odds. Alcorn's elegant illustrations have an expressiveness that honors the words.

Author Information

Stephen Alcorn is an acclaimed painter and printmaker who has created artwork for a number of anthologies and picture books, including Let It Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters by Andrea Davis Pinkney, and I, Too, Sing America: Three Centuries of African American Poetry by Catherine Clinton. He lives in Cambridge, New York. Visit Stephen Alcorn at alcorngallery.com. Catherine Clinton earned her undergraduate degree in Afro-American studies from Harvard University and her Ph.D. in history from Princeton. She is the author of many historical works for children and adults, and has taught African American Studies at Brandeis University, Brown University, Harvard University, and Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland . Dr. Clinton lives in San Antonio, Texas, where she's Denman Professor of American History at the University of Texas San Antonio.

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