Finley Students Participate in Juneteenth Poetry Celebration

J. Taylor Finley Middle School students participated in a Juneteenth Day poetry celebration at the Joseph Lloyd House in Lloyd Harbor, the site where Jupiter Harmon, the first published Black American poet, was enslaved by the Lloyd family and where he authored his best known works.

“In late March, just after our poetry unit in class, Andrew Tharler, education director for Preservation Long Island, emailed with an opportunity for my students to submit original poetry for their contest,” Finley English teacher Kimberly Schiller explained. “Preservation Long Island is a non-profit dedicated to preserving Long Island history. This year, Preservation Long Island and the Caribbean American Poetry Association planned a poetry event on Juneteenth in honor of Jupiter Hammon.”

The program for the June 19 event featured poets Dr. Lindamichelle Baron, Keisha-Gay Anderson, Yasmin Morais and Marsha Nelson. “It was a picture-perfect day for this historic celebration,” Ms. Schiller said.

Two of the teacher’s eighth-grade students, Arlena Figueroa and Celia LoPorto, read their poems in front of a full house. “Arlena wrote a heartfelt poem titled ‘Immigrants’ and Celia's poem is titled ‘Always True.’” Ms. Schiller said. “Arlena and Celia performed their poems during the open-mic session of the event following noteworthy, published poets and the Teen Poet Laureates from Nassau and Suffolk counties, respectively.”

For their poetry submissions, students were encouraged by Preservation Long Island to explore themes of liberty, resistance, and the power of writing; concepts that resonate with Hammon’s own work.

“Part of this project was to also encourage students to explore their creativity, engage with history and reflect on important themes in their own words,” Ms. Schiller said. “They were able to put into authentic practice what they learned in my English class in regard to figurative language, poetic structure, fluency of language, connotative meaning and public speaking.”

Mr. Tharler reached out to Ms. Schiller after the event and stated the Finley students “stole the show” and expressed his gratitude to their contribution to the day’s success. “He appreciated my encouraging the students to share their work and hopes to do more student poetry collaborations next year,” Ms. Schiller said. “He also offered their families back for free tours of Joseph Lloyd Manor whenever they would like.”

The British occupied Joseph Lloyd Manor during the Revolutionary War “and it is where Hammon authored his most significant works about the moral conflicts of slavery and freedom in the early United States,” according to the Preservation Long Island website. .

“I am honored and immensely proud that Arlena and Celia were invited to share their articulate words during the celebration,” Ms. Schiller said. “Several of their classmates also came out for the event to help support their friends and learn the history of the Joseph Lloyd House and more about Jupiter Hammon.”

In all, seven Finley students participated in the Juneteenth Day celebration.