Black History Month

Join Hoofer Ambassadors for a Black History Month Book Club

Bhm bookclub

This book club will consist of reading and discussing excerpts from "Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry" by Camille T. Dungy.

ALL ARE WELCOME FOR THIS EVENT - INCLUDING STUDENTS, NON-HOOFERS, AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS!

We will provide space for reflection on the poems as well as opportunities to connect the poems to the present day. The discussion will last approximately an hour and a half, with participants who sign up in advance given instructions on which passages to read for the event.

We do ask that participants read and reflect on these passages prior to the event.

Click here to sign up!

Discussion will take place February 24th at 6-7:30pm.

Get the book

Hoofer Ambassadors will provide a free copy of this book to the first 25 participants to sign up for the event.

Once all the copies have been given away, Hoofers Ambassadors has a discount to offer for those who purchase it through A Room of One's Own (an independent book store located at 315 W Gorham St.).

Excerpts to Read

  • Introduction

Cycle 1

  1. George Moses Horton: "On Summer" (p. 10)
  2. Yusef Komunyakaa: "Eclogue at Twilight" (p. 14)
  3. Rita Dove: "Evening Primrose" (p. 18)
  4. Evie Shockley: "31 Words * Prose Poems" (p. 33)

Cycle 2

  1. Ravi Howard: "We Are Not Strangers Here" (p. 37)
  2. Gerald Barrax Sr.: "To Waste At Trees" (p. 40)
  3. George Marion McClellan: "The Ephemera" (p. 49)
  4. Camille T. Dungy: "Language" (p. 55)

Cycle 3

  1. Audre Lorde: "The Bees" (p. 78)
  2. Camille T. Dungy: "Since Everyone Can Never Be Safe" (p. 87)
  3. Melvin Dixon: "Wood and Rain" (p. 96)
  4. Margaret Walker: "Sorrow Home" (p. 99)

Cycle 4

  1. C.S. Giscombe: "Boll Weevils, Coyotes, and the Color of Nuisance" (p. 109)
  2. Time Seibels: "Ambition II: Mosquito in the Mist" (p. 119)
  3. Tara Betts: "For Those Who Need A True Story" (p. 124)
  4. Kwame Alexander: "Life" (p. 134)

Cycle 5

  1. Anne Spencer: "White Things" (p. 155)
  2. Albery Whitman: "From Rape of Florida, Canto I" (p. 162)

Cycle 6

  1. James A. Emanuel: "Emmett Till" (p. 191)
  2. Yusef Komunyakaa: "A Greenness Taller Than Gods" (p. 196)
  3. Robert Hayden: "Ice Storm" (p. 211)

Cycle 7

  1. Richard Wright: #175 (p. 224)
  2. Wendy S. Walters: "Man Raised As Chicken" (p. 226)
  3. Shara McCallum: "The Spider Speaks" (p. 228)
  4. Afaa Michael Weaver: "The Appaloosa" (p. 244)

Cycle 8

  1. Janice N. Harrington: "What There Was" (p. 256)
  2. Amaud Jamaul Jackson: "The Maple Remains" (p. 262)
  3. Margaret Walker: "Southern Song" (p. 270)
  4. Sherley Anne Williams: From "Juneteenth: The Bicentennial Poem" (p. 274)

Cycle 9

  1. Richard Wright: #559 (p. 286)
  2. Marilyn Nelson: "My Grandfather Walks In The Woods" (p. 298)
  3. Stephanie Pruitt: "Mississippi Gardens" (p. 300)
  4. Audre Lorde: "What My Child Learns Of The Sea" (p. 312)

Cycle 10

  1. Nikki Giovanni: "Winter Poem" (p. 328)
  2. Ross Gay: "Thank You" (p. 333)
  3. James Weldon Johnson: "Deep In The Quiet Wood" (p. 335)
  4. Langston Hughes: "Earth Song" (p. 342)
  5. Kendra Hamilton: "Southern Living" (p. 344)

Contact us

Please reach out to Berit Thorson at ambassadors@hoofers.org with any questions or concerns.