Linking a diverse body of writing to a black musical tradition, Black Music, Black Poetry offers readers a fuller appreciation of the diversity of approaches to reading black American poetry. Readers will find the poetry of familiar figures such as Paul Laurence Dunbar and Langston Hughes and lesser known writers like James Emanuel analyzed in essays that highlight the relationship of their poetry to musical genres ranging from spirituals to contemporary jazz. The collection's point of departure is the premise that black music stands as the strongest repository and representation of black American consciousness, and that black poetry, by drawing on such music as a model, reflects the influence of an historical and enduring black aesthetic. The contributors take up the issues of black cultural authenticity, musical imitation and performance, and the influence of black music on poetic practice as they relate to the work of Dunbar, Hughes, Emanuel, Amiri Baraka, Meta DuEwa Jones, Michael Harper, and Jayne Cortez. Taken together, these essays offer a rich examination of black poetry's prosody and its ties to the rhythms and forms of black music