The Chicago Defender Sends a Man to Little Rock

“The Lovers of the Poor” by Gwendolyn Brooks (1960)

This poem appears in Brooks’s collection The Bean Eaters, right after “The Chicago Defender Sends a Man to Little Rock.” “Lovers of the Poor” also addresses social issues surrounding racism, but it centers on an organization of women rather than a male reporter. Food plays an important role in this poem, reflecting the use of tea and cookies in “The Chicago Defender Sends a Man to Little Rock.”

“We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks (1959)

New readers of Brooks’s poetry should be aware of Brooks’s most famous poem, “We Real Cool.” It is influenced by and references jazz music. This is in contrast to the classical composers referenced in “The Chicago Defender Sends a Man to Little Rock,” like Beethoven and Bach. Little Rock, unlike Chicago and New York, does not have a notable jazz scene (which featured many living Black musicians in the 1950s). However, residents of Little Rock have access to outdoor concerts that expose them to dead, white composers.

“Rosa Parks” by Nikki Giovanni (2002)

After Brooks’s death, Giovanni celebrated her and the Chicago Defender in the poem “Rosa Parks.” Like Rosa Parks, the newspaper and Brooks were key figures in the civil rights movement.