Boozhoo John,
In the 1960s during post-World War II America, I was a high school student beginning to take an interest in the news. This was a time of great challenge and significant social change in our country. It was the beginnings of movements that would change our way of life: the American Indian Movement, the free speech, anti-war, civil rights, and the women’s rights movements – and of course, rock and roll. I remember when I heard the news from Memphis: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had been shot.
I was so profoundly affected by this that I recorded every detail in my journal, knowing somehow it would eventually mean something significant to me. |
My first published poem
That day after school I wrote the poem, “Home of the Brave” – which would become my first published piece. Weeks later, I would hear that poem read over Wisconsin Public Radio, realizing my English teacher submitted it without my knowledge. I was grieving the loss of a great civil rights leader, and “Home of the Brave” was my elegy to Dr. King. |
