In a world where the majority of poets have been white males, African American women have entered the poetic scene with poems that celebrate life and also brings light to social and political injustices. African American poets like those listed below find a way to incorporate culture and a fruitful critique of discrimination together without 'firing any shots' at a particular group.

These women such as Maya, and Sonya... Yes 1st name basis... Feel the dire need to give voices to many African American women, who have no had the opportunity. The way they go about doing so is through personal experiences, and even though some of their work may not be personal, their writing is so well constructed we believe it is. Simply because SOMEONE has been the subject of their lyrics at one point or another. They have no issue with putting their selves in their 'sistahs' shoes.

Read back throught the blogs and you will find that as I learned in Social Lingustics, throught the 'Shapir Whorf' theory... *scholar shrug* that our culture directly influences our language .. And this is evident. Race, gender, social class, ethnicity, and culture are all connected in regards to African American female writing. This is what's makes the movement so connected and gives these women a solidarity feature.

When I was young, I used to

Watch behind the curtains

As men walked up and down the street. Wino men, old men.

Young men sharp as mustard.

See them. Men are always

Going somewhere.

They knew I was there. Fifteen

Years old and starving for them.

Under my window, they would pauses,

Their shoulders high like the

Breasts of a young girl,

Jacket tails slapping over

Those behinds,

Men.

One day they hold you in the

Palms of their hands, gentle, as if you

Were the last raw egg in the world. Then

They tighten up. Just a little. The

First squeeze is nice. A quick hug.

Soft into your defenselessness. A little

More. The hurt begins. Wrench out a

Smile that slides around the fear. When the

Air disappears,

Your mind pops, exploding fiercely, briefly,

Like the head of a kitchen match. Shattered.

It is your juice

That runs down their legs. Staining their shoes.

When the earth rights itself again,

And taste tries to return to the tongue,

Your body has slammed shut. Forever.

No keys exist.

Then the window draws full upon

Your mind. There, just beyond

The sway of curtains, men walk.

Knowing something.

Going someplace.

But this time, I will simply

Stand and watch.

Maybe.



CUTE, WOULDN'T YOU EXPECT A POET TO DO THIS.... MAYBE I'LL CHANGE MINES ONE DAY TOO, SOMETHING LIKE PEACE OR HAPPY RAIN. LOL HMMM

Ai was born in Albany, Texas but grew up in Tucson, Arizona. Her ancestry is part Japanese, Choctaw-Chickasaw, Black, Irish, Southern Cheyenne, and Comanche.----> KNOW YOUR WONDERING HOW DOES THIS MAKE HER A BLACK FEMALE POET?!

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Nikki Giovanni is a world-renowned poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. Over the past thirty years, her outspokenness, in her writing and in lectures, has brought the eyes of the world upon her. One of the most widely-read American poets, she prides herself on being "a Black American, a daughter, a mother, a professor of English." Giovanni remains as determined and committed as ever to the fight for civil rights and equality. Always insisting on presenting the truth as she sees it, she has maintained a prominent place as a strong voice of the Black community. Her focus is on the individual, specifically, on the power one has to make a difference in oneself, and thus, in the lives of others.