Civil Rights and Equality: 'Native Guard' by Natasha Tretheway

The current moment in our culture requires that we look hard at our ideals and history and the extent to which we have — and have not — ensured the enactment and protection of civil rights within our society.

On September 27, Harbour Winn, Ph.D. will present on Native Guard by Natasha Tretheway.

Poems are seldom included in the “Let’s Talk About It, Oklahoma” series; however, poems often provide powerful meditations on a theme, and meditating together on such themes holds the possibility of enriching the community engaged in mutual exploration. Tretheway, one of the finest living poets in the U.S., offers an accessible collection of related poems that explore her own childhood history in the South alongside an exploration of the history of the Louisiana “Native Guard,” an African-American branch of the National Guard that served the state during the Civil War. These explorations are framed by the opening poem, which establishes the poet’s road trip back to the Gulf Coast as she embarks on a trip that evokes her own family’s past in the region as well as engages her in historical research. Domestic violence and historical injustice stand side-by-side for Tretheway in this region, both needing to be reckoned with, and evoked in such titles as “Scenes from a Documentary History of Mississippi,” “Miscegenation,” and “My Mother Dreams Another Country.” As she warns from the book’s opening lines, “You can get there from here, though/there’s no going home.” Readers follow the poet’s journey through memory and our larger shared histories as she processes it all through lyrical language and rich images. Readers not accustomed to poetry may find themselves challenged, but through discussion may also find themselves gaining from others’ interpretations.

More in this series:

Sept. 13, 7 p.m.

The Known World by Edward P. Jones

Presenter: Tracy Floreani, Ph.D.

Oct. 11, 7 p.m.

The Arc of Justice by Kevin Boyle

Presenter: Lloyd Musselman, Ph.D.

Oct. 25, 7 p.m.

A Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich

Presenter: Karen Youmans, Ph.D.

Nov. 1, 7 p.m.

Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo

Presenter: Amrita Sen, Ph.D.