Bontemps, Arna – “Anthology of Negro Poets In The U.S.A. – 200 Years” – [Smithsonian/Folkways]

humana   10/19/2015   12-inch, A Library

This is one of those treasures from the Foothill College Library. Bontemps reads the poems of amazing songsters capable of summoning clear images of babies with sparkling eyes (A2), dreams of heaven and how it will be an equitable place, Death cutting the birth cord and handing the baby over to Sorrow, and much, much more. Be sure to listen to “Frederick Douglass” by Robert E. Hayden. These are powerful all on their own, but I’m sure some of you mixologists will figure out a way to set these poems so they strike the listener even more. A worthy add to our library.