Black Poetry Day came about thanks to poet, writer, and preacher Jupiter Hammon, also known as the founder of African-American literature. He became the first published Black poet in North America in 1761. Hammon was born on October 17, 1711, and thus Black Poetry Day honors his birthday while celebrating the poems written by every Black poet that came after. One of these poets is Louisiana native Jericho Brown.
Brown is the author of The Tradition (Copper Canyon Press, 2019), winner of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, and a finalist for the 2019 National Book Award in Poetry. He’s known for his contemporary style and lyrics that are “memorable, muscular, majestic.”
We wanted to spotlight his poem “The Virus,” and no, it’s not about the pandemic. In fact, he released this poem in 2019, and it seems that he was illustrating a different kind of virus: anger. An excerpt from the poem reads as follows:
“I want you / To heed that I’m still here / Just beneath your skin and in / Each organ / The way anger dwells in a man / Who studies the history of his nation. / If I can’t leave you / Dead, I’ll have / You vexed.”
These powerful lines tackle the Black man’s internal struggle as he wrestles with his reality. Hammon had legal slavery in his day, and Brown likely alludes to this and how it’s evolved into police brutality. He hints that his frustration with history is grafted into his DNA and has become a deadly disease.
What Black poet comes to your mind this Black Poetry Day? What feelings do their works harbor? Be sure to share with us @MahoganyXan on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.
Happy Black Poetry Day to all the authors exploring their culture and identities through the written and spoken word. Keep stamping your name on history and sharing your truths for the world to see.
penned by Diva Ferrell
