Poets, Poetry, News, Reviews, Readings, Resources & Opportunities for Poets and Writers
Author: Jamie Dedes
Jamie Dedes is a Lebanese-American poet and free-lance writer. She is the founder and curator of The Poet by Day, info hub for poets and writers, and the founder of The Bardo Group, publishers of The BeZine, of which she was the founding editor and currently a co-manager editor with Michael Dickel. Ms. Dedes is the Poet Laureate of Womawords Press 2020 and U.S associate to that press as well. Her debut collection, "The Damask Garden," is due out fall 2020 from Blue Dolphin Press.
“Tygpress.com is temporarily out of service due to technical issues. will be back soon…
Tygpress.com was created with an intention to create a blog search site , but due to some techical issues, full contents of respective sites were being displayed instead of just excerpts as intended. We thank the complainants for bringing this issue to our notice and We are extremely sorry to the content owners.” tygpress.com
Here’s the original post published on August 7 for those who didn’t read it. WordPress update is below.
Tygpress.com was founded in June 2018 and is an aggregating site with posts from many of our blogs as its total content. At the time of this writing, the site is blocked and all you will see if you go to Tygpress.com is the statement I’ve included above.
.
So many kind and concerned bloggers have sent me alerts, which I appreciate. Thank you! Every post of mine was appropriated. I know it’s disconcerting (angering) and frustrating. This is not an expert opinion, but I have to say first that I think our copyrights are intact. I don’t think that’s an issue, though understandably it’s a primary concern. I noted that wherever there was a copyright notice by the content originator, it was included. On my site, I make conspicuous use of copyright for my own work and that of others and for this very reason. I have no worries about my fellow poets, writers and bloggers, it’s these wild-cards that come up that are a concern.
.
If you feel your copyright is compromised you can file a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) Takedown. Details on that are HERE.
.
I am as I write this awaiting an update from WordPress, which I’ll add to this post when and if one comes in. Having said that, Tygpress.com is not hosted by WordPress, so WordPress can’t take down the site. There are probably some things it can do. I hope we’ll find out. Meanwhile …
.
Digital Ocean is the host and you can email them with your complaint at dmac@digitalocean.com and let them know you want your work deleted from the Tygpress.com and Tygpress.com blocked from stealing your posts in the future should Tygress.com become active again.
.
The Domain Name is hosted by Go Daddy.
.
The site is owned by a gentleman from Kamataka, Bengaluru, India. It purportedly earns $24.00 U.S. a day and has an estimated value of $8,640.00 U.S. according to a couple of website stat and valuation sites and who knows how accurate these are.
.
I hope this is helpful. Feel free to add your thoughts and comments below.
WordPress response received today. There’s really nothing here we didn’t know, but it does reassure that WordPress is on it.
Fenton (Automattic)
Aug 13, 21:53 UTC
We also filed a complaint with their host Digital Ocean, and I believe many other WordPress.com bloggers whose work was copied did as well.
As of last week, it appeared the owner of Tygpress.com had voluntarily taken the site offline as a reaction to the complaints they had received, citing “technical issues” which they say ” full contents of respective sites were being displayed instead of just excerpts as intended.” As I believe you already saw.
It remains in this state today. We can take another look if the site returns and continues abusive practices, but there is no further action for us to take at this time with the site fully offline.
Regards,
Fenton Community Guardian
WordPress.com | Automattic
Recent in digital publications:
* Five by Jamie Dedes, Spirit of Nature, Opa Anthology of Poetry, 2019
* From the Small Beginning, Entropy Magazine (Enclave, #Final Poems)(July 2019)
* The Damask Garden, In a Woman’s Voice (August 11, 2019) / This short story is dedicated to the world’s refugees, one in every 113 people.
A busy though bed-bound poet, writer, former columnist and the former associate editor of a regional employment newspaper, my work has been featured widely in print and digital publications including: Levure littéraire, Ramingo’s Porch, Vita Brevis Literature, HerStry, Connotation Press,The Bar None Group, Salamander Cove, I Am Not a Silent Poet, Meta/ Phor(e) /Play, Woven Tale Press, The Compass Rose and California Woman. I run The Poet by Day, a curated info hub for poets and writers. I founded The Bardo Group / Beguines, pushers of The BeZine of which I am managing editor. Email me at thepoetbyday@gmail.com for permissions or commissions
Thank you for sharing your love of words. Comments will appear after moderation.
