Supplemental Links

Part I

“Kind of Blue in Green” from Dedications II by DJ Techné (Remix)

Japanese Spontaneous Art: Spontaneous and Playful: Wakanake Kyōsai as a Performer, Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures (Lecture)

Fresh Prince: God Down Moses (Video Clip – R* bomb Warning)

George Elliott Clarke on Africadia (Interview)

Part II

Vietnam War Protests in the US (Map)

King’s Funeral Service (Video Clip)

Into the Heart of Africa, Royal Ontario Museum (Archive)

Claude McKay – If we Must Die (Poem)

George Elliott Clarke “‘Your bass sounds like a typewriter’: A Reading and Interview with George Elliott Clarke. Accompanied by bassist, David Lee.

Part III

Virgil’s Eclogues (Archive)

Africaville in Nova Scotia (Website)

Daniel Parry Sampson (News)

George & Rufus Hamilton Hanging (Journal)

Leni Riefenstahl’s Photography in Africa (Archive)

“George Elliott Clarke Says Poetry, ‘the Soul of the Arts,’ Can’t Die,” CBC Radio (Interview)

Clarke, “George Elliott Clarke “Harmonious Dissonance: Paul Watkins in Conversation with George Elliott Clarke” (Interview)

Pannonica de Koenigswarter (News)

Viola Desmond on $10 CAD (News)

Clarke, “Cool Politics: Styles of Honour in Malcolm X and Miles Davis.” (Essay)

Additional Sources

Sankofa Pan African Series “Prof. George Elliott Clarke on Imperialism and the Destruction of the Ancient Library at Alexandria” (Lecture)

Sankofa Pan Africa Series “Can there be world peace without equality by Prof. George Elliot Clarke | Equal Rights |” (Lecture)

George Elliott Clarke 2016 Lecture at VIU (Chapbook)

Discussion Questions

1. While carefully structured, George Elliott Clarke’s poetry incorporates elements of voice, song, and improvisation, drawing influences from jazz and blues. How does Clarke’s use of “modal frameworks” in his poetry parallel the improvisational techniques found in jazz, particularly in Miles Davis's Kind of Blue? See Bill Evans’s liner notes. What does this suggest about the relationship between musical and literary composition in Clarke’s poetry and Black artistic traditions?

2. Read Clarke’s poem “Bluing Green.” The poem grapples with the idea that “the power of jazz is miscegenation,” reframing historical anxieties around racial mixture. How does Clarke’s engagement with this theme through poetry align with broader discussions of cultural hybridity in Black Canadian and Black diasporic literature?

3. This chapter suggests that Clarke’s use of blues and jazz functions as a form of sonic citizenship. Drawing on examples from the chapter, how does Clarke define Black Canadian identity through musical metaphors, as well literary history? In what ways does this challenge or reinforce dominant narratives of national belonging in Canada?

4. Clarke navigates a tension between Black Canadian nationalism and the broader Black Atlantic diaspora. Does his poetry support the idea of a distinct Black Canadian literary tradition, or does it suggest a more fluid, diasporic identity? How do his poetic references to figures like Malcolm X, Miles Davis, and Charles Mingus contribute to this debate?

5. Read Clarke’s poem “Africadian Petition (1783)” Research the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) and the Black Loyalists (the Nova Scotians/Nofaskoshans) who settled in Nova Scotia (Africville) after the war. How does Clarke approach history in this poem? Additionally, look up any references or language you do not understand, and prepare a few observations to share with others.

6. Read Clarke’s poem “Antiphony.” What is the poem about, and what poetic techniques does Clarke use? You might also want to read “Blank Sonnet.” What similarities or differences do you notice between “Antiphony” and “Blank Sonnet”?