Two poems reprinted in Teaching Black
I am proud to have two poems—“an open letter to the school resource officer who almost shot me in my class” & “the surprising thing”— reprinted in Teaching Black: The Craft of Teaching On Black Life and Literature from University of Pittsburgh Press.
Both poems can also be found in Teaching While Black .
Two Poems Reprinted in Teaching Black Anthology
I am honored to have two of my poems reprinted in the upcoming University of Pittsburgh Press anthology Teaching Black: Pedagogy, Practice, and Perspectives on Writing edited by Ana Lara and Drea Brown.
Both of these poems— “an open letter to the school resource officer who almost shot me in my class” & “the surprising thing” — appear in my first collection, Teaching While Black.
Two Junenteeth Appropriate Poems in Awake (Lucky Jefferson)
On the first federally recognized Juneteenth, I’m honored to have two of my poems appearing in Our Power, Issue 3 of Awake by Lucky Jefferson.
“an open letter to the stupid [redacted] about to get [redacted] if they mention ‘affirmative action’ one more [redacted] time”
and
“revisionist history”
"Close Contact" -- Creative Nonfiction Published at Porcupine Literary
This school year has been broken, on fire, and drowning all at the same time.
I wrote some prose about this, and the good folks at Porcupine Literary have been kind enough to publish it.
It’s dedicated to all of my students, esp. those who survived this year.
You can read it here.
Teaching Anti-Racist Poetry Workshop at Mass Poetry Festival 2021
Today I lead a workshop on Teaching Anti-Racist Poetry as part of the Massachusetts Poetry Festival!
I think it went when and I didn’t bring (much) shame to the family.
If you’re looking for a similar workshop with your students, your department, your school, your writing group (etc.) hit me up.
Here is the description of what we did today:
In this workshop, participants will explore anti-racist pedagogy through poetry. After defining terms, the time will be spent reading poetry from a variety of sources (mostly living BIPOC authors) and participating in analysis and discussion activities geared towards high school language arts classrooms. This workshop targets high school language arts teachers looking for ways to engage their classroom communities with honesty, vulnerability, and bravery. Participants will leave with a governing philosophy (“if not my class, then where?”), a classroom-ready packet of poems, and instructional ideas.
If you were in the workshop or the live stream and need access to the resources/materials that I provided, hit me up.
"when asked why they can’t sing 'the N-word' in rap songs" is live at Bending Genres
I sometimes laugh out loud when I remember where my poems come from.
This one, true to form, was a result of an actual conversation.
That said, "when asked why they can’t sing 'the N-word' in rap songs" can be read in issue #20 of Bending Genres.
an open letter to the public school employee worried that "antiracist" is too controversial a term published at Rejection Letters
I can be really petty a times. Which make me appreciate this poem on multiple levels.
Yes. I said it.
I love one of my own poems.
Thanks to Rejection Letters for taking a chance on me once again, and putting "an open letter to the public school employee worried that 'antiracist' is too controversial a term" out into the world. I hope the world gets it.
As always, I hope the appropriate people are offended.
"a teachable moment" published by The Daily Drunk Mag
For everyone else:
I love being a teacher.
I pretend to be a professional one.
That said, my poem "a teachable moment" has been published by The Daily Drunk Mag.
For one person in particular:
Dear_____________,
I wrote this poem with you in mind.
You’re a menace to society and I am proud to have you in my life.
Love,
MEH
Reading & Interview with Mitch Nobis an Wednesday Night Sessions
I was pleased to sit down with fellow teacher-poet Mitch Nobis at Wednesday Night Sessions to read and discuss selections from Teaching While Black, and other school-related poems.
The set list:
stop talking
etymology
when asked why “all lives” don’t matter
an open letter to the white girls caught chanting “NIGGER” on Snapchat, again
an open letter to those wondering why I’ve called this the most racist place I’ve ever worked
re: your aryan princess in my class
(Also, my former beard was having a good hair day.)
“twelve minutes a slave” published in Ploughshares
I mean, not sure how it happened, but a poem I am very proud of appears in a journal I am very proud to be seen in.
“twelve minutes a slave” is now in the Winter 2020-2021 issue of Ploughshares!
"an open letter to a classmate on a conversation we never had" published in Twyckenham Notes
My poem "an open letter to a classmate on a conversation we never had" was just published in Twyckenham Notes’ Voice’s of Color issue.
This is one of my school poems, except this time, I’m a much (much) older student.
And if you realize the poem is about you…oh well.
“self-evident” on the Radio
My poem “self-evident” read and discussed on WOUB's Poetry Conversations.
This was the first time being a fly on the wall to a discussion of my work. I'm pleased.
The reading and discussion begins around the 12:30 mark.
“first grade mural” Tweeted at Nightingale and Sparrow
My tiny poem “first grade mural” was recently Tweeted by Nightingale and Sparrow.
"Between the woods and frozen lake..." Creative Nonfiction at Barren Magazine
This story takes its title from Robert Frost’s “Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening” for many, many reasons. It was first written for my kids in class a few years ago, completing a memoir assignment alongside them.
But it was more than that.
I was sharing the burden of vulnerability in writing. An exercise in revealing without revealing. Saying something at a slant, through omission, obscured, knowing only some would see the picture clearly. Knowing that those who did see at first glance were able to because of something shared. Something unspoken, but now brought to light.
Everyone else simply saw an interesting story.
This story is dedicated to those with eyes to see and is now live at Barren Magazine
Five New Poems at Rigorous Magazine
The following five (5) poems were just published at Rigorous Magazine .
“Little Africa” ~ a school poem
an open letter to the young man on the subway platform, looking back, hurt and disgusted ~ for when “whistling Vivaldi?” isn’t enough
honesty in advertising ~ exactly what the title says
the conversation with my pastor, after she posted my bail ~ midrash
exposure therapy ~ being an ally takes different forms
They seem to like me over there and I’m happy to be featured on their pages again.
"an open letter to my well-intentioned white educators: past, present, and future" at Ninth Letter
“an open letter to my well-intentioned white educators: past, present, and future”
This poem was a long time in coming and was one of the first I read, out loud, in front of my current teaching assignment. It had an impact.
And was just published by Ninth Letter.
Two (Dysfunctional) School Poems at Porcupine Literary
“an open letter to the secretary who asked how i haven’t taken to drink or schedule 1 narcotics like so many of our colleagues”
and
“an open letter to the white girls caught chanting “NIGGER” on Snapchat, again”
have just been published at Porcupine Literary: A journal by and for teachers and can be read here.
Both of these poems have one important thing in common: they are about events after which people said, “you CAN’T write about that,” while others said, “how have you NOT written about that yet?!”
Well here they are. And I’m breaking my own rule: these are 100% accurate to events in schools I’ve worked in over the years. If you know, you know.
#NoChill
Two school poems in The Revolution (Relaunch)
I am happy to be a part of the historic The Revolution (Relaunch) with their acceptance of two of my poems.
I’ll let the titles speak for themselves:
“an open letter to the white teacher who threw a Black boy out of her class for wearing too much lotion”
&
“an open letter to those wondering why I’ve called this the most racist place I’ve ever worked”
