It’s the twenty-fifth year of聽. We have been celebrating during the week with daily posts from 91探花 Verse. Let the celebrations continue on the weekend!
Jamila Woods is a poet, singer/songwriter, and activist from Chicago, Illinois. She is a graduate of Brown University and serves as the Associate Artistic Director of Young Chicago Authors. Woods is a Pushcart Prize鈥搘inning poet, and her work has appeared in聽magazines and anthologies. View her .
The poems of Jamila Woods聽speak to the experiences of contemporary life, particularly concerning blackness and womanhood. She draws on a rich literary tradition, often evoking other poets explicitly in her writing and music. Her poetry speaks candidly about race, class, and gender, inviting the reader into intimate reflections while simultaneously challenging us to think critically about the role culture plays in the construction of our identities.
Jamila Woods’ inspirations are musical, literary, and place-based. Invite students to compare the works of Woods with some of those she has named as her inspirations, like聽Eartha Kitt, Miles Davis, and聽Octavia Butler. Woods writes about a neighborhood in Chicago. Look at her poem聽“” alongside “” by Gwendolyn Brooks or聽“” by Nikki Giovanni. Spend time looking at the natural connection between poetry and music, which is reminiscent of Jamila Woods herself.
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