Teaching Ideas: Using Poetry as a Starting Point to Combat Hate
Lesson Plan Suggestions and Resources
for harnessing the power of poetry to speak out
against hate crimes
and for inclusion, equality and respect for diversity
Poetry, with its spare language, can serve as an inviting and insightful starting point to begin deep conversations on combating racism. It is, however, only a starting point and not an end in itself, although it can move us and help us help ourselves and others to find practical tools and strategies to actively fight hate using the power of peace. Below are a few lesson / activity / writing sparks that we hope will enable us to amplify the work of BIPOC poets who may provide sources for our inspiration and introspection.
But before that, here are a few websites with excellent resources to assist teachers with the discussions and questions that may be sparked by the exercise of delving deep into poetry: Learning for Justice, Africa Access, Critical Multicultural Pavilion, De Colores. Remember to tackle the problems, while respecting people at all times (as Ibram X Kendi, among others, has so eloquently suggested). You might, for instance, ask someone to repeat a sentence that sounds racist, hurtful or offensive, thus giving the speaker the time and opportunity to think and rephrase, retract and apologize for a thoughtless remark. Here is an excellent twitter thread started by the Newbery winning and NYT bestselling author Linda Sue Park that is so focused. You might also want to honestly discuss, in an age-appropriate fashion, how we all need to practice being sensitive to one another and compassionate to one another, and how we all, always need to keep learning and unlearning as we grow.
The exercises below also provide an excellent segue into discussions of intellectual property rights and the importance of respecting copyright (and here’s a recent and informative article on fair use; and another on copyright, and a short statement on infringment).
Finally, please note that a few of the poems listed may trigger incredibly upsetting images, feelings or memories. Each teacher must consider the situations in which they find themselves and make thoughtful and responsible decisions about how or what to introduce, with sensitivity. Not every activity is appropriate for every community.
1. Poster / Illustration inspired by BIPOC voices.
Bring in books with poems you love that are written by BIPOC authors and that speak out against hate or speak about inclusion. Links to some poems you might excerpt from are provided below (please note that it is imperative that if these poems are used in classrooms, each teacher read the poems beforehand to decide whether it is appropriate for the age-group and classroom community). Allow the students to read and discover poems that may resonate with them. Encourage (but never force) them to read aloud a few lines that they love, if they feel comfortable doing so. Or to create a poster or illustration inspired by the poem that touches them most deeply. This may provide an entry into a deeper discussion on how to combat hate. Collate student suggestions to create a group poster and offer suggestions of your own, as well as, if possible: a place to practice standing up and speaking up safely, using role play, for example.
2. Blackout Poem
Write a blackout poem inspired by a piece of prose that speaks out against hate or about surviving with hope and that is written by a BIPOC author. A blackout poem can be created by copying a piece of prose or even a verse from a verse novel, and then using a dark highlighter to take away some words, while bringing out others that remain visible on the page. Remember to credit the original author. An excellent source to create a blackout poem for the theme of combating racist hate, especially combating anti-Asian hate crimes, is Linda Sue Park’s PRAIRIE LOTUS.
3. Found Poem
Create a found poem, individually, in pairs, or in a group, by re-arranging words in a piece of prose (cutting up lines to give the impression of poetry, for example); remember to provide proper attribution to the original author of the words.
4. Poetry inspired by quotes from BIPOC leaders
To do this activity with a class, find quotes by BIPOC leaders you admire and share them with your students. Use these as a starting point for discussion, and allow the students to use a line that speaks to them as a springboard for their own poem. Finish up by reading one of Nikki Grimes' superb collections of Golden Shovel poetry - LEGACY and ONE LAST WORD - both of which are great references and provide perfect exemplars of a poetic form that is inspired by the work of those who came before us and that is supremely hard to write.
5. Create a spoken word poem / video recording
A video of a poet speaking a poem aloud could serve as an inspiration for young people to share spoken word poetry of their own, or to create a voice (or video - so long as student privacy is respected) recording of a poem by a BIPOC poet that moves them. Here are links to remarkable poets reading aloud from their work:
Separation Wall by Naomi Shihab Nye
Amanda Gorman's Inaugural Poem The Hill We Climb
Rudi Francisco's My City
6. Middle grade students are highly capable of nuanced conversations about hate, as well as friendship, allyship, and hope. Here are a few suggestions for poems that could serve as an entry point for discussing racial diversity and love, as well as hate, with middle grade students:
Miss Bell and the Marchers, from BROWN GIRL DREAMING (pg 80-81) by Jacqueline Woodson
1976: Year of the Dragon, from INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN (pg 257) by Thanhha Lai
No Wings, from ENCHANTED AIR (pg 57) by Margarita Engle
Albert J Bell, from A SUITCASE FULL OF SEAWEED (pg 40) by Janet Wong
God’s Little Workshop, from CARVER: A LIFE IN POEMS (pg 83) by Marilyn Nelson
7. Here are a few suggestions for poems that may be more appropriate for young adult readers and writers. Please, as with all the above suggestions, choose excerpts after reading or listening to content to ensure it is suitable for your school / classroom / community:
One Today by Richard Blanco
Caged Bird by Maya Angelou
Bent to the Earth by Blas Manuel de Luna
For the Consideration of Poets by Haki R Madhubuti
Dakota Homecoming by Gwen Nell Westerman
The Riots by Ruben Quesada
Won't You Celebrate With Me by Lucille Clifton
I, Too, Sing America by Langston Hughes
After Graduate School by Valencia Robin
Still, I Rise by Maya Angelou
8. Elementary school children might be involved in an exercise that explores diversity and encourages themselves to express themselves by experimenting with different kinds of poetry. Here are some wonderful books to look at: Linda Sue Park’s picture book Tap Dancing On the Roof presents Sijo poems; Traci Sorell’s We Are Grateful and We Are Still Here and lyrical explorations that reminded me of a walk I once took with master poet Jacqueline Woodson, who remarked that she considers her picture books to be poetry, which of course they are; Jackie Woodson’s picture book Each Kindness is an absolute gift to the world and an amazing way to begin nuanced conversations on bullying and hate with the youngest readers, as is her picture book The Other Side; in fact, her work is so powerful it can move readers of any and every age at any and all times.
9. Anti-Asian hate crimes have surged during the pandemic. All forms of hate and prejudice need to be condemned. If you would like to use the words and work of Asian poets to highlight and celebrate their contributions even as you engage in introspection, discussion and raise awareness on taking practical steps to combat it, here are some links and resources below - and our padlet contains additional resources. The links below feature poets writing for adults, however, some of their work can be used in high school classrooms.
Poetry Foundation Article on Asian American Voices in Poetry
5 Asian American Poets
7 Asian Poets whose words are an act of resistance
Asian American Poets
Books by Asian American Poets
10. This collection, Poetry Magazine’s Young People’s Poetry issue, published in March 2021, is infinitely worthy of purchase. I honestly think there are few other such impressive anthologies that are priced at less than $ 10 /- as this collection is, and every poem -every poem in it is a gem that can be taught and re-read. Some that go with the theme of this blogpost include: Blue Earth Banks by Dawn Quigley, About Standing (in kinship) by Kimberly Blaeser, and Respectability by Tina Boyer Brown.
As I say this, I realize I must, in the interest of full disclosure, acknowledge how honored I am that two poems written by me ( Undone and Whenever You See A Tree) are in included in this volume. But neither this blog post nor this website nor this initiative are about me - they are about the much larger issue of including and inviting diverse poets’ voices into our lives.
