Connecting Through African-American Poetry

Students from two classes at Hughes High School were invited to the University of Cincinnati (UC) as part of a community outreach effort (“the poetry project”) by Assistant Professor Cheli Reutter’s African-American poetry class. The course, called "African-American Poetry I," draws a variety of students across many of UC's 14 colleges, especially the McMicken College of Arts & Sciences and the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services.

Reutter's students recently invited a Hughes class of seniors and a class of juniors on two separate days to the Tangeman University Center to hear the work of published African-American poets, as well as the original work of the UC poetry students — some African American, but not all.

“Students in my class are presenting to Hughes High School students and then eating lunch with them,” Cheli Reutter explained after the first session with the Hughes seniors. “The session today was great, with the high-school students actively participating in the discussions led by the presentation groups. After the presentation/discussions on important published Black poets, a few of the college students read their own poems.”

Hughes’ English and community service teacher Jenifer Ray said that the trip to UC was part of an overall program to learn about community. The week before, the students had visited the Peaslee Neighborhood Center in Over-The-Rhine, now followed by the stop at UC.

“They looked forward to coming here to UC,” Ray said. “Some of them talk about coming to UC someday, so we like to give them the exposure to the campus.” The juniors were especially receptive, she said, and expressed an interest in visiting again next year as a follow-up.

The students in Reutter’s class shared published poems such as Everett Hoagland’s “Puttin’ On the Dog” — a poem that addresses language and “Black poetry” itself. (“Putting on the dog” is an expression that can be traced back as far as 19th-century Yale, meaning to splurge or make a display of wealth or importance by dressing in expensive or flashy clothes and accessories.)

After one group of Reutter’s students shared their own works, they asked the Hughes’ students if they had poetry to share as well. Eddie Allen was ready. He had brought his composition book and read “It’s Kind of Hard” to UC and Hughes students alike:

It’s Kind of Hard
by Eddie Allen,
a junior at Hughes High School

It’s kind of hard going back when there is no back.
It’s kind of hard being addicted when there is no crack.
It’s kind of hard being successful if your skin is black.
It’s kind of hard saying I love you, and you don’t get any response back.
It’s kind of hard being a Crip and your favorite colors red.
It’s kind of hard being alive but in the same token you feel dead.
It’s kind of hard wanting love but only receive pain instead.
It’s kind of hard seeing your best friend getting filled up with lead.
It’s kind of hard being a ho without having a pimp.
It’s kind of hard going back to spam when you just ate shrimp.
It’s kind of hard finding a job in Over-The-Rhine.
It’s kind of hard hearing your mom’s a crack-head threw the grape-vine.
It’s kind of hard to become wealthy when we can’t become rich.
It’s kind of hard watching a fiend try to resist its itch.
It’s kind of hard to see yourself as a gentleman and everybody say’s your rude.
It’s kind of hard to get a “good” men with a messed up attitude.
It’s kind of hard making it out of the ’hood without selling dope.
It’s kind of hard hearing that people are dying from opening a envelope.
It’s kind of hard writing this poem without a metaphor.
It’s kind of easy being number 1 because I’m a competitor.

Eddie then fielded questions from both Hughes and UC students while he had the floor, most concerning why he wrote the poem.

"I wrote it because of living in the 'hood in general," he said. "The things I've seen — the things my relatives go through — it's hard."

A work of African-American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar (who was from Dayton) was then read. “We Wear the Mask” is often said to express the frustration and pain that African Americans had to conceal — yet nowhere in the poem is race ever specifically mentioned.

“What makes a poet ‘Black’?” one of Reutter’s students asked the Hughes students. Many thoughtful answers were suggested. One young man named Darius offered, “The reader makes the poet ‘Black.’”

Another said the reader goes by the topic, that many African Americans "have a fascination with the 'hood, but a sense of respect because we come from there."

"Eddie Allen!" called Ekundayo Igeleke.

"Yes, sir?"

"We write about the 'hood because we know the 'hood," answered Igeleke. "Isn't that right?"

"Yes, sir."

After all the readings, the students broke up into smaller groups with UC students in each for in-depth discussions of the poems, followed by lunch and a tour of UC.

Senior art history major Jeri Arnold said that she felt the UC-Hughes African-American Poetry Connection was a way to help young people recognize poetry as a source of pleasure and inspiration.

“The connection gave high-school students the opportunity to learn about African-American poets and hear some of their poetry,” said Arnold. “I think being able to expose them to the art of poetry gave some of the high-school students a different perspective on creative writing.”

And the connections that were forged weren’t just one way.

“I felt that the connection was beautiful and reached a lot of the 'Future Graduates of Hughes,'  — as they called themselves,” said Shulammith Sisk, an African Studies major in the McMicken College of Arts & Sciences. “The students reached out among themselves as well as the college students.” Sisk noted that some of the students didn’t believe in themselves and felt that they had to have straight As and Bs to get in college.

“The topics we covered in the group were excellent, and they understood them,” Sisk said. “It reached out to their life and allowed them to respond and give their feelings on the subject. I also took them over to the Steger Life Center to meet with Dr. Eric Abercrumbie and some of the African-American studies students and they enjoyed it. Dr E. gave a very profound outlook and some resources on coming to college at UC.”

Brittany Collins is a junior in Reutter's class and also knows the meaning of community service. She is the community service chair for the Association of Minorities in Criminal Justice (AMCJ); the communications chair for the Association for Future Black Law Students; the Jefferson Complex Minority Residents' committee chair (MRCC) and the vice president for Just Conversations.

“I thought the connection with Hughes was a positive experience for the college students and high school students. It gave us a chance to see what students in high school would think of the type of poems we study in class, and we got new ideas and opinions on how to interpret the poems,” Collins said. “I was especially proud when I heard that a Hughes student said that this experience motivated them to come to college. It makes me proud because I am a Hughes graduate (2006), and seeing that something I am a part of motivates students from my high school is amazing. I will be moving on to Professor Reutter's African-American Poetry II class, and I hope we do something like this again!”

Jasmine L. Trammell, a third-year psychology major, said that they presented poems and poets that they, as a class, felt would be influential to the different high-school students.

“I am into helping students realize what they would like to do with their lives, along with understanding the importance of one’s purpose within our society today and in the future,” Trammell explained. “When presenting to the students we had so many of the students willing to voice their opinions, it was very inspiring to see the expressions of the different poems emphasized and analyzed.”

Trammell noted that Eddie Allen said after the presentations that it really made him put some thought into attending college.

“If I hadn't received anything else from the presentations that would have been fine just knowing that one person was impacted in a way that may change his journey within his life,” she concluded.

“All in all I feel that this was a success for the students from both UC and Hughes, and I hope we can do something like this again,” Sisk added.

UC student Mae’lesha Lee said that she felt it was an good experience.

“I felt like I was inspiring others the way poetry and this class inspired me. Poetry allows you to view things in several different ways and no way is wrong.”

Reutter said that her students thanked her for organizing the outreach.

“Jasmine Trammell told me, ‘I really feel that the Hughes students today took a message back with them and I am so glad we were able to do the presentation for them. Thanks for the opportunity to help touch our young people in the community!’”

The project was sponsored by UC's Center for Community Engagement, who connected the high schools with Reutter, provided the lunches, arranged tours and scheduled the rooms where the students met. The funds to do this come through a grant to UC from a Learn and Serve America grant from the Corporation of National and Community Service.