Can I Kick It?

October 1, 2019
Celebrated playwright, essayist, and rapper Goodwin delivers his first solo poetry collection, composed in the quick-witted, topical style of "break beat" poetry that he has popularized through his albums and performances. While Goodwin addresses everyday victories and frustrations, such as Black contributions to culture ("We didn't invent it but we evolved it / Like the woodwind / The turntable / The grind / The dance floor"), but also the omnipresence of check-out-lane racism, he also unabashedly engages in present-day politics. The epigraph to one poem calls out Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring for defending his decision to wear blackface in college and attributing it to a love for musician Kurtis Blow ("Rap make you wanna be another man"). Black music forms the core of this punchy, energetic collection. Two poems take on recent proposals to replace statues of Christopher Columbus in Minnesota and Virginia with statues of Prince and Missy Elliot, respectively. Goodwin is well-aware of his nostalgic bias: "But maybe I'm just an old head, neck sore from looking back." Simultaneously an ode to, and embodiment of, Black lyric excellence.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)