The 100 Best African American Poems

Hear voices contemporary and classic as selected by New York Times bestselling author Nikki Giovanni

Award-winning poet and writer Nikki Giovanni takes on the impossible task of selecting the 100 best African American works from classic and contemporary poets. Out of necessity, Giovanni admits she cheats a little, selecting a larger, less round number.

The result is this startlingly vibrant collection that spans from historic to modern, from structured to freeform, and reflects the rich roots and visionary future of African American verse. These magnetic poems are an exciting mix of most-loved classics and daring new writing. From Gwendolyn Brooks and Langston Hughes to Tupac Shakur, Natasha Trethewey, and many others, the voice of a culture comes through in this collection, one that is as talented, diverse, and varied as its people.

African American poems are like all other poems: beautiful, loving, provocative, thoughtful, and all those other adjectives I can think of. Poems know no boundaries. They, like all Earth citizens, were born in some country, grew up on some culture, then in their blooming became citizens of the Universe. Poems fly from heart to heart, head to head, to whisper a dream, to share a condolence, to congratulate, and to vow forever. The poems are true. They are translated and they are celebrated. They are sung, they are recited, they are delightful. They are neglected. They are forgotten. They are put away. Even in their fallow periods they sprout images. And fight to be revived. And spring back to life with a bit of sunshine and caring.
-Nikki Giovanni

Read

• Gwendolyn Brooks
• Kwame Alexander
• Tupac Shakur
• Langston Hughes
• Mari Evans
• Kevin Young
• Asha Bandele
• Amiri Baraka

Hear

• Ruby Dee
• Novella Nelson
• Nikki Giovanni
• Elizabeth Alexander
• Marilyn Nelson
• Sonia Sanchez
• And many, many, more

Nikki Giovanni is an award-winning poet, writer, and activist. She is the author of more than two dozen books for adults and children, including Bicycles, Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea, Racism 101, Blues: For All the Changes, and Love Poems. Her children's book-plus-audio compilation Hip Hop Speaks to Children was awarded the NAACP Image Award. Her children's book Rosa, a picture-book retelling of the Rosa Parks story, was a Caldecott Honor Book and winner of the Coretta Scott King Award. Both books were New York Times bestsellers. Nikki is a Grammy nominee for her spoken-word album The Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection and has been nominated for the National Book Award. She has been voted Woman of the Year by Essence, Mademoiselle, and Ladies' Home Journal. She is a University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech, where she teaches writing and literature.

What Makes You So Strong

"What Makes You So Strong" displays the struggles, and barriers, triumphs and success that people of African decent have gone through historically and in their present day lives. Showcasing individuals from the Continent, Caribbean, and North America, the video aims to highlight the many faces of the African Diaspora in addition to featuring a few of the many Torontonians and young artists who are doing inspirational work in their communities. Original speech written and delivered by Rev. Jeremiah Wright, "What Makes You So Strong" delivers a powerful message about unity, perseverance, strength and cultural empowerment.

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Daniel Beaty: Knock Knock

Daniel Beaty is an award winning actor, singer, writer, and composer. His critically acclaimed solo play Emergency (formerly Emergence-SEE!) directed by Kenny Leon ran off-Broadway to a sold-out, extended run at The Public Theater in the fall of 2006. For this production, he received the 2007 Obie Award for Excellence in Off-Broadway Theater for Writing & Performing and the 2007 AUDELCO Award for Solo Performance. New York Magazine awarded him a 2007 Culture Award for Best in Theater. Daniel has toured Emergency nationally and internationally. He is the recipient of the 2007 Scotsman Fringe First Award for the best new writer at the Edinburgh Festival and was presented with a Lamplighter Award from the Black Leadership Forum in Washington D.C. In February 2008, he received two Helen Hayes Award nominations for the best in theater in Washington D.C. and in June 2008, he was the winner of the Unique Theatrical Experience Award from the New Jersey Star Ledger for his production at the Crossroads Theater Company in New Brunswick, New Jersey. In the spring of 2008, Emergency had a sold-out seven-week engagement at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. This production was directed by Charles Randolph-Wright and was awarded two 2009 NAACP Theater Awards including Best Actor.

As an actor, singer, and poet, Daniel has worked throughout the U.S., Europe, and Africa performing on television, acting in theatrical productions, singing leading roles in operas, and giving solo concerts of his own work. He has performed at The White House and has graced the stage of The Kennedy Center in tribute to Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis. Daniel is the 2004 Grand Slam Champion at the world famous Nuyorican Poet’s Café and The Fox Networks National Redemption Slam Champion. He has performed on programs with artists such as Jill Scott, Sonia Sanchez, MC Lyte, Mos Def, Tracy Chapman, Deepak Chopra, and Phylicia Rashad.

Daniel was seen on the third and fourth seasons of HBO’s Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry; as a guest artist on NBC’s Showtime at the Apollo with Rueben Studdard; and on BET’s 106 & Park. He holds a BA with Honors in English & Music from Yale University and an MFA in Acting from the American Conservatory Theatre (ACT).

As a playwright and composer, Daniel’s work has been performed, staged and work-shopped at the Public Theater, BAM, New York Theater Workshop, La Mama, Arena Stage, Harford Stage, Philadelphia Theater Company, Alliance Theatre, True Colors Theater Company, Crossroads Theater Company, American Conservatory Theater, Yale University, The Geffen Playhouse and various other academic institutions and civic organizations. He was awarded the 2007-08 AETNA American Voices Playwright-in-Residence position at Hartford Stage, and a commission to write a new play. His play Resurrection received its world premiere production at Arena Stage in Washington D.C. in August 2008 (where he was awarded the 2008 Edgerton Foundation’s new American Play Award); followed by engagements at Hartford Stage, the Philadelphia Theatre Company, and ETA Theater in Chicago.

In October 2008, Daniel collaborated with composer and violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain on an orchestral work titled Darwin’s Meditation for the People of Lincoln that premiered at the BAM Next Wave Festival and continues to tour nationally and internationally. His family musical Trippin’ was optioned by Disney and produced by Harlem Stage. Breath & Imagination, Daniel’s new musical about the life of Roland Hayes, the first African-American classical vocalist of world renown, recently received a reading at the York Theater. His newest play and one-man show, Through the Night, premiered this winter at Crossroads Theater in New Brunswick, NJ in a co-production with the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, CA (March 16 – April 4, 2010). Through the Night will have a limited engagement at the Riverside Theater in NY, NY (May 7 – 23, 2010) as a co-production with Voza River’s New Heritage Theatre and Walk Tall Girl Productions, Inc.

In addition to his writing for the stage, Daniel was hired by Showtime to create an original half hour series based on his play Emergency and by Spitfire Pictures to create an original screenplay about the life of George Moses Horton, an African-American poet born into slavery.

SELECTED AWARDS
2009

• NAACP Theater Award, Best Actor

2008

• Lamplighter Award, Black Leadership Forum, Washington D.C
• Unique Theatrical Experience Award, New Jersey Star Ledger
• Edgerton Foundation’s New American Play Award

2007

• Obie Award, Writing & Performance
• Audelco Award, Solo Performance
• New York Magazine, Culture Award for Best in Theater
• Scotsman Fringe First Award, Best New Writer at the Edinburgh Festival

Source: http://danielbeaty.com/