A People's History of Chicago (BreakBeat Poets)

Fascinating collection of poems that examine the history of Chicago from its Native American origins to its settling and unsettling. Each poem is dated and dedicated to a person (Jane Addams, Gwendolyn Brooks, Muddy Waters, Studs Terkel, etc.) or an event (The Eastland Disaster, Disco Demolition, The Day Harold Died, etc). Fresh voice, fresh perspective and layers of meaning, though a very anti-establishment tone. (People's History). No sugar coating here, but as gritty and unapologetic as the city has always been. Great insights and depth of history and meaning that deserve more than a cursory read. Not exactly text book material, but maybe should be.

I took it literally when I heard that this collection has “77 poems, one for each neighborhood of Chicago,” and I was excited to explore “one something” about each area. While there are 77 entries, nowhere near all the neighborhoods are touched upon. Instead, it’s a curated, chronological history of Chicago from “before 1492” to 2017, in free-verse and hip-hop vignettes about injustice and social change, with significant anger. While I have grown eager to read about Chicago’s successes, it seems I still have much to appreciate about its other aspects. I will keep this volume.