Collection

Poetry and the Civil Rights Movement

The struggle for social justice remembered through poetry.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. leads civil rights activists on the last leg of their march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in March 1965. Photo by Bettmann / Contributor. Courtesy of Getty Images.

In 1865, Congress passed the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery in the United States. More than 150 years later, however, the promise of liberty and justice for all citizens remains elusive. Jim Crow laws passed by state legislatures between the 1870s and the 1950s established a formal system of racial segregation in the South. Racist housing policies, job discrimination, abuse by law enforcement, and negative stereotypes in popular culture pervaded all regions of the United States.

Between the mid-1950s through the 1970s, citizens engaged in a massive protest movement to fight for the rights and freedoms of all Americans. 1968 was pivotal in the civil rights movement, marked by the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., the widespread riots that followed, and the passage of a new Civil Rights Act. The poems collected here revisit the heroic struggles of civil rights activists 50 years later. Poets influenced by the civil rights movement––a group that includes Margaret Walker, Nikki Giovanni, and June Jordan––used their work to instill a sense of pride in one’s identity, to praise freedom fighters and honor fallen leaders, to chronicle acts of resistance, and to offer wisdom and strength to fellow activists.

The poems are grouped by the dates of the events they address, with each poem’s publication date in parentheses. We have included articles, audio and video resources, and links for additional resources related to this momentous period in American history. To suggest further additions, please contact us.

1954-1960

The Supreme Court declares segregated schools unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education (1954). Rosa Parks is arrested (1955), initiating the Montgomery bus boycott. Fourteen-year old Emmett Till is brutally murdered in Mississippi for allegedly whistling at a white woman (1955); the two men accused of his murder are acquitted by an all-white, all-male jury later that year. A group of high school students in Little Rock, Arkansas—“the Little Rock Nine”—enroll in Little Rock Central High School, prompting a mob of white protesters to harass, threaten, and throw stones at them as they attempt to enter the school (1957). The governor of Arkansas closes all public schools in Little Rock after winning reelection (1958). Little Rock’s public schools reopen as desegregated schools (1960). The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee is founded (1960).

- Afterimages
  Audre Lorde
(1982)
- Miz Rosa Rides the Bus
  Angela Jackson
(1993)
- Rosa Parks
  Nikki Giovanni
(2010)
- The Little Rock 9
  Afaa Michael Weaver
(2014)

1961-1964

The Congress of Racial Equality stages Freedom Rides to protest racial segregation (1961). Civil rights activist Medgar Evers is assassinated (June 1963). Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington (August 1963). White supremacists bomb the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four children (September 1963). President Kennedy is assassinated (November 1963). The Civil Rights Act is enacted (July 1964).

- For the Union Dead
  Robert Lowell
(1964)
- From the magazine:
  November 22, 1963
  Lewis Turco
(1964)
- Ballad of Birmingham
  Dudley Randall
(1965)
- American History
  Michael S. Harper
(1970)
- February 12, 1963
  Jacqueline Woodson
(2014)

1965-1970

Malcolm X and Alabama activist Jimmy Lee Jackson are assassinated within days of each other (February 1965). Six hundred protesters march from Selma to Montgomery to advocate for voting rights (March 1965). President Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (August). Leroi Jones (later known as Amiri Baraka) founds the Black Arts Repertory Theatre/School in Harlem (1965), igniting the beginning of the Black Arts Movement. The Black Panther Party is founded (1966). The Supreme Court Loving v. Virginia decision strikes down prohibitions on interracial marriage (1967). Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated (April 1968), sparking days of riots in Washington, DC; Chicago; and Kansas City, among other cities. Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated while campaigning for president (June 1968). (Note: The following also includes poems that address civil rights events beyond the 1960s.)

