This November marks the 50-year commemoration of a relatively unknown incident of state-sanctioned violence on the campus of Southern University-Baton Rouge, a historically Black university, and the main campus of the only HBCU system in the nation. In the fall of 1972, Southern University students protested inadequate conditions on the campus for a month leading to the November 16, 1972 shooting death of students, Denver Smith and Leonard Brown by Louisiana state police.
As an alum of Southern University, I began working on a multimedia spoken word poetry project called Blood on the Bluff in the fall of 2020 with the intent of further unpacking the narrative behind this tragic event, in an effort to gain a deeper understanding of why it has been suppressed mainly in the larger civil rights narrative in my hometown of Baton Rouge.
Through interviews with alumni in my age range (late 30s-early 40s) as well as alumni who were students at Southern at the time of the killing, and other community members, I crafted a multi-verse piece written in the voice of the campus' student union that was named after the victims (Smith and Brown Memorial Student Union).
I am scheduled to travel to Southern University in November for the 50-year commemoration of this event. The audio, and text in this post is a sample verse from the project.
Text of verse in audio
Oh Southern, dear Southern/you, crown jewel Black campus of the bayou/you, Black adminstration/you, Black university president/you, once upon a time open enrollment for Bay Area Black kids, Chi-town Black kids, Houston Black kids, New Orleans Black kids, LA Black kids/New Jersey Black kids/Black kids from every corner of the country seeking a chance to enhance their lot in life/if we knew any better we would have called you on the ‘B’ and ‘C’ between the H and U standing for bureaucracy and complicit/but we learned the hard way who was pulling the purse strings when your children were demanding better/and the ‘B’ that showed up to respond to their grievances was a tank called Big Bertha/but before buckshots blasted my ancestors into oblivion/there were already crimes occuring on your grounds/your kids who looked to be loved on by their home away from home found the conditions they encountered — criminal/found the curriculum they were learning — criminal/found their scholarship being valued at 50 cents on the dollar of LSU students — criminal/felt like they were being robbed of a high-end education/and this is how I became what I became in the first place/this is how the crew of fall ‘72 ended up boycotting classes for a month/this is why my forefathers’ blood and brain matter had to be washed from the concrete after the state staged a warm crime against their peers/oh Southern, dear Southern — you, birthplace/you sacred ground/you who built me up along the banks of the mighty Mississippi/blue like that tank that sent your children scattering/gold like yellow-bellied administrators who left your kids in the clutches of 300 cops/I love you, I’m just hurt that my origin story be whispered about like an urban myth instead of a cold case/I know what’s done is done but I cannot help but wonder what would happen if the whispers about the bloodshed on your watch were amplified like a Human Jukebox halftime show, and someone was held accountable/I mean, it ain’t like this history could never be repeated/ it ain’t like I’m not always on edge whenever my people decide to galvanize for the greater good.
Project Description:
Blood on the Bluff is a poetic and historical retelling of the 1972 massacre of Southern University students, Denver Smith and Leonard Brown, by poet and advocate, Donney Rose. Using the persona of the Smith and Brown Memorial Union as the voice of the written text and shared accounts from historians, Southern University alums, and activists for historical purposes, Blood on the Bluff seeks to explore themes of Civil Rights, student protests, and how an incident of state-sanctioned murder changed the course of a school’s history. Blood on the Bluff is an offshoot project of The American Audit, a multimedia series of spoken word and historical accounts uncovering the toll of Black American life.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IN SEPTEMBER…
September was a great month of discovery for me with respect to the type of content I want to offer with Observations In Blackness moving forward. I tried my hand at blending different mediums, providing recaps of culturally relevant events, striking a balance between to-the-minute news responses and analyses that have a longer shelf life, and keeping the artistic/poetic offerings in rotation. I’ve learned a lot throughout this month of writing and content creation and am hoping to keep the momentum going.
Below is the link to three of my favorite pieces in September. One is still available for all subscribers and the other two are archived for paid subscriptions. I encourage anyone who is thinking about upgrading to a paid subscription to please do so.
Thank you in advance for your support!
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