Inaugural Poet Elizabeth Alexander: “A Purposeful Us”

[Diane]

From www.pic2009.org:
Photo: C.J. Gunther
After the Chief Justice administers the Oath of Office, the first person to speak to the American people and the world will be the new president. The second will be Elizabeth Alexander, whom President-elect Obama has chosen to read a poem she is composing for the momentous occasion.

Dr. Alexander is no stranger to the task of inspiring audiences. In 1997, the University of Chicago presented her with the Quantrell Award, which the university awards to faculty members who demonstrate excellence in teaching undergraduate students. She has published four books of poems and a book of essays, and she is the incoming chair of Yale’s African American Studies Department. In 2007, she was the first recipient of the Jackson Poetry Prize, awarded by Poets and Writers to honor poets who have published books of high literary merit but who have not yet met public acclaim. Her most recent book of poetry, American Sublime, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

The challenge of this moment, however, is different. As she puts it:

The poem has a job to do. It has to speak to a tremendous historical occasion. And that work is speaking to an incredibly diverse audience not only of Americans but of people around the world who are looking to America on this day to begin to think about the way forward.

At the same time, she says this civic challenge must be balanced against the artist’s ability to respond to her own work – “to pause, listen, take stock, and try to draw out something that can in the end serve the moment.“

Dr. Alexander is uncomfortable with hearing poetry described as “political” – whether hers or anyone else’s – since the label is sometimes used to undercut the skill and artistry of the work. But she points to Toni Morrison’s different interpretation of “political” and suggests it may be more appropriate.

Morrison has observed that the root word polis, Greek for “city,“ evokes ideas of people and community. In that sense, Alexander’s poetry might be political. She says:

Poetry that speaks to people and speaks to community, poetry that exists in community, poetry that doesn’t just float around in a bubble, it comes out of a place and a time and it lives in that place and time. So to that end and by that description, yes, my poetry is political. ... It’s a poetry that is in many instances attentive to history and that is very interested in communities and that is very interested in voices that sometimes haven’t had their say.

Perhaps it’s fitting that Dr. Alexander focuses on people in their communities. She says her family has always believed in a sense of civic engagement and responsibility:

That it is a privilege to struggle, that it is a privilege to work on behalf of progress, to work on behalf of a community, that it is a privilege to serve. That it is broadening to serve and to think about how you can contribute the skills and talents you have. I’m not an elected official, I’m not a lawyer, but I’m a teacher and I have my words. And that’s what I have to contribute to hopefully broadening the lives of other people.

That it is a privilege to struggle, that it is a privilege to work on behalf of progress, to work on behalf of a community, that it is a privilege to serve. That it is broadening to serve and to think about how you can contribute the skills and talents you have. I’m not an elected official, I’m not a lawyer, but I’m a teacher and I have my words. And that’s what I have to contribute to hopefully broadening the lives of other people.

This is a lesson she wants to convey to her students, to her children, and to any audience she has. Service to community, she says, is rooted in the idea that “our goals are not as rich or as meaningful if they are solitary.“

In an attempt to rekindle this sense of common purpose and shared experience, President-elect Obama is calling upon all Americans to make a lasting commitment to serve their communities, starting on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, January 19th (the day before the Inauguration). The President-elect and the Vice President-elect will roll up their sleeves and join thousands of Americans in service that day. Find out about service opportunities near you at USAservice.org.

As Dr. Alexander prepares for her part in the 56th Presidential Inaugural, she offers a dual hope for Inauguration Day:

I hope that on that day, people can experience fully the profound weight of the joy that so many people have struggled and fought for and died for to bring us to the day where we might see an African American elected President. So that is a tremendously, tremendously powerful thing for our nation, and not just for black people, for everyone who has said we can do something different than we have done before. ...

I hope that we can experience that profound joy in an almost cathartic way at the same time that we are able to soberly and purposefully look forward to the tremendous, tremendous work that’s ahead for the whole country, and that then-President Obama will be leading us through because, as we all know, these are very serious times. ... I hope that at the end of Inauguration Day, we have a sense of that “us” as a purposeful us.

In other words that at the end of the day, we feel like we’ve had a joyful experience but that we also know what our work is.

We join her in hoping that the Inauguration, like any new beginning, will be both a celebration and a challenge.

We are proud and excited that she is part of the Inauguration. If you’re interested in learning more about her work, please visit her website, www.elizabethalexander.net.

[Usiku]

It is encouraging that poetry is being held in such high esteem by the President. Hopefully the moment won't pass without the importance of embracing poetry becoming a more commonly held belief. Poetry leads us inward so we can see outward.
http://writerswhirlpool.blogspot.com/2008/12/personal-growth-read-p...

[Jill]

*THANK YOU* for sharing *Diane* how inspiring:)

PEACE LOVE & CONTINUAL BLESSINGS Jill

[Angela Joseph]

I watched her today. She was very poised and confident. Thanks for sharing this with us.

[Ahm]

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