Tuesday, January 20, 2009

My Favorite Scenes: Poems

One of my favorite essays is one that I wrote on revolutionary poems during the Black Arts Movement. (Noted one of the worse essays I've ever written was my high school senior thesis on the evolution of slam poetry.) Obviously I wasn't expecting a "poem that kills"* during the inauguration. Honestly, I wasn't expecting much. For someone who loves poetry, competed in prose and poetry, and was forced to memorize more poems that I can remember as a child, I have never enjoyed watching poets reading their own poems. With the exception of slam poetry, I usually find it to be a little lacking.

It's not really her fault, David Alan Grier had us all waiting to go "Hosanna Obama" and he set us up to be disappointed.


So great poem, Elizabeth Alexander.(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/20/us/politics/20text-poem.html) But here's a little something to help you with your delivery (and I really needed an excuse to share the following).

The Fresh Prince: Rafael de la Ghetto "Charge of the Light Brigade"




Another one of my favorite poetry on television scenes comes from A Different World, the Mammy episode. There they performed "We Wear the Mask" by Paul Laurence Dunbar and "Ego Trippin" by Nikki Giovanni making me forever in love with the latter. I can't find an embeddable version, but you can catch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3cGgr-Rz-w.

Do you have a favorite poem or poetry moment?

* Get up on your Amiri Baraka "Black Art" here: http://www.nathanielturner.com/blackart.htm
I didn't say you have to like the man.

Check out more of My Favorite Scenes here: http://vanitydark.blogspot.com/search/label/MY%20FAVORITE%20SCENES

HAUL,
KIM

2 comments:

Keep it Mature and Classy.