Tyhemba Jess - (Poem) "Another Man Done" (with biographical information, information about slam poetry, and more)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases the poem "Another Man Done" by Tyhemba Jess. Information about Tyhemba Jess, including information about that first name, is also found in this post.

The Addendum to this post includes information about slam poetry.

The content of this post is presented for socio-cultural and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Tyhemba Jess for his cultural legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this video on YouTube

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INFORMATION ABOUT TYEHIMBA JESS
From https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/tyehimba-jess
"Born in Detroit, poet Tyehimba* Jess earned his BA from the University of Chicago and his MFA from New York University. He is the author of leadbelly (2005) and Olio (2016), winner of the Pulitzer Prize.

Jess is the rare poet who bridges slam and academic poetry**. His first collection, leadbelly (2005), an exploration of the blues musician Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter’s life, was chosen for the National Poetry Series by Brigit Pegeen Kelly, and was voted one of the top three poetry books of the year by Black Issues Book Review. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly noted that “the collection’s strength lies in its contradictory forms; from biography to lyric to hard-driving prose poem, boast to song, all are soaked in the rhythm and dialect of Southern blues and the demands of honoring one’s talent." Jess's second book Olio (2016) received the Pulitzer Prize.

A two-time member of the Chicago Green Mill Slam team, Jess was also Chicago’s Poetry Ambassador to Accra, Ghana. “...
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* Here's information about the name "Tyehimba"
From http://www.namesite.com/content/tyehimba
"Name: Tyehimba.
Pronounciation: tah-ye-heem-BAH*.
Meaning: we stand as a nation.
Ethnicity: Tiv.
Country: Nigeria. Region:
West Africa.
Continent: Africa, Gender: male"
-snip-
*This may be the Tiv traditional pronunciation for this name. However, from the video featured below, this doesn't appear to be the pronunciation that Tyehimba Jess uses for his name. Instead, it appears that he pronounces his name "tye HEEM-bah".

That pronunciation conforms with American English's usual emphasis of the second syllable in three syllable words. Note that in the Tive language the name Tyehemba is four syllables.

Here's information about the Tiv ethnic group
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiv_people
"The Tiv (or Tivi[2]) are an ethno-linguistic group or nation in West Africa. They number approximately 6 million[1] individuals in Nigeria and Cameroon.[3]”...
-snip-
**Read information about the term "slam poetry" in the Addendum below.

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SHOWCASE VIDEO - Tyehimba Jess reads "Another Man Done" | The Migration Series Poetry Suite



The Museum of Modern Art Published on Apr 8, 2015

Presented in conjunction with MoMA's exhibition "One-Way Ticket: Jacob Lawrence's Migration Series and Other Visions of the Great Movement North," the Poetry Suite includes readings of new poems written in response to Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series from 10 highly esteemed contemporary poets, who were selected by poet and essayist Elizabeth Alexander.

Tyehimba Jess is assistant professor of English at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York. He is a winner of the National Poetry Series for his book "Leadbelly" (Wave Books, 2005).

View all poems in the Migration Poetry Suite: https://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2015/onewayticket/perspectives/poetry
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Click http://www.biography.com/people/jacob-lawrence-9375562 for information about African American artist Jacob Lawrence (b.September 7, 1917 - d. June 9, 2000)

Click https://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2015/onewayticket/ for information about "One Way Ticket" - Jacob Lawrence's Migration Series.

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POEM - ANOTHER MAN DONE
(Tyhimba Jess)

Another man done...

