Listen & watch Eryn Allen Kane’s video, Fragile, and search the lyrics if you so choose.
Here are some of the lyrics:
My mother taught me the way to operate a crane
Carrying heavy loads with a smile through pouring rain…
– Eryn Allen Kane, Fragile
Pre-write:
In Fragile, Eryn mentions “carrying heavy loads.” Make a list of “heavy loads” that you carry.
Prompt:
Exploring one of the “heavy loads” you listed in your list, what is a load that you’d like to set down? That you’d like to release?
Need help getting started? Here’s some sentence-starters to help you highlight your experience:
I notice…
I feel…
I hear…
I release…
I thank…
History:
There are many in history who have “carried heavy loads” and stood up against injustice not only for themselves but for their community. One such example of this is Claudette Colvin. At the age of 15, Claudette refused to give up her seat for a white woman on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Learn more about Claudette here.
Share:
You can share your poetry with us for our community gallery (directions at the top of the webpage).
Watch this video clip by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Here are some of his words:
“Believe in yourself and believe that you’re somebody… Nobody else can do this for us… If the Negro is to be free, he must move down into the inner resources of his own soul and sign with a pen and ink of self-assertive manhood his own emancipation proclamation.”
Pre-write:
Dr. King speaks of “inner resources.” Inner resources can be strengths, character traits, skills, etc. Make a list of your “inner resources.”
Prompt:
Using your list of “inner resources,” how would you define your “emancipation proclamation?” What does that letter of freedom look like for yourself? For your community?
Extend:
Grab some colored pencils and draw! Draw yourself at the top of a mountain radiating these “inner resources.”
History:
The Emancipation Proclamation released all African Americans in the South from slavery on January 1, 1863. It was signed by President Abraham Lincoln as the southern states refused to rejoin the Union. Some people use the term “emancipation proclamation” to describe setting someone or a community free from oppression, like Dr. King in the video you watched for this prompt. Learn more about the original Emancipation Proclamation through these resources.
Emancipation Proclamation Commemorative Coloring Book by the National Archives.
The Emancipation Proclamation Exhibit by the National Archives.
Glossary:
Believe: to have faith or confidence
Emancipation: a setting free
Freedom: power of self-determination, state of free will; emancipation from slavery, deliverance
Proclamation: act of making public; that which is proclaimed; a calling out, crying out
Learn about the etymology (origin) of these words.
Share:
You can share your poetry with us for our community gallery (directions at the top of the webpage).
Read the poem below by writer Mu Knowles:
my one wish
was that you loved me
but every wish
seemed to fail
no wishes were ever granted
because i never thought
to wish
to love myself
Read and/or listen to won’t you celebrate with me by Lucille Clifton:
won’t you celebrate with me
what i have shaped into
a kind of life? i had no model.
born in babylon
both nonwhite and woman
what did i see to be except myself?
i made it up
here on this bridge between
starshine and clay,
my one hand holding tight
my other hand; come celebrate
with me that everyday
something has tried to kill me
and has failed.
Prompt Options:
1). Write a poem in which you grant a wish to yourself. What is that wish? Write this statement in a form of a simile (comparing two things using the words “like” or “as” to compare). For example: “dear self, my wish for you is to be fearless like a lion.”
2). When you are oppressed, scrutinized, and dehumanized on a daily basis – to “celebrate” is an act of resilience that is necessary for survival and cultivating self-love. What is your recipe for celebration? More broadly, what is your recipe for resilience? Detail what this looks like for you, step by step, as though you were to give a cooking recipe to a friend.
History:
The Million Man March took place October 16, 1995 in Washington, D.C to acknowledge the 400 years of slavery and oppression of Black Americans. Many recognize the Million Man March as a day of atonement, reconciliation and responsibility for Black people across the country and world. Learn more here.
Mu Knowles Bio:
Mu Knowles (they/them) is a Black trans nonbinary queer person and Afro-Indigenous futurist artist. Born and raised in the historically Black neighborhood of Hilltop in Puyallup Tribal territory, they intentionally express and explore their artistry, embodiment, community, world and existence through the holding of space, and weaving of the practices of poetry, writing, song writing, music, speech, spoken word, photography and videography.
Facebook: MuKnowles
Instagram: @mu.mu.mu.mu.mu.mu.mu
Email: knowles.mu@gmail.com
Share:
You can share your poetry with us for our community gallery (directions at the top of the webpage).
Gloria Joy Kazuko Muhammad is a writer, teaching artist, and educator. Currently a paraeducator, she has worked with young people and adult learners in various educational settings. As a writer, Gloria is inspired by spirituality, everyday life, nature, music, and cinematography. She is a graduate of Washington State Teaching Artist Training Lab and hosts virtual writing workshops rooted in healing and personal development. Send her your poems and tag her on Instagram!
Email: gloriajoymuhammad@gmail.com
Instagram: @whoisgloriajoy
Write253 is a literary arts organization who mission is to provide creative and transformative writing opportunities that create community and cross boundaries among youth in greater Tacoma. For more information, please visit www.write253.com.
