It's Hard to Be a Black Man in America and Other African American Poems

Download It's Hard to Be a Black Man in America and Other African American Poems PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Dorrance Publishing
ISBN 13 : 163661129X
Total Pages : 94 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (366 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis It's Hard to Be a Black Man in America and Other African American Poems by : Elroy Alister Esdaille

Download or read book It's Hard to Be a Black Man in America and Other African American Poems written by Elroy Alister Esdaille and published by Dorrance Publishing. This book was released on 2021-10-29 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It's Hard to Be a Black Man in America and Other African American Poems By: Elroy Alister Esdaille This book examines the African-American experience from multiple perspectives and cannot be nailed down to any singular thematic presentation. By peering through the pages of time to current day, the book attempts to disclose the African-American experience in The United States, and it can be applied to other countries as well that once had former colonial designs and slave labor. Modern day America, for many Black people, can be said to be a sum total of its messy history of slavery and segregation, and the recalcitrant roots that still persist today. Life for many black men and women in America is extremely challenging for we have to negotiate systemic, and institutionalize racism on a daily basis, while simultaneously wrestling with issues of colorism and microaggressions that continue to pervade society. It’s difficult to understand the perspective of a black man or black woman in America without getting at least a glimpse into his or her insight about race relations and its impact on him or her. Many African Americans feel that the system is designed against them, but their racial concerns often fall on deaf ears. This book gives in-depth examinations about race in America and it asks questions about accountability through the stylist forms of the poems. As a Caribbean immigrant who migrated to The United States, Elroy Alister Esdaille’s experiences as a black man with race relations has at times been painful as he has experienced firsthand the ugliness of racism and how the system so often makes it extremely hard for many black men to strive and live with dignity and pride. He has watched how the stereotype of criminality has informed decisions made against black men like him, and how one must develop a will stronger than iron in order to survive. As he envisions his readers, it is his desire to speak to all truth seekers and world changers. Race is a messy topic that many people avoid, but it is his aim to confront the issues head-on and lay the foundation for honest and controversial conversations that could inspire meaningful change in society. He would not say he is attempting to enlighten anyone, but rather for people to find their true selves and push hard for the future that they want and deserve.

Citizen

Download Citizen PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Graywolf Press
ISBN 13 : 1555973485
Total Pages : 165 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (559 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Citizen by : Claudia Rankine

Download or read book Citizen written by Claudia Rankine and published by Graywolf Press. This book was released on 2014-10-07 with total page 165 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: * Finalist for the National Book Award in Poetry * * Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry * Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism * Winner of the NAACP Image Award * Winner of the L.A. Times Book Prize * Winner of the PEN Open Book Award * ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker, Boston Globe, The Atlantic, BuzzFeed, NPR. Los Angeles Times, Publishers Weekly, Slate, Time Out New York, Vulture, Refinery 29, and many more . . . A provocative meditation on race, Claudia Rankine's long-awaited follow up to her groundbreaking book Don't Let Me Be Lonely: An American Lyric. Claudia Rankine's bold new book recounts mounting racial aggressions in ongoing encounters in twenty-first-century daily life and in the media. Some of these encounters are slights, seeming slips of the tongue, and some are intentional offensives in the classroom, at the supermarket, at home, on the tennis court with Serena Williams and the soccer field with Zinedine Zidane, online, on TV-everywhere, all the time. The accumulative stresses come to bear on a person's ability to speak, perform, and stay alive. Our addressability is tied to the state of our belonging, Rankine argues, as are our assumptions and expectations of citizenship. In essay, image, and poetry, Citizen is a powerful testament to the individual and collective effects of racism in our contemporary, often named "post-race" society.

