Born of a Woman

by Etheridge Knight

Poems written during the past fifteen years, products of the experiences of one Black man in a divided society, evoke the brutality, fear, and desperation fostered in injustice and comment on love and brotherhood.

Genres: Poetry

120 pages, Paperback

First published June 24, 1980

About the author

Etheridge Knight (April 19, 1931 – March 10, 1991) was an African-American poet who made his name in 1968 with his debut volume, Poems from Prison. The book recalls in verse his eight-year-long sentence after his arrest for robbery in 1960. By the time he left prison, Knight had prepared a second volume featuring his own writings and works of his fellow inmates. This second book, first published in Italy under the title Voce negre dal carcere, appeared in English in 1970 as Black Voices from Prison. These works established Knight as one of the major poets of the Black Arts Movement, which flourished from the early 1960s through the mid-1970s. With roots in the Civil Rights Movement, Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam, and the Black Power Movement, Etheridge Knight and other American artists within the movement sought to create politically engaged work that explored the African-American cultural and historical experience.

Reviews

[Muhammad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Israel å la Begin, begins: "We
/ love / peace-and-ah
Yakady-yakady-yak-yak-yak.
That's why we / drove /
the Palestinians off / their / land —
With the help of america and england's evil hand.
And-ah-yakady-yakady-yak-yak-yak."

In the Gaza strip an Arab boy sleeps,
his knees / are / drawn / up to his chest.
His hands cup his crotch. He dreams of grenades,
And machine guns and prayers to Allah.

An Israeli boy sleeps in Tel Aviv. He dreams
Of the tales told to him by his / grand / father:
Nazi boots goosestepping on cobblestone, of lampshades
Made / from Jewish skin, of Jewish women — and men —
Naked and torn. He dreams too of blooming gardens
In the "promised land" and of killing Arabs
At his Rabbi's command.

And the "Peacemakers?" Ah, the peacemakers
Gives guns to / one
And bombs to the / other
All contrary to the / cries / of the Mother.

A POEM ON THE MIDDLE EAST "PEACE
PROCESS"

"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged in a scathing speech to Congress on Wednesday to achieve “total victory” against Hamas and denounced American opponents of the war in Gaza as “idiots,” taking a combative stance in a visit the Biden administration has hoped will yield progress in negotiations to end the fighting.

“America and Israel must stand together. When we stand together something really simple happens: We win, they lose,” said Netanyahu, who wore a yellow pin expressing solidarity with the Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

“Give us the tools we need, and we will finish the job,” Netanyahu urged members of Congress."

Sorry Mr. Netanyahu, rather than being idiots some of us just read history books and don't have short memory spans. Oh and actually still have a soul!

[J.Istsfor Manity · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1980 this collection included new poems by Knight and selections form two previous works including his Pulitzer Prize and National Book award nominated collection: Belly Song and Other Poems (1973). It was in the preface of this book that Knight elucidated his concept that “Poets are naturally meddlers…” creating art in the form of a dialectic or “TRINITY: The Poet, The Poem, and The People.

His haiku forms are sharp in “Indiana Haiku — 2,” “Missouri Haiku,” and “Indiana Haiku.” In the “Missouri Haiku” compilation he writes about the existential menace he feels in “Boone County: The blue pick/up truck / Roars past: Sun shines on shotgun / Leering in window.” 

And no matter where he is in America Knight reminds you that’s all the same existential dread, as in the free verse poem “Boston 5:00 A.M. — 10/74:” 

“AWAKE! For mornings
Are the same as nights
The troops
Goosestep
Down the streets”

Other standouts in a book replete with standouts are “For Langston Hughes,”
“Welcome Back, Mr. Knight: Love Of My Life,” “A Poem For 3RD World Brothers,” “It was a Funky Deal,” among many others. Ebook, 02/05/21.

[Joel Maqueira · Rating 5 out of 5]

A LEGEND!

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is out of print and hard to find. Most of these poems were reprinted in "The Essential Etheridge Knight," which came out 6 years later. It's interesting what he (or his editor) chose not to include in the later book. If you want to read Etheridge Knight's more political (and politically "incorrect") poems, you'll find them here as well as a few that he may have simply changed his mind about. Some of the cut poems deserve to remain in print, such as:

After Watching B.B. King on T.V. While Locked in No. 8 Cell, No. 5 Cage of the Bridgeport, Connecticut State Jail
And now man
as you stand there
in the white glare
the sound I hear
from your tuxedoed frame
somehow ain't the same
that's filled my belly and ears
for so many many years
yet the pain on your face is the same
despite the gloss and the glitter and the fame
and the new name:
CULTURE...

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

And I and I / must admit
that the sea in you
has sung / to the sea / in me
and I and I / must admit
that the sea in me
has fallen / in love
with the sea in you
because you have made something
out of the sea
that nearly swallowed you.