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The Film
The Jefferson Street Poet follows the life of James C. Floyd, an African-American poet born and raised in Nashville Tennessee. He grew up in the tightly knit, thriving Black community surrounding Jefferson Street, where Fisk University, Tennessee State University and Meharry Medical College provided the neighborhood with the highest level of education. In 1963, Floyd left high school to join the army, leaving with an honorable discharge in 1968. He returned to Nashville when the US political landscape was shifting drastically with the Civil Rights movement, the assassination of Martin Luther King and the passing of the Fair Housing Act. Also around this time, city planners routed I-40 Highway directly through the middle of Jefferson Street totally disrupting the community and triggering a period of sharp decline. Floyd slipped into a world of crime and drugs. In 1972, he was arrested for bank robbery and spent the next 4 years in prison where he turned his life around and rehabilitated himself through creative writing. In prison he met Bill Allen, who inspired James to read Black authors, self-educate and become more aware of Black consciousness. He completed two years of college, receiving a certificate in Braille and formed a prison writer’s group. Since his release in 1977 he has been guided and supported by his family and friends, including Bob Hill who became a mentor for James as he overcame addiction. James has continued to pursue his writing and works for disenfranchised youth, and drug and alcohol addicts as a mentor and life counselor. His life story and writing has had a profound impact on many people, young and old. This film is a celebration of his poetry and the strength of the African American community in and around Jefferson Street. It's a story of survival, hope and the redemptive power of art.
Poets are crazy!
They attempt to reach past the thin veil of reality
and touch with their pencils that core of beauty
that is the essence of everything;
they always fail
yet they try again and again,
like a moth in its efforts to reach the flame.
Upon an ocean of facts,
amid waves of impossibilities, they float
imprisoned inside transparent bubbles of dreams.
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And it’s so hard for poets to make it among sane people,
’cause they’re always wondering
while everyone else is satisfied;
always frightened while others feel secure.
And the only scars they have to show for the wounds
that cause them so much pain
are their poems.
From Poets Are Crazy! by James C Floyd
Please help if you can
James Floyd speaks on a universal level through his poetry, and an eclectic cast of men and women share firsthand the rich history of a place that was home to a thriving community. The area around Jefferson street was a vital cultural centre for the Black community, thriving for decades until the I-40 cut through the heart of it in the 60s. Beyond north Nashville, very little of this history is known or celebrated, such as the story of the Jubilee Singers from Fisk University - an a capella group who sang spirituals and were the original inspiration for Nashville’s beloved reputation as “Music City”. These stories need to be shared, and you can help make that happen. Help us preserve the history of North Nashville. Please visit our GoFundMe page to donate and to see the list of incentives we are offering in exchange.
The Jubilee Singers at Fisk University