The Black Poets

by Dudley Randall (Editor)

"The claim of The Black Poets to being... an anthology is that it presents the full range of Black-American poetry, from the slave songs to the present day. It is important that folk poetry be included because it is the root and inspiration of later, literary poetry. Not only does this book present the full range of Black poetry, but it presents most poets in depths, and in some cases presents aspects of a poet neglected or overlooked before. Gwendolyn Brooks is represented not only by poems on racial and domestic themes, but is revealed as a writer of superb love lyrics. Tuming away from White models and retuming to their roots has freed Black poets to create a new poetry. This book records their progress."—from the Introduction by Dudley Randall

Genres: Poetry, African American, Nonfiction, Anthologies, Classics, Black Literature, American

384 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1971

Reviews

[B. P. Rinehart · Rating 5 out of 5]

"O black and unknown bards of long ago,
How came your lips to touch the sacred fire?
How, in your darkness, did you come to know
The power and beauty of the minstrel’s lyre?
Who first from midst his bonds lifted his eyes?
Who first from out the still watch, lone and long,
Feeling the ancient faith of prophets rise
Within his dark-kept soul, burst into song?" - first stanza of James Weldon Johnson's "O Black and Unknown Bards."

If only I knew how to better praise such a marvelous book! This is the best anthology of poetry I have yet read, and it only goes up to 1971. This book was edited by an African-American poet of the times and it features the best of the best. I earlier reviewed The Book of American Negro Poetry which was edited by the man who I quoted above. This collection easily surpasses it. I feel that it does such a good job at showcasing poetry AFTER the Harlem Renaissance (which is where so many like to stop when looking at Black poetry) that I was stunned at how much better it was overall.

I picked this book up from a thrift store, on the fly, and it is well worn. Despite that, I was able to get very good reads of poets I have become very interested in as of late--Robert Hayden and Gwendolyn Brooks. I was also formally introduced to the poetry of Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Nikki Giovanni, Dudley Randall, and Lucille Clifton to name a few. The theme of this book reflects the age it was created in as integration gave way to Black social consciousness. I appreciated the inclusion of the anonymous folk verses from slavery though I wish the section on Paul Laurence Dunbar included more of his regular English poems and less of his "dialect" poetry. One thing I learned from this book is that you can tell the different from actual "dialect" and artistic license (ironically Randall did include Dunbar's poem in which he criticizes people for always choosing his dialect poems over his regular English ones (which he considered superior: "HE sang of life, serenely sweet, With, now and then, a deeper note. From some high peak, nigh yet remote, He voiced the world's absorbing beat. He sang of love when earth was young, And Love, itself, was in his lays. But ah, the world, it turned to praise A jingle in a broken tongue."))

How I wish this book was better well-known and well-taught. As much as I like Langston Hughes, African-American poetry was more than just him and Maya Angelou. This book goes along way in showing that.

"The critics cry unfair
.....yet the poem is born.
Some black emancipated baby
.....will scratch his head
wondering why you felt compelled
.....to say whatever you said.

A black poet must bear in mind
.....the misery.
The color-seekers fear poems
.....they can't buy for a ten-dollar
bill or with some clever contract.
.....Some black kid is bound to read you.

A black poet must remember the horrors.
.....The good jobs can't last forever.
It shall come to pass that the fury
.....of a token revolution will fade
into the bank accounts of countless blacks
.....and freedom-loving whites.

The brilliant novels shall pass
.....into the archives of a 'keep cool
we've done enough for you' generation:
.....the movement organizations already
await their monthly checks from Downtown
.....and

only the forgotten wails of a few black
.....poets and artists
shall survive the then of then,
.....the now of now. - In Defense of Black Poets by Conrad Kent Rivers

[Rowena · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars – I wish I could give this book 5 stars; it’s a great anthology of black poets including poems from my old favourites, such as Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, and James Weldon Johnson, and also introducing me to some “new” poets such as Naomi Madgett, Mari Evans and Claude McKay. The range of poetry is great, and it covers a large period of time. However, I couldn’t give it a full rating for a number of reasons. Firstly, I just couldn’t get into the folk poetry; the dialect just made reading the poems to be too much of a chore for me (perhaps had I been American, this would not have been the case?). I actually stopped reading the folk poetry after a few pages; I didn’t have the patience to read them. Also, some of the poems included were way too radical and explicit for me. Though I do understand that it was necessary due to the tough topics and issues that several of the poems covered, it just isn’t my cup of tea.

