I, Too, Sing America: Three Centuries of African American Poetry

by Catherine Clinton, Various Authors Narrated by Ashley Bryan, Renee Joshua-Porter

Overview

Starting with Lucy Terry of the early eighteenth century and finishing with poet laureate Rita Dove, this inspiring anthology edited by Catherine Clinton captures the enormous talent and passion of black poets. Powerful and diverse, I, Too, Sing America is a forum for voices baring their souls, speaking their minds, tracing their roots and proclaiming their dreams.

Each of the twenty-five poets is introduced with a brief biography and poetry notes to help the listener place their work in context. Included in the anthology is:

- "I, Too, Sing America" by Langston Hughes

- "Bars Fight" by Lucy Terry

- "Liberty and Peace" by Phillis Wheatley

- "On Liberty and Slavery" by George Moses Horton

- "Yes! Strike Again That Sounding String" by James M. Whitfield

- "Bury Me in a Free Land" by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper

- "The Song of the Smoke" by W.E.B. Du Bois

- "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" by James Weldon Johnson

- "We Wear the Mask" by Paul Laurence Dunbar

- "The Black Finger" by Angelina Weld Grimke

- "Your World" and "Interracial" by Georgia Douglas Johnson

- "Children of the Sun" by Fenton Johnson

- "If We Must Die" and "The White House" by Claude McKay

- "Beehive" by Jean Toomer

- "Heritage" and "To a Dark Girl" by Gwendolyn Bennett

- "A Black Man Talks of Reaping" by Arna Bontemps

- "Harlem," "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," "Merry-Go-Round," and "Cross" by Langston Hughes

- "Tableau," "Saturday's Child," and "Incident" by Countee Cullen

- "Sorrow Home" by Margaret Walker

- "Martin Luther King Jr.," "Malcolm X," and "We Real Cool" by Gwendolyn Brooks

- "Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou

- "Rites of Passage" by Audre Lorde

- "In the Year" by Amiri Baraka

- "The Funeral of Martin Luther King, Jr." by Nikki Giovanni

- "Women" by Alice Walker

- "Primer" by Rita Dove

Editorial Reviews

School Library Journal

Gr 5 Up-How do three centuries of African-American poetry fit into 128 pages? With a firm editorial hand, as exhibited in this volume. Clinton has selected one poem (or occasionally a few) by 25 prominent poets from the 1700s to the present. A page of brief biographical and critical text introduces each poet's work. The result is introductory and broad. Readers will need other resources to explore these writers more fully, but this collection should "touch the imagination," as the author hopes. Each poem is illustrated on the facing page with one of Alcorn's strong, colorful, and imagistic paintings (reminiscent of the work of Aaron Douglas and the Harlem Renaissance). This artwork as well as the taupe patterned block prints make this book a truly beautiful visual interpretation of the collection. This title could serve as an introduction to Arnold Adoff's The Poetry of Black America (Harper, 1973) and I Am the Darker Brother (S & S, 1997) or stand alone in any collection.-Nina Lindsay, Oakland Public Library, CA

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 Grimké, 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. Acorn's elegant illustrations have an expressiveness that honors the words. (Poetry. 10+)

From the Publisher

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 —

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169900538
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	11/01/2011
Edition description:	Unabridged

Videos