For the Love of Black Men

Download For the Love of Black Men PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780990613916
Total Pages : 128 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (139 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis For the Love of Black Men by : Ayin M Adams

Download or read book For the Love of Black Men written by Ayin M Adams and published by . This book was released on 2015-04-17 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the Love of Black Men is a triumph...filled with power - with poems reflecting the rich traditions and complexity of today's black society. For the Love of Black Men is a thought-provoking, hard-hitting book of poetry that offers renderings of past and present indignities, self-introspection, spiritual commitment, forgiveness and the necessity of solutions. It probes areas that are not openly discussed. More than just a book of poetry, For the Love of Black Men addresses issues credibly, compassionately, and directly, with a minimum of soft edges. For the Love of Black Men transports the reader on a personal and private tour into a realm where some Black men have had to wrestle and confront their own challenging questions concerning their wholeness. Many of the concerns these men have had to face may be similar to all men. However, because of the legacy of slavery, their obstacles are more. The wholeness that is being sought is always present, even in the most desolate of times. Trusting one's inner source sometimes gives clarification to dilemmas that appear inconceivable. Many times silence or solitude are means by which answers are revealed. The fast-paced survival atmosphere in which most black men live does not provide such opportunities. In communities where there is a predominance of black men, the constant din of helicopters, fire-engines, sirens and other disturbances does not grant much contemplative time. For the Love of Black Men offers hope and the possibility of alternate choices. Ayin Adams' poetry addresses the Black Man from a potpourri of issues. A gentle and compassionate rumination shared in the loving description of The Eyes of Father while the contrast of Sometimes I feel like a Fatherless Son and the brutally truthful concerns addressed in Hostage or Husband offer objective assessments. In more recent times, approximately fifty plus reported cases of unarmed black men have been murdered by policemen which is a continuation of the 1857 original statement concerning Dred Scott, "No rights which the white man was bound to respect." Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin were some of the victims who have given their lives...is an unsolicited martyrdom the ultimate reward for a Black Man, the final recognition that one never could have achieved on minimum wage or selling individual cigarettes with a second-class citizen mentality? The answers are always within, and the way in which we confront them will determine our happiness or unhappiness. For the Love of Black Men awakens us to a black man's world in today's American Society with searing poems that stretch from the street to the healing power of family and love. From the chilling immediacy of I Can't Breathe (for Eric Garner) to the horrific truth of Unarmed, Adams tells apocalyptic moments in the Black community. Adams also encompasses the love, compassion and humor that connects the black man to the black community and to the world. Fortunately for all of us, Adams verses actually become a legitimate shelf reference of America's shameful history of the slayings of unarmed black men. For the Love of Black Men exposes readers to an expansive reassessment of some of the issues that have prevailed since slavery which have produced myriads of confusion. Ayin Adams permits readers, participants, victims and those who have a genuine desire to rectify the problems, the hope that the offerings she has presented will illicit questions and perhaps provide some solutions. Poetry reaching universal experience is fundamental to understanding human life and Ayin Adams connects the individual and the larger society. This book must be in everyone's library.

"It Is Not Good That Man Should Be Alone"

Download

Author :
Publisher : Xlibris Corporation
ISBN 13 : 1524572225
Total Pages : 179 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (245 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis "It Is Not Good That Man Should Be Alone" by : Pierre Mouna-Dora