“I’d love to wake up to complete silence, white sheets, and the smell of crisp air and roses.” Maria Elena,Eternal Youth
And it being Tuesday, here are the responses to the last Wednesday Writing Prompt, Awakening, August 7. Today our poets explore the ins, outs, pleasures and occasional weirdness of one of the most pivotal points of the day.
Brown-eared Bulbul shared under CC BY-SA 2.0 license
This collection is courtesy of bogpan (Bozhidar Pangelov), mm brazfield, Gary W. Bowers, Paul Brookes, Anjum Wasim Dar, Irma Do, Sheila Jacob, Sonja Benskin Mesher, Tamam Tracy Moncur, Pali Raj, and Clarissa Simmens.
Today we also warmly welcome Urmila Mahajan in her first appearance on this site. Urmila mentions a bulbul bird in her poem. I’d never heard of it. I had to look it up. The bulbul – pretty bird – doesn’t live in the Americas or in Europe.
Enjoy! and do join us for the next Wednesday Writing Prompt, which will post tomorrow morning.
Beginnings
I occupy a crevice
that night has burned and
day has not yet filled
where Earth is stilled until
the first bulbul chimes its
two-toned announcement
of another dawn
the ageing cat takes precedence
over frozen morning feet as I
hobble to touch a trembling purr
on bony flanks of fading flesh
to replenish a feeding bowl and
scrub flecks of meaty morsels
off the floor
to carefully strain a litter
by a single yellow lamp
and start the day with twosome
caring and a daydream
flickering in both minds of
many more such mornings
to come
we move on padded paws to keep
the brittle hush from snapping
and squinting without spectacles
I see the glowing crucialness
of beginnings
URMILA MAHAJAN worked for over two decades as an English teacher in various schools. Passionate about drama she now works as a drama consultant for schools.
Her poetry has won several online prizes. She published her poetry book, Drops of Dew, with a foreword by Ruskin Bond, in 2005. Her more recent poems can currently be found at on her blog HERE.
Her full-length children’s novel, My Brother TooToo, was published in 2010. Around the same time, her articles on using English correctly were a regular feature in a youth magazine.
She lives in Hyderabad, India. Her hobbies include birdwatching, growing organic vegetables and of course, looking after her cat.
joy
to fall asleep
a book
with your reading glasses
(on a lamp)
the dawn is
blue
there she is
bright bold with golden arms
the lady who comes to purify my blood
just 2 hours and 34 minutes in the past
did the moon with his mariachi suit
cry with me because he is a gentleman
we had clinked tequila glasses
while he kissed my hands
but with each step Zorya takes toward my window
i’ve come to prefer the strong espresso roast
dark heavy smoldering like your heart
you prefer to sleep
after quaking and quivering through my mounds
and when your eyes come open wide your armor
will cover you again
as i remain the faithful wench
in the china cup where to gold has chipped off
filled with mud and some manipulative tears
my cigarette will drown in sorrow
so i walk into the bathroom
to wash your sheep’s odor
off my she wolf fur
as i hack
through the unliving
with my broadsword
there suddenly comes
into my dream
tinkling cloying music
worse than zombies
for it snatches
me from glory
and its purpose
into the mundane
drab and dismal
day to day
As some of you know, Gary is multi-talented, combing visual art with poetry or prose narrative. He is also a potter. A sample of his work is pictured here. Gary’s pottery is available for purchase. Further details HERE. Note the business card. We appreciate Gary’s wry humor.
The Hyperbolic Poet Awakes
My eyelids open
are two worlds unfettered by cloud.
I splash the seven oceans
On the continents of my skin.
Rake the tombstones inside my mouth.
Tumble downstairs is scree down a mountain.
Open the wooden doors of delight,
Recover the pottery of ages,
Pour an avalanche of muesli
Farmed on sunny hillsides,
Crushed by the quern.
Grab the milk hosed out
By gargantuan herbivores,
Refined in their udders of heaven.
Wash and restacked pottery,
I stride over the open threshold
A veritable colossus.
Suddenly awake I hear
milk float electric whirr, his
bottles rattle in their baskets
the clink as milkman delivers.
“Fetch milk in”, mam sharts.
I open our snowed door to find
Blue Tom Tit has been at it
again, claws stood on the lip,
beak strips the silver foil top
for a sup and winter sip.
I am not a milksop
“Tit’s been at it again, mam!
with his gob open.
