I have surprised a few and offended a few, perhaps even disappointed a few, when I came clean and admitted that I don’t like poetry. I don’t. I’m sorry. Set it to music that I can sing and you’ll get my attention. I love prose. Simple, transparent, blunt. More words. More story. More grammar.
Today, I present the 2003 Coretta Scott King Author Award winner. Poetry written by 18 different (fictional) teenagers with a bit of journaling in between. And it works. If nothing else, it is a quick read. Poetry usually is if you’re not required to dissect it and figure it out and read into it. And this book is most impressive because one author has written for 18 voices in varying styles. Now that’s talent!
Mr. Ward is a high school English teacher. He tells his class to write an essay about the poetry of the Harlem Renaissance. One student, Wesley, doesn’t see the point in studying poetry and then writing an essay about it, so he writes a poem instead. Mr. Ward appreciates his effort and asks him to read his poem to the class. “Teach” still requires the essay, but when another student asks to read his poem as well, Open Mike Fridays is born.
Every Friday, Teach, gives the floor to the students who have brought poems to share. There are some students who come prepared every week and there are others who are shy and need the semester to work up the courage to stand before the class. It is fine to read the poem right off the paper, but some of the students have some fun and ask a fellow student to provide a beat or a melody to the background. I few even stage a “cipher” which is a free-style poem where one person starts the poem and passes it off to the next person who must maintain the rhythm from the original.
Now for the reason I actually enjoyed the book… Mr. Ward’s class is predominantly African American with a couple of Latinos, Puerto Ricans, Italians, Jews and just plain old whites sprinkled in. But it is more than their skin that sets each of them apart. There are a couple of artists – a serious one and a closet one. There is a girl with the height to be a basketball star, but no passion for the sport. There is a boy with dyslexia, but a talent for the sax. A girl who wants to be seen for more than just fat. A girl with a baby to take care of. A boy who sees no future in his current direction. And they all want to be accepted for who they are and not what they look like.
It is through their poetry that the class becomes a family of friends who accept each other despite their differences. At the end of the school year, the class presents their poetry to the school and Tyrone shares, “Okay. I just wanted to say I’m really glad I got to do this poetry thing because I feel like, even though the people in our class are all different colors and some of you speak a different language and everything, I feel like we connected. I feel like I know you now. You know what I’m saying? I feel like we’re not as different as I thought.”
You can imagine… Next year, Mr. Ward will have to turn students away. No. Next year he’ll have to offer two English classes with Open Mike Fridays!
Recommended for junior to senior high youth. Reluctant readers could get drawn in. Anyone with a thirst for stardom via music. And of course, those who enjoy writing poetry… Might be a great way to introduce a class to diversity… multiculturalism. Hmmmm. Might be a great suggestion for some poor Millikin student in need of a short book…
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