After the Poetry Reading, Black (with annotations) 2

Resource added
110 white-backlash with his boots the darkest flowers. “He’s disappointed: wanted to squat on your kitchen floor, suck possum bones, juggle a hoecake, name thirteen kinds of greens You People know. “He’s disappointed: wanted to wave his shelf of Negro Books full in your face, back you up against the wall with itty-bitty black facts from White Muricana.” “You’re not Black enough: not frothing at the mouth with watchu-done-to-me’s, not the Black Knight on the white horse weaned and gelded on Ole Massa’s farm, not the Deppity Shuriff of Chitlin County, first of the race tgit ‘lected, not the Fastest Popgun in the West, not the President of the Bignig Club, not even top contributor to TNT (Truculent Negroes of the Town).” [*Audience, especially African American listeners (enough of whom I do not find abroad), tend to enjoy these lines.*} Shook my Trans-s-lator, turned it upside down, got this: “What he REALLY means-- are you still listening?-- is this: wants to stick his foot in the trap--

Full description

Poem written by Emanuel in 1976-1977/1978, typed with handwritten notes specifying where he worked on this poem: France, Poland, and Holland. The narrator notices that Black creatives are limited in their art when they set out to only create Black art, without incorporating their individuality. (Page 2)

  • type
    Image
  • created on
  • file format
    jpg
  • file size
    648 KB
  • container title
    James A. Emanuel Papers
  • creator
    James A. Emanuel
  • issue
    BOX 5 FOLDER 12 "Whole Grain and Later Poems of James A. Emanuel (Annotated by the Auhtor), draft, part I, 1995 (2 of 2)
  • rights
    James A. Emanuel Estate
  • rights holder
    James A. Emanuel Estate
  • version
    1976/1977