In this episode we discuss a variety of interlinking subjects. We begin with a semi-in depth look at Martin Luther King's "Other America" speech and talk about the mischaracterization of King in modern day narratives with regard to the riots and protests of today. We also discuss poetry as a means of capturing the experience of being Black in America, briefly discussing the works of poets like Sojourner Truth, Claude McKay, Langston Hughes, Julian Bond and Jayne Cortez. The show wraps up with a discussion of the brilliant National Book Award Finalist-- Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine.

Links to content discussed below:

MLK Article on Salon

MLK Speeches: Other America and Letter From Birmingham Jail

Sojourner Truth Ain’t I A Woman

Paul Laurence Dunbar: Selected Poems

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper: Selected Poems

Claude McKay: Selected Poems

Langston Hughes: Selected Poems

Countee Cullen: Selected Poems

Julian Bond: Look at That Girl

Naomi Long Madgett: Selected Poems

Nikki Giovanni: We Too, Nikki-Rosa

Jayne Cortez: There It Is

Amiri Baraka: Wise I

June Jordan: Jim Crow the Sequel

Maya Angelou: Mama Welfare Roll, Equality

This week we're finally discussing our book club selection Edwidge Danticat's Claire of the Sea Light. We know. : ) Join us for an atypical discussion that centers on this novel, its inhabitant and the literary prowess of the author. 

This was the very first episode of the podcast we recorded way back when. Please excuse the sounds of Jeanette typing at random intervals, LOL! We spend the majority of the hour discussing Tampa by Alissa Nutting. Borne of seeing a story of a former classmate in the news, Nutting's novel takes a look at a predatory nature of one female middle school teacher who uses her classroom as a way to feed her perversion.

Article we discussed in the beginning of episode here.