Video: Tyehimba Jess reads “Negro Migration”

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Tyehimba Jess, winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for his collection Olio,  was born in Detroit and earned his BA from the University of Chicago and his MFA from New York University.  Jess is the rare poet who bridges slam and academic poetry, weaving elements of jazz, blues, history, and biography into his intensely lyrical verse. His first collection, leadbelly (2005), an exploration of the blues musician Huddie Ledbetter’s life, was chosen for the National Poetry Series.

This video was produced in 2015 by The Museum of Modern Art in conjunction with their exhibition “One-Way Ticket: Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series and Other Visions of the Great Movement North.”

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