- From the magazine:
  African in This Different Land
  Sam Bradley
(1965)
- For Malcolm, A Year After
  Etheridge Knight
(1966)
- From the magazine:
  They Got Our Leader
  Philip Levine
(1966)
- A Historical Footnote to Consider Only When All Else Fails
  Nikki Giovanni
(1968)
- From the magazine:
  Blues Alabama
  Michael S. Harper
(1968)
- The Third Sermon on The Warpland
  Gwendolyn Brooks
(1969)
- From the magazine:
  The Assassination
  Donald Justice
(1969)
- From the magazine:
  April 5, 1968
  Alan Williamson
(1970)
- For Malcolm X
  Margaret Walker
(1970)
- In Memoriam: Martin Luther King, Jr.
  June Jordan
(1971)
- A Fable
  Etheridge Knight
(1973)
- Power
  Audre Lorde
(1976)
- 1977: Poem for Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer
  June Jordan
(1980)
- Caged Bird
  Maya Angelou
(1983)
- Staggerlee wonders
  James Baldwin
(1985)
- Sisters in Arms
  Audre Lorde
(1986)
- On a Highway East of Selma, Alabama
  Gregory Orr
(1988)
- Malcolm X, February 1965
  E. Ethelbert Miller
(1994)
- History Lesson
  Natasha Trethewey
(2000)
- Narrative: Ali
  Elizabeth Alexander
(2011)
- Dancing with Strom
  Nikky Finney
(2011)
- From the magazine:
  Devouring the Light, 1968
  Cheryl Boyce-Taylor
(2017)
- From the magazine:
  “When I Grow Up, I Want to Be a Martyr”
  Cortney Lamar Charleston
(2017)
- The Beauty of Black
  Margaret Burroughs

Articles

- Frank X. Walker's New Book, Turn Me Loose, Brings Voices of Civil Rights Movement Back to Life
- From the magazine:
  Playing by Ear, Praying for Rain: The Poetry of James Baldwin
  Nikky Finney
- “Finding a Window”
  Kimberly Reyes
- From the magazine:
  Mundane and Plural
  David Baker
- From the magazine:
  Brooks’s Prosody: Three Sermons on the Warpland
  Carl Phillips
- She Could Tell You Stories
  Hilary Holladay
- Mother of Black Studies
  Kyla Marshell
- Renaissance Woman
  Danielle A. Jackson
- From the magazine:
  A Post-Racial Anthology?
  Amiri Baraka
- From the magazine:
  "My Father Was White but Not Quite"
  Fanny Howe
- From the magazine:
  A Dark Bag
  Amiri Baraka
- From the magazine:
  Digging Culture
  Damon Locks
- Some People Say
- Celebrating Black History Month

Audio & Video

Online Resources

poetry-magazineFrom the magazine:November 22, 1963

poetry-magazineFrom the magazine:African in This Different Land

poetry-magazineFrom the magazine:They Got Our Leader

poetry-magazineFrom the magazine:Blues Alabama

poetry-magazineFrom the magazine:The Assassination

poetry-magazineFrom the magazine:April 5, 1968

poetry-magazineFrom the magazine:Devouring the Light, 1968

poetry-magazineFrom the magazine:“When I Grow Up, I Want to Be a Martyr”

poetry-magazineFrom the magazine:Playing by Ear, Praying for Rain: The Poetry of James Baldwin

poetry-magazineFrom the magazine:Mundane and Plural

poetry-magazineFrom the magazine:Brooks’s Prosody: Three Sermons on the Warpland

poetry-magazineFrom the magazine:A Post-Racial Anthology?

poetry-magazineFrom the magazine:"My Father Was White but Not Quite"

poetry-magazineFrom the magazine:A Dark Bag

poetry-magazineFrom the magazine:Digging Culture

From the magazine:
November 22, 1963

From the magazine:
African in This Different Land

From the magazine:
They Got Our Leader

From the magazine:
Blues Alabama

From the magazine:
The Assassination

From the magazine:
April 5, 1968

From the magazine:
Devouring the Light, 1968

From the magazine:
“When I Grow Up, I Want to Be a Martyr”

From the magazine:
Playing by Ear, Praying for Rain: The Poetry of James Baldwin

From the magazine:
Mundane and Plural

From the magazine:
Brooks’s Prosody: Three Sermons on the Warpland

From the magazine:
A Post-Racial Anthology?

From the magazine:
"My Father Was White but Not Quite"

From the magazine:
A Dark Bag

From the magazine:
Digging Culture