And We Rise : The Civil Rights Movement in Poems

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And We Rise : The Civil Rights Movement in Poems by Erica Martin

Eileen Torres, Carrie Wurster, Izzy Tello, Brandon Guss, Esme Vazquez

Review:



“And We Wise: The Civil Rights Movement in Poems” by Erica Martin is a masterpiece. Martin utilizes the entire book to spread a message about the harsh realities of the civil rights movement. Each poem is a piece of art, not only does Martin use bold, italics, and different fonts to show the importance of the words she is writing but she also utilizes shape poems to create more of an impact. Shape poetry in itself helps the audience better understand the message behind the poem itself. Martin utilizes shape poetry when talking about Malcom X and create a giant X in one of the poems which makes the reader think about the meaning and impact of this specific poem.  Each of the poem tells their own story and the author does a good job at sectioning off poems to flow into one another. The repetition of some of the poems provides such an impact for the readers; the words create a sound of clanging or yelling when being repeated. I believe that poems create a rhythm or sound when being read outloud , the repetition and bolded words create a sharp turn from the rest of the poem to draw focus to those specific words or phrases. Erica Martin understands the impact of poetry especially on such an important topic of history that to this day has an impact on society. Many other authors have tried to capture the raw emotion of the Civil Rights Movement however Erica Martin does so with so few words. She does not need to spread her ideas into multiple sentences or paragraphs but rather a few short words and sentences provide the raw emotion and importance of this event. In the world of poetry there are many different ways you can represent your poems to make an impact. However,

Erica Martin demonstrates an entire new way of poetry. From the very first page she draws the reader in and helps them to understand exactly what the entire novel will be representing. Those who didn’t have a voice during the time period now have one through Martin. The author provides a timeline for the reader; we follow the speaker from May 17th, 1954 to 1986. This gives the reader a clear sense of what is happening each year and how much things have changed or in this case gotten worse. When reading each of the poems the reader feels as if they are right there in the moment watching and understanding exactly how they felt during the civil rights movement. I believe that out of every retelling of these events; Martin provides the best context, timelines, and even impact. As the reader, I believe that Martin really digs deep to help the reader better understand the raw emotions that people were feeling fighting for their right to be equal. The Civil Rights Movement created such an impact on history and on society and each retelling uncovers a small piece of something we may not have understood.  

Biography:



Erica Martin is a Freelance editor ,poet and a young adult author who specializes in copyediting
and developmental editing. She is currently living in Tenesse with her family however she waa born and raised in Memphis,Tenesse. The exact location where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. This played a crucial part on why she wrote this young adult non-fiction bok. Martin collected recollections from people who lived through that era and included them in her novel. Martin is a mother of one son and in her free time enjoys editing,taking photos and baking Pies.YA poetry novel And We Rise is a part of her deput poetry collection which walks readers through the details of the Civil Rights Movement,realeased in Febuary 2022. It was an ABA Indies Introduce selection, as well as an ABA Indie Next pick.Martin has also been featured by Oprah Daily. Before publishing this novel,Martin was writing poems about the Jim Crow era and then on what she explains was a whim and last moment decision decided to publish these poems.Martin has always loved writing and strives to show the importance of educating others about civil rights events, as most people when asked had no clue what she was referencing. Martin is a strong advocate and voices her political standpoints on social media and her blog frequently to shed ligh on these topics. According to Martin some information has been omitted from history books for years and something needed to be written to fill in those blanks.



Instructional Resources: 

This short video on Youtube is a brief explanation of the book and the showing the author's intentions that they were trying to convey while writing the novel. A couple of slides show the overall message that the book covers and the whole message that is being addressed.


This Youtube video covers many civil rights movement explanations and what was happening during this time. This touches core values of the issues that would arise from this time in society. It covers issues that will be shown in the book. This brief video helps getting a better understanding of the hardships that took place back then.


This is a website filled with a vast amount of question asking Erica martin about the book she wrote. The author of And We Rise answers a good amount of questions about the civil rights movement and some questions pertaining inspiration of writing her novel.


This link gives a brief explanation of the author and the book's overall purpose and message that is pertaining. It also shows the list of awards that this book achieved in the year. It also addresses some reviews from the average person just reading the book. 


This link is explaining what the Black Lives Matter Movement was all about, and goes into a deeper understanding of the movement itself. Also taking it into a different perspective through Angela Davis, who is known to be a highly regarded woman of the Civil Rights Movement.