Another of the social causes of the migrant’s leaving was that at times they did not
feel safe, or it was not the best thing to be found on the street late at night.
They were arrested at the slightest provocation. (1940-41)
Another of the social causes of the migrant’s leaving was that at times they did not feel safe, or it was not the best thing to be found on the street late at night.
They were arrested at the slightest provocation. (1941-42)
Another of the social causes of the migrant’s leaving was that at times they did not feel safe, or it was not the best thing to be found on the street late at night.
They were arrested at the slightest provocation. (1942-43)
Another of the social causes of the migrant’s leaving was that at times they did not feel safe, or it was not the best thing to be found on the street late at night.
They were arrested at the slightest provocation. (1953-54)
Another of the social causes of the migrant’s leaving was that at times they did not feel safe, or it was not the best thing to be found on the street late at night.
They were arrested at the slightest provocation. (1954-55)
Another of the social causes of the migrant’s leaving was that at times they did not feel safe, or it was not the best thing to be found on the street late at night.
They were arrested at the slightest provocation. (1956-57)
Another of the social causes of the migrant’s leaving was that at times they did not feel safe, or it was not the best thing to be found on the street late at night.
They were arrested at the slightest provocation. (1967-68)
Another of the social causes of the migrant’s leaving was that at times they did not feel safe, or it was not the best thing to be found on the street late at night.
They were arrested at the slightest provocation. (1968-69)
Another of the social causes of the migrant’s leaving was that at times they did not feel safe, or it was not the best thing to be found on the street late at night.
They were arrested at the slightest provocation. (1979-80)
Another of the social causes of the migrant’s leaving was that at times they did not feel safe, or it was not the best thing to be found on the street late at night.
They were arrested at the slightest provocation. (1990-91)
Another of the social causes of the migrant’s leaving was that at times they did not feel safe, or it was not the best thing to be found on the street late at night.
They were arrested at the slightest provocation. (1991-92)
Another of the social causes of the migrant’s leaving was that at times they did not feel safe, or it was not the best thing to be found on the street late at night.
They were arrested at the slightest provocation. (2002-03)
Another of the social causes of the migrant’s leaving was that at times they did not feel safe, or it was not the best thing to be found on the street late at night.
They were arrested at the slightest provocation. (2013-14)
Another of the social causes of the migrant’s leaving was that at times they did not.
They were arrested at the slightest provocation.
They were arrested at the slightest provocation.
They were arrested at the slightest provocation.
They were arrested at the slightest provocation.
They were arrested at the slightest provocation.
They were arrested at the slightest provocation.
They were
They were.


Source: https://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2015/onewayticket/perspectives/poetry/another-man-done
-snip-
Because of this format, the placement of words after the word "feel" are different in this post than they are on that page, and this may be crucial to how the poem is supposed to be read and performed.

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ADDENDUM- INFORMATION ABOUT SLAM POETRY
Excerpt #1:
From http://www.powerpoetry.org/actions/5-tips-slam-poetry
"Slam Poetry is a type of competition where people read their poems without props, costumes, or music. After performing, they receive scores (0-10) from 5 randomly selected judges. The judges can be anyone: they don’t even need to be poets! Scores are awarded based on how much each judge likes a poem. The purpose of this judging process is to make poetry participatory for everyone. Slam Poetry doesn’t need to be a specific form of poetry….
Make it original. The written piece must be original. The story being performed for competition needs to be your own work.
Time. Each poet has 3 minutes to perform

[...]

Rhythmic & Passionate. Your poem should have a rhythm that shows through your passionate performance. A slam poem moves the audience through different moods. How the poem is performed is at least as important as the content if not more! (No pressure.)"...

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Excerpt #2:
From https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-slam-poetry-and-spoken-word-poetry-like-Def-Jam-Poetry
[question] "What is the difference between slam poetry and spoken word poetry like Def Jam Poetry?"

[A Response by] Shantanu Anand, Self-professed spoken word poet. Co-Founder, Airplane Poetry Movement.
Written Sep 30, 2016
" “Slam poetry" is not really a form of poetry. A poetry slam is an event-format, where poets perform (within certain rules and restrictions) and a randomly-picked set of judges choose the winners. "Slam poetry" is simply a term used to refer poems performed at slams.

Spoken Word Poetry (or performance poetry) is simply poetry that’s written to be performed. What differentiates it from page poetry is that it’s an amalgamation of 2 art-forms - the literary art, and the performance art. Both go hand-in-hand in a spoken word poem. Hence, one must not judge a spoken word poem simply by reading it, because the performance is 50% of the experience.

If you want to define the relationship between “slam poetry” and spoken word poetry, slam poetry is a subset of spoken word poetry. All slam poetry is spoken word, but not all spoken word poetry is written to be performed at slams.

Hope this helps!"

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