This extraordinary volume collects the poems of forty-four of America’s most talented African American wordsmiths, including Pulitzer Prize– winning poets Rita Dove, Natasha Tretheway, Yusef Komunyakaa and Tracy K. Smith, as well as the work of other luminaries such as Elizabeth Alexander, Ishmael Reed, Nikki Giovanni and Sonia Sanchez. Accompanying each poem is a photograph of the poet along with a first-person biography and the book also includes personal essays on race from Harry Belafonte, Amiri Baraka and Reverend R. William Barber II, architect of the Moral Mondays movement. Images and iconic political posters of the Black Lives Matter movement, Malcolm X, and the Black Panther Party accompany the work. Taken together, this remarkable book gives voice to the current conversation about race in America while also providing historical and cultural context. It serves as an excellent introduction to African American poetry and is a must-have for every reader committed to social justice and racial harmony.
