Last month I explored the religious history of the Horn of Africa. Next I will explore one of the religious traditions from the Caribbean, the Rastafari.
dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
The Rastafari religion is a monotheistic, Abrahamic, religion that arose in a mostly Christian culture in Jamaica in the 1930s. Its adherents, who worship Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, former Emperor of Ethiopia (1930–1936 and 1941–1974), as the Second Advent, are known as Rastafarians, or Rastas. The movement is sometimes referred to as "Rastafarianism", but this term is considered derogatory and offensive by many Rastas, who dislike being labeled as an "ism". Rastas are taught to reject all "ism" and "scisms"
The key text of the Rastafari are the following:
[] Bible
[] Kebra Nagast
[] The Promise Key
[] My life and Ethipiopia's Progress
[] The Royal Parchment Scroll of Black Supremacy (Has been declared "non-canonical" although it played an important roll in the history of Rastafari)
Rastafari is not a highly organized religion, as it is many ways more a movement or ideology. Many Rastas say that it is not a "religion" at all, but a "Way of Life". There is a rather large divide amongst Rastas. Many Rastas do not claim any sect or denomination, and thus encourage one another to find faith and inspiration within themselves. Other Rastas identify strongly with one of the "mansions of Rastafari" — the three most prominent of these being the Nyahbinghi, the Bobo Ashanti and the Twelve Tribes of Israel. By the way most of my family who are Rastas are non-aligned or Bobo Ashantis. Bob Marley was a member of the 12 Tribes.
The MANSIONS OF THE RASTAFARI
[] The Nyahbinghi Order officially known as Haile Selassie I Theocratical Order of the Nyahbinghi Reign is named for Queen Nyahbinghi of Uganda, who fought against colonialists in the 19th century. The Nyahbinghi Order holds steadfast to ancient biblical values. They consume nothing that harms their body (salt, alcohol, caffeine, etc) because the body is the temple and the temple the church. The Nyahbinghi Order is a non-violent order that calls upon God's power to execute judgement upon all black and white "downpressors" (oppressors). This is the oldest of the orders and it focuses mainly on Haile Selassie, Ethiopia, and the eventual return to Africa. It is overseen by an Assembly of Elders.
Nyahbinghi
[] Bobo Ashanti was founded by Prince Emanuel Charles Edwards in Jamaica in the 1950s. "Bobo" means black and "Shanti" refers to the Ashanti tribe in Ghana, from which this sect believes Jamaican slaves are descended. Many Jamaican patois words like "nam" meaning "to eat" are Ashanti words. Members of the Bobo Shanti are also known as Bobo Dreads.
In belief, Bobo Dreads are distinguished by their worship of Prince Emmanuel (in addition to Haile Selassie) as a reincarnation of Christ and embodiment of Jah; their emphasis on the return to Africa "repatriation" and their demands for monetary reimbursement for slavery.
Members of the Bobo Ashanti order wear long robes and tightly wrapped turbans around their dreads. They adhere closely to the Jewish Law, including the observance of the Sabbath from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday and hygiene laws for menstruating women. They live separately from Jamaican society and other Rastafarians, growing their own produce and selling straw hats and brooms. They often carry brooms with them to symbolize their cleanliness. More Reggae singers come this tradition than any other.
Bobo Ashanti
The Twelve Tribes of Israel sect was founded in 1968 by Dr. Vernon "Prophet Gad" Carrington. It is the most liberal of the Rastafarian orders and members are free to worship in a church of their choosing. Each member of this sect belongs to one of the 12 Tribes (or Houses), which is determined by birth month and is represented by a color. The Standard Israelite calendar begins in April. Bob Marley was from the tribe of Joseph, and Haile Selassie from the tribe of Judah.
Rastafari encompasses themes such as the rejection of western society (called Babylon, in reference more to the metaphoric Babylon of Christianity than to the historical city). Rastafari proclaim Africa (also "Zion") as the original birthplace of mankind, encourages the spiritual use of cannabis and embraces various Afrocentric social and political aspirations such as the sociopolitical views and teachings of Jamaican publicist, organizer, and black nationalist Marcus Garvey (also often regarded as a prophet). There are estimated to be well over two million Rastafari faithful worldwide. About five to ten percent of Jamaicans identify themselves as Rastafari.
Twelve Tribes man and lady
FROM WIKIPEDIA
World-views and doctrines
GOD
Rastafari are monotheists, worshipping a singular God whom they call Jah. Rastas see Jah as being in the form of the Holy Trinity, that is, God being the God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Rastas say that Jah, in the form of the Holy Spirit (incarnate), lives within the human, and for this reason they often refer to themselves as "I and I". Furthermore, "I and I" is used instead of "We", and is used in this way to emphasise the equality between all people, in the recognition that the Holy Spirit within us all makes us essentially one and the same.
