Poetry has long been used as a form of protest, a way to express the needs of a hurting community, and a rallying cry to unite people for one cause. The resources below are meant as guidelines and supports for poets learning how to use their voices for activism in their communities. Scroll past the photo for links to three online collections of protest poetry that will help shore up the spirit and drive justice forward.
- Poetry: Protest Poetry - Your Voice, Your Power - Writing.Com
- Become a slam poet in five steps - Gayle Danley
- What Is Protest Poetry? - I'm a 60s Baby
- Theresa Lola's Online Protest Poetry Workshop Inspired by the People of 1381 (Young Poets Network)
- Protest Poetry - The Characteristics of Social Activism Prose
Image Description: A White man wearing a white t-shirt and black trousers, black sneakers and a tan fedora sits in front of an old-fashioned typewriter. In front of him is a sign that says, "Ask me for a poem." He is set up on a cobblestone sidewalk.
Credit: Hande.jpg / Pexels
Poetry About Protest and Activism
The links below will bring you to three poetry collections that each center protest, resistance, and empowerment. They are filled with authors like Naomi Shihab Nye Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Langston Hughes, Audre Lorde, Maya Angelou, Allison Adelle Hedge Coke, Saadi Youssef, Walt Whitman, Sonia Sanchez, Juan Felipe Herrera, and many others.
- Poems of Protest, Resistance, and Empowerment: From the Poetry Foundation, you'll find poems on a variety of themes including "to empower, mobilize, or rally," "resisting structures of power," "poems of personal political consciousness," "historical contexts and tributes," and "everyday resistance."
- Protest Poetry | Academy of American Poets: From Poets.org, this list of protest poetry includes work by Audre Lorde, Sonia Sanchez, Maya Angelou, Naomi Shihab Nye, Ella Wheeler Wilcox, and Langston Hughes.
- Poems of Protest, Resistance, and Empowerment | Poetry Out Loud: These "Poems of Protest, Resistance and Empowerment" include writers the likes of Allison Adelle Hedge Coke, Stephanie Burt, Blas Manuel De Luna, and Ilya Kaminsky.
Sources
- Poems of Protest, Resistance, and Empowerment (Poetry Foundation): Poems of Protest, Resistance, and Empowerment
- Protest Poetry (Poets.org): Protest Poetry | Academy of American Poets
- Poems of Protest, Resistance, and Empowerment (Poetry Out Loud): Poems of Protest, Resistance, and Empowerment | Poetry Out Loud
Add comment
Comments