LITR 4332: American Minority Literature

Student Poetry Presentation 2007

Lamont B. Steptoe is a poet / photographer / publisher.  He was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He authored eight books of poetry. Steptoe is a Vietnam veteran, and the founder of Whirlwind Press.

"Thinking back on it, I was really exposed to black poetry through the church. Because, as the late writer Henri Dumas said, “every black poet is a preacher and every black preacher is a poet.” My work is influenced by the fire and brimstone that black preachers generally exhibit in the context of the church on Sunday mornings.

Steptoe is also an activist in human rights, environmental issues, and gay/bisexual issues.

Steptoe was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 1994 and again in 1999. In 1996 he received a Literary Fellowship from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and in the same year was a Discipline Winner in the Literature Category of the Pew Fellowship program in Philadelphia.

Steptoe's most recent award was the Kuntu Writer's Workshop Award for Lifetime Achievement in Poetry at the University of Pittsburgh in March 2002.

Election Time

Literary objectives:

1d. “The Color Code” Literature represents the extremely sensitive subject of skin color infrequently or indirectly. Generally western civilization transfers the values it associates with “light and dark”—e. g., good & evil, rational / irrational—to people of light or dark complexions, with huge implications for power, validity, sexuality, etc.

2c: "Quick check" on minority status: What is the individual’s or group’s relation to the law or other dominant institutions? Does "the law" (e. g., the police) make things better or worse?

3a: African American alternative narrative: “The Dream” ("The Dream" resembles but is not identical to "The American Dream." Whereas the American Dream emphasizes immediate individual success, "the Dream" factors in setbacks, the need to rise again, and group dignity.)

6b. To question sacred modern concepts like "individuality" and "rights" and politically correct ideas like minorities as "victims"; to explore emerging postmodern identities, e. g. “biracial,” “global,” and “post-national.”

Questions

1.     What kind of emotion do you think is being shown here?

2.     Do you think that this poem could be kind of a wake-up call for people, putting things into perspective?

3.     How relevant is this poem today?

<http://www.whoownsjackkerouac.com/
steptoe2.html>

<http://www.planbpress.com/lamontpage.html>

<http://coursesite.uhcl.edu/HSH/Whitec/
LITR/4332/models/2004/prsns/p04king.htm>

“…No matter what laws have changed, until there is more of a minority voice things will seem to change on the surface while the root of the problems still exist, ignorance, prejudice, and inequality.” [RK, CS]