Hey Black Child by Useni Eugene Perkins and illustrated by Bryan Collier is a motivational and inspiratonal poem for black children, as well as other young people. Its a poem that is made to inspire children and young people to let them know that they should never give up on their dreams and to always achieve their goals.
Hey Black Child was originally written as a song, and sometimes misattributed to Countee Cullen or Maya Angelou. The poem technique in this poem is rhymthic avuncular and commandingly rhetorical language, and it is lyric poetry.(Galda, Cullinan, & Sipe, 2010) This poem allows young people to feel empowered, and to always remember to dream big. Another poem technique is in Hey Black Child is repetition. (Galda, Cullinan, & Sipe, 2010) The author repeats Hey Black Child in every other line in the poem.
The illustrations elements by Bryan Collier are amazing he uses representational art to depict the characters in the poem. At the beginning of each stanza he paints a realistic photo of a happy and confident child. Throughout the book he uses beautiful watercolors with textures that look like acrylic, while also using the collage technique as well. (Galda, Cullinan, & Sipe, 2010)
Activities:
- After reading the book to students and showing them the beautiful collage of pictures, the studens can draw a self potratit and then think of three goals that they would like to achieve in life. This activity will teach student self worth and to dream big which is a great life lesson.
- The second activity would be to have the students write their own inspirational poem, and by doing this they are learning to become creative and to say whatever they feel that would help motivate themselves as well as their classmates.
- This activity aligns with the Saint Leo University's Core Value of Respect because as the children are writing their own poem they are learning what it means to respect themselves and knowing their self worth.
Reader's Response Questions:
- What can be learned from this poem?
- Did this poem motivate you?
- What are your dreams in life?
- Do you believe that you can be what you want to be, and do what you want to do?
This is such an inspirational and awesome poem! Although it is meant to empower children, I think anyone at any age, from any race and background will love the words that are being said. It not only motivates you to never give up, but it also reminds you to dream big.
References
Galda, L., Cullinan, B., & Sipe, L. (2010). Literature and the Child (7 ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Perkins, U. E., & Collier, B. (2017). Hey Black Child. New York: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.
An activity I feel would be great for this poem book is that because this poem is specific to a certain race, each child could pick a poem or create their own poem based on their own race of how they view their race and then present it to their class. The class can then choose a person's poem (of a different race) to pair up with and write a poem together to show how the two of them are alike in many ways despite the difference in their race.
ReplyDeleteAnother activity could be that the children can act out the poem all together or act out a poem of their liking that is synonymous with their own race or culture that may empower them.
ReplyDelete