Download or read book "It Is Not Good That Man Should Be Alone" written by Pierre Mouna-Dora and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2017-01-16 with total page 179 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It Is Not Good That Man Should Be Alone is a compilation of three works written by the author in the sixties and seventies for its large number of writings. This was the great and determining era of the struggles for civil rights in the United States of America, as everybody knows nowstruggles which were also the lot of the author in a very particular way that inspired these fifty-seven poems and the play. This illustrates a Christian romantic poetry of the civil rights struggles. Translated from the French, the long-ago published works by the editions Saint-Germain-des-Prs, which are Harmonie Reversale and Le Pas de lAube, have been revised and augmented. The play, titled in French jirai en Alabama (Ill Go to Alabama), is facing here its first publication. All three works want to bear witness to the sentence in the preface of Give and Take Harmony, stating that racism can be defeated and is indeed defeated, and, I can add, is defeated through love in its fullness to wit, appeal, and reciprocal feelings, then marriage as conceived by the God of true Christians, thus opening the way to sexualityall that expressing the necessary bond of Adam and Eve. This can be characterized in Give and Take Harmony by the poem Blues for Peggy in Its Time for Alabama, by the biracial love between Molly, the white young lady, and Guemby, the African student at Howard University; and in Dawn Step by The Banquet, to which the children of Americablack, white, and grayare invited to the communion of flesh and blood and of bread and wine, which necessarily makes true the dream of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Besides the three prefaces of the three works and the postscript of the book the reading of which is a mustit brings to light the motivation and the aim of the authors endeavor for a harmonious multiracial society in America. The author, P. Mouna-Dora, besides writing poetry and songs which can be Christian and romantic like those found in the book, enjoys reading, music, and sports.

Negro Poets and Their Poems

Download Negro Poets and Their Poems PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 310 pages
Book Rating : 4.F/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Negro Poets and Their Poems by : Robert Thomas Kerlin

Download or read book Negro Poets and Their Poems written by Robert Thomas Kerlin and published by . This book was released on 1923 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

For the Love of Black Men

Download For the Love of Black Men PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780990613916
Total Pages : 128 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (139 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis For the Love of Black Men by : Ayin M Adams

Download or read book For the Love of Black Men written by Ayin M Adams and published by . This book was released on 2015-04-17 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the Love of Black Men is a triumph...filled with power - with poems reflecting the rich traditions and complexity of today's black society. For the Love of Black Men is a thought-provoking, hard-hitting book of poetry that offers renderings of past and present indignities, self-introspection, spiritual commitment, forgiveness and the necessity of solutions. It probes areas that are not openly discussed. More than just a book of poetry, For the Love of Black Men addresses issues credibly, compassionately, and directly, with a minimum of soft edges. For the Love of Black Men transports the reader on a personal and private tour into a realm where some Black men have had to wrestle and confront their own challenging questions concerning their wholeness. Many of the concerns these men have had to face may be similar to all men. However, because of the legacy of slavery, their obstacles are more. The wholeness that is being sought is always present, even in the most desolate of times. Trusting one's inner source sometimes gives clarification to dilemmas that appear inconceivable. Many times silence or solitude are means by which answers are revealed. The fast-paced survival atmosphere in which most black men live does not provide such opportunities. In communities where there is a predominance of black men, the constant din of helicopters, fire-engines, sirens and other disturbances does not grant much contemplative time. For the Love of Black Men offers hope and the possibility of alternate choices. Ayin Adams' poetry addresses the Black Man from a potpourri of issues. A gentle and compassionate rumination shared in the loving description of The Eyes of Father while the contrast of Sometimes I feel like a Fatherless Son and the brutally truthful concerns addressed in Hostage or Husband offer objective assessments. In more recent times, approximately fifty plus reported cases of unarmed black men have been murdered by policemen which is a continuation of the 1857 original statement concerning Dred Scott, "No rights which the white man was bound to respect." Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin were some of the victims who have given their lives...is an unsolicited martyrdom the ultimate reward for a Black Man, the final recognition that one never could have achieved on minimum wage or selling individual cigarettes with a second-class citizen mentality? The answers are always within, and the way in which we confront them will determine our happiness or unhappiness. For the Love of Black Men awakens us to a black man's world in today's American Society with searing poems that stretch from the street to the healing power of family and love. From the chilling immediacy of I Can't Breathe (for Eric Garner) to the horrific truth of Unarmed, Adams tells apocalyptic moments in the Black community. Adams also encompasses the love, compassion and humor that connects the black man to the black community and to the world. Fortunately for all of us, Adams verses actually become a legitimate shelf reference of America's shameful history of the slayings of unarmed black men. For the Love of Black Men exposes readers to an expansive reassessment of some of the issues that have prevailed since slavery which have produced myriads of confusion. Ayin Adams permits readers, participants, victims and those who have a genuine desire to rectify the problems, the hope that the offerings she has presented will illicit questions and perhaps provide some solutions. Poetry reaching universal experience is fundamental to understanding human life and Ayin Adams connects the individual and the larger society. This book must be in everyone's library.

