Poetry has played a crucial part in the peace movement, the civil rights movement, the women's movement, the gay liberation campaign and the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.
In a world teeming with injustice, it is more urgent than ever to read (and write) poetry that engages with social realities and inequities.
In our social media-driven era, where it often feels as if nuance is in jeopardy, it is timely to think about how poetry can embrace the political while not succumbing to the lure of rhetoric.
During the Arab Spring in 2010, Abu Al-Qasim Al-Shabi's poem The Will to Life captured the emotions of Tunisian protesters in their struggle for democracy and change.
In Afghanistan, women are harnessing the power of the landay (a two-line form of poetry) as a vital lifeline in resistance against the Taliban, who can be threatened by the simple act of composing and sharing couplets.
The poignant concision of the following landay is especially striking:
When sisters sit together, they always praise their brothers.
When brothers sit together, they sell their sisters to others.
Last December, the tragically prophetic poem of Palestinian professor Refaat Alareer, who was subsequently targeted and killed by an Israeli bomb, called us to bear witness, as global citizens, and speak out about the horrors in Gaza:
If I must die,
you must live
to tell my story.
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Please support the work we do at the Afro Poetry Times of keeping the poetry and literary arts conversation alive. We appreciate your sincere donations.
Please make a donation of any amount on our PayPal account
https://www.paypal.me/EnWrites
South Africa Donations
Donations of any amount are appreciated and they can be made at any time.
Acc Holder Name: Trends Mzansi
Bank Name: Grindrod Bank Limited
Account Number: 11031470466
Account Type: Savings
Branch Code: 584 000
In a world teeming with injustice, it is more urgent than ever to read (and write) poetry that engages with social realities and inequities.
Poetry, as Audre Lorde memorably stated, "is a vital necessity of our existence. It forms the quality of light within which we can predicate our hopes and dreams toward survival and change".
In our social media-driven era, where it often feels as if nuance is in jeopardy, it is timely to think about how poetry can embrace the political while not succumbing to the lure of rhetoric.
During the Arab Spring in 2010, Abu Al-Qasim Al-Shabi's poem The Will to Life captured the emotions of Tunisian protesters in their struggle for democracy and change.
In Afghanistan, women are harnessing the power of the landay (a two-line form of poetry) as a vital lifeline in resistance against the Taliban, who can be threatened by the simple act of composing and sharing couplets.
The poignant concision of the following landay is especially striking:
When sisters sit together, they always praise their brothers.
When brothers sit together, they sell their sisters to others.
Last December, the tragically prophetic poem of Palestinian professor Refaat Alareer, who was subsequently targeted and killed by an Israeli bomb, called us to bear witness, as global citizens, and speak out about the horrors in Gaza:
If I must die,
you must live
to tell my story.
*********
Please support the work we do at the Afro Poetry Times of keeping the poetry and literary arts conversation alive. We appreciate your sincere donations.
Please make a donation of any amount on our PayPal account
https://www.paypal.me/EnWrites
South Africa Donations
Donations of any amount are appreciated and they can be made at any time.
Acc Holder Name: Trends Mzansi
Bank Name: Grindrod Bank Limited
Account Number: 11031470466
Account Type: Savings
Branch Code: 584 000
