Interesting People Reading Poetry

Waziyatawin Reads John Trudell

09.04.2017 - By Stermer BrothersPlay

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play

Calls for solidarity are common in our political climate, but is solidarity possible before widespread acknowledgement and rectification of past injustices? In this episode, Waziyatawin explores this question in the context of the poem, "Cry Your Tears," by the late John Trudell. Waziyatawin is a leading Dakota intellectual, activist, and the executive director of Makoce Ikikcupi, a non-profit dedicated to Dakota land recovery. John Trudell was a prolific poet, actor, musician, and activist.

Later on, we check the Haiku Hotline for your poems about tears. Transcriptions of this week’s featured listener poems are available here.

"Cry Your Tears," by John Trudell, appears in his collection, Lines From a Mined Mind, © 2008, Fulcrum Publishing, Golden, CO. The music in this interview is excerpted from Trudell's song "Cry Your Tears," from the album Madness and the Moremes. Waziyatawin's influential book, What Does Justice Look Like? is available from Living Justice Press.

Subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.

More episodes from Interesting People Reading Poetry