A History of African American Poetry

Download A History of African American Poetry PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1107035473
Total Pages : 283 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (7 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis A History of African American Poetry by : Lauri Ramey

Download or read book A History of African American Poetry written by Lauri Ramey and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-03-21 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Offers a critical history of African American poetry from the transatlantic slave trade to present day hip-hop.

African-American Poetry

Download African-American Poetry PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Courier Corporation
ISBN 13 : 0486111458
Total Pages : 99 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (861 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis African-American Poetry by : Joan R. Sherman

Download or read book African-American Poetry written by Joan R. Sherman and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2012-03-01 with total page 99 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rich selection of 74 poems ranging from religious and moral verse of Phillis Wheatley Peters (ca. 1753–1784) to 20th-century work of Countee Cullen, James Weldon Johnson, and Langston Hughes. Introduction.

The Vintage Book of African American Poetry

Download The Vintage Book of African American Poetry PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Vintage
ISBN 13 : 030776513X
Total Pages : 450 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (77 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Vintage Book of African American Poetry by : Michael S. Harper

Download or read book The Vintage Book of African American Poetry written by Michael S. Harper and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 450 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Vintage Book of African American Poetry, editors Michael S. Harper and Anthony Walton present the definitive collection of black verse in the United States--200 years of vision, struggle, power, beauty, and triumph from 52 outstanding poets. From the neoclassical stylings of slave-born Phillis Wheatley to the wistful lyricism of Paul Lawrence Dunbar . . . the rigorous wisdom of Gwendolyn Brooks...the chiseled modernism of Robert Hayden...the extraordinary prosody of Sterling A. Brown...the breathtaking, expansive narratives of Rita Dove...the plaintive rhapsodies of an imprisoned Elderidge Knight . . . The postmodern artistry of Yusef Komunyaka. Here, too, is a landmark exploration of lesser-known artists whose efforts birthed the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts movements--and changed forever our national literature and the course of America itself. Meticulously researched, thoughtfully structured, The Vintage Book of African-American Poetry is a collection of inestimable value to students, educators, and all those interested in the ever-evolving tradition that is American poetry.

Imagining Each Other

Download Imagining Each Other PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : State University of New York Press
ISBN 13 : 0791492079
Total Pages : 280 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (914 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Imagining Each Other by : Ethan Goffman

Download or read book Imagining Each Other written by Ethan Goffman and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Imagining Each Other explores Black-Jewish relations by examining the complex ways they have portrayed each other in recent American literature. It illuminates their dramatic alliances and conflicts and their dilemmas of identity and assimilation, and addresses the persistent questions of ethnic division and economic inequality that have so encompassed the Black-Jewish narrative in America. Focusing primarily on the 1960s and its aftermath, the book reveals how Jewish and African Americans view each other through a complex dialectic of identification and difference, channeled by ever-shifting positions within American society. Through the works of Richard Wright, Saul Bellow, Bernard Malamud, Amiri Baraka, Paule Marshall, Grace Paley, and others, Goffman unfolds a story of two peoples with powerful biblical and mythic connections that replay themselves in contemporary circumstances. In doing so, he uncovers layers of meaning in works that dramatize this turbulent, paradoxical relationship, and reveals how this relationship is paradigmatic of multicultural American self-invention.

