This poem has been on my to-read list for this podcast for a while.

I kept passing it over.

Why?

Eventually I realised that for some reason it scared me. What right did I, a white Irishman, have to read this poem by a flag-bearer of black American feminism?

Then I realised, that’s no reason not to read it here.

In fact, isn’t it all the more reason to read it here?

Yes, it seems like cultural appropriation is a thing, where some people take on the mantle of cultures and histories that are not theirs.

But equally, if we’re to learn from each other, share with each other, we have to be able to step into one another’s places and cultures and histories.

In this podcast I’ve read poems written by men and women from all over the world.

Most of them are about the individual — the poet, the narrator, the narrative voice. Maya Angelou’s Still I Rise is also that, but it’s more than that too. Because it’s about a whole race and a whole sex — black women in an America that is still coming to terms with its past.

So maybe I have no right, as a white Irishman, to read this poem.

But that might mean nobody but white Irishmen have a right to read Samuel Beckett or James Joyce, and I know that to be completely wrong.

So let’s read other, listen to each other, learn from each other.

Keep an open mind, because that’s where all progress comes from.

You can read the poem here

For a detailed outline of the mission and purpose behind this podcast, please check out Episode 100, "Why Poems for the Speed of Life?", in your podcast player or ⁠⁠⁠⁠click here to listen on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠.

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Music Credit:

Once Upon a Time by Alex-Productions | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://onsound.eu/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  | Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com