Poetry Break: African American poetry

Smith, C. R. (2008). “Allow me to introduce myself,” from Hip Hop Speaks to Children: A celebration of poetry with a beat, Nikki Giovanni, ed. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks.

Introduction
Imagine yourself on a blacktop basketball court, sun blazing, athletes strutting. The author of this poem, Charles Smith, Jr., is beating out the rhyme. Listen for the heavy
rhythm and take him up on a pick up game.


Allow Me to Introduce Myself

They call me
the show stopper
the dime dropper
the spin-move-to-the-left
reverse jam poppa.
The high flier
on the high wire.
The intense rim-rattlin’
noise
amplifier.

The net-shaker
back board break
creator
of the funk dunk
hip-shaker
The Man
Sir Slam
The Legend
I be.

That’s just
a few of the names
they call me.
-Charles Smith, Jr.


Extension
Read the poem aloud to the group again, but this time have a student dribble a basketball in a steady way. Watch how the beats line up. Read the poem again and experiment with using the ball bounce sounds in the loud and silent parts of the poem. If working with a younger group, have them clap or tap out the beat on the table. Near the end, play the audio CD that accompanies the book and listen to the author saying his own poem.


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