Lyrics of a Lowly Life

Download Lyrics of a Lowly Life PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Graphic Arts Books
ISBN 13 : 1513295578
Total Pages : 162 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (132 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Lyrics of a Lowly Life by : Paul Laurence Dunbar

Download or read book Lyrics of a Lowly Life written by Paul Laurence Dunbar and published by Graphic Arts Books. This book was released on 2021-05-11 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lyrics of Lowly Life (1896) is a collection of poems by African American author Paul Laurence Dunbar. Published while Dunbar was at a turning point in his career as one of the nation’s leading black poets, Lyrics of Lowly Life combined his hugely successful volumes Oak and Ivy (1892) and Majors and Minors (1896), establishing his reputation as an artist with a powerful vision of faith and perseverance who sought to capture and examine the diversity of the African American experience. In “The Poet and His Song,” Dunbar compares the art of poetry to tilling the soil, a slow and painstaking process requiring full commitment, body and soul, to the task at hand: “My days are never days of ease; / I till my ground and prune my trees. / When ripened gold is all the plain, / I put my sickle to the grain. / I labor hard, and toil and sweat, / While others dream within the dell; / But even while my brow is wet, / I sing my song, and all is well.” For Dunbar, the reward is the song itself, both an act of labor and a celebration of life, emphasizing the role of the poet as not just a dreamer, but a doer. Throughout this collection, Dunbar explores the role of the poet in society, grounding each poem within his identity as a black man in America. In “Frederick Douglass,” an elegy written for the occasion of the great man’s passing, Dunbar makes clear the consequences of pride and defiance in a nation built by slaves: “He dared the lightning in the lightning’s track, / And answered thunder with his thunder back.” With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Paul Laurence Dunbar’s Lyrics of Lowly Life is a classic of African American literature reimagined for modern readers.

The Negro

Download The Negro PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 272 pages
Book Rating : 4.F/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Negro by : William Edward Burghardt Du Bois

Download or read book The Negro written by William Edward Burghardt Du Bois and published by . This book was released on 1915 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

I Am Black America

Download I Am Black America PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : CreateSpace
ISBN 13 : 9781499141511
Total Pages : 64 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (415 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis I Am Black America by : Ramona Hyman

Download or read book I Am Black America written by Ramona Hyman and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2014-06-10 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I Am Black America" "answers the question of who I am for all Black Americans." It is a ." . . testimony, a magnus opum of how it means to be "Black-American in the Deep South. . . It is a rite of passage for everyone, no matter their race or creed." There are many educational lessons in this book. Need a poem about the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955, this book is for you. It is a poetic tribute to America; it is poetry at its best.

The 100 Best African American Poems

Download The 100 Best African American Poems PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Sourcebooks, Inc.
ISBN 13 : 1402221118
Total Pages : 248 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (22 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The 100 Best African American Poems by : Nikki Giovanni

Download or read book The 100 Best African American Poems written by Nikki Giovanni and published by Sourcebooks, Inc.. This book was released on 2010 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover the voices of a culture from legendary New York Timesbestselling author Nikki Giovanni HEAR: Langston Hughes Gwendolyn Brooks Countee Cullen Paul Laurence Dunbar Robert Hayden Etheridge Knight READ: Rita Dove Sonia Sanchez Richard Wright Tupac Shukar Lucille Clifton Mari Evans Kevin Young Including one audio CD featuring many of the poems read by the poets themselves, 100 Best African-American Poems is at once strikingly original and a perfect fit for the original poetry anthologies from Sourcebooks, including Poetry Speaks, The Spoken Word Revolution, Poetry Speaks to Children, and the Nikki Giovanni-edited Hip Hop Speaks to Children. Award-winning poet and writer Nikki Giovanni takes on the difficult task of selecting the 100 best African-American works from classic and contemporary poets. This startlingly vibrant collection spans from historic to modern, from structured to free-form, and reflects the rich roots and visionary future of African-American verse in American culture. The resulting selections prove to be an exciting mix of most-loved chestnuts and daring new writing. Most of all, the voice of a culture comes through in this collection, one that is as talented, diverse, and varied as its people.

