doris davenport\u27s poetry collection, Voodoo Chile - Slight Return, firmly connects her to the southern African roots that she embraces. The poems speak from the perspective of a world-traveled feminist as well as a concerned humanist. davenport\u27s poetry moves between being so caustic they singe, to an almost light-hearted, humorous tone. In both extremes, davenport\u27s underlining motive seems to be to expose ills and ridicule contradictions inherent in the society

Adisa, Opal Palmer

English

VCU Scholars Compass

Explorations in Sigh ts and Sounds As good as D a n i e l 's a n a l ys i s  i s ,  he  does neglect the  role of  they were having in  organizing and gain ing recogni tion as  bargain­ing agents.  Of course, the labor unions a lso played a role  in  preventing the urban ization of Afro-Americans.  This is part icular ly apparent in San Francisco, which had one of the strongest labor movements in the nat ion . When an open shop prevai led in the 1 920s, San Francisco's Black popu lation ( l ike Los Angeles's, where unions were particularly weak) increased enormou ly (42) . Daniels  appear to be ant i- labor, whi le  he does indicate unions, along with the munic ipa l  pol i t ical  system and federal man­dates, played a great role in increasing the number of  B lacks h i red in San Franci co just before and during World War [ I .  St i l l ,  he should have emphasized that industr ia l i sts  and business owners often pre­served their supply of cheap l abor by pitt ing ethnic groups against  one another and by playing on prej udice. Despite these problems,  Daniels has  written a very good book, which cau es the reader, as athan I rvin Huggin writes in h i s  foreword, to  " rethink comm unity formation in  the Un ited States" (xv) . Daniels  ha pro en that  B lack an Franci scan saw themselves as urban pioneer who shared in  the bui lding of the c i ty whi le keeping their  ethnic ident i ty. Michael Patrick Univer ity of Missouri-Rol la  doris davenport . Voodoo Chile - Slight Return: Poems. (Cornelia, GA: Soque Street Pre s, 1 99 1 )  84 pp.,  $ 1 0 .00 paper. doris dav nport'  po try o l lection, Voodoo hile - light Return, fi rmly con nect her to the outhern African roots that  he embraces . The poems sp ak from the perspect ive of a world-traveled fem inist  as well as a conc rned humanist .  davenport '  poetry moves between being so cau tic they inge, to an a lmost l ight-hearted, humorous tone. In both extremes, davenport' under l in ing motive seems to be to expose i l l  and r idicule contradictions i nherent in the society. Throughout this two-section col lection of poems, davenport's integr ity is evident .  While there i no ingle poem that embodies her craft or particular perspect ive, the poem, " [ nterlude" aptly sum ma­rizes the poet's intent throughout thi  col lect ion.  storytel ler, you need - you 20 Number 1 4  (Summer 1 994) to tell a good story, to be a good got to h ave - a good l istener. ( " Help me to tel l  i t ,  somebody . " )  ( 5 5 )  The success o f  t h i s  poem i s  threefold :  i t  i s  succinct; i t  revea ls  u rgency; and it  dialogues with the audience. Clearly, davenport's poetics i s  informed by ca l l  and  response, an African ethos that  is  st i l l  evident in  African American churches, theater productions, and m usic .  As in those sett ings where dialogue between presenter and audience is natural, davenport's " Interlude" sol icits a response from readers. This  feel ing  of engagement i s  evident in  a lmost a l l  of the poems .  Readers are pulled in through identif ication, especia l ly  in " Poem for a Varnette H oneywood Painting (The Beating Poe m ) . "  Because m any African American readers are fam i l i ar with the saying " You gone git a whuppin,  now, " t hey can identi fy ful ly with the scenario that th i s  poem presents, and davenport's vivid descr ipt ions heighten the portrayal.  davenport's use of language recal l s  Ntozake Shange's  poetry, but her beat is s l ightly d i fferent.  