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.

NOW THE REAL QUESTION IS??

OR THE ONE THATS GONNA HELP ME PASS HONORS ENGLISH 275 IF I ANSWER...

WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING WORLD LITERATURE IN THE US TODAY?

The typical response from the average student would be… well there is no importance to studying world literature because for one, other places in the world are drastically different from the United States, and two, most of the novels, plays, and poems read throughout high school and college have not been applied to the “real world”…..


HOWEVER….

TAKE THE TIME TO REMEMBER YOUR FAVORITE CHILDHOOD STORY….. OK THAT’S ENOUGH TIME..

MINES WAS IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFKzriYtEt8

THAT STORY TAUGHT ME THAT PEOPLE ARE INHERENTLY NEEDY, GREEDY, AND ALSO CHILDREN WILL DRIVE YOU UP A WALL. WE AS HUMANS CAN NEVER GET ENOUGH.

LITERATURE TEACHES.

Literature is like a universal language. Everybody is connected through some form of literature, which we have already established stem from everywhere. More importantly, literature around the world show that we are all common in custom, cultures, and principles. No idea is original. Don’t believe me?

GOOGLE

THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH------- NOAHS ARK

THE STORY OF JULIUS CEASAR------- JUDAS ISCARIOT

HEART OF DARKNESS ---------- H

OEDIPUS ----- SAMPSON

Through literature, we acknowledge that places all over the world were conquered and in turn there are two different cultures present in society’s world wide. These two cultures consist of the native and the ruling. Literature helps us see the benefit of this, multilingual writing. Mahsweta Devi author of “The Breast-Giver” writes in Bengali, which is the language of the state of West Bengal in eastern India. When a work is translated into English for us, the author tend to get international recognition making us aware of the dilemmas and social problems a country is encountering. Literature also shows that the caste system is not subjected to one area of the world. Literature when it crosses borders, it mixes culture.

Literature such as “The Diary of a Madman” by Lu Zun and Franz Kafka’s, “The metamorphosis”, show us the power that society has on an individual. Zun shows us that the individual becomes what society sees him as but there is still the possibility for change. Kafka on the other hand, by turning his main character Gregor into a cockroach show us how society makes people suffer. Early literature use to present the individual as having to maintain order in society, one there was no more gods and oracles in writing. Then around Don Quixote’s release the individual was depicted as not being afraid to challenge society.

Themes like this make Literature universal so that everyone around the world can relate. Don’t you feel better knowing that the lady in China making the majority of your possessions have some of the same world views you do?

YOU THOUGHT UR SATURDAY NITES WERE SERIOUS? SIKE... NOT UNTIL THEY GET CERIOUS, ARE THEY WORTH TALKING ABOUT.!

&& THEY GOT DIS SWEET POH-TA-TOE WAFFLE, NUFF SAID...

CAN U SAY SOMETHING CERIOUS??

IT WAS HOSTED BY CERIOUS 6IX & DJ VINCE D, && THE MUSIK WAS ON POINT!!

FROM SUM 112 TO SUM MARY J.. FROM NEO-SOUL, TO HIP HOP IT WAS THE JUMPOFF! THE LIVE SINGERS SINGING SOME GOOD OL' BADU TO COURTNAY THE POETS SINGING OF "IS IT THE WAY" BY JILL SCOTT!!

 && THE SPOKEN WORD, ESSSHH! MAN THE POETS WHO SPIT WERE HOT ISH! IM TRYNAA TELL YA! I WILL BE BACK EVERY FIRST SATURDAYY! SHOUT OUT TO MY GROUP "THE BLACK AFFAIR" WE WILL BE BACKKK CUZ ITS BLACKKK!

WHERE'S WALDO  LAURYN??

Is she the making of an urban myth?

January 23rd, 2010!!!

Is there hope for the female sector of Hip Hop?!

why yes, yes there is... =]

Erykah Badu "New Amerykah, Part II: Return of the Ankh"

Feb. 23, 2010

"If my album leaks, I'm not putting it out. Let a b***h make some money." -Badu

“You built a wall 20 feet tall / But if I get off my knees / I might recall I’m 20 feet tall”

"Can I get a window seat...I don't want nobody next to me."

Just a taste of the new album courtesy of allhiphop.com.

Follow my blog by clicking "FOLLOW" on the right, i really appreciate it

comments welcomed!!!

BIGGEST MAMA PLZ GET YO AXX INSIDE OF 2009!

BIGGEST EVENT : Barack Obama 2009 Inauguration and Address

BIGGEST SHOCKER: DEATH OF MICHEAL JACKSON

SMH. BUT I CAN'T LIE IT DOES HAS SUM HUMOR....

CURSE OUT OF THE YEAR: PRECIOUS

BIGGEST "FOLLOW ME" TREND: RISE OF THE "BARBIES"

SHES! NICKI MINAJ, NICKI LEWINSKI,NICKI THE NINJA, NIICKI THE BOSS. NICKI THE HARAJUKU BARBIE LIIIKE I DONT THINK YALL GIRLS UNDERSTAND..SHE WINS YOU LOSE!

BIGGEST ALBUMS IN "MY" OPINION.....

ALSO:  R Kelly's Untitled && Raekwon 'Only Built 4 Cuban Linx';

Rihanna did her thing to but - When did she get so hood? sure wasn"t at the PROPER time! lol

CELL MATEZ OF THE YEAR!

BAD BITCH OF 2009 & ALSO BIGGEST PIMP SLAP VICTIM: ESTER

BIGGEST HELLZ YEAH: HEALTH CARE PASSAGE THRU SENATE

MORE TO CUM AS I THINK OF OTHERS, CMNTZ WELCOMED FOLLOW AT THE RIGHT =]

HIS BEATS ARE PRODUCED BY

THE ONE AND ONLY B-TONEZ & THE REAL

RESIDING IN SOUTH KAK FOR THE MOMENT MR. WEST HAS BEEN ON THE GRIND SINCE 08' BUT HAS HAD THE DREAM IN HIS HEART SINCE BIRTH...

"I'll rape the piano and I'll lick the drums/ I'll kiss the mic, music makes me cum!"- Rick Ross..

Sleep is irrelevant at this point. So imma just write till my fingers start hurting,my brain stop spinnig, I fall out, wake up in the morning then Ima start over from the beginning..- Jim West

JIM WEST HAS AIRED ON POWER99 FM ONE OF PHILLY'S HOTTEST STATIONS, I CALL THAT NOTHING LESS THAN THE RISE OF JIM WEST.....

[pause musik on the right to hear video

then make sure u resume]

THE REASON WHY ITS NOT AS WELL KNOWN AS THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD OR EVEN TUPAC SHAKUR'S MURDER.. IS BECAUSE IT WAS PUT ON THA "HUSH HUSH", ERASED FROM HISTORY & PUBLIC MEMORY.....THE DEATHS OF MLK & KENNEDY IN THE FOLLOWING MONTHS, GAVE OFFICIALS THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO SWEEP THESE SOULS UNDER THE RUG....

BECAUSE STUDENTS WANTED TO ONLY BOWL AT THE ONLY BOWLING ALLEY IN TOWN ON FEBRUARY 8TH 1968.....