Scott's Official History of the American Negro in the World War

Download Scott's Official History of the American Negro in the World War PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 622 pages
Book Rating : 4.A/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Scott's Official History of the American Negro in the World War by : Emmett Jay Scott

Download or read book Scott's Official History of the American Negro in the World War written by Emmett Jay Scott and published by . This book was released on 1919 with total page 622 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A complete account from official sources of the participation of African Americans in World War I including their involvement in war work organizations like the Red Cross, YMCA, and the war camp community service. The text includes an official summary of the treaty of peace and League of Nations covenant. With the entry of the United States into the Great War in 1917, African Americans were eager to show their patriotism in hopes of being recognized as full citizens. However, they were barred from the Marines, the Aviation unit of the Army, and served only in menial roles in the Navy. Despite their poor treatment, African-American soldiers provided much support overseas to the European Allies as well as at home" -- Bookseller's description.

The Book of American Negro Poetry

Download The Book of American Negro Poetry PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : ReadHowYouWant.com
ISBN 13 : 1458703436
Total Pages : 166 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (587 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Book of American Negro Poetry by : James Weldon Johnson

Download or read book The Book of American Negro Poetry written by James Weldon Johnson and published by ReadHowYouWant.com. This book was released on 2009-05-06 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Books for All Kinds of Readers. ReadHowYouWant offers the widest selection of on-demand, accessible format editions on the market today. Our 7 different sizes of EasyRead are optimized by increasing the font size and spacing between the words and the letters. We partner with leading publishers around the globe. Our goal is to have accessible editions simultaneously released with publishers' new books so that all readers can have access to the books they want to read.

Falling Through the Crack

Download Falling Through the Crack PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Xlibris Corporation
ISBN 13 : 9781436333207
Total Pages : 117 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (332 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Falling Through the Crack by : Betty Jean Grant

Download or read book Falling Through the Crack written by Betty Jean Grant and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2008-05 with total page 117 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Falling Through the Crack is more than a book of poems; it is a book about African Americans living, loving, crying and dying in this place called America.It is about the struggle of a proud and strong race of people who survived the inhumane period of that ´peculiar institution´ the world knows as the enslavement of people of African descent. It is also about the pain that we, as African Americans, have inflicted on ourselves with our community´s proliferation of drugs, guns, homicides and immoral/criminal behaviors. It is about the epidemic level of incarceration that is wreaking havoc on family stabilization.It is about the thousands of young,dead, black boys who died at the hands of those thousands of imprisoned young,black men. It is about the ´lost young men´ of yet another generation. This book, the life´s work of the author, is also a factual, eyewitnessed account to the old,southern way of dealing with racism, Jim Crowism, segregation and lynchings and the effect these events had on both black and white America. Experience the pain, and the pride, emanating from poems such as ´Four Little Girls, (that records the murder of four innocent girls in that famous church bombing) to,´This is my Country´, a poem that shows how embedded the free and enslaved Africans were in the first fabrics of this former English Colony and newly independent country; and ´Southern Style Bar-b-cue´, the sad and brutual documentation of a KKK lynching of a black man by fire (as witnessed by an innocent nine year old white child). The pages of this book will take you, the readers, on a fantastic literary journey that will educate, enlighten, frustrate, engage and motivate you to learn more about the many people of African descent who help to build, through both stolen and freedmen´s labor, this great nation of ours. Take a moment to click the excerpt bar at the bottom of this page to read seven randomly selected poems from the book. There are over 110 poems of various subjects and situations. I am sure you will find at least one or two that will cause you to reflect, celebrate or ponder. Enjoy! This book can be ordered from the Xlibris Bookstore profiled to the left of this information. Thank you for your support.Emails are welcomed at [email protected]. Betty Jean Grant, Poet/Author. PostScript: A special thank you to Joseph Illuzzi of ´politicsny.net´, out of Buffalo, New York for the technical support and words of encouragement!