Some Rastas accept the Christian doctrine that God incarnated onto the Earth in the form of Jesus Christ, to give his teachings to humanity. However, they often feel his teachings were corrupted by Babylon. Many Rastas, in accordance with their assertion that "word, sound is power", also object specifically to the English pronunciation of his name as impure, preferring instead to use the forms in Hebrew (Yeshu) or Amharic ('Iyesus).
The Holy Trinity
Rasta doctrines concerning the Holy Trinity include stressing the significance of the name "Haile Selassie", meaning "Power of the Trinity" or "Might of the Trinity" in Ge'ez — the name given to Ras Tafari upon his baptism, and later assumed as part of his regal name at his November 2, 1930 coronation by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
Acceptance of the God-incarnate status of Jesus is central in Rastafari doctrine, as is the notion of the corruption of his teachings by secular, Western society, figuratively referred to as Babylon. For this reason, they believe, it was prophesied in the Book of Revelation – "And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel." – that Jesus would return with a new name that would be inscribed on the foreheads of 144,000 of his most devoted servants. Rastas hold that this was fulfilled when Haile Selassie was crowned King of Kings on 2 November 1930, whom they see as the second coming of Jesus or the coming of the holy spirit, and therefore Jah, onto the Earth.
Rastas say that Jesus was black, and that Western Society (or Babylon) has commonly depicted him as white for centuries in order to suppress the truth and gain dominion over all peoples.
Haile Selassie
Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, considered by Rastas to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ.
Haile Selassie I (1892–1975) was the Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. Rastas claim that he is the root of Jesus (Yahshua) Christ and therefore an incarnation of Jah (Jehovah) onto the Earth. They also claim that he will lead the righteous into creating a perfect world, called "Zion." Zion would be the ultimate paradise for Rastas. The future capital city of Zion is sometimes put forward as the New Jerusalem (Lalibela, Ethiopia), the very Habitation of the Godhead (Trinity) creator, Rastafari. Prophetic verses of the Hebrew Bible such as Zephaniah 3:10 "From beyond the rivers of Cush my worshipers, my scattered people, will bring me offerings" have been interpreted as subtly hinting that the messianic king will be in Ethiopia, and the people will come from the rest of the world "beyond" its rivers.
Rastas say that Haile Selassie's coming was prophesied from Genesis to the Book of Revelation. Genesis, Chapter 1: "God made man in His own image." Psalm 2: "Yet I set my Holy king/ On My Holy hill of Zion", which is identified by them as Jesus Christ. Psalm 87:4-6 is also interpreted as predicting the coronation of Haile Selassie I. During his coronation, Selassie was given many of the same titles used in the Bible: "King of Kings," "Elect of God," and "Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah the Author of Mankind" are just some of more than 38 titles and anointments. This is one of the primary reasons he is held to be God incarnate. Rastas also refer to Selassie as "His Imperial Majesty" (or the acronym thereof, HIM) and "Jah Rastafari".
According to tradition, Haile Selassie was the 225th in an unbroken line of Ethiopian monarchs of the Solomonic Dynasty. This dynasty is said to have been founded in the 10th century BC by Menelik I, the son of the Biblical King Solomon and Makeda, the Queen of Sheba, who had visited Solomon in Israel. 1 Kings 10:13 claims "And King Solomon gave unto the Queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants." On the basis of the Ethiopian national epic, the Kebra Negast, Rastas interpret this verse as meaning she conceived his child, and from this, conclude that African people are among the true children of Israel, or Jews. Beta Israel black Jews have lived in Ethiopia for centuries, disconnected from the rest of Judaism; their existence has given some impetus to Rastafari, as they feel it validates their assertion that Ethiopia is Zion.
Regarding the death of Haile Selassie I, Rastafari do not accept that God could die and thus insist that Selassie's 1975 reported death was a hoax. It is claimed that he entered the monastery and will return to liberate his followers and vanquish all evil, restoring his creation. A few Rastas today consider this a partial fulfillment of prophecy found in the apocalyptic 2 Esdras 7:28.
For Rastafari, Haile Selassie remains their God and their King. They see Selassie as being worthy of worship, and as having stood with great dignity in front of the world's press and in front of representatives of many of the world's powerful nations, especially during his appeal to the League of Nations in 1936, when he was still the only independent black monarch in Africa. From the beginning the Rastas decided that their personal loyalty lay with Africa's only black monarch, Selassie, and that they themselves were in effect as free citizens of Ethiopia, loyal to its Emperor and devoted to its flag.
