Cedric Tillman's Blog - Posts Tagged "uncc"
Jan. 18 & 20, 2022 | Class Visit, UNCC (Dr. Jeffrey Leak, Intro to African-American Literature)
I was honored to learn at the last minute that Dr. Leak, who I had for Af-Am Lit 22 years ago, was teaching Lilies in the Valley last week. It was an absolute treat to talk to the students and read poems that I rarely read or had never read. I sat in on both of last week's courses via Zoom and it was extremely gratifying to be a part of all the frank and intimate discussion that the poems elicited on topics from race and family to relationships and sexuality. This was only my second virtual class visit (h/t to poet/novelist Destiny Birdsong, who taught the book back in '14/'15 at Vanderbilt and invited me in remotely as well as in person.) I'm looking forward to getting up to the alma mater in person sometime this semester.
Just a Bit Late: 2022 Interview with UNC Charlotte's Midas Magazine on Black Literature/Poetry
After I visited my former professor's class (Jeffrey Leak) back in 2022, I was interviewed by Leenah Newby. She was on the staff of Midas Magazine, UNCC's arts and culture magazine, and got the idea to interview me as she was one the students in his class—I just happened to have recalled this today! An excerpt from the interview follows (full issue: https://www.midasmagazine.com/issues/...).
Q: Why did you choose poetry as a way to describe part of your upbringing in a Black community? What’s significant about poetry and prose to you?
A: Like many poets, I have a love interest to thank for my initial forays into poetry. I kept a diary throughout junior high school-once I got into high school, I started to write poetry. I wasn’t conscious of writing about my community at all really. I was mostly expressing feelings of longing and infatuation. Now that I’m older and much wiser-far more knowledgeable about American history, and the enduring effects of the racist laws that created differences in Black and white quality of life-I feel more of a responsibility to talk about those effects in my work. But I also talk about family and the people who raised me. I do it to chronicle my upbringing for my own family and friends, but also for people who aren’t Black who want to learn about and be exposed to a different culture. I feel it’s important to do my small part to record for future generations what life was like in my time, the thoughts and nature of the people I lived with-even if that leads to talking about uncomfortable topics. For millennia, poetry and prose writers have passed down information about the nature of people and shown us that while technological advances have changed human life, human nature hasn’t changed much at all.
Q: Why did you choose poetry as a way to describe part of your upbringing in a Black community? What’s significant about poetry and prose to you?
A: Like many poets, I have a love interest to thank for my initial forays into poetry. I kept a diary throughout junior high school-once I got into high school, I started to write poetry. I wasn’t conscious of writing about my community at all really. I was mostly expressing feelings of longing and infatuation. Now that I’m older and much wiser-far more knowledgeable about American history, and the enduring effects of the racist laws that created differences in Black and white quality of life-I feel more of a responsibility to talk about those effects in my work. But I also talk about family and the people who raised me. I do it to chronicle my upbringing for my own family and friends, but also for people who aren’t Black who want to learn about and be exposed to a different culture. I feel it’s important to do my small part to record for future generations what life was like in my time, the thoughts and nature of the people I lived with-even if that leads to talking about uncomfortable topics. For millennia, poetry and prose writers have passed down information about the nature of people and shown us that while technological advances have changed human life, human nature hasn’t changed much at all.
