Reginald Betts

Reginald Dwayne Betts (born Nov. 5, 1980) is an American poet, memoirist, teacher and lawyer.

Quotes

 * …You consciously weave certain things in. Then some things are unconsciously woven into the book, both because you write one poem at a time but also because the motivations for each poem exist within the world of that poem. They subconsciously transcend the world of that poem and go to other places…
 * On book writing in “The Reckoning: An Interview with Reginald Dwayne Betts” in The Paris Review (2019 Nov 7)


 * …it’s really easy to get caught up in how you’re hurt and not really think about whom you are actually hurting. At football games, they kneel, but they’re not kneeling for domestic violence in the NFL. They’ve had a huge rate of domestic violence, intensely physical domestic violence that has become public, and you know that’s the tip of the iceberg. That’s not even talking about accusations of sexual assault. It’s not talking about the actual murdering. This is part of the culture where men, who have been professional athletes, have done things. We don’t talk about that. They aren’t kneeling for that.
 * On ways in which Black men harm other Black men by being complicit in “The Reckoning: An Interview with Reginald Dwayne Betts” in The Paris Review (2019 Nov 7)


 * I like to think that the poem is trying to hit you in the gut. I like to think that the poem comes from someplace [of] deep and intense emotion and [is] this thing that I can't run away from...
 * On choosing poetry as his go-to writing form in “'Felon' Author Says, 'Everybody Has To Tell Their Kids Something'” in NPR (2019 Nov 3)


 * …I like to think that I'm just part of the struggle because we all sort of exist in this thing, trying to figure out what it means to be human day-to-day and what it means to have, like, suffered and made other people suffer.
 * On whether he is an exception when compared to formerly incarcerated individuals in “'Felon' Author Says, 'Everybody Has To Tell Their Kids Something'” in NPR (2019 Nov 3)