What are poets for, in such an age? / What is the use of poetry?
“In cities around the country, if you want to understand the history of a neighborhood, you might want to do the same thing you'd do to measure human health: Check its temperature.
That's what a group of researchers did, and they found that neighborhoods with higher temperatures were often the same ones subjected to discriminatory, race-based housing practices nearly a century ago.” - All Things Considered, 2020
“Neighborhoods with a majority of people of color have 33% less tree canopy on average than majority white communities, according to the study. And neighborhoods with 90% or more of their residents living in poverty have 41% less tree canopy than communities with only 10% or less of the population in poverty.
In Southern Nevada, more than 560,000 trees will need to be planted to reach “tree equity,” or the number of trees needed so that all residents can benefit from shade, cooler temperatures and reductions in carbon.” - Nevada Current, 2021
“households below the poverty line, across all racial and ethnic groups, faced more blistering temperatures than more affluent households. But the average person of color still faced hotter temperatures than their white counterparts, regardless of income.
That’s evidence that something fishy is going on with regard to race in particular, Hsu says. Other studies have suggested the same thing — Black, Asian, and Latino people are more likely to live in urban heat islands.” - The Verge, 2021
“Solutions to neighborhood-level disparities vary from one place to the next, depending on the local climate and the city’s unique characteristics. In some places, planting more vegetation may help. Installing reflective surfaces on rooftops or roads, which can help beam sunlight away, is another potential tool.
“There’s not a one-size-fits-all solution to urban heat island management,” Hsu said. “You have to consider where you are and what’s feasible.”
But knowing where the disparities lie, and which communities are at the greatest risk, is the first step.” - E&E News via Scientific American, 2020
Attribution
What are poets for, in such an age?
What is the use of poetry?
The state of the world calls out for poetry to save it.
If you would be a poet, create works capable of answering the challenge of apocalyptic times, even if this meaning sounds apocalyptic.
You are Whitman, you are Poe, you are Mark Twain, you are Emily Dickinson and Edna St. Vincent Millay, you are Neruda and Mayakovsky and Pasolini, you are an American or a non-American, you can conquer the conquerors with words....
— from Poetry as Insurgent Art [I am signaling you through the flames] by Lawrence Ferlinghetti