Zion vs. Babylon
Rastas assert that Zion (i.e., Africa, especially Ethiopia) is a land that Jah promised to them. To achieve this, they reject modern western society, calling it "Babylon", which they see as entirely corrupt. "Babylon" is considered to have been in rebellion against "Earth's Rightful Ruler" (Jah) ever since the days of the Biblical king Nimrod.
Some Rastas claim themselves to represent the real Children of Israel or children of god, (this may stem from the belief by some scholars that Ethiopia was populated at some stage by one of the "lost" tribes of Israel; modern credence is given to this view with the acknowledgement of the Beta Israel by the Israeli government). Another historical viewpoint which seeks to validate this link between Ethiopia, Israel and the Rastafari belief system can be found under the Lion of Judah and their goal is to repatriate to Africa, or to Zion. (Rasta reggae is peppered with references to Zion; among the best-known examples are the Bob Marley songs '"Zion Train" and "Iron Lion Zion".)
Paradise
Many Rastafari are physical immortalists who maintain that the chosen few will continue to live forever in their current bodies. This is commonly called "Life Everliving". Everliving in Iyaric replaces the term "everlasting" to avoid the "negative wordsound" of last implying an end. Rastas say their life will never have an end, but will be everliving, with Jah as king and Amharic the official language.
Afrocentrism and Black Pride
Afrocentrism is another central facet of the Rastafari culture. They teach that Africa, in particular Ethiopia, is where Zion, or paradise, shall be created. As such, Rastafari orients itself around African culture.
Rastafari holds that evil society, or "Babylon", has always been white-dominated, and has committed acts of aggression against the African people such as the Atlantic slave trade. Despite this Afrocentrism and focus on people of the black race, members of other races, including whites, are found and accepted by Blacks among the movement, for they believe Rasta is for all people.
Rastafari developed among poor Jamaicans of African descent who felt they were oppressed and that society was apathetic to their problems. Marcus Garvey, who is viewed as a prophet of Jah, was a keen proponent of the "back to Africa" movement, advocating that all people of the black race should return to their ancestral homeland of Africa.
Many early Rastas for a time believed in black supremacy. Widespread advocacy of this belief was short-lived, at least partly because of Haile Selassie's explicit condemnation of racism in an October 1963 speech before the United Nations. Most Rastas now espouse the doctrine that racial animosities must be set aside, with world peace and harmony being common themes. One of the three major modern houses of Rastafari—the Twelve Tribes of Israel—has specifically condemned all types of racism, and declared that the teachings of the Bible are the route to spiritual liberation for people of any racial or ethnic background. During his famous UN address (which provided the lyrics for the Carlton Barrett and Bob Marley song "War"), Haile Selassie made the following statement:
"Last May, in Addis Ababa, I convened a meeting of Heads of African States and Governments. In three days, the thirty-two nations represented at that Conference demonstrated to the world that when the will and the determination exist, nations and peoples of diverse backgrounds can and will work together. In unity, to the achievement of common goals and the assurance of that equality and brotherhood which we desire.On the question of racial discrimination, the Addis Ababa Conference taught, to those who will learn, this further lesson: That until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned; That until there are no longer first-class and second-class citizens of any nation; That until the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes; That until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race; That until that day, the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion, to be pursued but never attained; And until the ignoble and unhappy regimes that hold our brothers in Angola, in Mozambique and in South Africa in subhuman bondage have been toppled and destroyed; Until bigotry and prejudice and malicious and inhuman self-interest have been replaced by understanding and tolerance and good-will; Until all Africans stand and speak as free beings, equal in the eyes of all men, as they are in the eyes of Heaven; Until that day, the African continent will not know peace. We Africans will fight, if necessary, and we know that we shall win, as we are confident in the victory of good over evil."
Emperor Haile Selassie concluded this speech with the words:
"We must become members of a new race, overcoming petty prejudice, owing our ultimate allegiance not to nations but to our fellow men within the human community."
to be continued.....
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Todays News by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
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BBC: South Africans have marked the 50th anniversary of the Sharpeville Massacre, a turning point in the nation's liberation struggle.
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The Sharpeville Massacre is remembered as one of the bloodiest moments of the liberation struggle, the BBC's Karen Allen reports from Johannesburg.
Our lives started changing with Nelson Mandela's release, but people are still financially struggling and finance is still in white people's hands
Abram Mofokeng, Sharpeville resident
Fifty years ago, South African police opened fire on demonstrators in Sharpeville township, 50km (30 miles) south of Johannesburg.
