Top 3 Prompts Addressing the Grief and Anger of Racism in America
By: Marilyn Flower
Tags: Poetry, Writing Prompts, BlackLivesMatter, Race, Writing

Some of us have no trouble expressing ourselves on current events. For others of us, we may need some prompting and encouragement. These writers have made space for us writers to find our voices and share our hearts.

Marla Bishop’s prompt is part of The Bad Influence pub’s prompt series called Ideastream. Typically, the author gives a reflective introduction before sharing the prompts. Her piece is titled, Fighting for Our Lives, and the three prompts contained therein are all related to that theme.

She lives in London, England, and shares her heart about the racialized police killings on both sides of the pond. At a rally she attended, it took ten minutes to read out all the names of people of color killed by police — and that was not even a complete list.

According to Marla, we are all doing what we can — we are writers, so our task is to write. It may not seem like much, but as Kim McKinney reminded me this week, the pen is mighty.

That being said, the post contains three prompts to get our creative juices flowing — poetry, short prose/fiction, and finally, a limerick prompt that evokes the tragic killing of Breonna Taylor as she lay sleeping. Not your typical limerick topic. But then, these are not your typical times.

If you’ve had a lot on your heart, but have not been able to figure out how to say it, try this IdeaStream. It just might be the catalyst you’ve been looking for. Thank you, Marla.

David S. is the editor, curator, educator extraordinaire of a publication serious writers and poets should know about — Dead Poets Live. Even if poetry is not your thing, every writer can learn something from David’s jam-packed posts.

His prompts are more than a topic with words of encouragement. They’re a classroom, and often an art gallery rolled into one. He does his homework and brings treasures to us.

In his prompts, he lifts up a poet and one of their poems that speaks to him. He researches and explores — the poet, the poetry, their life and times. The posts are aptly illustrated, often with David’s own eye-catching paintings.

In this one, Prompt: My Country?, he’s chosen America Never was America to Me by Langston Hughes and included photos of Harlem in the 1930s.

We also get a lesson in dramatic storytelling from author Donald Miller. Three clear pointers David extracts from his reading and invites us to keep in mind as we read Hughes and explore whose country this is through the vehicle of poetry.

This post is listed as an 8-minute read. It doesn’t take 8 minutes to read the whole thing, given the photos. But you will want to spend at least that, likely more, pouring over and absorbing the rich content here. Below is just one of the provocative questions David gives us to ponder while writing and reflecting. Thank you, David.

What does a poem “cost” me to write? How much am I willing to risk

emotionally?

I hesitate to put one of my own posts here, but since it is a call for submissions to the publication Middle-Pause on this topic, I feel it qualifies. Like the other two, Calling all Writers, introduces the what and why — in this case, the creation of a safe place for women of all races to discuss their feelings and experiences.

There are some suggested questions for reflection and writing and a commitment to read, honor, and comment on what we receive. While we are off to a decent start, we want to hear from more people. We especially want to hear about the impact of the police killings and the Black Lives Matter protests on families. This includes, but is far from limited to, mixed-race families.

What has it been like to watch events unfold as a family? How are the kids and/or grandkids dealing with it? Have you had conversations about race, and what has that been like for them and for you? How are you supporting the young ones?

So there you have it — three posts inviting us to put words to our anger, our fears, our visions, and our nightmares on the topics of race, justice, police brutality vs. public protection, exclusion, and family. Of course, you choose or let your heart choose the format — prose, poetry, even limerick. We look forward to reading the results!