In Dialogue: Poetry, Healing, and Resistance

This In Dialogue essay stands on the shoulders of ancestry and centers on the nexus of the Black Radical Tradition and healing — specifically through poetry. Poetry has historically been leveraged as a tool of protest, helping to capture current realities and imagine new ones into existence (Lorde, 2007; Neal, 1969). Baxley and Sealey-Ruiz share their poetry as a form of resistance; a way to bare their souls and restore themselves against the anti-Blackness that is rampant in our society. Their conversation shows the art of poetry as a means of healing, resistance, and reflection on historical and current times as a larger project of refuge, fight, and the pursuit of freedom for all. By showcasing how this art form has been healing and affirming for them individually and collectively, they also advocate to practitioners and educational leaders that poetry be central to the curriculum for Black children in schools.