'The rhythmic beauty of my heritage': Honouring Black History Month through poetry

This piece was written by Evelyn Bradley, a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) consultant based in Charlottetown and a regular contributor to CBC P.E.I. For information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ.

Poetry is a lot like music. The cadence, the rhythm, and the bass line of a poem are all designed to have the reader sway and move just like one does on the dance floor.

For my Black History Month contribution, I wanted to submit two poems as a way to highlight the rhythmic beauty of my heritage. The first poem is constructed of original thought and book titles. All of the books referenced are by African American and Black Canadian authors. I get many requests for book recommendations, and I thought creating a poem full of recommendations would be a fun and innovative way to craft a list!

The second poem highlights my experience in the American Southeast. The juxtaposition of current Black identity is contrasted with the historical shadow of where we once were. I love that I am able to share this poem in my new home of Epekwitk (P.E.I.), as it truly embodies the split identity of marginalization and generational expectation that is steeped within my DNA.

The Heart Does Not Bend 

So,                                                                                            

You want to talk about race? 

Beloved,

Hush —

What we all long for 

No Crystal Stair 

resist the urge to deny 

The Skin we're in

The warmth of other suns,

Us, 

Between the world and me 

White fragility —

Stamped from the beginning

The new Jim Crow 

The bluest eye 

The colour of the law. 

Dear Martin,

Black like me

the hyphenation of identity 

The colour of water.

Americanah. 

Suggested reading

• The Heart Does Not Bend by Makeda Silvera.
• So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo.
• Beloved by Toni Morrison.
• Hush by Jacqueline Woodson.
• What We All Long For by Dionne Brand.
• No Crystal Stair by Mairuth Sarsfield.
• The Skin We're In by Desmond Cole.
• The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson.
• Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
• White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo.
• Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi.
• The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander.
• The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison.
• The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein.
• Dear Martin by Nic Stone.
• Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin.
• The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride.
• Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Salt of the earth

Gone is the complacent house-negro. 

The Miseducated Black-folk, 

the unseen shadow

whose backs built the bridges 

that now depict quotes of the bodies 

slain on its edges.

We are the clay of man.

Moulded

and treated as refuse.

We are

Held in our own two hands,

Identities crafted from filings. 

Between the grooves of my thumbprint

the soot of my DNA —

emboss

the work of my ancestry. 

We are —

fully present,

and the taste left 

between tongue and lip  

is that of 

Whole Mustard Seeds.

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.