Speaking of Naomi Madgett, I find the imagery in the following poem wonderful:

Would it please you if I strung my tears
In pearls for you to wear?
Would you like a gift of my hands’ endless beating
Against old bars?
This time I can forget my Otherness,
Silence my drums of discontent awhile
And listen to the stars.
Wait in the shadows if you choose.
Stand alert to catch
The thunder and first sprinkle of unrest
Your insufficiency demands,
But you will find no comfort.
I will not feed your hunger with my blood
Nor crown your nakedness
With jewels of my elegant pain.

— Naomi Madgett, The Race Problem


This is a poetry collection I’m proud to have on my bookshelf.

[Kym Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

The remarkable authenticity of oral history resonates in spoken words through WordArt in this timely anthology. This collection of folk poetry gives me more clarity and connection to the ebb and flow of poets who expressed their experiences, and emotions through vernaculars that were not taught in school or exposed to on a wide literary scale, in famous global proportions.

These poetic expressions found through dialects from people who were ancestrally oppressed and/or suffered many forms of injustices, are on this stage to deliver a raw flavor of lamentations, truth, and stark realizations indicative of Blacks/Afro-Americans/African-Americans. While the amazing and beautiful compilation from Dudley Randall is quite different from the voices of poets like Wordsworth, Longfellow, Frost, Dickinson, Lowell, Poe or Shakespeare, it speaks of the milieu stemming from the roots and variables of the African and Black diaspora.

To understand the fabric and flow of the voices of these poets included in "The Black Poets" one must be able to connect to the dialect of that period and the treacherous experiences thereof. Poets from Lucy Terry (a renowned 18th-century orator who is also the first known African-American poet) to Phillis Wheatley, (the first African-American woman to publish a book of poetry) to poets from the Harlem and post-Harlem Renaissance like Gwendolyn Brooks are also included in this fine collection of folk poetry.

This volume of poetry is a definite must-have as you expand the voice of diversity within the library of your poetry collection.

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely LOVED this anthology. If i could choose one book to summarize everything I've learned and experienced growing up as a black woman in America, it would be this book. I highly recommend it to any one who is interested in poetry or black art.

Before I started the book, I read a few reviews bemoaning the racial undertones of the poetry, but I took those reviews with a grain of salt for a number of reasons:
1) A good portion of recent black history involves race politics.
2) The book was originally published in 1971, just after the peak of the Civil Rights Movement in America.
3) The book is called the BLACK poets.

I don't know what those other readers were expecting.
That said, the poems in this book are about so much more than race. They covers topics such as religion, family, identity, music, and even poetry itself. Dudley Randall did a fantastic job compiling a wide range poetic styles and choosing poets of diverse backgrounds. I also appreciated his inclusion of folk poetry, which is so often overlooked in poetry anthologies. I usually donate books when I'm done with them because my shelf has limited space, but The Black Poets is definitely a keeper.

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has been on my bookshelf since just before college and for good reason. The experience of studying poetry in high school would have been transformed if this book were one of its texts.

I flip through the pages over and over again, reviewing old familiars and finding new gems. The collected poems span such a long period that it provides for a literary study of the progression of Black expression in a land both hostile and available.

Reviewing the works of such great writers as Langston Hughes, Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Sonia Sanchez, Don L. Lee (Haki Madhubuti) is priceless. This is required reading for my children and a necessary reference in their transformation into adulthood.

I would recommend this not only for blacks, but anyone truly interested in the beauty of expression that can grow from the collective experience of a people in land.

[Angélique (Angel) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the greatest collections of poetry I've ever read, because it is more than just a collection of well-written pieces. It is a journey through Black culture in America going all the way from the folk songs of the early slaves to the raw political no-shit-taking poems of writers in the seventies. It shows the assimilation, the rebellion, the adjustment, and the upheaval needed to survive as a poet in a land that would rather you shut up then speak out and write down. It highlights the diversity of Black culture and privileges no one way of living the Black poet life.

It feeds the spirit. Nourishes the mind. Energizes the body. Challenges all. And it calls to question, strikingly, why more of these poets aren't recognized in mainstream academia. Why I had to stumble upon this book in my mom's collection rather than see it at school or in the library. Why these works were never suggested to me when I clung to poetry as a teenager.

This anthology is real and relevant and right on. I'd recommend it to anyone who's ready for a ride.

[D.P. Christie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just want to say (page 315)
“You are beautiful
You are beautiful beyond reference
You are the night interpreted
You are
You”. ❤️❤️❤️
I think this book should be in more school read lists, it’s important to read work of great black writers.
It was a sad book, and it’s worst that it’s not my own pain, there truly was some poems that made me cry.

