i am the rage: A Black Poetry Collection —by Dr. Martina McGowan, illustrated by Diana Ejaita

Nonfiction / Poetry

Sourcebooks

February 2, 2021

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1728245079

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1728245072

112 pages

5 Stars

 

I have a habit that drives a lot of my friends bonkers, but I only do it to my books. I dog ear the bottom corner of the page I really like. I treat borrowed books much better. Over half the pages of this book are dog eared! Starting with the epigram at the start of the book, a Langston Hughes quote.

 

With the exception of the cover, which is in color, the art inside is black and white. The pieces go well with the poems, and though my first thought was they would get in the way of the words, I was thrilled to discover they add depth to them. Well done, Ms. Ejaita.

 

I have a strong suspicion that Dr. McGowan speaks for a lot of black mothers out there, if not all. And if you aren’t black, more importantly if you are white, this is a book you need to read. You can’t just say, “My best friend is black, I’m not a racist.” That may be true, I don’t consider myself a racist and one of my best friends is black, but I truly and freely admit I am ignorant (fortunately, ignorance is a treatable condition, and this book is part of the treatment!) of what it is like to be African in America.

 

From the title poem, at the beginning of the book with these stanzas, “I am the outrage that flares every time you say something foolish like / I thought you were already free  //  I am the disappointment that breathes hot and silent / Every time I am dismissed / Discharged / Dishonored / Cast aside / Counted as worthless or meaningless”

 

Or sending my child out on an errand or to a social gathering,  telling him goodbye as he leaves and praying he’s recognized as human and returns home safe. “There is too little time to allow our children / to be children” What a horrid fear black mothers must have for the children they love.

 

If “Traffic Stop” doesn’t wake you to the fact skin color plays a role in all our lives, nothing will. “There is always someone / Who thinks we are doing the things / They should be able to do / And by so doing, / Deprive them /.  A few pages on we come to “Tale of Two Georges” with the call to listen. Hear the silence. Use the silence. And the last stanza, which will bring tears to my eyes every time I read it, “I listen / If only that policeman had been taught to listen / That other George / Would still be alive.”

 

The words in this book speak to me as woman, as mother, as one who believes in equality. As Dr. McGowan says in Juneteenth, “Because someone must still be the lowest caste” being female in this country is hard enough. We don’t need all the other forms of hate.