The Power of Poetry

Velshi Banned Book Club

This episode of the Velshi Banned Book Club will confront the barrier to entry that surrounds poetry and tear it down by closely examining a masterclass in poetic storytelling: “Brown Girl Dreaming” by Jacqueline Woodson. "Brown Girl Dreaming" follows Woodson’s childhood split between segregated Greenville, South Carolina, and New York City. “Brown Girl Dreaming” is a beautiful look at childhood, identity, and racism in America. The Poetry Foundation's Young People's Poet Laureate from 2015 to 2017, Woodson proves that poems tell more in a few turns of phrase than many novels tell us in an entire chapter.