The Undefeated

The Undefeated

Juvenile poetry
"This is for the unforgettable.
The swift and sweet ones
who hurdled history
and opened a world
of possible.
The ones who ones who survived
America
by any means necessary.
And the ones who didn't."
2008 was a special year for Kwame Alexander. His second
daughter was born and the first Black United States president was
elected. As a tribute to both he wrote a very special poem. He wrote
it so his child would have a rich historical record of where she came
from including lesser known episodes.
In The Undefeated this powerful poem is paired up with Kadir
Nelson's eloquent paintings. A section at the back of the book gives
more information on the people and events of each two page spread.
For example,
*under the words
"who shine
their light for the world to see
and don't stop
'til the break of dawn."
You see portraits of artists and writers with biographies of Romare
Bearden, Zora Neale Hurston, Jacob Lawrence, Henry Ossawa Tanner,
Augusta Savage, Phillis Wheatly, Langston Hughes, and Aaron Douglas.
*This is for the unafraid.
The audacious ones
who carried the red, white, and Weary Blues
on the battlefield
to save an imperfect Union"
is coupled with a painting of a Black soldier carrying the flag. A
paragraph in the back gives information on the role of Black soldiers
in winning the Civil War.
*There are three two page spreads cationed, "This is the unspeakable."
The first shows how Blacks were crammed together on slave ships. The
second shows broken glass over pictures of the four girls killed in
the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. The third shows pictures
of Sandra Bland, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, and Trayvon Martin
scattered among a memorial of flowers, candles, flags, and writings.
History, however, wasn't the only thing on Alexander's mind.
"But mostly I wrote a poem to remind Samayah (his daughter) and
her friends and her family and all of you, and to remind myself, to
never, ever give up, because, as Maya Angelou wrote, 'We may encounter
many defeats, but we must not be defeated...'"
I bet that's the reason the last two page spread shows beautiful
Black children.
On a purrrsonal note, the first week of spring semester was fun,
except for Big Bertha (the dishwasher) being broken at work much of
the week. Tobago is thriving, being such a sweet little girl. The
high point of my week was the birthday party Amber and Brian threw for
Eugene and Adam this evening. It was wonderful having the family
together.
Great big shouts out go out to my precious family including sweet
little Tobago.
jules hathaway



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