When he opens his gob
It could be dawn, noon or midday.
whenever we must awake
to work in the mountains.
The mountains of god’s tongue.
They shake and gust blows.
We must find
our balance.
Hunt for food
on the undulations.
Never know
when god will close his mouth
for night to fall, again.
Sometimes night is short.
Folk say there is life
over the mountains
in god’s teeth.
As you lie on that hospital bed unconscious
in a maybe
What more can you do,
What more should you have done
As a young girl, excited and unaccustomed to city-ways, gallop your dads milk horse
away from your white home,
through downtown Sunderland streets
where this morning it trotted
Dads milkcart rattle on a milkround.
Folk scatter, run scared.
A bobby captures your reins.
Arrested and thrown in prison
with the rapists, killers and paedophiles.
sob yourself to sleep.
Shortly after midnight awake
to flap, flap flap near the door,
stood wide open. You softly
step out, closed the door behind you.
See an owl,
perched on a wooden fence,
who awaits your escape.
The owl flies in front of you,
guides you past bobbies,
through dark streets, till you came
to a saddled horse and a bundle of fresh clothes.
You mount, the owl pulls the horses head
Towards the white dairy farm
then leaves, as it must as the owl
In a maybe
Is your future daughter who dies before you do.
What more can you do?
What more should you have done?
From Paul’s collection Port of Souls (Alien Buddha Press, 2017)
FYI: Paul Brookes, a stalwart participant in The Poet by Day Wednesday Writing Prompt, is running an ongoing series on poets, Wombwell Rainbow Interviews. Connect with Paul if you’d like to be considered for an interview. Visit him, enjoy the interviews, get introduced to some poets who may be new to you, and learn a few things.
“POETRY PEACE and REFORM Go Together -Let Us All Strive for PEACE on EARTH for ALL -Let Us Make a Better World -WRITE To Make PEACE PREVAIL.” Anjum Wasim Dar
On Being Awakened
The joy of morning
Crowded out by small elbows
In my lower back
Break, morning, and fly to me,
be my golden songbird.
Lift me from huddled sleep,
tuck me between your wing
and sun-dappled breast
and carry me over the rooftops.
Break, in all your new colours.
Wrap me in scarlet flame,
ease my bones and warm my heart
against your own as you soar
above mountains and pine trees
spooled with silver mist.
Break, morning, as though
you were the first to unveil
creation’s radiant face;
teach me your glory-unto-him
psalm of sunlit waking:
and breaking, from night’s heft.
Woken by summer’s early light
I heard the chug of a milk- float
down the road. It rattled to a stop
outside our house, the milkman
unlatched our wooden gate
and bounded up the path.
A chime of glass and he’d replaced
the empties, left two full bottles
on the front step. Pasteurised
for my porridge or custard,
sterilised(long-lasting and thin)
for Mum and Dad’s tea.
The door opened and closed.
Mum had brought the milk inside-
time for me to yawn, stretch,
go back to sleep for another hour.
Downstairs, Mum brewed a pot
of tea for Dad’s work- flask.
She made sandwiches, wrapped
two slices of cakes in greaseproof
and packed them in his rucksack.
After he’d left, she topped up the pot
with fresh water, opened the stera.
and sipped the best cup of the day
To purchase this little gem of a volume, Through My Father’s Eyes (review, interview, and a sampling of poems HERE), contact Sheila directly at she1jac@yahoo.com
that feeling, that . arrives unexpected from darkness, some winters’ mornings, opening the door to the sound of one black bran bird calling. track four repeated. that comes on waking finding peace and comfort bound.
it is a fine line we walk, gently avoiding peptides, only just a theory, yet used independently, alongside honest work
reading how the body works, you will have a better understanding, yet they do not teach of this
at school. they teach of clever yoghurt in adverts, i did not know microbes fancy food, move our choices.
the play continues, some of the old cast, new actors oblige, ideas on lack of addictive ways. simple days without receptors. singing under breath, numbers.
have you been to the counting?
lines ruled to stop
vertigo setting in.
two
three
four
five
two
three
it is a fine line we walk, gently avoiding peptides, only just a theory, yet used independently, alongside honest work.
Sonja Benskin Mesher, RCA paintings (This is her Facebook page, so you can connect with her there as well as view photographs of her colorful paintings.)
Angels singing hallelujah pull the sun up from behind the horizon splashing the colors of dawn across the sky calling for the spirit of life to arise in God’s radiance.
