Gwendolyn Brooks was born on June 7th, 1917 in Topeka, Kansas (“Gwendolyn Brooks;”Gwendolyn Brooks: 1917-2000“). Her mother was a schoolteacher and her father was a janitor (“Gwendolyn Brooks”). Her family relocated to Chicago during Brooks's childhood (“Gwendolyn Brooks”). At that time, the area where they moved to was considered the "Negro Metropolis" (“An Introduction to Gwendolyn Brooks”). Growing up in the South Side of Chicago and her mother's cultivation of Brooks's talent made Gwendolyn Brooks the creative genius she is known as (“An Introduction to Gwendolyn Brooks”). After transitioning between three different high schools, Brooks would attend Wilson Junior College and graduated in 1936 (Erickson).

Gwendolyn Brooks is mostly known for her poetry, but her life's work revolved around writing. Brooks's first published poem, "Eventide", was featured in American Childhood when she was only 13 years old (“Gwendolyn Brooks”). Brooks would continue writing and regularly published when she was 17 years of age (“Gwendolyn Brooks”). Brooks published a total of seventy-five poems in Chicago DefenderExternal Link (Erickson). She completed and published her first collection of poems A Street in Bronzeville in 1945 (“Gwendolyn Brooks”). A Street in Bronzeville would be the first of many collections of poems Brooks would publish. Brooks only published one novel Maud Martha in the 1950s (“Gwendolyn Brooks”). Along with her poems, Brooks would also publish two autobiographies, Report from Part One (1972) and Report from Part Two (1996) (Erickson).

Through her writing, Gwendolyn Brooks was involved in the Black Arts Movement and Civil Rights. Through her poetry, Brooks would write about everyday Black experiences in Chicago (Gonzalez, Lazcano, and Dani). Initially, Brooks's poetry appealed more to a white audience than a mainstream Black audience (Gonzalez, Lazcano, and Dani). This attention is attributed to Brooks's earlier use of European verse that rivaled Phillis Wheatley(“An Introduction to Gwendolyn Brooks,” Gonzalez, Lacano, and Dani). However, Brooks became a powerhouse in the Black Arts Movement, which celebrated Black authors and artists (Foster). Many of her poems in The Bean Eaters (1963) involved social and racial issues (“An Introduction to Gwendolyn Brooks”). However, Brooks would form a deeper connection with Black audiences after attending the 1967 Fisk Writers' Conference (“An Introduction to Gwendolyn Brooks”). This rebirth of Brooks's talents resulted in another and more radical collection of poetry, In the Mecca (1968)(“An Introduction to Gwendolyn Brooks”). Brooks would also cultivate the Black Arts Movement by hosting writing workshops and engaging with other Black artists, such as Nikki Giovanni (“Gwendolyn Brooks: 1917-2000”).

Brooks passed away on December 3, 2000 in her home on the South Side of Chicago (“An Introduction to Gwendolyn Brooks”). Brooks was 83 (“An Introduction to Gwendolyn Brooks”). Brooks is best remembered for her poetry as a Black poet and her involvement in the Black Power Movement, but many know her for her kindness and impact on the community (“An Introduction to Gwendolyn Brooks”). During her later years, Brooks touched many lives with her poetry readings at hospitals and prisons alike (“An Introduction to Gwendolyn Brooks”, “Gwendolyn Brooks: 1917-2000”). Brooks also fostered creativity in the next generation of poets by attending and funding school poetry contests (“Gwendolyn Brooks: 1917-2000”). Gwendolyn Brooks was a true poet for the people.

1. // A Street in Bronzeville// (1945)
2. Annie Allen (1949)
3. Maud Martha (1953)
4. Bronzeville Boys and Girls (1956)
5. The Bean Eaters (1960)
6. “We Real Cool” (1960)
7. In the Mecca: Poems (1968)
8. “For Illinois 1968: A Sesquicentennial Poem” (1968)
9. “Riot” (1969)

At face value, “Riot” is about racism and the racial tension of America. To take it deeper than that, this poem can be used to highlight the cognitive dissonance between the privileged and unprivileged where the latter class has to be loud, has to scream to be heard, to get attention- which is compounded by the racial framework. The usage of John Cabot as a sort of main character is to show that even when the narrative is about Black people, a white man still controls the framing.

At the end when John Cabot prays to God to be merciful to the Negros that were approaching him, that was going to hurt him, there is irony in the fact that God does not act as if John Cabot is in the right, instead siding with the very Negros John Cabot seems so afraid of in the poem. This is ironic because of the fact that colonizers used the rhetoric that God wanted them to take over the lands from the so-called “savages” that lived on them.

This poem was published in the 20th century during the heart of the Civil Rights Movement. More importantly, it was published in 1969 right after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination as a response to how the Black community reacted.

At the beginning of the poem, there is an epigraph from MLK himself: “A riot is the language of the unheard.” This line comes from his speech “The Other America” which he gave at Stanford University. In the speech King condemned the act of rioting, believing nonviolence was the answer to gaining equality. He also made a point to connect rioting with the poor Black Americans were being directly affected by the worsening economy and equality gap, which he also condemned; if it wasn’t a problem then there would be no riots. He connected these two points with the above-mentioned quote going further to say: “What is it America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the Negro poor has worsened…”

“An Introduction to Gwendolyn Brooks.” Poets, https://poets.org/text/introduction-gwendolyn-brooks

Erickson, Joel. “Gwendolyn Brooks: Her Life and Legacy.” Wheaton College, https://www.wheaton.edu/academics/the-liberal-arts-at-wheaton-college/christ-at-the-core-liberal-arts-at-wheaton/core-book/core-book-archives/2022-2023-core-book-selected-poems/original-essays/gwendolyn-brooks-her-life-and-legacy/.

Foster, Hannah. “The Black Arts Movement (1965-1975).” Black Past, 21 Mar. 2014, https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/black-arts-movement-1965-1975/.

“Gwendolyn Brooks.” Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/gwendolyn-brooks.

“Gwendolyn Brooks: 1917 – 2000.” Poets, https://poets.org/poet/gwendolyn-brooks.

Gonzalez, Diana, Samantha Lazcano, and Esha Dani. “Gwendolyn Brooks: Tragedies That Led to the Black Consciousness.” Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, 10 May 2019, https://chicagodefender.com/?s=.

“Themes and Variations: New Looks at Gwendolyn Brooks.” Poetry Foundation, 30 May 2017, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/142290/themes-and-variations.

1. themorgan.com
2. The Week
3. Martin Luther King Speech