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Tuesday, February 8, 2022

"Hey Black Child" Poem Recited By Pe’Tehn Raighn-Kem (2015) And By Kaleb Porter (2021)



Windy City LIVE, Feb.  25, 2015

This little DYNAMO is a must see, and she's from right here in Chicago! Meet 3-year-old Pe’Tehn Raighn-Kem from Bronzeville! Take a look of her performing “Hey, Black Child” on Windy City Live! -snip-
Three year old Pe’Tehn Raighn-Kem incorrectly attributed this poem to African American poet, novelist, children's writer, and playwriight Countee Cullen (May 30, 1903 – January 9, 1946). Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countee_Cullen for information about Countee Cullen.

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Edited by Azizi Powell
 
This pancocojams post showcases wo YouTube videos of the poem "Hey Black Child" and provides the words to that poem. Information about Useni Eugene Perkins, the author of that poem is also included in this post.

The content of this post is presented for cultural, inspirational, purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Useni Eugene Perkins for his cultural legacy. Thanks also to Pe’Tehn Raighn-Kem and to Kaleb Porter for their recitation of this poem. Thanks to the publishers of these videos and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
Click 
http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/10/useni-eugene-perkins-hey-black-child.html for a 2015 pancocojams post on this poem. That post presents information about Useni Eugene Perkins and also contains several visitor comments. 

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
A number of websites, YouTube videos, and comments on YouTube discussion threads mistakenly indicate that Countee Cullen is the author of the inspirational poem "Hey Black Child". Other websites, YouTube videos, and discussion thread comments attribute that poem to Maya Angelou.  In the now viral* 2015 video of a three year old African American girl (Pe’Tehn Raighn-Kem) reciting "Hey Black Girl", Countee Cullen was named as the author of that poem.   

 The actual author of "Hey Black Child" is Useni Eugene Perkins.

*There are several YouTube videos of reciting "Hey Black Child". As of Feb. 8, 2022 at 9:40 PM ET, the first YouTube video clip that was published of that television recitation by 
Pe’Tehn Raighn-Kem (on Chicago, Illinois' Windy City LIVE daytime talk show) Feb. 25, 2015 has 10,969,422 views. 

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #2: Black History Moment: Hey Black Child



fbcsomerset, Feb. 21, 2022

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INFORMATION ABOUT USENI EUGENE PERKINS
"Useni Eugene Perkins is a distinguished poet, playwright and youth worker. Born in Chicago on September 13, 1932, he was the son of Marion Perkins, a sculptor, and Eva Perkins. Being exposed to the arts at a young age through his father would prove to be a major influence on his later years...

In [1966], Perkins became the executive director of the Better Boys Foundation of Chicago, a social agency involved in community, social, educational and cultural development. Raised in the housing projects of Chicago, and having established a career as a sociologist dealing with troubled youth, he authored the 1976 book Home Is A Dirty Street: The Social Oppression of Black Children.

Upon leaving his post with the Better Boys Foundation in 1982, Perkins became an executive consultant in Chicago with INESU Consultants, where he stayed for two years. He was still very active in writing, penning several sociological books on African American youth, as well as publishing books of poetry and authoring various plays that were produced in theaters in Chicago."... 

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WORDS TO "HEY BLACK CHILD"
(Useni Eugene Perkins)

Hey Black Child,
Do you know who you are?
Who you really are?
Do you know you can be
What you want to be?
If you try to be
what you can be.

Hey Black Child,
Do you know where you’re going?
Where you’re really going?
Do you know you can learn
What you want to learn?
If you try to learn
What you can learn?

Hey Black Child,
Do you know you are strong?
I mean really strong?
Do you know you can do
What you want to do?
If you try to do
What you can do?

Hey Black Child,
Be what you can be
Learn what you must learn
Do what you can do
And tomorrow your nation will be
what you want it to be

Source: https://specialedandme.wordpress.com/2008/08/25/hey-black-child-by-eugene-useni-perkins/

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