The Black Matter is Life: Poetry for Engagement and Overcoming

Why African American poetry matters is the focus of a new virtual winter series of public conversations presented by the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire (BHTNH). “The Black Matter is Life: Poetry for Engagement and Overcoming” will explore and discuss the rich tradition and innovation found in African American poetry. Three online conversations, across three regions of NH, led by UNH professors Dr. Dennis Britton and Dr. Reginald A. Wilburn once a month in November, December, and January, will be augmented by a Community Poem Project sponsored respectively by the Rye Public Library, the Keene Public Library, and the Nashua Public Library. Each discussion will take a close look at poems within the context of African American literary tradition, the cultural heritage and surroundings the traditions have encompassed, and the relevance this tradition has to us today.

JerriAnne Boggis, Executive Director of BHTNH, explains, “Poetry is a powerful art form, one that offers profound insights into what it means to be human. Through the creative, succinct, and melodious use of language, poets render into words their joys, their challenges, their vulnerabilities, and their discoveries, thus providing shape and meaning to the human connection and shared emotional experience. In the wake of our nation’s current unrest, this program is designed to build bridges across the racial divide by introducing the audience to the writings of a number of African American poets whose work has shone a light on a rich cultural heritage that has often gone unexplored. This program asks the audience to consider how African American poetry provides tools for healing our nation’s deep racial wounds.

To begin this exploration of the vast diversity within African American poetic tradition, UNH professors Reginald Wilburn and Dennis Britton will facilitate three online conversations. The series consists of three themed discussions across three regions of New Hampshire, and each discussion will take a close look at poems within the context of African American literary tradition, the cultural heritage and surroundings the traditions have encompassed, and the relevance this tradition has to us today. The series will also explore the question, “Why African American Poetry Matters?”