Reciting poetic history
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on February 29, 2016 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Edna Turner, Robert Taylor and Lee Peay read "We Wear the Mask" by Paul Laurence Dunbar Saturday night during Portrait of a People II at Herman Park Center. The celebration of black history through the reading of poetry was presented by Speak to the Heart Inc.
News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Poet L.B. Hines reads a poem he wrote in 1995 inspired by the Million Man March titled "Come of Age."
Ten poets and spoken word artists lined the stage at Herman Park Saturday evening to participate in a Black History Month program, "A Portrait of a People II."
The lively group of predominantly local artists read from the works of such famous poets as George Moses Horton, who published books of poetry as an American slave, Harlem Renaissance greats such as Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen and American literature writers like Robert Hayden, Margaret Walker and Maya Angelou.
This marked the first local event presented by "Speak to the Heart Inc.," a non-profit organization dedicated to the reading, writing and performance of poetry and other literary genres. C. Rose Howard, founder of the group, compiled, arranged and directed the program that was first produced in February 2008 by the Wayne Community College Foundation.
Despite a late start and a sparse crowd -- about two dozen, an almost equal mix of adults and children -- Ms. Howard said it was an appropriate time to commemorate and remember the past.
"We're here to celebrate us," she told the audience.
The works chosen expressed the sentiment of the African-American culture experience, from the Negro movement to the civil rights and Black Panther eras.
Guest poet L.B. Hines, whom Ms. Howard called "the man of a thousand rhymes," was the first to read.
He chose to read an original poem he said he wrote in 1995 to coincide with the Million Man March, called "Come of Age."
"Imagine how the ground would be shaking. Imagine the sound their steps would be making, if one million black brothers come to taking and a march that would be history in the making," he read.
He painted a word picture of all the men who likely gathered that day in Washington, D.C. -- all shades and hues of brown skin, in a show of solidarity, gaining respect around the world.
"All the black brothers will march on to right the age-old wrong," he continued. "Our black brothers will march on singing a liberation song."
Other participants in the event's ensemble cast included Sharon "Princess" Dixon of Goldsboro, Jamela Lrato, a seasoned spoken work artist, Lamont "Voice" Cox of Kinston, Courtney "Cerebellum" Woods, Robert "Jownsbey" Taylor, Michelle Forbes of Ayden, Joseph McLamb, storyteller Lee Peay, Edna Taylor, an educator with Wayne County Public Schools, and Anthony L. Smith, who is in the Air Force and made his debut to the art, Ms. Howard said.
A $50 gift card was also presented to the youth poetry contest winner, Lyric Eshe, who then read her original work to the audience.