Role Call: A Generational Anthology of Social and Political Black Literature and Art PDF
Preview Role Call: A Generational Anthology of Social and Political Black Literature and Art
A GENERATIONAL ANTHOLOGY OF SOCIAL & POLITICAL BLACK LITERATURE & ART Bnr»- ' v ^ w #- 9 ii.i L.\. h i r £ a p s a ilia $39.95 Cloth $24.95 Paper Welcome to the 21st century. The game may be the same, but the rules have signifi¬ cantly changed. How does the post-Civil Rights gen¬ eration of Black artists and writers respond to the social and political issues that affect us today? Role Call is a conscious manifesto of a much maligned, and often misunderstood generation that-far from slack¬ ing-is consciously and actively working to continue the fight for justice and equality. Boldly taking on issues of race relations, popular cul¬ ture, sexuality, education, religion, technology and the rise of the prison industry. Role Call reflects the love for self, family and community necessary to any struggle for equality. This diverse collection of dynamic voices and visions tackles its subjects with fresh, spare lan¬ guage, rich imagery and a passion for the issues and the work that signal the arrival of a new Black Power-one that is spiritually grounded, forged in multiple alliances, and based on the credo that each of our expe¬ riences matter. iCgInerational anthology OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL BLACK ART & LITERATURE Ul(#Mla^aSlL,^g A GENERATIONAL ANTHOLOGY OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL BLACK ART & LITERATURE edited by Tony Medina Samiya A. Bashir Quraysh Ali Lansana with a foreword by Haki R. Madhubuti Third World Press Chicago, Illinois Third World Press, Chicago, Illinois 60619 © 2003 by Tony Medina, Samiya A. Bashir, QurayshAli Lansana A Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Role Call: A Generational Anthology of Social and Political Black Art & Literature / edited by Tony Medina, Samiya A Bashir and QurayshAli Lansana p. cm. ISBN 0-88378-238-3 (alk. paper)—ISBN 0-883-78239-1 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. American literature—African American authors. 2. African Americans— Literary collections. 3. Social problems—Literary collections. 4- American litera¬ ture—20th century. 5. Politics—Literary collections. 6. Blacks—Literary collections. I. Medina, Tony. PS508.N3 R64 2002 8io.8’o358—dc2i 2001045718 All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission of Third World Press. Printed in the United States of America 10 090 08 07 06 05 04 o3 02 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Design: Washington Design, Brooklyn, NY Michele Y. Washington & Emily Punjavilasluck COVER IMAGE: "Handful” by Kenneth L. Addison, mixed media batik LEFT, FRONT INSIDE JACKET: Pilot Want Her Wings, by Torkwase Dyson, oil on canvas EDITOR PHOTO: by Cheryl L. Minor RIGHT, BACK INSIDE JACKET: Miss Eve, by Kenneth L. Addison, monoprint collage BACK COVER IMAGE: Jigga Who, by Navin June Norling, mixed media on wood LIBATION creator, god/s, goddess/es, deities, prophets, saints, earth, sun & moon, stars & planets, fire, water, ether, air, metals, universal knowledge and truth. the most positive and divine aspects of the ancestors of each of the contributors to this work, all of our mothers and fathers whose deeds and misdeeds have shaped us. we call the deities, spirits and saints of love, war, fertility, science, dance, art, song, harvest, sex, creativity, mathematics, commerce, politics, destiny, life, death. we pray that we have and will continue to live and create, giving proper respect in the perpetuity of artistic, intellectual, physical and political action, we pray that all of our creative endeavors assist in the elevation of our immediate and universal lineages-those who we follow and those yet to come, we give thanks to the goddesses and gods who have been there since the beginning and helped our ancestors move and persevere