“Shatter the icons of slavery and fear. Replace the leer of the minstrel's burnt-cork face with a proud, serene and classic bronze of Benin.” – Dudley Randall
Born in Washington, DC, on Jan. 14, 1914, Randall wrote his first poem at age 4 and had his first poem published when he was 13. A World War II veteran, he earned a BA in English from Wayne University (now Wayne State University) and a MA in library science from the University of Michigan after the war and became a noted librarian and translator of Russian poetry. Recipient of numerous writing awards, he was named Detroit’s first Poet Laureate in 1981. For Saturday’s Poem, here is Randall’s,
On Getting A Natural (For Gwendolyn Brooks)
She didn't know she was beautiful,
though her smiles were dawn,
her voice was bells,
and her skin deep velvet Night.
She didn't know she was beautiful,
although her deeds,
kind, generous, unobtrusive,
gave hope to some,
and help to others,
and inspiration to us all. And
beauty is as beauty does,
they say.
Then one day there blossomed
a crown upon her head,
bushy, bouffant, real Afro-down,
Queen Nefertiti again.
And now her regal woolly crown
declares,
I know
I'm black
AND
beautiful.
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