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African American poets have long understood that language can be used to instigate chaos, but also to make sense out of nonsense, order out of disorder. Today, this understanding has unassailable currency. In a moment of history marred by the prevalent use of “post-truth” and “alternative facts” — language that constantly puts truth on trial, favoring feeling over fact, emotions over ethics — Black poets still lead the way, taking advantage of the powerful role words play when poetry performs as an act of civil rights. Freedom House, an advocacy group for...
