Etheridge Knight is one of the most honest poets I’ve ever encountered and this alone makes him a trumpet of truth, but he not only shares his personal story but the story of war and peace, love and lost in America and beyond. He comes across as a prisoner, addict, lover and activist in a lot of his work yet I think above all he simply wanted to be a human being or one with all creation…truly free of all of the cells that bind us.
My first introduction to his work was when I heard his voice on Meshell Ndegeochello CD “Cookie: An Anthropological mix tape.” His voice along with a few other poets was set to a hip hop beat and he was reading a poem about his family. “The Idea of Ancestry” is one of his most popular poems and it is full of numbers and images but the line that lingers with me the most is:
I am all of them, they are all of me, I am me, they are thee, and I have no children to float in the space between.
He also was highlighted on Def Poetry Jam when a famous comedian named Tracy Morgan recited one of his poems entitled "Feeling Fucked up" Check it out: http://acesstube.com/view/64057/tracy-morgan/:
Through out this collection I found myself reading several confessions and many feelings came up. I look forward to our class discussion. Knight is an amazing writer and I hope we can give him a great tribute as he is a:
Trumpet and buried in the dust of marching feetAnd a member of our human family
I was also moved as well by "Cell Song" and also the fact that the lingering of his work and his voice when listening to Me'Shell NdegeOcello's mix tape is also the way I felt when I first heard his voice.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the Def Jams clip of Tracy Jordan reading "Feeling Fucked Up" it was so gold when he didn't even try to pronounce Kwame Nkrumah's name.
You yelled your praise there sister, I can't wait for more depth
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry I had some technical difficulties but with some help. I FIXED IT. YAY!!!
ReplyDeleteOk that time I yelled on purpose. LOL
No Problem Joann someone just shared it with me this weekend and said it was there first exposure to Knight. So I thought I'd share it too.
ReplyDelete"I am all of them, they are all of me, I am me, they are thee, and I have no children to float in the space between."
ReplyDeleteI'm so obsessed by this line. 'Ancestry' was one of my favorite poems, too, and I couldn't help but relate his experiences with my own. How he shifts temporality and spatial constructs in his poetry via objects, like the photographs of his family, solidifies the mastery of his words for me. Many thanks for your thoughts, V!
Feeling Fucked up is a great poem, plays out anger in such a away that it remains inclusive, I join him in feeling fucked up I want him to say it again, and it allows me to say it again, IM FEELING FUCKED UP! Its a release of the truth, some may say its too rough, too angry...but I wonder what silencing this man would create, if he didn't poem, what rage would live inside.
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