Today on Sojourner Truth: Poetry in the Time of COVID-19.
We celebrate National Poetry Month, which is marked annually in the United States and Canada. The Academy of American Poets kicked off the month-long celebration in 1996 in order to create awareness and appreciation of poetry. The push to promote National Poetry Month has proven to be successful. Many educators and librarians across the United States have embraced the initiative, including it in their school curriculums and lesson plans. According to a 2017 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, conducted by the National Endowment of the Arts, the number of poetry readers in the United States has nearly doubled in the past five years, from 6.7 percent of adults in 2012 to nearly 12 percent in 2017. By 2018, 28 million people read poetry. Now, with the global pandemic, as people in the United States are sheltering in place, likely we have more reading of poetry going on. Among other things it can be a real stress-buster.
In honor of National Poetry Month, we have invited several women and men to read their poems. They include Ron Baca, a teacher and Chicano poet who grew up in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles. His poetry spotlights the local culture of Los Angeles while touching on subjects that all people around the world can relate to, such as love, fear, inspiration and culture. It was Ron Baca who inspired this Sojourner Truth special. Also, we will hear from Aricka Foreman, a poet, essayist and digital curator. Her latest book of poems titled "Salt Body Shimmer" has been met with critical acclaim.
We also hear poetry from Angelina Saenz, Camilo Baca, Bill Gallegos, Sabreen Adeeba, Gata Salvaje, Pastor Eddie Anderson, Jacqueline Johnson and Miya Iwataki.
