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Ben Railton Profile picture
@AmericanStudier
Apr 28 • 8 tweets • 3 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
Haven't had a chance to properly commemorate #NationalPoetryMonth yet, so wanted to quickly share a few of my favorite American poems as well as a couple current folks continuing these awesome legacies:
Sarah Piatt's my favorite poet, & "The Palace-Burner" my favorite American poem. Empathy, history, self-reflection, parenting, doubts, inspirations, it's all there & then some.
neglectedbooks.com/?p=3246
Langston Hughes is a very close second, & while that's due to the incredible breadth & depth of his works, I'd highlight "Let America Be America Again" as the best single critical patriotic cultural work I know:
poets.org/poem/let-ameri…
@JoyHarjo's "A Map to the Next World" is one of those poems I return to frequently for much-needed guidance:
genius.com/Joy-harjo-a-ma…
Li-Young Lee's "The Gift" is my favorite poem about my favorite thing, being a Dad:
poetryfoundation.org/poems/43010/th…
& I don't think there's a better 21st century American poet than @jerichobrown, as illustrated by "The Tradition" among so many other works:
poets.org/poem/tradition
Finally, I'd be remiss not to highlight my amazing colleague DeMisty Bellinger-Delfeld, who teaches poetry & all things creative writing to our lucky @Fitchburg_State undergrads:

demistybellinger.com
PS. I bet you've all got some amazing poetry & poets to share, past & contemporary. You know what to do! @bookgaga

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More from @AmericanStudier

Ben Railton Profile picture
Apr 30
What do you get for a 125th anniversary? It’s your lucky day, ‘cause the answer is my 125th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the last week. Share more below & enjoy, all! #twitterstorians
Starting with a few favorites from the week as usual, including @felixmooreactor for @PinkNews on an early fight for trans rights (h/t @DamselDystopia):
thepinknews.com/2023/04/24/san…
While @AaronLecklider wrote for @Slate on a fascinating discovery about queer history long in the making:
slate.com/human-interest…
Read 50 tweets
Ben Railton Profile picture
Apr 12
The authoritarian, demeaning, & racist attacks on @brotherjones_ & @Justinjpearson are a troubling reflection of where our political & democratic debates stand in 2023, but they're also nothing new. Indeed, such attacks originated with the first Black legislators in US history.
One of the most familiar images & tropes of the propagandistic, white supremacist narratives of Reconstruction created in US educational & pop culture spaces alike for more than 100 years was precisely such racism targeting the era's groundbreaking Black legislators.
The reality, as ever, is not just distinct from those white supremacist myths but quite the opposite: the stories & legacies of Reconstruction-era Black legislators are among the most striking, inspiring, & critical patriotic in American history.
Read 6 tweets
Ben Railton Profile picture
Apr 12
Happy Ronald Takaki Day! On my short list for the greatest & most influential American historians. #History #twitterstorians

memorydaycalendar.blogspot.com/p/april-nomine…
I wrote about one of my single favorite Takaki moments, from the intro to his magisterial A Different Mirror, as part of this post on Carlos Bulosan & redefining American identity:

americanstudier.blogspot.com/2014/07/july-2…
It's no coincidence that Takaki grew up in WWII Hawaii, home to a Japanese American community who embodied the very best of American critical patriotism & identity:

saturdayeveningpost.com/2021/12/consid…
Read 5 tweets
Ben Railton Profile picture
Apr 10
150 years ago this week, the small Louisiana town of Colfax was the site of one of the Reconstruction era's most violent acts of racial terrorism (a far too competitive category), with more than 100 Black militia members killed by a white supremacist mob.
That specific sesquicentennial, like Reconstruction's broader 150th anniversary, still needs a more central place in our collective memories. So this week I'll blog about a handful of Reconstruction histories we could better remember, including Colfax & many more.
Starting with today's post on why the Freedmen's Bureau failed (fuck you very much, Andrew Johnson), & lasting & important legacies of that organization nonetheless. #twitterstorians

americanstudier.blogspot.com/2023/04/april-…
Read 10 tweets
Ben Railton Profile picture
Feb 3
The main reason I wanted to do short stories in my adult learning courses this semester was that it's been a long time since I've really just sat in a classroom & talked about literary works with a community of fellow readers (that's part of undergrad teaching, but just part).
That's what it felt like the other times I taught lit-focused adult learning classes, but I didn't want to do so over Zoom so it's been about 4 years since I had the chance. I knew it would feel good to be back in that space, & at last week's 1st class it most definitely did.
But what I wasn't really expecting was how good it would feel even just to read the stories this way--not simply reading for pleasure, but also not reading with all the hats we have to wear to teach classes that involve assignments, grading, skills. Just reading to talk together.
Read 7 tweets
Ben Railton Profile picture
Feb 1
There are no shortage of horrific & fascistic elements to the attacks on education from the De Santis administration & around the country. But when it comes to Black history, there's also a stunning irony: we still collectively teach, learn, & know so frustratingly little of it.
A telling example is Boston's Black Heritage Trail, which begins at the same spot as the Freedom Trail, winds past a number of amazing historic sites & spaces in Beacon Hill, & features a great museum (@MAAHMuseum) yet receives far fewer annual visitors than the Freedom Trail.
So for my #BlackHistoryMonth @SatEvePost Considering History column, on all that we have to learn from the Black Heritage Trail--& all the Black history we still desperately, collectively need. #twitterstorians
saturdayeveningpost.com/2023/02/consid…
Read 5 tweets

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