Clint Smith
American writer, poet, and scholar
Habari gani, my brothers and sisters? Today, on the first day of Kwanzaa, for "Black Writer of the Month" I will be highlighting one of my favorite modern poets: the educator Clint Smith.
Smith was born and raised in the infamous city of New Orleans which, given his experiences within the tourist attraction, inspired the theme of many of his poems. Smith lived in New Orleans until just before his senior year of high school as that is when Hurricane Katrina hit the city and he and his family were forced to flee to Houston Texas. Smith then went on to earn his bachelor's degree in English at Davidson College in North Carolina before subsequently earning his Ph.D. at Harvard University.
Within the decade in between Clint Smith obtaining his two degrees he served as an English teacher at Prince George's County, Maryland. While working there he was dubbed the Christine D. Sarbanes Teacher of the Year by the Maryland Humanities Council. During this time Smith also won multiple awards in poetry. The first of which was winning the 2014 National Poetry Slam. The second, Smith won the Jerome J. Shestack Prize from The American Poetry Review in 2017. In that same year, he won his third award, the Literary Award for Best Poetry Book given to him by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. Clint Smith was also featured in magazines being Ebony's 2017 Power 100 list and Forbes' 2018 30 under 30 list.
In 2016 Smith released his first poetry book, Counting Decent. The book gained popularity quickly, winning the aforementioned 2017 Literary Award for Best Poetry Book. The majority of the poems in this book fall into two categories. There are the poems where Smith uses memories from his childhood in New Orleans or during his college days to speak about a particular social issue, usually dealing with racial or cultural stereotypes. The other kinds of poems are the ones where Smith speaks to the reader directly to address these same issues. I think these two differing ways of delivering the same message serve as a way of splitting the audience. The poems where Smith is addressing the audience directly and formatted for a younger audience. Teens and children who are currently experiencing what Smith did then. The poems where Clint is referencing his past experiences seem more like an attack toward the creators and instigators of the harmful stereotypes depicted in the poems. Although, considering how poems are formatted as a medium it is more than likely that you could perceive the meaning of these poems differently and I highly encourage you to read the poems and come to your own conclusions.
My favorite poem out of Counting Decent is the seventh in the collection, My Jump Shot. It's a weirdly complicated poem with a subtle tone shift halfway through. At the same time, the poem is formatted rather simply. Each line starts with the phrase "My jump shot be" followed by a description of how his jump shot be. The first half of the poem is told as though the point were to be humorous, each description of the jump shot acting as a punchline. Then the tone changes after the line "My jump shot be code-switching." The poem from that point uses Smith's jump shot as an allegory for his life as a black man and the execution of this tone switch is done masterfully. The poem first hooks you with its comedic facade before enveloping you in this important message about racial bias. I connected with this poem so much to the point that recently I mirrored the poem to address my experience with my sexuality.
Clint Smith has a website where you can learn more about him and his stories. You can also find articles written by Clint Smith as well as any events that the scholar may visit. He is also active on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook where you can follow any of his future exploits.
If there are any black writers you'd like me to feature in future posts, DM the blog on Instagram and I'll respond within 24 hours. Keep reading and writing, Broncos!
-Obadele
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