Taking the prize.

JERICHOBROWN

MICHAELRJACKSON


Two queer, black men just won the Pulitzer. Jericho Brown and Michael R. Jackson won in the poetry and drama categories. This whole thing called my attention because it was only last year that I heard of Jericho Brown from Bill, a colleague. Bill, BTW is so fantastic that he deserves his own post, but suffice it to say that he is a late-bloomer boomer who came out just recently and who has the most incredible approach to teaching you can imagine. He reads voraciously and is a theater buff. So anything he recommends I trust. And he recommended Jericho's writing to me.

So when Bill mentioned Jericho Brown, I paid attention. Not only because Jericho is quite the dish (did you see that picture?) but because Bill knows his shit. Never mind that I sometimes don't get poetry the way I should (after all, I did get an educumation, hunty) my ears perked up when Bill sang his praise of Jericho. I looked Jericho up and yep, totally hooked. Nothing like hearing poetry read by somebody who knows how to do it to get you into it. Haunting and beautiful, his words recall images yo did not know were there. Highly recommended.

I had no idea who Michael R. Jackson was, though. Apparently, he wrote a very meta play: a play about a a young, gay, Black musical theater writer writing a musical about a young, gay, Black musical theater writer. A strange loop, indeed. But the reviews are fantastic. And now I really, really want to go see the play. Pity that it'll have to wait until things go back to 'normal' before I can do that. But it's going to be in my schedule. That I promise.

So I encourage you to buy Jericho Brown's book and go see (when possible) Michael R. Jackson's play. Because today, more than ever, we have to celebrate what we have. We may not have it tomorrow.

XOXO





P.S.

These prizes came at a very strange time, because in America, it is still dangerous to be a black man. Just last week the two men who killed Ahmaud Arbery were arrested. But only after a video of two men basically lynching Arbery leaked online. Only after irrefutable proof of the racism that underlies American life was made evident, two killers were brought to justice. And there's still no certainty that they will be charged with murder. Oh, and don't forget Sean Reed, a 21 year old veteran who was killed in Indianapolis while driving recklessly and not stopping. This time the outcry also came because the man just happened to livestream his death on Facebook. In 2020 America, there's outcry when a black man is assassinated only if there's video proof. Don't tell me these Pulitzer prizes are not significant.