1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:08,039 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hey y'all, I'm Eves and welcome to this 3 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,200 Speaker 1: sand History Class, a podcast where history waits for no one. 4 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:24,680 Speaker 1: Today is June. The day was June seven, nineteen seventeen. 5 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:29,600 Speaker 1: Poet Gwendolyn Brooks was born in Topeka, Kansas. Brooks was 6 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 1: the first Black American writer to win a Pulletzer Prize. 7 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:36,240 Speaker 1: Brooks was raised in Chicago, where she grew up reading 8 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:39,640 Speaker 1: poets like Paul Lawrence Dunbar and writing her own work. 9 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:42,720 Speaker 1: She was introverted, but her parents supported her love for 10 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:46,720 Speaker 1: reading and writing. She published her first poem even Tied 11 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:49,920 Speaker 1: when she was a teenager, and by age seventeen, she 12 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:53,800 Speaker 1: was publishing poems frequently in the newspaper The Chicago Defender. 13 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:58,200 Speaker 1: After graduating from junior college, Brooks began working as a 14 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:01,920 Speaker 1: publicity director of the youth organization of the National Association 15 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:04,800 Speaker 1: for the Advancement of Colored People who ub a CP. 16 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:09,119 Speaker 1: She also continued developing her craft by going to poetry workshops, 17 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:12,840 Speaker 1: and she pursued a career in writing. All the while, 18 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:15,560 Speaker 1: Brooks was paying attention to the racial dynamics in the 19 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:19,000 Speaker 1: city of Chicago. She once said quote, I wrote about 20 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:22,480 Speaker 1: what I saw and heard on the street. Brooks published 21 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:25,280 Speaker 1: her first poetry collection, A Street in Bronzeville, in n 22 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:29,360 Speaker 1: In it, she chronicled the everyday life of black people 23 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: in her neighborhood. The book garnered her critical acclaim and 24 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:36,160 Speaker 1: people welcomed her as a new voice in contemporary poetry. 25 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:40,440 Speaker 1: Four years later, Brooks published Anny Allen, a book of 26 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:43,240 Speaker 1: poetry that tells the story of a black woman's growth 27 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:47,320 Speaker 1: from childhood to adulthood in Bronzeville. Brooks won the Poet 28 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:51,200 Speaker 1: Surprise for this book in nineteen fifty. Her earlier work 29 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:55,560 Speaker 1: was characterized by social realism, technical expertise, and a different 30 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 1: perspective on black life. She published her first and only novel, 31 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:03,360 Speaker 1: Maud Martha, in nineteen fifty three. The book told the 32 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:07,560 Speaker 1: story of mad Martha's life in short vignettes. After Books 33 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:11,079 Speaker 1: attended the Second Black Writer's Conference at Fisk University in 34 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:14,600 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty seven, her writing style changed and her work 35 00:02:14,639 --> 00:02:18,160 Speaker 1: took a more political stance. In the Mecca, published in 36 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:21,680 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty eight, included a long narrative poem about a 37 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:25,480 Speaker 1: mother searching for her lost child in the Chicago Housing Project. 38 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:29,480 Speaker 1: Author and activist Tony k. Vambara wrote in The New 39 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 1: York Times Book Review that Brooks had quote a new 40 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:36,880 Speaker 1: movement and energy, intensity, richness, power of statement, and a 41 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:40,880 Speaker 1: new stripped, lean, compressed style, a change of style prompted 42 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:45,120 Speaker 1: by a change of mind. In the nineteen seventies, Brooks 43 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:48,200 Speaker 1: left the publishing house Harper and Row and turned to 44 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:53,680 Speaker 1: new black publishing companies. She also published her first autobiography, 45 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 1: Report From Part One, in nineteen seventy two. While some 46 00:02:57,360 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 1: critics said that it didn't give them the insight that 47 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:03,160 Speaker 1: they hope for, others praise its acknowledgment of her role 48 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:06,360 Speaker 1: as a poet. Brooks was the first black woman to 49 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:09,919 Speaker 1: become the poetry Consultant to the Library of Congress. Through 50 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:12,919 Speaker 1: this work, Brooks visited local schools. She was also a 51 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:15,679 Speaker 1: Poet Laureate of the State of Illinois, and in this 52 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:22,200 Speaker 1: role she visited colleges, prisons, hospitals, and other community institutions. Altogether, 53 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:25,920 Speaker 1: Brooks wrote more than twenty books of poetry. She also 54 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 1: taught at universities around the United States. Brooks died in 55 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:34,360 Speaker 1: two thousand. I'm Eve Chef Cote and hopefully you know 56 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:37,000 Speaker 1: a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 57 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:39,360 Speaker 1: And if you have any kind words you want to 58 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:41,480 Speaker 1: send us, you can hit us up on social media 59 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:45,160 Speaker 1: where at T d i h C Podcast on Facebook, Twitter, 60 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:47,600 Speaker 1: and Instagram. You can also send your notes to us 61 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:51,480 Speaker 1: via email at this day at I heeart media dot com. 62 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:53,480 Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening to the show and we'll 63 00:03:53,480 --> 00:04:03,400 Speaker 1: see you tomorrow. 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