WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.000 music 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:08.000 music 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:12.000 With my poetry class, for Black History Month, 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:16.000 we decided to do a unit on great African American poets: 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:20.000 Langston Hughes among them, Gwendolyn Brooks, Robert Hayden and others, and we've had a really 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:24.000 lively discussion about this poetry, and it's an important part of American 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:28.000 literature. In continuing our discussion of the Harlem Renaissance, I want 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:32.000 to talk about a few poets. One of the great poets was Langston Hughes. Okay? 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:36.000 And he wrote, you know, about his experiences, too, suffering from 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:40.000 discrimination, but more importantly, reviving pride. I think 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:44.000 this poem in particular, grounds so beautifully in kind of a world 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:48.000 pride. And, so, let's read this poem, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers." 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:56.000 ancient as the world, and older than the flow of human blood in human 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:60.000 veins. My soul has grown deep like the rivers. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:04.000 I've bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young. 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:08.000 I built my hut near the Congo, and it lulled me to sleep. 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:12.000 I looked upon the Nile and raised the Pyramids above it. 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:16.000 I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:20.000 New Orleans, and I've seen its mighty bosom turn it to gold 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:24.000 in the sunset. I've known rivers. Ancient, 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:28.000 dusky rivers. My sould has grown deep like the rivers." 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:32.000 applause 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:36.000 African American poetry is American poetry. It's 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:40.000 some of the finest literature that has been produced in this country. And 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:44.000 we study it because it's our heritage. And it's a heritage that we're very proud of. 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:48.000 music, vocalization 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:52.000 The African American that inspires me is Doctor Martin Luther 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:56.000 King. He believed in, hatred should be exchanged with 00:01:56.000 --> 00:01:60.000 equality. And, you know, that's always been a great thing with me, with solidarity. 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:04.000 The person who inspires me is Doctor George Washington Carver. When I was younger 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:08.000 I had a book about him, a biography, and reading it just kind of 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:12.000 inspired me, with all the ways that he used the peanut for so many 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:16.000 different things, agriculturally, scientifically... 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:20.000 One American that inspires me would be my older brother Chris. You know, at a young age 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:24.000 he had the dream of being a police officer, and he 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:28.000 fought with that dream, and he's been a police officer for about five, six years now. 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:32.000 An African American who has inspired me is a Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:36.000 Sergeant Major Carlton Kent. The reason he inspires me is because, when I was stationed 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:40.000 over in Afghanistan, he made the trip to come over and see us, and he told us 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:44.000 about the impact that we were having for the Marines on the front lines, and 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:48.000 any time you heard him speak, he just shows all the 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:52.000 compassion that he has for all the Marines that are in his charge. 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:56.000 The individual that inspired me the most is Harriet Tubman. She was famous for starting the 00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:60.000 Underground Railroad and helping thousands of slaves escape from slavery. 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:04.000 The person who inspired me is my cousin Michael Cailler. Having no 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:08.000 father or mother there for him at his early life, but then earning a 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:12.000 scholarship at Oregon, almost making it in the field. Now he's a lawyer at 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:16.000 Nike headquarters in Beaverton. That shows me that I can do anything. 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:20.000 The individual that I look to for individual is Frederick Douglass, because from a very young age 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:24.000 he was able to deal with slavery to become a 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:28.000 successful statesman, writer, and advocate for women's rights. 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:32.000 music 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:36.000 music 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:37.000 music ends