Sixty-nine people died and at least 180 were injured - many shot in the back as they were trying to flee the scene.
They had gathered outside the police station to protest against pass laws, which required all blacks to carry identity documents - known as pass books - at all times.
No police were ever convicted over the killings.
The Sharpeville massacre led to the banning of the African National Congress (ANC) and its rival liberation movement, the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), and signalled the start of the underground armed resistance in South Africa.
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BBC: Haiti 'orphans' returned to parents.
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Aid workers in Haiti have sent home all but one of the 33 children that US missionaries tried to take out of the country after the January earthquake.
They said all the children had parents to return to. Each family was given food, blankets and $260 (£170) as they came to collect their children.
Some of the parents said they had handed them over because they thought they would get better care in US hands.
One of the missionaries remains in jail while the other nine were freed.
One child is still waiting at the SOS Orphanage on Port-au-Prince's outskirts for further verification of her parents' identities.
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An ex-pat connects with an African-American community in the City of Lights. The Root: Paris Noir.
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he first time I wrote an essay about relocating from Harlem to Paris, I'd been living in France for all of 10 months. My newbie reflections concerning the City of Lights were based on less than a year's life experience in my adopted city. May 2010 will mark six years since I uprooted my hip-hop-media-centric lifestyle in New York City to the French capital and welcomed the wholly different trappings of fatherhood and marriage. Time tells the tale: My familiarity with African-American expatriates and French racial politics has grown far more nuanced as the '10s begin.
For a cosmopolitan city that tried to strike a post-racial stance before the term even existed, Paris still has plenty of black touchstones. My transcontinental trail was already famously blazed in the 1950s by some of my old literary idols, Richard Wright, James Baldwin and Chester Himes among them. Négritude, the 1930s literary arts movement, took its cue from the Harlem Renaissance, and the presence of black Americans in Montmartre, the so-called "Harlem of Paris." Nina Simone, Langston Hughes and Melvin Van Peebles also spent significant amounts of time soaking up la vie Parisienne in decades gone by. What I moved here wanting to know was, how does the modern-day hip-hop aesthetic influence the black French identity?
Local rap music couldn't teach me anything until I learned the language (a two-year process, eventually). Beyond appreciating their beats and lyrical flows, MCs like Abd al Malik, Sefyu and Diam's were indecipherable to me for a long time. Before measuring hip-hop's impact on France, I needed help getting the lay of the land. Chance encounters with several African Americans in Paris soon proved the vibrancy of the black ex-pat experience going into the 21st century. MC Mike Ladd, author Jake Lamar and soirée hostess Patricia Laplante-Collins gave me plenty of insight to satisfy my vision quest.
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Few groups in the world are as despicable as the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) AFP: At least 11 civilians and eight troops have died in attacks by Ugandan LRA rebels in the northeast of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
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The attacks by the Lord's Resistance Army rebels took place between March 11 and 14 in Bangadi, Duru and Dungu in Orientale province about 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of the border with the Central African Republic.
Aruna Sambia, chairman of a civil group in Dungu, told AFP that the dead included three members of one family.
Led by Joseph Kony, wanted along with two other leaders by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, the LRA took up arms in 1988 in northern Uganda and has acquired a reputation for brutality.
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Blacks and Hispanics can find common ground by fighting worker exploitation. The Root: Avoiding the Black-Brown Conflict on Immigration.
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The zero-sum argument that pits black Americans against undocumented workers is a false premise.
At the heart of this specious challenge to fairness for all U.S. workers is the idea that blacks resent undocumented Latino immigrants for taking away jobs that would rightfully belong to them. Restrictionist opponents to immigration reform seize on this line of attack and exploit it to drive a wedge between the two racial and ethnic communities.
It's not working.
Don't take our word for it. Ask Jose Luis Marantes, an immigrant-rights activist in Washington, D.C., who has found some of his most ardent supporters from within the ranks of some of the nation's most frightened future workers: students on black college campuses.
Marantes, a youth organizer for the Center for Community Change, said that a recent encounter on the Howard University campus convincingly demonstrated to him the divide-and-conquer strategy's failure. He was attending an Africana studies class to discuss impending legislation to change the nation's immigration policies. "One student stood up in the class and challenged me [on immigration reform]," he said. "This student said he was from Los Angeles and that where he came from Mexicans were the enemy because they took work from black people. 'So why should I listen to anything you have to say?' "
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Chicago Sun Times: Smiley brings 'black agenda' discussion here Conference taking place amid his disputes with rights leaders.