This link is one of the more understanding of the author and understanding the overall purpose she meant this book to have. It dives deeper into the parts she wanted to partake in her book and parts that she wanted to send a message about. This website bring the audience to a better understanding of what the overall message is and more about the author that wrote this book. 


This link is different from the top ones. It is the author Erica Martin stating on a live stream her favorite poems and reading them out loud on a recording through facebook. This is a good part to add based on the novel being completely made of poems. 


This is the link to help whoever is interested in reading this book. They offer a couple of options on the website! Including access to kindles. The range price point of this book is around Ten US Dollars, but can be averaging around eight US Dollars.

Instructional Activity:

Preview:


Worksheet:

And We Rise by Erica Martin


Name:

Poem Title:

Page Number(s):


  1. Identify and define 3-5 poetic devices found in the poem.







  2. Does your poem discuss a specific historical event or figure? If so, research and provide a brief explanation of the event(s) and their impact on the Civil Rights Movement (e.g. integration of schools, Rosa Parks, etc.)








  3. How does the author’s structuring techniques, word choice, and use of poetic devices contribute to the impact of the poem?









  4. Connect the topic of the poem to a current social issue (within the last five years) and explain how they relate to one another.


California Common Core Standards: 


Objective: Students will analyze the historical context of the book in order to better understand the impact of the Civil Rights Movement as well as discuss how the poetic themes and techniques can be used as a powerful and effective tool for exploring history and social issues.


Common Core:


CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.2:  Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.5: Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise. 

Instructional Plan:

Begin by asking students what they already know about the Civil Rights movement and how its impacts can still be seen today.

Introduce poetry as a storytelling format; include descriptions of various poetic devices and techniques (e.g., metaphors, similes, imagery).

Introduce the book And We Rise by Erica Martin as a collection of poems that explore the issues of racism, inequality, and resilience during the Civil Rights Era.

Assign selected poems that showcase different themes and poetic techniques to each student.

Have students analyze their assigned poems individually to identify poetic devices.

Divide students into small groups to select one of their assigned poems to collaboratively discuss the poem’s themes, poetic devices, and connections they can draw to current or historical social issues.

Have groups present their analyses to the class.

Engage with a class discussion to compare and contrast the presented poems from the collection. Encourage them to explore the author’s use of formatting techniques to contribute to the impact of the poems.

As an in-class activity or homework assignment, ask students to write their own poem inspired by the style of themes of And We Rise with emphasis on incorporating similar poetic devices.


Bibliography: 

“And We Rise by Erica Martin.” YouTube, 23 Jan. 2023, youtu.be/N0klX5AOc9E. 

California Department of Education. “California Common Core State Standards - California Department of Education.” Https://Www.Cde.ca.Gov, www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/finalelaccssstandards.pdf. 

“The Civil Rights Movement.” YouTube, 14 Feb. 2020, youtu.be/9ppTiyxFSs0. 

“Debut You: A 2022 Debut Author Series: Erica Martin: And We Rise.” Black Children’s Books and Authors, 18 Jan. 2022, bcbooksandauthors.com/debut-you-a-2022-debut-author-series-erica-martin-and-we-rise/. 

“In Honor of Poetry Month, We’ve Asked Poets to Share Their Favorite Poems. Here We Have Erica Martin Reading a Poem in Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: By Oprah Daily.” Facebook, 29 Apr. 2022, www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1033620447549796. 

“An Indies Introduce Q&A with Erica Martin.” The American Booksellers Association, 19 Jan. 2022, www.bookweb.org/news/indies-introduce-qa-erica-martin-1627344. 

Martin , Erica. “And We Rise .” Goodreads, www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/56970312. 

Martin, Erica. “And We Rise.” Erica Martin, 25 Nov. 2022, ericamartinthewriterdotcom.wordpress.com/books/and-we-rise/. 

Shmoop Editorial Team. “Common Core Standards : CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.5.” Shmoop, 11 Nov. 2008, www.shmoop.com/common-core-standards/ccss-ela-literacy-rl-9-10-5.html#. 

Simmons, Florence. “Debut Star Author Erica Martin on Poems of Injustice.” School Library Journal, www.slj.com/story/debut-star-author-erica-martin-on-poems-of-injustice. 

Srikanth, Anagha. “What Angela Davis Has to Say about Today’s Black Lives Matter Movement.” The Hill, 21 Oct. 2020, thehill.com/changing-america/enrichment/arts-culture/521928-what-angela-davis-has-to-s%20ay-about-todays-black/. 

Twitter, twitter.com/EricaEditor. 


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