We need our poets.(executive editor's view)(Editorial)

In one of Countee Cullen's poems in eluded in Caroling Dusk: An Anthology Of Verse by Negro Poets (Harper & Row, 1927), a collection he edited, the poet concludes: Yet do I marvel at this curious thing/To make a poet Black, and bid him sing!

These words of Cullen, one of the shining stars of the Harlem Renaissance, still resonate for us. It captures in an instant, as poetry does, the conflict of the African American artist--spoken word, written word, visual or music--whose calling is to create and to celebrate life in a world that may not always seem welcoming.

African America especially needs its poets. First, we need them to voice our truths and interpret …