RMiddleton

#BobbHamilton #AfricanAmericanPoetry #BlackPoetry #DiversifyWikipedia

Yesterday I went to my city's main public library. I don't know what's going on with them, but the two books I searched in advance & went there to get were not on the shelf despite the catalog saying that they are. I received very peculiar service from a young man who assured me “the next time you come in I'll make sure those books are there” without taking any written note of the books.

Nevermind all that though, because I went in there for poetry & I left with poetry! So much poetry in one small volume, I won't be surprised if I have to renew this loan once or maybe even twice. While looking for the books that were not there I picked up an interesting little book titled You Better Believe It. I opened to a random page and read absolute fire from a Black American. It was always my intention to check out 3 poetry books, the two I scoped in advance (by Naomi Shihab Nye & Jericho Brown) and one that caught my eye.

You Better Believe It: Black Verse in English from Africa, the West Indies, and the United States selected and annotated by Paul Breman. That link opens a short Wikipedia entry that begins: Paul Breman (Bussum, 19 July 1931 – London, 29 October 2008) was a Dutch writer, bookseller and publisher. There is no entry for poet Bobb Hamilton. Here is the brief bio within You Better Believe It (see image below):

Bobb Hamilton comes from Cleveland, Ohio, where he was born 16 December 1928 and attended school right through Ohio State University, from which he obtained a B.Sc. (psychology and philosophy) in 1950. Since then he has made his home mainly in New York, where he has found more scope for his many-sided talents as an artist. For Bobb Hamilton is not just a versatile writer who can turn his hand with equal facility to reportage or poetry, he is just as adept in the visual arts as a painter, a sculptor, and a ceramist. He has actually taught art for a considerable time, in the New York City Welfare Department, and has used the experience in his work as therapist at a hospital. Since 1968 he has been instructor in black literature and history at Queen's College, New York. His involvement with the whole of the new movement in black art is deep and of long standing. Officially listed as its 'East Coast editor' or 'New York representative', it seems to be very much Hamilton who has, for nearly ten years, held together Soulbook, the 'quarterly journal of revolutionary afroamerica' with its early third-world commitment, emphasis on socio-economics, and surprisingly strong poetry sections (which range from Baraka and Kgositsile to Ho Chi Minh). More recently Hamilton has also become the editor of Black Caucus for the Association of Black Social Workers.

Do you not feel, as I do, that this Black artist deserves a Wikipedia entry as much as the white European publisher who brought his work to my attention? I am a humanist, celebrating the good of humanity. It's fine that Bremer merits an entry. But why not Bobb Hamilton? I feel like I know why.

Truly I am grateful to Paul Bremer because this volume is FULL of what looks to be great poets, most of whom I have never been exposed to. And I think Bremer's biographical sketches convey due admiration for these poets. I suppose the bio in this book should not be copied over in its entirety to a new wikipedia entry, but uh... Well, that point is moot for me because I do not currently have a wikipedia account. I would be pleased if someone who reads this post created an entry.

When I learn something new that I am interested in I quite enjoy taking the time to learn more. There's plenty for me to peruse via this DuckDuckGo result for poet Bobb Hamilton. For now I will try to expand upon what's in the bio above.

Soulbook · No wikipedia entry · 9 issues of Soulbook imaged at Archive.org · Soulbook mentioned in 2016 blog post on Kalam ya Salaam's The Magic of Juju — check out Kalam ya Salaam's The Magic of Juju at Archive.org

I'm embarrassed to say I did not know who Keorapetse Kgositsile was. From wikipedia:

South African poet and political activist (1938-2018) Keorapetse William Kgositsile, also known by his pen name Bra Willie, was a South African Tswana poet, journalist and political activist.

I am likewise clueless of Amiri Baraka, “American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays, and music criticism. He was the author of numerous books of poetry and taught at several universities.”

I have a feeling I'm going to experience white American cluelessness over and over again throughout You Better Believe It. I plan to read this book cover to cover and will probably have more to say here & on Twitch/YouTube, Instagram, & Mastodon.

I do not want to end without noting that very few women are represented in this poetry collection. My next library visit will correct that omission.

Poetry is coming back into my life with a vengeance as a survival strategy. Many mornings my whole life I've struggled to get out of bed. And would you believe the invention of the iPhone didn't help? No, I'm afraid picking that thing up first thing in the morning is not a ray of sunshine. Even when I use it for good, life-affirming purposes I am very likely to see some notification or news that brings me down. The instant that I connect to an outside source the unrelenting pace of information starts. When taking my mind from sleeping to waking I prefer to open my consciousness slowly. I find slowing down to be the key component to good decision making and a happy mood. I'm resolving to keep poetry books by my bed as an alternative to starting my day with the iPhone onslaught. I will try thumbing through and reading a few to get inspired for the day ahead. Poems are the original microblogging platform.