Sleeping flowers perk up preparing to unfold in their resilience and in their brilliance.
The rolling green hills in the distance framed by cumulus clouds stand firm in their resolve to praise God.
The birds twitter and tweet good morning to the universe then take wing and sing to the inhabitants of earth.
Gentle sounds emitting from a cell phone alarm roam through the air at that moment penetrating the dark silence of a deep sleep in another world…in another place…in another space.
Scripture settles a sleepy soul sweeping away cobwebs of confusion and illusions lighting the way to the manifestation of a new day.
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” ….
Conscious mind awakes collecting bits and pieces of memory fragmented by the divide between reverie and reality then places them back into the puzzle of existence…the new day begins.
Diary of an Inner City Teacher is a probe into the reality of teaching in our inner city school systems as seen from the front line. Over two decades in the trenches, educator Tamam Tracy Moncurexposes through her personal journal the plights, the highlights, the sadness, and the joys she has experienced as a teacher. Come to understand why the United States Department of Education and the various state departments of education must realize the teaching of academics cannot be divorced from the social issues that confront the students. Let s be innovative together and design new millennium schools that address the educational needs of the inner city students before it s too late! Our children s very existence is at stake! Laugh, cry, and become informed as you embrace the accounts of an inner city teacher.
Can a love, you don’t name
Can be love
On awakening, a poem ask
Answer me, if you have to die
How can I quit eating
‘over salted pie’
I feel happy, and dead
(On awakening) I visit your profile when
Go, look at your profile views ….yeah
I find myself on a porn 😭 when
I tap on link to know more 🤔
Answer me
Can a love, you don’t name
Can be love
I feel happy, and dead
(On awakening) I visit your profile when
I am an effeminate ….yeah
At night late *so what*
I visit your profile
You are a vamp …..yeah
I find myself on a porn 😭 when
I tap on link to know more 🤔
I feel happy, and dead
(On awakening) I visit your profile when
Can a love, you don’t name
Can be love
Look at my photo then
Answer me, if you have to die
How can I quit eating
‘over salted pie’
Betrayal!
Don’t like to sleep
But actually slept
For a few hours
No hypnagogic images
No dreams
Just … nothing
Two dogs snuggled in
Trying to take over
My pillow
My place on the mattress
I leap from the bed
(Well, an aging woman’s leap)
Dash into the kitchen
Grind the coffee
Swallow the BP meds
And this Morning Aries
Tugs open the sliding glass door,
Joining the joyful dogs
Noses to the ground
Following the scent of
The wascally wabbit
Impossible possum
Wrecking my palm tree
While the early birds
Peck at the feeder
Too lazy to find the worm
While the feral cat
Safe from the dogs
On the other side of the fence
Yowls to be fed
And I say
Thank you to the Cosmos
For giving me another day…
Recent in digital publications:
* Five by Jamie Dedes, Spirit of Nature, Opa Anthology of Poetry, 2019
* From the Small Beginning, Entropy Magazine (Enclave, #Final Poems)(July 2019)
* The Damask Garden, In a Woman’s Voice (August 11, 2019) / This short story is dedicated to the world’s refugees, one in every 113 people.
A busy though bed-bound poet, writer, former columnist and the former associate editor of a regional employment newspaper, my work has been featured widely in print and digital publications including: Levure littéraire, Ramingo’s Porch, Vita Brevis Literature, HerStry, Connotation Press,The Bar None Group, Salamander Cove, I Am Not a Silent Poet, Meta/ Phor(e) /Play, Woven Tale Press, The Compass Rose and California Woman. I run The Poet by Day, a curated info hub for poets and writers. I founded The Bardo Group / Beguines, pushers of The BeZine of which I am managing editor. Email me at thepoetbyday@gmail.com for permissions or commissions.
Thank you for sharing your love of words. Comments will appear after moderation.
“With me poetry has not been a purpose, but a passion.” Edgar Allan Poe
The Poetry Foundation and Complexly announce Ours Poetica, a new tri-weekly video series that will capture the intimacy and physicality of holding a book while engaging with a poem read by a distinctive voice. Poet Paige Lewis, author of Space Struck, curates the series, and author, YouTube pioneer, and Complexly co-founder John Green, and creator, curator, and host of The Art Assignment, Sarah Urist Green, produce the new poetry-centric series. The series will launch with a live screening and discussion at the Poetry Foundation on September 12.
