The week-long curfew imposed because of rioting last Sunday was lifted on Thursday because people began protesting peacefully. While there were still some looting/tear gas/violent incidents around, peaceful protesting is what I have seen and heard of more often. And it is simply amazing that this has now become a worldwide protest. People everywhere are stepping out to show that #unitedwestand and that black lives do matter.
I spent a major part of Saturday afternoon marching with many others as part of a local protest, and then listening to young and old speak about the issues and the whats-and-hows of each of us can do our part towards a future where we do not have to say ‘Not One More Life’ anymore. It was truly inspirational and empowering to be there. (And just last week, I spoke about not knowing if I would be out on the streets raising my voice, but could always do it via the medium of the internet)
Here are a few photos I took at the event:
It was also heartening to watch that there were many who were there with bottled water (and one person with granola bars too) to hand out to anyone who needed it. Thank you!
Poetic Sundays
The Forms so Far
- Eintou
- Pregunta
- Kenning
- Gnomic Poem
- Magic 9
- Balassi Stanza
- Alphacouplet
- Limerick
- The Harrisham Rhyme
- Concrete Poetry and the Loop
- ZaniLa
Slam Poetry
Not really a poetry form; as in I cannot state specific rules on how to write it or talk about form or meter or rhyme. But this was one I wanted to include here now.
What is Slam Poetry?
Slam poetry, as I mentioned earlier, is not really a poetry form; rather it is combines the key elements of performance, spoken word poetry, competition, and audience participation. The name is derived from the fact that it is performed at events called poetry slams, or simply slams.
Here are a few really cool websites to learn more about slam poetry:
- Everything You Need to Know About Slam Poetry @ Little Infinite – Poetry for Life (also has videos you can watch)
- A Brief Guide to Slam Poetry from the Poets.org website
- 12 Slam Poetry Ideas for Teachers at Lindsay Ann Learning
- Slam Poetry at PoemAnalysis
Slam Poets
Since this is a performance poetry, while I did attempt to write something that could possibly be performed, I have not attempted performing it yet. I hope to – in the future; and when I do, I will post it here and elsewhere!
But I leave you with some links to videos (have enjoyed all those that I did watch among the many below):
- 40 Engaging Slam Poems for Secondary ELA: (@ Lindsay Ann Learning) Lindsay has shared a list of 40 different classroom friendly slam poems here. I listened to a few and each one is powerful.
- Book Riot’s Must Watch Slam Poetry
Last Week
On My Blog and Home-front
Oh well!! I have not done anything much this past week, nothing I had planned anyways, and just one blog post (which was also earlier today!)
But my 17 yo and I both heaved a sigh of relief as I let him click the Submit button on his piano exam virtual application. We did multiple recordings of the five music pieces he had to perform and while we didn’t reach perfection, his teacher was satisfied and we were simply – well – tired. Now all we have to do is wait for the results that hopefully will be available before this month end. In a live exam where the examiner is watching you, you have one chance and even if you make a mistake, you keep moving on. But with this virtual exam where we had to upload the recordings, he wanted the pieces to be perfect, which meant performing under that pressure led to a couple of mistakes 🙂
We also watched the new Little Women movie. I guess I found myself partial to previous versions of the movie, and of course the book itself. While my kids (sadly not having read the book in spite of my practically forcing it down their throats many a time over the years or trying to make one summer a Little Women reading summer, or even watched any other versions) enjoyed the back-and-forth between time periods, the beautiful scenes, and of course the cast.
Hubby and me celebrated another year of our marriage, and my 14 yo baked a delicious chocolate cake for the occasion!
My Most Recent Posts
Posts from last week (just one truly, but including the two posts since last Sunday)
- Books to Inform and Enable Conversations about Race
- Sunday Scribblings #35: In a Whirlpool of Emotions
Elsewhere
While there were many articles and posts that resonated with me these last few days, sharing a few here today and including the ones from last Sunday’s post as well as they still need to be read/shared/seen
- A beautiful and powerful performance
- This TED Video (Notes of a Native Son – The World According to James Baldwin)
- Clint Smith’s TED Talks, here and here
- This post shared by Roy on FB
- And this post by Geeta Nadkarni, one I could identify with a lot
The below are articles and posts I included last week, and here again
- Learning to be an Ally for my Children of Color
- See Through the Eyes of a Child (FB Post)
- On George Floyd, and the word “Mama” (FB Post)
- The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
MyPhotoADay
Here are a few selections from my insta-feed this past week.
Upcoming
On My Blog and Home-front
Definitely a couple of posts at the least but I am not going to talk about working on all those challenges I left hanging in March or any of the other tasks I talked about the last two weeks.
This Week’s Celebrations
Here are a couple of this week’s many celebrations:
- Reach out to those friends who make your life beautiful by simply being in it. It is National Best Friends Day on the 8th of June.
- June 8th is also National Upsy Daisy Day – Brighten a day – write a note, make a donation, call an old friend, start the day the Upsy Daisy Way on #UpsyDaisyDay.
- I think we are all working towards this now – Making Life Beautiful (National Making Life Beautiful Day is on the 11th of June) #MakingLifeBeautifulDay
- For the foodies, there is National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day on the 9th of June, National German Chocolate Cake Day and National Corn on the Cob Day on the 11th of June, and National Peanut Butter Cookie Day on June 12th.
- And this one is truly one that needs to be recognized and celebrated – National Loving Day on June 12th, the anniversary of the 1967 United States Supreme Court decision Loving v. Virginia which struck down all anti-miscegenation laws remaining in sixteen U.S. states. #NationalLovingDay
- June is African-American Music Appreciation Month as well as National Zoo and Aquarium Month
Wrapping up my Sunday Scribblings
So dear reader, this was it for my Sunday Scribblings(and I know it is past Sunday again, but it will come around). I would love to hear your comments on my post(s). And which of these days do you plan to celebrate (or any other)?
Linking this to the Sunday Post over at the Caffeinated Reviewer and the Sunday Salon.
What an adorable photo of the day! I’ve read the book, Little Women many times but never knew they made it into a movie!
I hope you were properly masked- and have been tested! (Repeat in a week, too!)
And, kudos to you for standing to end this nonsense. One would think after so many decades and centuries, things would have changed.
I’m glad you were able to participate in the protests. I’m happy there were so many protests in so many cities and towns around the world. It gives me hope.
Happy anniversary! Beautiful cake.
It’s interesting how doing a tape of something seems to up the pressure we put upon ourselves. We’d planned to do a rock and fossil program for children at our county’s libraries this summer, but we ended up having to do a tape of it. The library called last week and said there were some problems and that we’d have to redo part of it! Much easier live, I think.
Our local protest was at a parking lot that included a Jet’s Pizza. An employee from Jet’s was walking through the crowd giving away slices of pizza and bottles of water. I thought that was awesome. Enjoy your week!