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Talk-show host Tavis Smiley should feel right at home in Chicago. The self-proclaimed black leader, author, marketing guru and celebrity interviewer was to convene a town hall meeting at Chicago State University on Saturday.
Dozens of acclaimed black academics and civil rights leaders were expected to show up to hash out whether there is a need for a "black agenda."
Given that the president is from Chicago, and Chicagoans love a star-studded political powwow, Smiley should have had no trouble filling every seat in the underused Emil and Patricia A. Jones Convocation Center.
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Race Talk: Educational opportunity at the crossroads: New York State vs College Students of Color.
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The days of openly supporting the educational ambitions of students of color are gone. More and more institutions of higher education continue to feel the threat of lawsuits and speculations of color consciousness if they uphold programs that specifically reach out to students of color. Prior to the 1960’s these programs, scholarships, and opportunities were once local mechanisms used by institutions to educate students of color, particularly Black students. Intervention from federal and state government on these issues was spearheaded by the Lyndon B. Johnson administration.
The administration’s "War on Poverty" agenda focused on two main issues in education: academic and economic disadvantage. Although racial "disadvantage" in education was not included as a tenet, many of the students who happen to participate in opportunity programs in New York tend to be Black or Hispanic. What are opportunity programs? Why are they important today? In this article I will provide an overview of these programs and lay out the importance of their continued funding – and a call for greater advocacy for college students of color in other states.
Outreach programs, or opportunity programs, are designed to assist students from low income and first-generation college backgrounds to succeed in higher education. Some of these outreach programs once served as a bridge for students of color, specifically African American students to higher education.
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New York Times: Malcolm X's Killer Will Be Released From Prison.
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Thomas Hagan has been held since moments after shots rang out in the Audubon Ballroom in 1965. He has been on work release for more than two decades, but he still spends two days a week locked up at the Lincoln Correctional Facility on West 110th Street in Manhattan.
On March 3, however, on his 17th try, Mr. Hagan was granted parole, the State Division of Parole said. His final release date is tentatively scheduled for April 28.
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A Documentary Explores "The Untaught Story" Of Latin America’s African Roots. Ebony Jet: AFROLATINOS
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We often regard the Latino community as one being divided by nationality, but racial politics within the community can divide as well.
While many Latin communities have embraced the Afro-roots of specific cultural forms such as art, music, dance and food, few have openly connected that heritage to its deeper history. Likewise, Black citizens within many Latin communities feel a similar disconnection.
Enter Renzo Devia, an award-winning U.S.-born television producer and director of Colombian heritage, whose documentary, AFROLATINOS, seeks to bring focus to the complex and varied experiences of Black communities throughout South and Central America.
English Trailer for AfroLatinos The Documentary
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Voices and Soul
by Justice Putnam Black Kos, Tuesday's Chile Poetry Contributor
If poets and writers are lucky enough to get a note in the many rejections of their work, they are advised both to "write what they know" and also avoid writing from too much personal experience. It would seem one would cancel the other. Sharon Olds takes these suggestions and turns them into an exercise of literary rebellion. She embraces the personal and in so doing, gives voice to history, family and community. Her argument of the personal arises when the manuscript is returned and "red-penned" to...
Take the I Out
But I love the I, steel I-beam
that my father sold. They poured the pig iron
into the mold, and it fed out slowly,
a bending jelly in the bath, and it hardened,
Bessemer, blister, crucible, alloy, and he
marketed it, and bought bourbon, and Cream
of Wheat, its curl of butter right
in the middle of its forehead, he paid for our dresses
with his metal sweat, sweet in the morning
and sour in the evening. I love the I,
frail between its flitches, its hard ground
and hard sky, it soars between them
like the soul that rushes, back and forth,
between the mother and father. What if they had loved each other,
how would it have felt to be the strut
joining the floor and roof of the truss?
I have seen, on his shirt-cardboard, years
in her desk, the night they made me, the penciled
slope of her temperature rising, and on
the peak of the hill, first soldier to reach
the crest, the Roman numeral I--
I, I, I, I,
girders of identity, head on,
embedded in the poem. I love the I
for its premise of existence--our I--when I was
born, part gelid, I lay with you
on the cooling table, we were all there, a
forest of felled iron. The I is a pine,
resinous, flammable root to crown,
which throws its cones as far as it can in a fire.
-- Sharon Olds
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Former U.S. Poet Laureate & Pulitzer Prize winner Rita Dove reads her prose poem "Prose in a Small Space" at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio.
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The Front Porch is now open!