If you are reading this post from an email subscription, you’ll likely have to link through to the site to view this video trailer about Ours Poetica.
Ours Poetica, publishing at YouTube.com/OursPoetica every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, will provide an approachable entry point to poetry through a familiar format. The series will feature poets, writers, artists—and sometimes unexpected guests—who have an interest in poetry. Guests including Ashley C. Ford, Shailene Woodley, Erika L. Sanchez, Jacqueline Woodson, and Ilya Kaminsky will make poetry personal by reading a poem that is meaningful to them, and discussing their connection to it, or inspiration for it. Poems come first in Ours Poetica, as the videos will focus on the readers’ hands and the book or notepad from which they’re reading. This emphasis on the words and their placement on the page create an intimate space for viewers. The videos offer the opportunity to experience the poem through the reader’s point of view.
“There are many poetry videos online that focus on the reader’s expression, movement or performance. We saw an opportunity to present a complementary and fresh visual way to discover poetry by focusing on the words, the language, and the readers’ cadences,” said Paige Lewis, Ours Poetica curator. “It’s as if the viewer is holding the book in their own hands while hearing a poem read aloud.”
Lewis curates the featured guests and poem selections, aiming to engage new poetry readers, and poetry lovers, alike. The concept sparked from conversations with Complexly, an online video production company that makes popular educational series, including the channels Crash Course and SciShow, which tout more than 15 million subscribers and over a billion video views.
“Poetry is vital and relevant, however as a non-poet myself I understand how it can be viewed as intimidating or academic,” said John Green, co-founder of Complexly. “We wanted to break down this potential barrier, and create a show for people who love poetry, and even more so, for people who love poetry but don’t know it yet.”
Green, author of several novels including The Fault in Our Stars, and Turtles All the Way Down and star of Vlogbrothers, co-produces Ours Poetica with Sarah Urist Green creator and host of The Art Assignment. The duo’s expertise in reaching YouTube viewers and developing vibrant online communities will lend itself to bringing attention to poetry.
“We were drawn to partnering with Paige Lewis and Complexly on this project because we know a curious audience already exists on YouTube, and Ours Poetica can serve as a new discovery point to poetry,” said Sarah Whitcher, marketing and media director at the Poetry Foundation. “It’s a simple yet elegant execution of poem videos, and its approachability reinforces the Poetry Foundation’s belief that poetry is for everyone.”
The series kicks off with the Ours Poetica launch event on Thursday, September 12 at 7:00 PM at the Poetry Foundation at 61 W. Superior Street in Chicago with a reading, screening, and discussion with Lewis, Green, and special guest Kaveh Akbar.
Tri-weekly posting begins on Monday, September 16. For updates, subscribe and follow along on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
This feature is brought to us courtesy of The Poetry Foundation, Complexity, and Wikipedia, and Amazon.
Cover of the current issue of Poetry
About the Poetry Foundation
The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine, is an independent literary organization committed to a vigorous presence for poetry in American culture. It exists to discover and celebrate the best poetry and to place it before the largest possible audience. The Poetry Foundation seeks to be a leader in shaping a receptive climate for poetry by developing new audiences, creating new avenues for delivery, and encouraging new kinds of poetry through innovative literary prizes and programs.
About Complexly
Founded in 2012 by Hank and John Green, Complexly is the production company for Crash Course, SciShow, The Art Assignment, and a dozen other education video channels and podcasts. With a worldwide audience of 20 million subscribers and 2.4 billion views on YouTube, Complexly is one of the largest global online educational companies. We make content that reflects our own enthusiasm for understanding and imagining the world complexly.
Recent in digital publications:
* Five by Jamie Dedes, Spirit of Nature, Opa Anthology of Poetry, 2019
* From the Small Beginning, Entropy Magazine (Enclave, #Final Poems)(July 2019)
* The Damask Garden, In a Woman’s Voice (August 11, 2019) / This short story is dedicated to the world’s refugees, one in every 113 people.
A busy though bed-bound poet, writer, former columnist and the former associate editor of a regional employment newspaper, my work has been featured widely in print and digital publications including: Levure littéraire, Ramingo’s Porch, Vita Brevis Literature, HerStry, Connotation Press,The Bar None Group, Salamander Cove, I Am Not a Silent Poet, Meta/ Phor(e) /Play, Woven Tale Press, The Compass Rose and California Woman. I run The Poet by Day, a curated info hub for poets and writers. I founded The Bardo Group / Beguines, pushers of The BeZine of which I am managing editor. Email me at thepoetbyday@gmail.com for permissions or commissions.
