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Dear Readers:

We are currently seeking poetry from writers of all backgrounds for Black History in Poetry, an anthology scheduled for publication in the Summer of 2026. The anthology will be a means of celebrating and honoring notable Black Americans by offering poetry that teems with imagery, observation, emotion, memory, testimony, insight, impact, and humanity. Our aim is to give readers a way to visualize Black history from a fresh perspective. All poetic forms will be considered; it is preferred that length not exceed 75 lines. Poems created with the assistance of AI will not be accepted.

Poets will want to consider writing about well-known figures like Martin Luther King, Barack Obama and Jackie Robinson, but also other prominent Americans, such as activists: Bayard Rustin, Barbara Jordan, Daisy Bates, Angela Davis, Medgar Evers, Stokely Carmichael, Malcolm X, Tommie Smith and John Carlos; inventors: Frederick McKinley Jones, Elijah McCoy, and Charles Drew; writers: August Wilson, Chester Himes,  Walter Mosley, Richard Wright, James Baldwin and Ralph Ellison; artists/photographers: Faith Ringgold, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Kehinde Wiley, Elizabeth Catlett, Carrie Mae Weems, and Kara Walker; groundbreaking business people: Madam C.J. Walker; A. G. Gaston, Cathy Hughes, John Johnson and Earl G. Graves, Sr.; Washington lawmakers: Shirley Chisholm, Thurgood Marshall, and Adam Clayton Powell; filmmakers: Oscar Micheaux, Gordon Parks, and Marlon Riggs; musicians: Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Howlin’ Wolf, Big Mama Thornton, Linda Martell, Abbey Lincoln, Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, and Jimi Hendrix; private citizens like Bridget “Biddy” Mason, Claudette Colvin, Ella Baker, Bessie Coleman and Henrietta Lacks; and athletes: Arthur Ashe, Althea Gibson, Wilma Rudolph, Jesse Owens, Satchel Paige, Willie Mays, and Bill Russell.  Poems about events such as The Great Migration, The Civil Rights Movement, The Harlem Renaissance, and the creation (and destruction) of Tulsa’s Black Wall Street are also encouraged.

This list is only intended to jump start your own thoughts on individuals  and  milestones deserving of poetic recognition. Contributors are invited to write about any Black historical figures or events — both past and present — that inspire you.

Published poets may be asked to record themselves reading their poem, which will be available for readers to hear via the use of QR codes published within the anthology.

 

Submission guidelines:

No submission fee.

Submit up to five previously unpublished poems on PDF or Word format via email to [email protected]. Please write “Poems for consideration in the Black History poetry anthology” in the email’s subject heading.

Simultaneous submissions are accepted. If you need to withdraw a submission, please inform us via email at [email protected]

Include a brief 50-100 word bio. Picture (optional)

Please do not ask to send revised poems while they are under review.

This open reading period will close on Friday, January 9, 2026; our goal is to have a response to your submission within 90 days.

Jerry Jazz Musician acquires First Worldwide Serial Rights. All rights revert back to authors upon publication.

Published poets will be compensated with one gratis copy of the anthology.

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Editors:

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Joe Maita is a writer, educator, jazz music advocate, and  founder/editor/publisher of the online journal Jerry Jazz Musician. Founded in 1999, Jerry Jazz Musician is a non-commercial website dedicated to exploring all aspects of American culture with jazz as its heart, soul, and focal point. Original interviews, poetry, and short fiction are regular features of the publication.  Maita was an executive in the entertainment business for 40 years, and served as Board President of PDX Jazz, the presenting organization of the Portland Jazz Festival.  He edited the 2025 anthology Kinds of Cool: An Interactive Collection of Jazz Poetry [Unsolicited Press]

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Connie Johnson is a California-based writer with multiple Pushcart Prize nominations for poetry. Her publishing credits include The Iconoclast, Haight-Ashbury Literary Journal, San Pedro River Review, Cholla Needles, The Muleskinner Journal, Gargoyle, Sophon Lit, Voicemail Poems, Toasted Cheese Literary Journal, Mudfish, Shot Glass Journal, Oddball Magazine, Glint Literary Journal, Exit 13, Sport Literate, and Sheila-Na-Gig.  She has authored two poetry collections:  Everything is Distant Now (Blue Horse Press) and I Have Almost Everything (boats against the current);  In a Place of Dreams  and  Still Wild,  her digital chapbooks (which contain audio readings/personal narrative), were published by Jerry Jazz Musician.

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Jerry Jazz Musician…human produced since 1999

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