Soli quiero decir (página 315)
“You are beautiful
You are beautiful beyond reference
You are the night interpreted
You are
You”. ❤️❤️❤️
Creo que este libro debería estar en más listas de lecturas de escuelas, es importante leer trabajo de grandes autores negros.
Fue un libro triste, y es peor que ni si quiera es mi propio dolor, hubo realmente poemas que me hicieron llorar.

[Jessica Holter · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Black Poets: One of my favorite books to study! If you need to familiarize yourself with the work of great poets like Langston Hughes, buy this book. If you want to get to the heart of a Black Man like Etheridge Knight, (You know the brotha you don't want standing behind you at the ATM machine) study this book. If you want to have a great time, running through many black minds form many time periods in american history...The Black Poets has it for you. I refer to this book often, opening it, the way I do my bible, seeking understanding and advise.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this collection, there was a satisfying array of work, including folk songs and spirituals. Not everything was my cup of tea, and some of these works are definitely a product of their time, but I think they help illustrate political and cultural climate, which is quite interesting.

[Punk · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of the required texts for an African American poetry class I took in college. I couldn't remember if we used the whole book or just selections, and I still had my copy, so I decided to start from the beginning and read the whole thing. It's organized chronologically, starting with traditional folk poetry and spirituals, which fit in nicely with the slave narratives I was reading at the time, and it kept up with me as I moved on to modern Black voices. Though, it didn't keep up with me for long, since this book was published in 1971 and stops with the 1960s.

The introduction is written in simple, accessible language, and the book is broken into sections by era: Folk Poetry: Folk Seculars, Spirituals; Literary Poetry: The Forerunners, Harlem Renaissance, Post-Renaissance, The Nineteen Sixties. The specifics of these eras are touched on in the introduction, but there are no individual introductions for each section. Within these sections are individual poets and their work, though some poets have only two poems on a single page and others have fifteen poems across as many pages. I feel like there could have been more equity there. Probably close to a good balance between men and women—but here I'm only guessing based on their names—and at least one queer poet (which I only found out by googling her), but short biographies would have been nice. Each poet has their birth year and death year (if applicable), though not every modern poet has a birth year listed, which is odd. Dates on poems would have been helpful. I also would have liked footnotes for some of the slang/dialect in the folk poetry sections. I did my own research, but much of it only leads back to the source with no explanation. The book does have some footnotes, but mostly for things like "Copperse is copperas, or sulphate of iron." Thanks, that definitely changes my reading of this slave song.

I found a few poets I'd like to read more about, and ran across some old favorites, but this didn't greatly expand my knowledge of themes or movements in Black poetry or make me feel like I'd come to know any of these poets.

The book has a detailed table of contents, but no index of poem titles or first lines. Extensive—but dated—resources at the back list publishers of Black poetry, phonograph records, tapes, and films of recorded poetry and poets.

Contains: I don't normally make content notes for poetry anthologies, but in addition to the trauma inherent in chattel slavery and the ways that systemic oppression continues to harm Black Americans today, I have to point out a pattern of anti-semitism throughout the final section, particularly in Imamu Amiri Baraka's work, but it appears in others' as well.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent anthology. It begins with a section of “Folk Poetry” (broken into “Folk Seculars” and “Spirituals”), then moves to Literary Poetry (broken into “The Forerunners,” “Harlem Renaissance,” “Post-Renaissance,” and “The Nineteen Sixties”). Within these time periods, Randall has selected poets representing a variety of styles, and the poems he has chosen often showcase multiple sides of the same poet. There were many poets I knew included in the anthology, but also many I was unfamiliar with and glad to meet. Unsurprisingly, many of the poems are harrowing and heartbreaking—the pain in some of these left me breathless—but there is beauty and unflinching strength woven through it all, as well. Nothing illustrates this better than these passages from Robert Hayden’s “Middle Passage,” which never fails to leave me stunned:

Jesus Estrella, Esperanza, Mercy:

Sails flashing to the wind like weapons,
sharks following the moans the fever and the dying;
horror the corposant and compass rose.

Middle Passage:
Voyage through death
To life upon these shores

…

Shuttles in the rocking loom of history,
The dark ships move, the dark ships move,
Their bright ironical names
Like jests of kindness on a murderer’s mouth…

Or this from “Kitchenette Building” by Gwendolyn Brooks:

We are things of dry hours and the involuntary plan,
Grayed in, and gray. “Dream” makes a giddy sound, not strong
Like “rent,” “feeding a wife,” “satisfying a man.”