Thank you for sharing your love of words. Comments will appear after moderation.
Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture / courtesy of the Smithsonian Museum
Cross
My old man’s a white old man And my old mother’s black. If ever I cursed my white old man I take my curses back. If ever I cursed my black old mother And wished she were in hell, I’m sorry for that evil wish And now I wish her well My old man died in a fine big house. My ma died in a shack. I wonder where I’m going to die, Being neither white nor black?
– Langston Hughes, excerpt from Weary Blues
“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”
Frederick Douglass, Abolitionist, Author and Educator
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture announced the expansion of its Early Childhood Education Initiative (ECEI) with a $1.5 million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Structured to be joyous and fun, this museum-based curriculum is designed to help young children of all backgrounds develop healthy racial identities and other social skills. Bridging the fields of early childhood education, human development, museum education and developmental psychology, ECEI programming encourages young children to be comfortable with human diversity, recognize unfairness and develop the capacity to stand against prejudice.
In addition to the on-site programming, the grant funds national outreach efforts and digital instructions and resources for research-based publications, adults, educators and young children from birth to eight years old.
“The work of early childhood education has the power to affect what society will be in the future,” said Spencer Crew, interim director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. “If we want to end racism, we must begin to have purposeful conversations with children about racial identity and promote anti-bias values from birth. With an appreciation for differences in early childhood, young children can develop into adults who actively challenge bias, stereotyping and all forms of discrimination.”
The Kellogg Foundation’s Thriving Children initiative funds efforts like ECEI that support quality learning experiences for all children, including the promotion of racial equity in early childhood education. “In this way, the goals of the museum and the mission of the foundation are perfectly aligned,” said Carla D. Thompson, vice president for program strategy at the Kellogg Foundation. “This is an excellent match.”
The programming operates from the premise that young children need adults to provide accurate language for identifying racial identity and racial bias. Young children even need guidance to develop their concepts of fairness, which is the first stage in challenging racial prejudice and discrimination.
Ashley’s Sack is among the 37,000 objects at the Smithsonian related to African American community, family, the visual and performing arts, religion, civil rights, slavery, and segregation. This is an image of an embroidered cotton feed sack from the mid-19th century. The sack was embroidered by Ruth Middleton with the story of how the sack was a gift from an enslaved mother, Rose, to her daughter, Ashley, when the nine-year old was sold. / Photo courtesy of Shameran8 and Middleton Place under CC BY-SA 4.0
“Children are remarkably good observers who pay close attention to human behavior,” said Esther Washington, director of education at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. “There is a common misconception that young children are ‘color blind’ and untouched by prejudice. Research shows that from infancy, children are developing mental maps that lead to their baseline racialized identity and social status before the age of six. Early childhood education has the power to guide racial and social identities to a healthy place.”
All ECEI programs are tailored to the different ages and developmental stages of early childhood (birth to eight years old). Programming themes and projects change each month—there is always something new for children.
Early Childhood Programming at the Museum
Cultural Cuddles
Cultural Cuddles programs invite children from birth to twelve months of age to bond, play and discover color. Alongside their favorite grown-ups, children can explore art materials using different colors. A six-month-old baby recognizes skin color and notices when a color is familiar or unfamiliar. Talking to a baby about colors, including skin colors, can create a comfort level to later discuss racial identity.
Toddling Treasures
Toddling Treasures are programs created for children thirteen–thirty-five months of age. Toddlers by the age of two are able to use racial categories to reason about people’s behavior. Talking to children about how everyone is the same but also different, enhances critical thinking skills and allows children to see others as unique individuals.
Cultural Kids
Cultural Kids is for children ages three-five years old. In this program, children listen to stories and create artwork that engage the senses. Because children at this age are able to begin to understand the complex social construct of race, the program introduces skin color with parents and explains how children get their color from their parents. The goal is to show how every person’s skin is different, every family is unique and there is beauty in diversity.
Friends for Freedom
Friends for Freedom are programs created for early elementary students, children six-to-eight years old. With an adult, children look at museum objects, read a featured picture book and have guided conversations and to explore personal meaning and fairness. Because children ages six-to-eight years old are able to have conversations about injustice and unfair treatment based on identities like race and gender, this program centers on the differences among people and teaches children to respect and embrace differences. This programming helps children prepare to act against bias and unfairness.
