Can anybody suggest any African-American poets?

Question

I would specifically like to learn about ones who put they're poems to beats. Note: I am not looking for rap or anything related. I would prefer something without profane language(ex no use of words like ho's, or the n word).

Answer 1

Try Paul Laurence Dunbar. He was one of the first African-American poets to achieve national popularity and though his stuff doesn't have any music to it, I think you will appreciate his rhythm . I believe he also wrote songs. My favorite poem that he wrote is titled We Wear The Mask. Enjoy!

Answer 2

There are a lot of great African-American poets who don't use profanity or use it in a more artful manner than some rappers do. I'm not sure exactly what you mean when you say putting their poems "to beats" since most poetry has some kind of rhythm. But I think Langston Hughes is a great poet to start with when discovering the richness and diversity of African-American poetry. The influence of jazz, blues, and also gospel in his poetry is apparent.

If you're especially interested in the sound of his poems, I would just as soon recommend getting a recording of him reading his work as I would recommend a book. There are excellent CDs available of him reading his work from Random House's Voice of the Poet series and from Smithsonian Folkways. The Voice of the Poet CD has more of Hughes discussing the inspirations for the poems, so I would suggest getting the Smithsonian Folkways recording if you want just the poems without context or commentary.

There's also a nice recording called "Weary Blues" that has Langston Hughes reading his poems accompanied by musical compositions of Leonard Feather and Charles Mingus.

Here's a link to get you started: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/83

And you can listen to previews of the Smithsonian Folkways recording on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Voice-Langston-Hughes/dp/B000001DOH/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1196990210&sr=1-1

I'll also second hufflepuff_1980's suggestion of Paul Laurence Dunbar. He wrote a lot of great poems in dialect as well as standard English poems like "We Wear the Mask." Much of his poetry is available for free and legally online, just go to the poetry index on this site: http://www.libraries.wright.edu/special/dunbar/

Enjoy your reading!

Answer 3

Claude McKay
June Jordan
Nikki Giovanni
Gwendolyn Brooks
Rita Dove
Audre Lorde
Michael S. Harper
Countee Cullen

There are lots of others, including those recommended by other answerers.