{image1}Evans Gant moved multiple times as a child, but never far from 24th and Vienna on Milwaukee's North Side. There, he lived a life that would someday be the inspiration for his poetry.
"I truly believe that my poetry has always been with me, because it deals with my experiences," says Gant, 29, who will release "The Syndrome," a collection of poems and short narrative pieces, early next month.
Gant attempts to artistically interpret the African American male experience in the Midwest, and for the most part, does so successfully. Pieces like "The Life For Me" is hard hitting and hopeful.
"This ain't the life for me!/I screamed/When a problem was at hand/And relatives turned to me:/The only sober man/ ... I'll make this the life for me/Because I have no other/and because I have a baby brother."
For much of his life, Gant thought he was an only child, but found out later in life that he had multiple siblings, all with different mothers but the same absentee father. Many of his poems are written in the First Person from the perspective of Gant's siblings and mother.
Today, Gant is a dedicated husband and the father of a four-year-old daughter, Tene. He works at an architecture firm researching and documenting historical documents, but his life on 24th Street, and the reality of being black in Milwaukee, are still the kindling for his poetic fire.
Like poems from the Harlem Reniassance, Gant's work is well crafted, accessible for people of all colors and important in the slow evolution of racial equality.
"As an African-American male, I truly believe that the vast majority of Milwaukee has no idea of the trials and environments that many of us have grown accustomed to. Most of the time, after hearing our individual stories, there is an outpour of pacification, but pacification isn't what is desired," he says. "My desire is solutions for Milwaukee, through respect and understanding of all creeds."
"The Syndrome," published by Rene Rogers, will be available the first week of May at a variety of bookstores, including Reader's Choice on Martin Luther King Drive and Barnes & Noble. Until then, Gant will read excerpts from the book every Sunday night at Mecca Nightclub's (3801 W. Hampton Ave.) open mic.
"What better way to understand an individual than to hear (the truth) from them?" asks Gant.
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