throughout the diaspora, through the most severe oppression and detachment. we continue to call those deities, spirits and saints, those indigenous to our homelands and traditions and those we’ve met during our journeys, who assist in our survival and upliftment. we recall the rhythms, tones and movements of our earliest rituals, we give thanks for all things great and small. we dedicate this book to our ancestors, those related by blood and by struggle, who passed on during the making of this book: Gwendolyn Brooks Jacob Lawrence Raymond R. Patterson Safiya Henderson-Holmes Dudley Randall Wilson L. Driver David Earl Jackson Barbara Christian John Biggers Tito Puente Aaliyah Haughton Russell Hutchison Belle Lawrence Jasmine Houston Tony Medina, Sr. Jenese Aileen Russell Woodson for them, for us, for you, for everyone that we can not name, this is our offering. V ■5, " Contents Foreword: The Generation Now xv Haki R. Madhubuti Intro: Call &. Repsonse xvii The Editors cn WHAT ISTH£ ROLE OF TODAY'S EMERGING YOUNG ARTISTS IN THE CURRENT STRUGGLE FOR EQUALITY AND JUSTICE? [_□ Future Generation 2 John Abner 1 Write 3 Askhari Sankofa 5 Pamela Plummer Aya 6 Kim Mayhorn Incantation for the Word 7 Adrian Castro Percussion Permeates 9 Eric Mack How Music Relates to the Brain 10 Jeremiah Hoseah Landes No One’s Slave 11 Jeremiah Hoseah Landes From Girl in the Mirror 12 Natasha Tarpley Dear Mama 13 Angela Shannon 1 Am My Mother 14 Staceyann Chin Sticks and Stones 15 Kim Louise detail—"A Woman Was Lynched the Other Day” 16 Kim Mayhorn Case of Blues 17 Gina M. Streaty Homage to Leonardo Drew’s Number Eight 18 Allison Joseph Dumas 19 Jabari Asim Believe Me 20 Shane Book The Poet 21 Sheila L. Prevost The Good Doctor Writes 22 DJ Renegade After the Verdict 23 G. Winston James larry 24 Brian Gilmore Kofi 25 Johnalynn Holland Harbors and Spirits 26 Jeffrey Renard Allen Coltrane Spoke to Me One Night 30 Tony Medina The Role Call 31 Thomas Sayers Ellis HOW DO THE VOICES OF THE NEXT GENERATION DEFINE THE ISSUES AND POLITICS OF TODAY? America in Control 34 John Abner on the use of charliebrown/teachatalk 35 r.c. glenn Music, man, what is it gonna be? 36 Morgan Michael Craft The Rapper 38 Sheila L. Prevost Guernica 39 Kevin Young We play in the Do-lt-yourself family rooms 42 Kate Rushin retired, ronald reagan sits in his dayroom 43 Tyehimba Jess blood and wine 45 Samiya A. Bashir Corporate America Comes to £1 Barrio 47 Shaggy Flores vii contents Jobless 49 Calida Garcia The Bird Cage Bunch 50 Charlie R. Braxton Survivors 51 Kysha N. Brown Faces 54 Renaldo Davidson Callin Out ya Uncle 55 Tish Benson returned to sender 56 Mendi Lewis Obadike Dear Daddy 57 Andrea M. Wren Reba is a State Child and what you call fast 58 Kate Rushin Berneatha’s Story 59 Samiya A. Bashir Excerpt from Monster 61 Dael Orlandersmith Who’s Afraid of a Black Grrrl Revolution? 63 Brigette M. Moore What It’s Like to Be a Mixed Girl 66 Tara Betts Growing Wild 67 Carol Smith Passariello Braiding Rituals 70 Kenneth L. Addison Poem Where My Mother and Father are Absent 71 Shara McCallum The Zoo 72 Melanie Hope Celebration 73 Jacqueline Johnson Black or American 74 Jill Robinson Untitled, from The Consumer series 79 Derrick Adams What 1 Am 80 Terrence Hayes My Environment 81 Kraig A. Blue Justice in the Techno Age 82 Nancy Mercado Arriving with Orders from Shaka Sankofa 83 Theodore A. Harris War Pigs 84 s.r. bonafide Cheney and Mandela: Reconciling the Truth 85 Farai Chideya Cleaning the White House Latrine 87 Tony Medina The Futher Adventures of Tutor the Turtle 88 Tim Seibles The Cross, The Gun, Necklacing and Black People 89 Theodore A. Harris The Bush Boys 90 Kelly Norman Ellis Turtle Eggs 91 Pamela Sneed Mother Tongue: Unman Chant 93 Edwin Torres The Power of the Press 95 Lisa C. Moore Lethal 99 Sheila L. Prevost Invasion of the Body Snatchers 100 Tim Seibles THE ROLE CALL Contributors 103-113 VIII
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