Like Shange, davenport e levates African American speech so that the rhyth m and the vernacular leap from the p ages . This  qual i ty i s  most str ik ing in  the poem "Miz Anna - On Death . "  The voice i s  older and comes off a s  being m ore down to earth,  m ore rural .  davenport combines a serious subject with humor. Some fol k  up & die some folk ,  though, you can't k i l l .  l i ke Lean 's husband.  ( 3 1 )  Whi le the story i s  fami l iar ,  the tel l i ng i s  new, the perspective unique yet the characters are real .  davenport uses the fam i l i a r  with a twist  that prompts anger and charges of blasphemy in some believers, as  in the poem "naw.  a in't  no b a l m  i n  gilead, & Sears  i s  so ld  out too (a  poem about the original  rapist, ch i ld  abuser-m i sogynist  . . .  ) . "  In  this  poem,  as  the t it le suggests, davenport confl ates m any seemi ngly unrelated issues that u l t imately strongly condem n the J udeo-Ch rist ian i nscription of Jesus's b i r th .  The poem begins with a plea ,  " j ust t h i n k  about i t : , "  then the tone and langu age sh i ft to any angry, confrontational one: poor j esus .  in  a dry­ass temple & as if that a in 't bad enuf, when h e  cam outSide,  a l l  the other kids,  being kids,  sa id " there go j esus-the-bastard whose 2 1  Explorations in Sights and Sounds momma so crazy he th ink  a angel did it to her nananananananaaaaaaa" (48)  In  this poem, as is th ca e with a few others ,  the narrator's tone and atti tude change marked ly th roughout the poem, so that  by the  end, one is left speech less .  Si lence is the only appropriate response .  davenport's poems are powerful ;  the language i s  raw and free . davenport takes readers on a journey th rough untraveled regiOns and introduces ideas that will cause many to que t ion the very founda­tion of their moral beli efs .  Voodoo Chile - Sligh t Retllrn: Poems i s  a bold collection of poem that xplores old terra in with new insights ,  and offers new and vibrant inte rpretat ions of some ubject readers might hold sacred. dor i  davenport wri ngs and stretche language . As with her l ine-break, where a foot never ends a thought, but rather requ i res that readers move to the next l ine, davenport t i t i l l ates and seduces readers with her often provocative ideas. Th is  col lect ion of poems  is appropriately t i t led and celebrates the endless poss ibi l i t ies of poetics .  Opal Palmer  Adisa a l i fornia Col lege of Arts and Crafts Brian W. Dippie.  George Catlin and His Contemporaries: The Politics of Pa tronage. ( Lincol n :  University of Nebraska Press, 1 990) SS3  pp., $ SO.OO. Although Americans in the 1 990's often argue whether an art is t ' s  or researcher'S work merits publ ic  funding, many agree that  we should fund both the arts  and scient ific inquiry in  nearly a l l  their  diverse forms.  But the ba ic question of patronage remains . Federal and private funding of art and science-re lated work were much in question over a hu ndred years ago, when the artist George Cat l in requested that  the Unit  d States govern ment purchase h i s  American Indian col lection.  For  decades fol lowi ng, i t  was the same story. Even though other arti ts and researchers ( Schoolcraft ,  Eastman,  Squirer )  obta ined fundi ng, Catl i n 's hope for support remai ned unrequited.  Try as he might, a l l  attempts at obta in ing govern ment patronage fai l ed .  I t  was not unti l  1 874, two years after his death,  that  the painter 's  daughter, Sarah, donated Catl i n 's l i fework and art i fact col lect ion to the Smithsonian when, once agai n, money for the purchase cou ld not be found in the federal budget .  The l i fe of the painter from Pennsylvania ,  and those of the artists,  ethnologists ,  ant iquarians, Indian specia l i sts ,  scientists ,  and others of various s t r ipe for whom he  fought for over forty years, has 22 

[Review of] Doris Davenport. Voodoo Chile -Slight Return: Poems

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[Review of] Doris Davenport. Voodoo Chile -Slight Return: Poems

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