In almost two decades of the twenty-first century, there seems to be an assault upon young black men not unlike the times after the Civil War and the days of Southern segregation. This poem comes out of hearing young black youths give voice to the thought that they did not expect to survive adolescence nor […]
Herbert Woodward Martin
Herbert Woodward Martin, born in 1933, served as professor of English and poet-in-residence at the University of Dayton for more than three decades where he taught creative writing and African-American literature. He has devoted decades to editing and giving performances of the works of the poet and novelist Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906). He is also the editor of four books as well as the author of nine volumes of poetry.
Acknowledging My Father (1907-1967)
This poem comes from sudden realization that that generation of men had a great deal to overcome. Many succumbed to alcohol, depression, hard work, and poor opportunity and there seems to have been no respite. It has taken me a good many decades to come to an understanding of their lives. Theophilus Eugene “Bull” Connor […]