But could a dream send up through onion fumes
Its white and violet, fight with fried potatoes
And yesterday’s garbage ripening in the hall,
Flutter, or sing an aria down these rooms…

Or this from "I Know I'm Not Sufficiently Obscure" by Ray Durem:

I know I'm not sufficiently obscure
to please the critics--nor devious enough.
Imagery escapes me.
I cannot find those mild and gracious words
to clothe the carnage.
Blood is blood and murder's murder.
What's a lavender word for lynch?

There are so many other fantastic voices in here I could highlight. My only criticism of the book is that I would have liked to see more space devoted to the literary poetry and less to the folk poetry. Having some folk poetry definitely enriched the collection and illuminated some of the roots of the later poems, but after I read a few of the folk poems, the rest felt repetitive, while each poem in the literary poetry section felt unique. That may just be my personal taste, though. Overall, this is a fantastic selection.

[Paul S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

An epic collection.
Mari Evans and Sonia Sanchez are new-to-me standouts.

"summary" by Sonia Sanchez

no sleep tonight
not even after all
the red and green pills
i have pumped into
my stuttering self or
the sweet wine
that drowns them.
this is
a poem for the world
for the slow suicides
in seclusion.
somewhere on 130th st.
a woman, frail as a
child’s ghost sings. oh.
oh. what
can the matter be? johnny’s
so long at the fair.
/ i learned how
to masturbate
thru the new york times.
i thought
shd i have
thought anything
that cd not
be proved. i
thought and
was wrong. listen
fool
black
bitch
of fantasy. life
is no more than
gents
and
gigolos (99% american)
liars
and
killers (199% american)
dreamers
and drunks (299% american)
(ONLY GOD IS 300% AMERICAN)
i say
is everybody happy?
this is a poem for me.
i am alone.
one night of words
will not change
all that.

[Diane Gabriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, this year (and 2020) particularly, has felt like a hefty crash course on Black History in America. To make up for our systemically racist institutions that pass down White centering ideas leaving out the portions that tell us how it REALLY was/ and is; I now have a massive stack of non-fiction reads to get through to catch up. My point in prefacing with that is: when that gets heavy (because it will, heavy on the heart, mind, and soul-to know about the deliberate cause of suffering) pick up this book of poetry! It is wide ranging in its selection, topics, and feelings, and years. I find I can learn about history via textbook like reading, but I can enter into the feelings from history, when I pick up poetry from those times- from these Black poets, on what was important to them then, and how that applies to now.
I laughed with some, felt a deep grief and panic with others- and even prayed through the most somber ones with the Lord-I have learned so much.
Even Martha Graham is mentioned in this collection (lol! I learned about her in dance class, and the line the poet wrote on her is hilarious!)
Anyway, get it- its great! Not an easy find, but a great way to add another genre of reading to all of the other great literature and non-fiction learning resources out right now.
Enter in the grief, AND the joy!

[Muhammad · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The critics cry unfair
yet the poem is born.
Some black emancipated baby
will scratch his head
wondering why you felt compelled
to say whatever you said.

A black poet must bear in mind
the misery.
The color-seekers fear poems
they can’t buy for a ten-dollar
bill or with a clever contract.
Some black kid is bound to read you.

A black poet must remember the horrors.
The good jobs can’t last forever.
It shall come to pass that the fury
of a token revolution will fade
into the bank accounts of countless blacks
and freedom-loving whites.

The brilliant novels shall pass
into the archives of a ‘keep cool
We’ve done enough for you’ generation:
the movement organizations already
await their monthly checks from Downtown
and

Only the forgotten walls of a few black
poets and artists
shall survive the then of then,
the now of now."

Conrad Kent Rivers

...and here I sit... reading... wondering...
Will we ever really be free?

[Michael Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the poetry, some of which is a very different flavour from what I am used to. I am a white middle aged man, and so some the poetry, especially the poetry from the sixties, made me feel uncomfortable, but that to me is good because it challenged me, especially the anger that was evident. It enabled me to understand a very different perspective of life, my background was extremely poor, in many ways deprived, and I was bullied at school everyday. I have also experienced prejudice, but not on the scale that is described in the poetry. Thus although it made for uncomfortable reading at times, I think uncomfortable is a good place to be.

[E · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not typically a fan of poetry anthologies because they can overwhelm a reader with a variety of styles and genres without allowing them to delve deeply into any one poet, but The Black Poets is a necessary and powerful collection.

Through its thematic sharing of various songs, laments, cries, and lyrics, it traces the historical movement of Black bodies in America. The organization of this anthology moves the reader through various eras with complex perspectives, dialects, and angles.

I re-read some old favorites (Go Down, Moses) and discovered new favorites (The Forerunners - James M. Whitefield), all of which were particularly meaningful to me as I'm spending more deliberate time remembering and celebrating heroes and artists during Black History Month.

