What does it mean for Black Being to operate in a state of Joy?

In W.T. Joshua’s piece, Pimpin’ Pain: on Coonskins, 1975, he references the satirical crime film to invoke the harsh realities of Black men and their troubles in being. In stanza 9, Joshua writes “ You cannot spook those who have learned to laugh in the face of whatever‬ form death may take when it arrives.” Even though the speaker’s reference point in Pimpin’ Pain is from a 1975 film, it’s relevance remains potent in our times. 

In Tramaine Suubi’s thank god for the dark, they take on the task of meditating on gratitude towards darkness. In line 5 and 6, the speaker says “gratitude for my shadow which / after all, has always been.” The speaker grapples with “dark” as an all-encompassing beauty that you don’t want to escape. You want to sit in it, thrive in it.

In Karwitha Kirimi and Tramaine Suubi’s poem, the rebirth of Afrika, the speaker uses “i will write” that develops into the collective we towards the end of the poem to carry the memory Africa’s past and hope for the present and future. In the piece, writing is the vehicle to decentralize Eurocentric sites as a standard for historical recognition and cultural celebration, stated proudly with “we will live in Afrika, and Europa will be our alternative literature”.

We want to give a special thank you to Dr. Duriel Harris for enlightening our journal’s theme and providing special commentary to reach our goals.

We also want to thank Dr. Tracie Morris for advising the Black Poetry Review and for her dedication to uplifting Black voices.

This is the fourth issue of Black Poetry Review. Black Poetry Review is an online literary journal of poetry written by poets of the Black diaspora. It is free.

Until next issue,

Glen Waters and Terri Draper