Pop-up Programs
In addition to the regular scheduled programming mentioned above, the museum offers “pop-up” versions of these programs in the galleries and classrooms on the second floor. The pop-up schedule is available at the museum’s information desk.
Signature Programs
Sing-alongs, concerts and story times for children and workshops and panel discussions for the adults invested in early childhood education are offered quarterly, and the schedule is available on the museum’s website at https://nmaahc.si.edu/events/upcoming. Interested participants should check the website frequently for updates.
More information about the National Museum of African American History and Culture’s Early Childhood Education Initiative is available on the museum’s website. A schedule of upcoming events at the museum, some of which require pre-registration, is on the events page of the museum’s website. ECEI’s programming is often most suitable for small classes and fills quickly.
This post is compiled courtesy of the Smithsonian Museum, The National Museum of African American History and Culture, The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and Wikipedia.
About the National Museum of African American History and Culture
Since opening Sept. 24, 2016, the National Museum of African American History and Culture has welcomed nearly 6 million visitors. Occupying a prominent location next to the Washington Monument on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the nearly 400,000-square-foot museum is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive cultural destination devoted exclusively to exploring, documenting and showcasing the African American story and its impact on American and world history. For more information about the museum, visit nmaahc.si.edu, follow @NMAAHC on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram or call Smithsonian information at (202) 633-1000.
About the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), founded in 1930 as an independent, private foundation by breakfast entrepreneur and innovator, Will Keith Kellogg, is among the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. Guided by the belief that all children should have equal opportunities to thrive, WKKF works to create conditions in underresourced communities for children can realize their full potential in school, work and life. The Kellogg Foundation is based in Battle Creek, Michigan, and works throughout the U.S. and internationally, as well as with sovereign tribes. Special emphasis is made on priority places where there are high concentrations of poverty and where children face significant barriers to success. WKKF priority places in the U.S. are in Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans, and internationally in Mexico and Haiti.
Recent in digital publications:
* Five by Jamie Dedes, Spirit of Nature, Opa Anthology of Poetry, 2019
* From the Small Beginning, Entropy Magazine (Enclave, #Final Poems)(July 2019)
* The Damask Garden, In a Woman’s Voice (August 11, 2019) / This short story is dedicated to all refugees. That would be one in every 113 people.
A busy though bed-bound poet, writer, former columnist and the former associate editor of a regional employment newspaper, my work has been featured widely in print and digital publications including: Levure littéraire, Ramingo’s Porch, Vita Brevis Literature, HerStry, Connotation Press,The Bar None Group, Salamander Cove, I Am Not a Silent Poet, Meta/ Phor(e) /Play, Woven Tale Press, The Compass Rose and California Woman. I run The Poet by Day, a curated info hub for poets and writers. I founded The Bardo Group / Beguines, pushers of The BeZine of which I am managing editor. Email me at thepoetbyday@gmail.com for permissions or commissions.
Thank you for sharing your love of words. Comments will appear after moderation.
As some of you know, Gary is multi-talented, combing visual art with poetry or prose narrative. He is also a potter. A sample of his work is pictured here. Gary’s pottery is available for purchase. Further details 
Diary of an Inner City Teacher
The Poetry Foundation and Complexly announce Ours Poetica, a new tri-weekly video series that will capture the intimacy and physicality of holding a book while engaging with a poem read by a distinctive voice. Poet Paige Lewis, author of Space Struck, curates the series, and author, YouTube pioneer, and Complexly co-founder John Green, and creator, curator, and host of The Art Assignment, Sarah Urist Green, produce the new poetry-centric series. The series will launch with a live screening and discussion at the Poetry Foundation on September 12.
Jamie Dedes' THE POET BY DAY Webzine 
We also filed a complaint with their host Digital Ocean, and I believe many other WordPress.com bloggers whose work was copied did as well.
As of last week, it appeared the owner of Tygpress.com had voluntarily taken the site offline as a reaction to the complaints they had received, citing “technical issues” which they say ” full contents of respective sites were being displayed instead of just excerpts as intended.” As I believe you already saw.
It remains in this state today. We can take another look if the site returns and continues abusive practices, but there is no further action for us to take at this time with the site fully offline.
Regards,
Fenton
Community Guardian
WordPress.com | Automattic