A Different Point of View

By Horace Mungin

Illustrated by Hampton R. Olfus, Jr.

 

            The Friday April 25, 1969 issue of The New York Times featured an article written by a Times reporter named Thomas A. Johnson. The article was about the new renaissance in black poetry taking place in the 1960’s. The article begins with a poem I had written in the mid-sixties and published in my first collection of poetry called “Dope Hustler’s Jazz.” The poem was entitled “My Thing.”

 

“The poem ‘My Thing’ by Horace Mungin deals with a major theme of the black revolution that is frequently expressed in cries for ‘liberation,’ for self-determination and for a positive identity. It is in this way characteristic of much of the poetry written today by young black Americans, a part of a renaissance of arts, letters, music and drama.”

 

            The above is a condensed version of the first two column paragraphs of Mr. Johnson’s lengthy exposé of the Black Arts Movement. To have my poem described as characteristic of the poetry being produced by poets of the Black Arts Movement is quite heady stuff – even today. I went on to publish another collection of poetry “Now See Here, Homes” (1969) and my poetry appeared in anthologies, magazines and periodical over the years. Even in the ‘70’s when I moved on to prose writing, I continued to write poems now and then, some of which were published in journals and other publications. These poems were mostly inspired by some event and not composed purposely to go into a pending collection, so they, for the most part, were completed then filed away.

 

            During the intervening time (40 years), I wrote 7 books. The seventh book was a kind of poetry book. It was a collection of what I call “Poetic Portraits” of people I grew up with in the Amsterdam Projects in New York City. Being back this close to poetry again nudged me towards looking at the poetry file I had compiled over the years. Reading over a hundred or so of these poems dating from 1965 until 2010, I noticed a stark difference in the earlier poems and the ones written after the 1980’s. Although black liberation was still my overall theme, I had moderated on methods to liberation and the degree to which I focused on systematic racism. While the earlier poems were rebellious tirades against the system of racial injustice, the later works seems to accept politics, time and re-education as the means to a just future.

 

            I decided to put a collection of those poems together. The tittle was obvious to me – A Different Point of View. These poems represent a viewpoint evolving in direct correlation to the racial changes taking place in America. The poems in this collection are interesting, well written and provocative, but what makes this a noteworthy collection is that the reader can follow the transformation that took place over a forty year period. The moderation in the later poems can be directly traced to the racial moderation that taking place in America. With all the racial dust being kicked up during and now, even after the recent presidential election, it can easily seem that there has been no change it all, but step back a moment to realized that the racism coming out today is background noise to the results of an election involving a black president – this isn’t an issue we confronted in say, 1952, 62, 72, or 82. This is a clear shift in the battlefield. Another way I express it is this: I have never burned an American flag but there was a time when I validated those Americans who did. Today I have two baseball caps with American flags on them and I’ve worn them proudly since 2008.

            The cover and all illustrations in this book are by Hampton R. Olfus Jr. Brother Hampton is a Washington DC native, who grew up in Prince Georges County, Md. in the town of Glenarden. He started drawing about the age of four, and sold his first painting by the time he was 13 years old. Hampton studied art while attending, Prince George's Community College in Largo, Md., and continued his studies after college. His work has been exhibited far beyond the D.C. area. He now lives in North Charleston, S.C. Since his arrival in Charleston in 2009, his work has been exhibited at the College of Charleston, Avery Research Center, Galliard Auditorium, North Charleston Gallery, Moja Juried Art Exhibition, and the Charleston Artist Guild Gallery. Brother Hampton sees his career as an artist as “a journey of a life force expressing itself through the human experience.” Some of his work has elements of Aaron Douglas and William Henry Johnson, artists from the Harlem Renaissance period

 

The 13 art drawings in this book could stand well on their own in an exhibition in any art galleries in this country and any other. After you’ve read the poems, I invite you to go back through the book viewing only the art works and experience the congruity each piece has to the other. There is a consistency in their quality as well as in the story they tell – gallery owners would do well to seek this artist out. I am extremely fortunate for his collaboration on this book and profoundly hopeful for our future partnership.

 

Horace Mungin