Abstract
Originally delivered as a response to Rachel N. Hastings's performance of “Black Human” at the Opening Session of the 2017 National Communication Association annual convention, this essay celebrates the reclaiming of the prominence of the practice of performing poetry in this organization as a vital part of its legacy. Tracing the significance of the term “poet” through the German dichter, the essay urges an understanding of the poet's ability to “push back against oppressive bureaucracy” in the academy as well as in the world, and to perform resistance against contemporary cultural tyrannies that insist our legacies are the exclusive property of those in power. The essay at times breaks into performative writing in the form of poetic diction in order to respond to the call of Hastings's poem.
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