By Tom Beckwith

Leo Shelton's " Deep Breaths" exhales with rhythms to the journey of life, and he manages to do this with vernacular language, rhymes, and disjointed lines. His ability to cultivate the mind can be viewed as liberal but honest in many aspects. Shelton's book of poetry is like being wrapped in a quilt with various snapshots of life. "Deep Breaths" hinges on how the book is dissected into sections.

 

Deep Breaths
Poetry - Leo Shelton

Reading some of his poems is like hearing a heartbeat bouncing against the pavement, which can be frightening because he is grappling with the issue of racial identity in some of his poems. Whispers is the section of the book that I enjoyed the most because it presented the stereotypical views of an American African male in What's A Brutha To Do? and Undeserved Fame. Although, America has come a long way as a country, these are subjects that can be political and people sometimes are afraid to encounter them in life.

What's A Brutha to Do? begins with Shelton stating: "When greatness is demanded/ What's a brutha to do?" Expectations as well perfection is sometimes demanded by friends, relatives, supervisors, teachers, etc. This can be stressful for some African American males especially if they're paving a path for others to follow. Shelton even highlights that sometimes African American males "Stand by the side/ And wish he were someone/ Worthy of a reservation." People makes decisions because of their priorities, and they shouldn't be categorized because other individuals.

However, there are stereotypical views of African American males, and some of these males our spokesman for the human race: "What's a brutha to do?/ When he carries the weight of a race/ And the human race/ On the shoulder of ancestors/ Forging Forward/ BECAUSE of "the path that has been paved for him." Drugs, jail, and fame our some of the ideas and stereotypes that surface around African American males, but they're sometimes disregarded with it comes to professional careers such "CEO" or "president." Stereotypes can sometimes deter African American males from the dreams, or even motivate them to redefine what exactly means to be a "brutha." Leo Shelton clearly acknowledges this in What's A Brutha to Do?, and the truth is every African American male is different in some shape or form. Therefore, they're trying to identify and establish their status as "brutha."

Undeserved Fame is a poem criticizing all the unwanted publicity of how some people portray African American males. This attention is giving the speaker within the poem the "image of buster/ A hustler, a homie from the hood/ And write me a character profile." People character is sometimes predetermined by the media, which can be an unreliable source: " Like you landscaped my dwellings/ And my lack of respect/ For my home/ Simply called "The projects." People our constantly critiquing every movement of the speaker to find something negative to say about him, but there acknowledging his greatness and success in this poem. Shelton makes it clear that these our some of the whispers of what people imagine black man is like in America, in the last stanza of Undeserved Fame. Ironically, these are the character being portrayed in movies by African American males. Fame is great, but it is better when it is deserving.

Reality is the perception of African American males is within What's A Brutha to Do? and Undeserved Fame, and I applaud Leo Shelton for taking the opportunity to acknowledge some of the whispers of society within his book of poetry.