A Chorus Sings: Soulful Melodies and the Legacy of Realness
<p>This reflection brings to mind Gwendolyn Brooks’ poignant poem, “<a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43324/the-life-of-lincoln-west" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">The Life of Lincoln West</a>.” Within its verses, we encounter a young Black boy who, bearing the weight of a world that found him “the Ugliest little boy/that everyone ever saw,” is bestowed an odd recognition. A white observer gazes upon him, proclaiming him to be the “real thing.” The boy’s features, akin to the exaggerated caricatures etched in minstrelsy, serve as a harsh reminder of those “pendulous lips, those branching ears, the wildness in his eyes, and that skin, a vague unvibrant brown, along with that great head,” a presence that seems to carry the enormity of a world within.</p>
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