[Seth King · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an oldie but a goodie. It compiles black poems and songs stretching from slavery to the seventies and it does it well. I won't admit to loving every poem in the book, but that's why I like it. There's something that will speak to everyone here, whether it's a Harlem renaissance poem about jazz whose cadence mimics the bop and slide of a jazz band, a fiery poem of justice and rage, lyrical and rhyming or 4 page elegies without a lick of meter, ones meant to be said aloud and ones that can't be spoken because the way the words are arranged on the page is more important than your words can express.

Encompassing the history of black America in the words of Black Americans is this beautiful read.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was on my reading list for my American Studies class. This was tough to read on many levels. First and foremost, I am the pits at understanding hidden meanings, and simply do not, ever did like poetry. Most of the themes are clear, and it was depressing. As my friends have reminded me, American history is not very pretty. It helped that I looked up most authors for explanations and the importance of their poems. I did realize the significance of their contributions to the literary world. Using their own words and dialects, this gave meaning to their thoughts and feelings. I felt the anger, pain, heart ache, and finally strength in those words.

[Kendall Snee · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“Poems are bullshit unless they are teeth, or trees, or lemons.” -Imamu Amiri Baraka

Definitely enjoyed having Lucille Clifton, Nikki Giovanni, Gwendolyn Brooks, Sterling Brown, Langston Hughes all in one place will definitely become my master copy to pull those for class. But this book came out in 1969 and had a really weird unattributed intro labeled folk seculars that were just a culmination of like the eenie meenie mynie moe rhymes that were super racist and I felt that offset the poets and their greatness in a way that I don’t think would be done in publishing today (hopefully). Intro really icky. Poems/poets phenomenal.

[Vytas R · Rating 5 out of 5]

So relevant for our times (June 2020) with global BLM movement demanding end to this centuries long racial discrimination and injustice. June Jordan, Nikki Giovanni and Lucille Clifton are tour de force. Poems written in the 60s sound as if they were penned yesterday. “...they act like they don’t love their country / No / what it is / is they found out / their country don’t love them. “ (Clifton, 1969)

[Aja · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wonder what this book would actually have been rated, if it wasn’t for so many two star reviews that don’t explain themselves, coming exclusively from whyte people. Shame on y’all.

For what it’s worth, I thought it was a beautiful collection of illuminating poetry that made me smile and laugh in parts, made me cry in others, filled me with rage and shame and a warm glow of pride for humanity’s ability to face the purest of evil with a song on their lips and triumph gloriously.

[Valerie]

I enjoyed the structure of the book and how it deliberately pulled pieces from the same periods to craft the story of Black poetry. I also appreciated the wide range of work and poets featured, some familiar and many not. Spanning multiple perspectives over decades of time made for an introspective read and reframed my understanding of poetry from the perspective of Black women and men.

[Kevin Dufresne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hi,

I hope all is progressing well.

The Black Poets is an anthology of Black American poetry edited by Dudley Randall. All-in-all the text is profound. I read so many varying poems by some persons I have never even heard of that are not only potent--but timeless, of which I am very grateful to have come to encounter through The Black Poets.

Onward and Upward,
Kevin Dufresne

[Meaghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent collection. Again, some poems I really liked, others I didn't understand, others I didn't like at all. It's a good anthology for those looking to start a dive into the works of Black poets, from folk poetry to the 1960s. I will definitely be looking up some of the poets further!
.
*This is a good book for those looking to diversify their reading list!

[Alec · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Black Poets is a fascinating survey of Black American poetry covering folk songs to the 1960s. Certain poets I didn't care as much for, but I was exposed to several poets like Claude McKay, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Dudley Randall that I'd like to read more of.

[India Lavoyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed it and was very moved by the ones that made me think back on what my ancestors went through. The one that touched me most was “An Antebellum Sermon”. I’m an African-American born and raised in Alabama, so the book may have a deeper meaning for me than some people.

[Bob Marcacci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really nice collection. Ends with poets born in the 1940s, and features many older poems and other less common (at least to me) poetry by legends (Brooks, Giovanni, Reed, etc.) that I hadn’t seen before.

[Saa · Rating 5 out of 5]

this anthology is like a mixtape of Black voices across time. from langston hughes to nikki giovanni, it’s a powerful collection that hits hard and stays with you. perfect for when you want poetry that speaks truth and soul

[Delia Marrero · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is where I first read a poem by Langston Hughes. I love this collection.

[Krystie Herndon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whew, that was tough! Lots of poems from the 1960s, not your feel-good read of the year. Glad I read the book, but once is enough for me.