Celebrating Juneteenth

A selection of work by African American poets that spans six decades (1970s-2020s). This playlist was created in 2023. 

Tracks
Track Title
from "Postcards: A Metaphysical Journey" (cont.)
Citation

St. John, Primus. Love is not a Consolation; It Is a Light. Pittsburgh: Carnegie-Mellon, 1982.

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Track Title
"To the Fig Tree on 9th and Christian"
Description

Differs slightly from published version.

Reader
Citation

Gay, Ross. Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2015.

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Track Title
"ego-tripping (there may be a reason why)"
Citation

Giovanni, Nikki. ego tripping and other poems for young people. Ill. George Ford. New York: Lawrence Hill Books, 1973.

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Track Title
"Salome"
Reader
Citation
Ai. Sin. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1986.
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Track Title
"Homage to the New World"
Citation

Harper, Michael S. Song: I Want a Witness. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1972.

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Track Title
"Kin"
Description

Differs from published version.

Citation

Derricotte, Toi. The Black Notebooks: An Interior Journey. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1997.

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Track Title
"study the masters"
Citation
Clifton, Lucille. Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988-2000. Rochester, NY: BOA Editions, Ltd., 2000.
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Track Title
"Lower-Class Artist Imagines"
Description

Uncollected.

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Track Title
"Doin' the Louvre"
Description

Differs slightly from published version.

Citation

Smith, Patricia. Big Towns, Big Talk. Cambridge, MA: Zoland Books, 1992.

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Track Title
"'I have been a stranger in a strange land'"
Reader
Citation

Dove, Rita. American Smooth: Poems. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2004.

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Track Title
"Love Poem: Pegasus"
Reader
Citation

Kelly, Donika. Bestiary. Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2016.

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Track Title
"2" and "3"
Description

From the sequence "come on, get it!" Differs from published version.

Reader
Citation

Moten, Fred. The Feel Trio. Tucson: Letter Machine Editions, 2014.

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Track Title
"I'm Running for the Office of Love"
Reader
Description

Includes a recorded musical version of the poem performed by Allen Toussaint with Clare Bathé.

Citation
Reed, Ishmael. Points of View. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1988.
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Track Title
Closing Meditation
Description

lead by Mahogany L. Browne

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Image
Nikki Giovanni
Photographer
Christine Krikliwy
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Image
Ross Gay
Photographer
Hannah Ensor
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Image
Ai
Photographer
Lois Shelton
Ai
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Image
Fred Moten
Photographer
Cybele Knowles
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Image
Lucille Clifton
Photographer
Lois Shelton
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Image
Tongo Eisen-Martin
Photographer
Patri Hadad
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Image
Michael S. Harper
Photographer
LaVerne Harrell Clark
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Image
Rita Dove
Photographer
Hannah Ensor
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Image
Donika Kelly
Photographer
Paola Valenzuela
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Image
Ishmael Reed with saguaro cactus
Photographer
Lois Shelton
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Image
Mahogany L. Browne
Photographer
Paola Valenzuela
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Image
Patricia Smith
Photographer
Christine Krikliwy
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Image
Toi Derricotte
Photographer
Alison Hawthorne Deming
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