Filtering American History Through A 'Brown' Lens
Kevin Young's new book of poetry, Brown, is colored by memories from his family and childhood, U.S. history and black culture.
Some people read about history; poet Kevin Young actually saw an important part of history each week, when he went to his family's church in Topeka, Kan. The former pastor of St. Mark's African Methodist Episcopal Church was the Rev. Oliver Brown, of Brown v Board of Education fame. Rev. Brown was before Young's time, but he was still a felt presence.
"His picture was there in the antechamber," Young remembers. "And if you were late—I'm not saying I was ever late," he deadpans, "you got to wait there for a little while until it was time to come in and take your
