18 pages • 36 minutes read
Danez Smithalternate names for black boys
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 2014A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
“Dinosaurs in the Hood” by Danez Smith (2014)
This poem, published in the December 2014 issue of Poetry Magazine, showcases Smith’s slam poetry roots. It is an impassioned monologue imagining a brand-new Jurassic Park movie by, starring, and for Black people. Smith liberally indulges in humor and pop culture references (for example: “This is not a vehicle for Will Smith / & Sophia Vergara” [Lines 19-20]). Smith grounds the humor in relevant social commentary, repeating the poignant line “& no one kills the black boy” (Lines 32-33) through the last full stanza. A video of Smith performing this poem at the Soap Boxing Poetry Slam in Saint Paul, Minnesota, is available on YouTube (“Danez Smith – Dinosaurs in the Hood.” Button Poetry, 2014).
“Super Sad Black Girl” by Diamond Sharp (2021)
This more recent poem is also an image-heavy list poem and concerns the lived Black experience. This poem rounds out “alternate names for black boys” with a look at Black womanhood in the current moment. Published in Poetry Magazine’s December 2021 issue, Sharp’s poem balances joy, pain, and resilience: “Abandon my mind. / Cry in public. / Want my ugly” (Lines 16-18).
“RIOT” by Gwendolyn Brooks (1994)
The epic poem in three parts begins with the oft-recited Martin Luther King Jr. quote for an epigraph: “a riot is the language of the unheard.” In the first part of this poem, a white man looks on with horror and disgust as a crowd of Black protesters approach and destroy his car. The second and third parts see a world burned down and rebuilt in the image of Black philosophy and culture while naysayers linger at the edges, always looking to intrude. The poem shares Smith’s commitment to witnessing unrest, although Brooks elects to end with a vision of a utopic future: “Lies are told and legends made. / The phoenix rises unafraid” (Lines 126-127).
“A Litany for Survival” by Audre Lorde (1978)
Like Smith, Audre Lorde lived at the intersection of several identities, describing herself as “black, lesbian, warrior, mother, poet” (“Audre Lorde.” Poetry Foundation). A litany is defined as “a prayer consisting of a series of invocations and supplications by the leader with alternate responses by the congregation” (“Litany Definition and Meaning.” Merriam-Webster). This poem is for people who live on the margins because society threatens them from several angles. Used to being threatened on all sides, the speaker is skeptical of their place in any possible future, repeating “we are afraid” through the third stanza. They insist they were “never meant to survive” (Lines 24, 44), and yet here they are. The poem ends on a note of resistance, insisting it’s “better to speak” (Line 41) than be silent.
Further Literary Resources
“We Must Be the New Guards: Open Letter to White Poets” by Danez Smith (2014)
This open letter, originally published on the blog Squandermania, has been republished on Empathy Educates. Smith published this letter on November 25, 2014, in the wake of unrest and frustration following Darren Wilson’s grand jury hearing. Smith directly addresses white artists, acknowledging the frustration and hopelessness they may feel in that moment and offering a solution: “To my kin and colleagues in letters and art, I come to you out of ink, of breath, of patience […] do what you do best: Write.” The letter is an invitation for poets who want to stand in solidarity with Black poets to write fearlessly about the present moment in whatever way they’re equipped to do. Do this in your art, Smith says, and in your life, get involved in direct action, acting as the protectors of those who have been recently proven to be most vulnerable.
“I’ve Got a Testimony: James Baldwin and the Broken Silence of Black Queer Men” by McKinley E. Melton (2016)
This article in James Baldwin Review compares Danez Smith and James Baldwin, two Black queer writers who make use of testimony in their art. Melton defines testimony as a form of religious expression. In organized religious settings, sharing one’s testimony means sharing one’s spiritual journey with the community to become a part of it. James Baldwin writes against this community-centric tradition, focusing on his identity as an individual in order to assert his queerness. Connecting Smith to Baldwin, Melton says: “This testimonial tradition, then, operates at the core of each of their writing, as Smith thoughtfully inhabits the legacy that Baldwin has left behind” (Melton, p. 10).
“Interview: Danez Smith” by Judith Roney (2017)
This interview is published on Aquifer, the online companion to The Florida Review literary journal. This interview covers Smith’s next steps after “alternate names for black boys,” discussing work from two of their more recent poetry collections. Roney and Smith talk about teaching “alternate names for black boys,” leading into bigger discussions about the craft of poetry, the purpose of poetry, and encountering poetry as both a student and a teacher.
Listen to Poem
Poet and grassroots organizer Sarah Browning reads Smith’s poem in the March 1, 2014 episode of Poetry Magazine Podcast. Browning is the founding executive director of Split This Rock.
Related Titles
By Danez Smith
