ABSTRACT
Poet and activist Ruth Forman began to re-imagine herself and other young poets of the late twentieth century as “the young magicians.” Unlike the typical image of magicians with “trick canes,” Forman contends that “with a mere wave of the pen” these young magicians can “transform grey concrete to yellow brick roads.” Emerging from a tradition of poet activism, Forman was a student in June Jordan’s “Poetry for the People1” program at the University of California, Berkeley. An obvious nod to Marcus Garvey’s newspaper section dedicated to poetry, “Poetry for the People” was a program in which undergraduates took a three-semester course learning how to craft their poetry and work with high school students and teachers in public schools throughout the San Francisco/Bay Area. Forman’s proclamation “Look at me/I am we” in a poem tribute to the evolution of Black poets and writers conveys that she and her fellow young magicians understand their place in a long line of literate and literary practices and is best summarized in one line, “we are new buds upon the highest branches.” Who are these “young magicians” that Forman writes so bravely about and what are their institutions for reading, writing, speaking, and “doing” the word? And most importantly, what are the literate and literary traditions from which these “new buds” emerge? Who are their mentors and advocates? The previous chapters in this book introduced the historical predecessors to the
“young magicians” and the literate and literary traditions from which these “new buds” emerge. Poet activists like Gwendolyn Brooks, educators and community organizers like Jitu Weusi, and Independent Black Institutions such as Black News, and its umbrella organization the EAST demonstrate that the recent renaissance of spoken and written words driven by community action is not new. However, as Forman offered, there are indeed “new buds” on the “highest branches” of these historical institutions.
