Cool Poetry

Poetry is more than just written words and rhyming. Poetry is also visual art and has a lot to do with imagination and the power to take real-life things and make them mean something to someone, taking struggles and hardship and making others who don't understand that understand, even if it's just in a 2nd perspective. Also, putting one's imagination into words and letting the reader or listener picture everything in their own way. Poetry means a lot to a lot of people. Here is a poem from a book I read a lot as a child, by Shel Silverstein, this poem has the same name as the book. It's called where the sidewalk ends.

There is a place where the sidewalk ends

and before the street begins,

and there the grass grows soft and white,

and there the sun burns crimson bright,

and there the moon-bird rests from his flight

to cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black

and the dark street winds and bends.

Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow

we shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow

and watch where the chalk-white arrows go

to the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes, we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,

and we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,

for the children, they mark, and the children, they know,

the place where the sidewalk ends.

Sports: African American Athletes

It's Black History month, a time to celebrate POC for who they are. In this part I will be discussing POC Athletes that have made a big impact in the sports industry.

Simone Biles

Simone Biles is a 24 year old gymnast who has won many awards. She has 4 skills named after her, all involving flips and twists that are very hard to accomplish.

During the Tokyo Olympics however, as Simone was high above the ground, she looked confused and scared, seeming lost. After the stunt it was revealed she had experienced a terrifying mental hiccup known as the twisted, that made her unsure of where she was in the moment. She revealed to her team that she wouldn't be competing with them this year as her body and mind aren't in sync. She would however be cheering them on through the team event. This made a big impact on the sports industry as more people have sparked conversations regarding mental health. According to Shawna Kelly, member of the national association of school psychology board of directors, Simone's action will help spark a mental health trend that's already getting started.

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Noah Lyles

Noah Lyles is a 24 track and field runner. He has set many records as he set a new world record for the indoor 300M in 2017. His fastest time for the 100M was 9.86 seconds.

During the Tokyo Olympics, he won a bronze medal in the men's 200M, and he went on to say the medal was boring and then bursted into tears as he revealed his mental health problems. He spoke about his depression, his help through therapy, feeling pressure through his activity and brother who didn't make it to the Olympic team, he felt that his brother should've been here, not him. He went on to say it's ok to not be ok, and to get help through therapy or medication. It's a serious issue and he doesn't want to give up just yet.

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Coco Gauff

Coco Gauff is a 17 year old Tennis Player who is one of the youngest players in America. She made it into the quarterfinals of the Grand Slam, which means you're one of the best tennis players in the world. Because she made it into the quarterfinals it made her the youngest woman to go that far into a tournament since 1997.

She has acknowledged the pressure by those around her as she started her career around the age of 16-17. She tries to not think of what other people think about her, but she still tries her hardest to be a role model for the people watching her. She wants to stand up for people that look like her and don’t have a voice. She wants to be there for others and especially her brothers, as their opinion matters more to her more than anything else in the world.

Kehinde Wiley: An African Painter

Kehinde Wiley paintings fall into an interesting category called Identity Politics. It's a form that focuses on race, gender, and sexuality. As Wiley grew his career as a lower class, queer man, it become extremely important to him that Black people, especially Black men.

Which is the main subject of most of his paintings. His paintings include different abstract forms that are quite different but beautiful. One of his most well known pieces of work would be his 2017 portrait of Barack Obama. This painting is in the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery America's Presidents exhibition. The portrait portrays Obama sitting on a wooden chair that holds an almost floating effect with a green leaved foliage background that consists of chrysanthemum, jasmine, and African blue lilies. Obama can be seen wearing a dark blue suit and a white collared shirt. His arms are crossed with his elbows resting on his knee and his wedding ring facing the viewer's eye. It's a beautifully done portrait that I'm sure Kehinde Wiley had the great honor of doing. This painting I would say is the most memorable, but he does have many other works such as Napoleon Leading the Army Over the Alps, Randerson Romualdo Cordeiro, Judith Beheading Holofernes, and many others. This is a link to more of his artwork as well as more on his life. https://www.theartstory.org/artist/wiley-kehinde/