As one of the final happenings at the old WCHS building, Mrs. Brown’s history students were able to meet and listen to former Poet Laureate of Kentucky, Frank X Walker. Mr. Walker, renowned for his poetry and speaking, visited Mrs. Brown’s students on December 3rd. Known for coining the phrase ‘Affrilachia’, Walker is a prominent supporter and teller of black history, which is the reason he was willing to come to WCHS, as we are one of the few schools in the state that have an available class for African American history.
Walker brought some of his newest work with him to share with the students, from his book of poetry, Load in Nine Times. This new book was a powerful work that combines a thoughtful poetic writing style with masterful story-telling. Walker is not afraid to tell the uglier parts of history, and it shows in his story-telling, which is profound and even abrasive to hear and/or read at times, but this is exactly what makes his work unique and effective. It captures the attention of readers and listeners, and gets his message across. The overarching theme of his talk at WCHS was that students, and citizens, should never be afraid of learning the truth, and especially never afraid to speak it. The best way to inspire change is to seek truth, because truth is something that no one can deny.
Walker has many prominent works of poetry, his latest work being Load in Nine Times. He has also written many other successful and critically acclaimed books of poetry such as Isaac Murphy: I Dedicate this Ride, Affrilachia, Buffalo Dance, and Love House, along with others.
Walker’s work is well known among WCHS students. For example, Mrs. Boss’s AP Literature and Composition class, in their upcoming unit on poetry, will be studying and discussing Walker’s work. Last year, the Kentucky Department of Education came to Mrs. Boss’s class to film a video and gather content from a candid and real classroom, and during that class, the AP Lit students were studying and analyzing Walker’s poem, “I Dedicate this Ride”.
Frank X Walker was very appreciative of our WCHS students, and proud of the way we were willing to listen to what he had to say and take it to heart. Walker is an extremely prominent poet, especially in Kentucky, so his visit was a much appreciated honor for WCHS.
