Poetry Published Since 2015 — Can I Touch Your Hair? — Latham, Waters, Qualls, and Alko

 

Can I Touch Your Hair?

Written by Irene Latham and Charles Waters and Illustrated by Sean Qualls and Selina Alko

Bibliography:

Latham, I., Waters, C., Qualls, S., & Alko, S. (2019). Can I touch your hair?: Poems of race, mistakes, and friendship. Findaway World, LLC.

Summary:

Latham and Waters use a plot-driven collection of poetry that tells the story of two children, a black boy named Charles and a white girl named Irene (named for the authors themselves), who are assigned to work together on a class poetry project. In the beginning, the two dread working together and seem to not have anything in common, but they grow closer together as they compare experiences and work together. Can I Touch Your Hair? is written as a narrative device for the authors to discuss their differing/similar experiences with race — one author being black, the other white — as if they were having this meeting for an assignment as their fifth grade selves instead of as adults. Sean Qualls and Selina Alko contribute to the conversation through their illustrations that also reflect their relationship as an interracial couple, and as two people who have collaborated on many projects together.

Analysis:

There are so many things to say about this collection. The theme focusing on collaboration between people of two different races is enhanced by the book itself being a collaboration of two sets of teams, but of which consist of a white woman and black man — the same as the main characters who are the child avatars of the authors themselves. The reflection of the authors' and illustrators' backgrounds and experiences in the characters is apparent throughout the book and provide true authenticity that can easily be felt by the reader. 

The structure of the poetry maintains individuality for each character and then finally reflects their collaboration in the last poem that reflects both of their forms. Irene's poetry is consistently left-aligned with structured verses and the title is in title-case with white text and a black block background. Charles's poetry has the titles in bolded black all caps on no background and the text is centered, paragraph-style freeform poetry. The final poem of the book combines the styles with the title appearing in bold black title-case lettering on a white background and the text centered in structured freeform verses.

The illustrations add to the individuality of the characters that appear in the same spaces. Each character is telling the stories of their own experiences and laying out the images of their separate and shared environments, but Qualls and Alko are able to create a cohesive landscape that represents both for each topic explored. 

Excerpt:

FORGIVENESS

I start walking home form school.

When I hear my name called, I turn around.

It's him: yes, him, the one who once asked me, 

"Why do you always try to act like one of us?"

All because I earn my A+ report card,

pushing through homework instead of 

playing video games, not saying, "You ain't,"

or "You is," or "I'm doing good."

"Hey, man," he says, "I'm sorry for what I said to

you a while back." I freeze in shock before matching

his extended hand with my own. "Wow, thanks, man."

I say. "That means a lot. I'm curious though,

what made you apologize to me?" "Well," he says,

"Last week a couple of African Americans

asked me the same question I asked you."

Apology

When Shonda

presents

her family tree

to the class,

I see all

teh top branches

are draped

in chains.

Because my

ancestors

were slaves,

she says

I swallow.

I want to say

I'm

        sorry,

but those words 

are so small

for something

so big.

Still I want to try.

So I write it

on a scrap of paper,

find her library book,

and tuck it inside.

Activity Idea:

The base plot of this poetry book is the two main characters, who are seemingly so different from each other, being assigned to write poetry together for a class. This leads them to form a closer connection and realize their similarities alongside their differences. For an activity, the instructor can implement that same idea. Have kids partner up and write poetry together. Encourage them to explore whatever topics they desire and to go as deep as they want or keep it surface-level if that's what they are more comfortable with. Giving them a common goal and allowing them to create their own topics will provide them with space to find their own common ground.