Black Poets - October 17

Literary Learning

Friday, October 17, 2025

Today is Black Poetry Day, Pasta Day, Spreadsheet Day, World Student Day, and Wear Something Gaudy Day.

Wild Animal Month Animal Cam of the Day:  San Diego Zoo Safari Park Tiger Cam
Spooky Dessert of the Day: Mummy Chocolate-Covered Strawberries
LGBT History Month Resource of the Day: The LGBTQ Movement and the Stonewall Uprising

 AMERICAN REVOLUTION HISTORY ON THIS DATE

• 1777 - British General John Burgoyne surrenders his army at Saratoga, New York.
• 1781 - British General Charles, Earl Cornwallis, surrenders at the Siege of Yorktown.

On This Date
Today's Birthdays
Songs of the Day
Today's Theme:  BLACK POETS

ON THIS DATE

• 1777 - British General John Burgoyne surrenders his army at Saratoga, NY.
• 1781 - British General Cornwallis surrenders at the Siege of Yorktown.
• 1814 - Eight people die in the London Beer Flood.
• 1931 - Al Capone is convicted of income tax evasion.
• 1933 - Albert Einstein flees Nazi Germany.
• 1979 - The US Department of Education is created.

BIRTHDAYS

• 1859 - Artist Childe Hassam (NH Connection - he painted the Isles of Shoals)
• 1915 - Playwright Arthur Miller
• 1918 - Actor Rita Hayworth
• 1962 - Animator and director Mike Judge
• 1972 - Rapper Eminem

SONGS OF THE DAY 

• Maya Angelou - Calypso Heat Wave - LISTEN

THEME: BLACK POETS

GENERAL

• Grades 10-12 - PBS LearningMedia - American Passages - Rhythms in Poetry - VIEW

MAYA ANGELOU

• Grades K-1 - Sesame Street - Maya Angelou's Name Song - VIEW
• Grades K-1 - Sesame Street - Maya Angelou's Favorite Things - VIEW
• Grades 6-12 - PBS LearningMedia - American Experience - Maya Angelou and the 1993 Inaugural Poem: “On the Pulse of Morning” (4:52) - VIEW, READ, DO

AMANDA GORMAN

• Grades K-4 - PBS KIDS - Amanda Gorman - Talking Gets Us There - VIEW
• Grades 6-12 - NHPBS VIdeo - Amanpour and Company - Amanda Gorman, Activist, and National Youth Poet Laureate (15:24) - VIEW
• Grades 6-12 - NHPBS VIdeo - PBS NewsHour - Poet Amanda Gorman on how she prepared for Inauguration Day (6:09) - VIEW

LANGSTON HUGHES

• Grades 4-12 - PBS LearningMedia -  A Walk Through Harlem -Symbolism in "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" (0:58)  - VIEW and DO
• Grades 6-12 - PBS LearningMedia - Poetry in America - Langston Hughes - Harlem (5:51) - VIEW and DO
• Grades 9-12 - NHPBS Video - American Experience - Langston Hughes on Trial (4:39) - VIEW

GWENDOLYN BROOKS

• Grades 6-12 - PBS LearningMedia - Poetry in America - Gwendolyn Brooks - To Prisoners (5:56) - VIEW and DO
• Grades 6-12 - NHPBS Video - Gwendolyn Brooks: The Creative Person (1966) (29:09) - VIEW
  
• Grades 6-12 - NHPBS Video - Gwendolyn Brooks: Still ‘Real Cool’ at 100 (5:16) - VIEW
• Grades 6-12 - NHPBS Video - Gwendolyn Brooks Reads  "We Real Cool" (5:46) - VIEW

RITA DOVE

• Grades 6-12 - NHPBS Video - PBS NewsHour - Weekly Poem: Rita Dove Reads 'Chocolate' (0:37) - VIEW
• Grades 7-12 - PBS LearningMedia - Rita Dove - "American Smooth" (1:06) - VIEW, READ, DO
• Grades 7-12 - NHPBS Video - PBS NewsHour - Rita Dove Interview (7:36) - VIEW
• Grades 7-12 - NHPBS Video - Book View Now - Rita Dove Interview (18:43) - VIEW

LUCILLE CLIFTON

• Grades 7-12 - PBS LearningMedia - Poetry Everywhere - Lucille Clifton - "won't you celebrate with me" (0:46)  - VIEW, READ, DO

KWAME DAVIS

• Grades 7-12 - PBS LearningMedia - Poetry Everywhere - Kwame Dawes -  "Tornado Child" (1:46) - VIEW, READ, DO

YUSEF KONUNYAKAA

• Grades 7-12 - PBS LearningMedia - Poetry Everywhere - Yusef Komunyakaa - "Facing It" (1:18) - VIEW, READ, DO

NIKKI GIOVANNI

• Grades 9-12 - NHPBS Video - Overheard with Evan Smith - Nikki Giovanni (26:46) - VIEW
• Grades 9-12 - NHPBS Video - Write Around the Corner - Nikki Giovanni (27:56) - VIEW
• Grades 9-12 - NHPBS Video - PBS NewsHour - Nikki Giovanni reads ‘The Lost Cause ... Lost’ (1:07) - VIEW
• Grades 9-12 - NHPBS Video - Write Around the Corner - A Continued Conversation with Nikki Giovanni (29:53) - VIEW
• Grades 9-12 - NHPBS Video - Nikki Giovanni On Poetry & Truth (58:49) - VIEW

NIKKY FINNEY

• Grades 9-12 - NHPBS Video - Connections - Poet Nikky Finney (26:42)  - VIEW

CLAUDI RANKINE

• Grades 9-12 - NHPBS Video - Book View Now - Claudia Rankine on Citizen: An American Lyric (9:14) - VIEW
• Grades 9-12 - NHPBS Video - PBS NewsHour - Author Claudia Rankine Answers Questions About ‘Citizen’  (5:59) - VIEW
  

AUDRA LORDE

• Grades 9-12 - PBS LearningMedia - Audre Lorde (6:33)  - VIEW and DO

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