The American Experience Through Poems in Quarantine

A talk by Jesse Fowler & Edward Wells. During the current COVID-19 pandemic, many Americans have felt unheard. This has led to unrest after their having obeyed stay-at-home orders from some of the same officials that have now killed George Floyd in an act that seems to have been racially motivated. Through poetry, American poets like Francis Scott Key, Walt Whitman, and Langston Hughes have historically helped calm a divided America. Similarly, this poetry reading is designed to help calm, to remind us that we are all in this together. In the poems read, the current American experience is shared from different perspectives. Perspectives include, but are not limited to, that of the everyman, the African American, and the Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV). A Q&A will follow, as time permits.