{"id":1180,"date":"2015-02-13T00:00:31","date_gmt":"2015-02-13T05:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/mission-and-identity\/?p=1180"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:49:39","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:49:39","slug":"feb-13-many-africans-are-notinspired-and-influenced-by-their-own-writers-and-poets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2015\/02\/13\/feb-13-many-africans-are-notinspired-and-influenced-by-their-own-writers-and-poets\/","title":{"rendered":"Feb 13 – “. . . many Africans are not\tinspired and influenced by their own writers and poets – “"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friday, February 13 \u2014 \u201cBroadside Press Poets\u2019 Theatre . . . the entire session will be devoted to open mic (new poets are welcome)”<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Badilisha Poetry X-Change website begins with words that Dudlley Randall, UDM\u2019s Poet Laureate, might have written about Black poetry in Detroit when he founded Broadside Press.<\/p>\n

“Why We Do It: Africans have limited access to the vast poetic work of both historical and contemporary African poets. There has never been an archive of these poets\u2019 work that is both expansive and easily accessible. This means that many Africans are not inspired and influenced by their own writers and poets \u2013 negatively impacting their personal growth, identity, development and sense of place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Broadside Press, diected by Professor Rosemary Weatherston, hosts programs designed to put a light on great African American poetry, especially but not exclusively Detroit poets. Year by year, The Dudley Randall Poetry Competition features UDM student winners, new poets who inspire and influence the culture in which we live and the air we breathe. (n.b., after I wrote this post I saw Dr. Weatherston\u2019s email announcing this Sundays \u201cBroadside Press Poets\u2019 Theatre (3:15 Sunday in Grounds) a precise example of what Broadside Press exists to do. Check out the full email at the end of this post: jstsj)<\/p>\n

I found a tough, strong African poem in my first walk-around the Badilisha X-Change. Here at the end of week 2 of Black History Month, \u201cGardenia\u2019s Night\u201d is meant as a tribute to all the poetry UDM has called forth in the decades since Dudley Randall worked here and opened a tradition of African American expression.<\/p>\n

But, of course, \u201cGardenia\u2019s Night\u201d also appeared here because it\u2019s a good poem. Best to read it out loud with pauses.<\/p>\n

Have a blest weekend,<\/p>\n

john sj<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Post: The Garden Full of Gardenia, Amira Ali<\/strong><\/p>\n

The garden full of gardenia
\nthe smell perfectly lingers
\nas I imperfectly linger
\non the blood-full skied
\nnight
\nthe night I should have talked
\nto the soul of his truth
\nbefore I laid my body down
\nmaybe even lifted the many shades
\nbefore I bowed down to belief
\nI should have sent a prayer out
\nto the ancestral land
\npoured out libation
\nofferings
\nlisten for a word back
\na sign of consent
\nthat he is King deserving
\nof a Queen
\nbefore offering my body
\nmade to be a King\u2019s Queen
\nbetween the sky and gardenia
\nwe made such a pretty picture
\nblinded
\nI laid in-between
\noffer I did my body to him
\nBefore brushing the stars
\noutta my hair
\nas the stars still peeked
\nat a face still hot
\nfrom the night\u2019s heat
\nwhile his smell still lingered
\nbefore his shadow disappeared
\nI found out
\nHe\u2019s not [my] king.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Gardenias Night (Production of poem – Kenny Allen) by Amira Ali<\/p>\n

[jwplayer mediaid=”1181″]
\nBIOGRAPHY
\nAmira is a creative artist, poet, writer and educator, born in Ethiopia, based in the U.S. http:\/\/badilishapoetry.com\/?theme=love She is a regular contributor to Pambazuka News and chief writer, as well as editorial team member at AfricaSpeaks4Africa.org. She is currently at work on, in collaboration with a South African poet and Kenyan writer, producing Podcast stories (Afro\u2019pick and coffee) that accentuates the everyday stories of the African disaporans, residing in America.<\/p>\n

p.s.
\nBroadside Press’ Poets’ Theater<\/span>
\nSunday, January 18, 2015<\/span>
\n3:15 pm – 6:00 pm<\/span>
\nGrounds<\/span><\/mark><\/p>\n

Sunday, February 15th, the Dudley Randall Center for Print Culture and Broadside Press will host Broadside\u00a0Press Poets’ Theater. There is no featured performer; the entire session will be devoted to open mic (new poets\u00a0are welcome and encouraged to come read!) This event is free and open to the public.<\/p>\n

Broadside Press Poets’ Theater takes place on UDM’s McNichols Campus the third Sunday of each month\u00a0during the academic year. For more information, contact Rosemary Weatherston, Director of UDM’s Dudley Randall\u00a0Center for Print Culture and UDM Press at weatherr@udmercy.edu. We hope you can join us.<\/p>\n

Dr. Rosemary Weatherston
\nAssociate Professor of English<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Friday, February 13 \u2014 \u201cBroadside Press Poets\u2019 Theatre . . . the entire session will be devoted to open mic (new poets are welcome)” The Badilisha Poetry X-Change website begins with words that Dudlley Randall, UDM\u2019s Poet Laureate, might have … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11641],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1180"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1180"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1186,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1180\/revisions\/1186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}