Freedom Poems is a poetry collection that gives readers a glimpse of religion, education, racism, politics, and world issues that intrigue the mind and soul. Dr. Jacobs raises brows with queries that follow precise pieces for readers to document their feelings and sentiments. After reading this repertoire, readers will anxiously await for Freedom Poems Volume II.
I am 27 and have never killed a man but I know the face of death as if heirloom my country memorizes murder as lullaby —from “For Fahd” Textured with the sights and sounds of growing up in East New York in the nineties, to school on the South Side of Chicago, all the way to the olive groves of Palestine, My Mother Is a Freedom Fighter is Aja Monet’s ode to mothers, daughters, and sisters—the tiny gods who fight to change the world. Complemented by striking cover art from Carrie Mae Weems, these stunning poems tackle racism, sexism, genocide, displacement, heartbreak, and grief, but also love, motherhood, spirituality, and Black joy. Praise for Aja Monet: ““[Monet] is the true definition of an artist.” —Harry Belafonte ““In Paris, she walked out onto the stage, opened her mouth and spoke. At the first utterance I heard that rare something that said this is special and knew immediately that Aja Monet was one of the Ones who will mark the sound of the ages. She brings depth of voice to the voiceless, and through her we sing a powerful song.” —Carrie Mae Weems Of Cuban-Jamaican descent, Aja Monet is an internationally established poet, performer, singer, songwriter, educator, and human rights advocate. Monet is also the youngest person to win the legendary Nuyorican Poet’s Café Grand Slam title.
This poetry collection, appropriately dedicated in derision of all the cloned dictators in Africa, is marked by the acerbic irony of the macabre poet on various themes emphasizing Africas dilemma past and present. The titles tell the whole story, from the confusion and contradictions of The Rabble, idiots called leaders claiming to liberate the people from mental slavery when they, pseudoleaders, are begging for a re-colonization, to Predators and Dogs of War with people being their own worst enemies. In the midst of such tragedy, the poet finds consolation in the action of a few Unsung Heroes standing up to the messengers of national deconstruction and destruction. Such Martyrdom, avers the poet, will need to be replicated many times over if Cameroon, his besieged country, and its macrocosmic representation, Africa, are to stand a chance of escaping from Apocalypse. The style here is innovative, as the poet weaves languages, colonial and national, into historical analysis in mocking patriotic robbers hailing the superstitious and omnipresent pre de la nation. Femi Ojo-Ade, Professor Emeritus, St. Marys College of Maryland, USA
Since the 1970s, poet Linton Kwesi Johnson has been putting pen to paper to refute W.H. Auden’s claim that “poetry makes nothing happen.” For Johnson, only the second living poet to have been published in the Penguin Modern Classics series, writing has always been “a political act” and poetry “a cultural weapon.” In Dread Poetry and Freedom David Austin explores the themes of poetry, political consciousness, and social transformation through the prism of Johnson’s work. Drawing from the Bible, reggae and Rastafari, and surrealism, socialism, and feminism, and in dialogue with Aimé Césaire and Frantz Fanon, C.L.R. James and Walter Rodney, W.E.B. Du Bois and the poetry of d’bi young anitafrika, Johnson’s work becomes a crucial point of reflection on the meaning of freedom in this masterful and rich study.
A book of poetic essays written in English, Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet is full of religious inspirations. With the twelve illustrations drawn by the author himself, the book took more than eleven years to be formulated and perfected and is Gibran's best-known work. It represents the height of his literary career as he came to be noted as ‘the Bard of Washington Street.’ Captivating and vivified with feeling, The Prophet has been translated into forty languages throughout the world, and is considered the most widely read book of the twentieth century. Its first edition of 1300 copies sold out within a month.
Praise for Slade's Poetry "Dr. Leonard A. Slade, Jr., is a gifted poet. His poems that deal with social issues reflect the complexity of people and relationships, as well as highlight some very troubling contemporary problems. Slade's poetry is truly a healing work of art." - Sandra M. Grayson Professor of English University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee "The beauty of Slade's poetry is the adequacy of their feeling and the fine images he discovers for their expressions. His poetry is a rich addition to our literary stores." - Houston A. Baker, Jr. Distinguished Professor of English Vanderbilt University "In spare, unpretentious verse Slade asks us to think about racism, history, love, the beauty of nature, the homeless, old teachers, young daughters, political hypocrisy - - and more. These are splendid, moving poems." -Elizabeth Ammons Former Dean The College of Arts and Sciences Tufts University "Dr. Leonard A. Slade, Jr.'s poetry presents a historical panorama of American blacks. His poems cover a range of subjects. They reflect the poet's values: family, education, love, nature, the history of blacks in the U.S., hypocrisy, and politics. Slade is a new breed of black poet." - R. Baird Shuman Professor Emeritus of English University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Leonard A. Slade, Jr., is Professor Emeritus, former Director of the Humanistic Studies Doctoral Program and the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Program, Collins Fellow, and Citizen Academic Laureate at the University at Albany (SUNY). He has published in many journals and magazines and is the author of twenty-one books of poetry. He studied poetry with Pulitzer Prize winners Donald Justice and Stephen Dunn. For several summers, Slade studied poetry at Bennington College, Vermont; at The Bread Loaf Writers' Workshop, Middlebury College, Vermont; at The Martha's Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing in Fiction and Poetry; and at The Ragdale Artists' Colony, Lake Forest, Illinois. The recipient of many awards for his writing, teaching, and service, Slade has taught English and Africana Studies at the University at Albany (SUNY), Skidmore College, Union College, and RPI. He lives with his wife in Albany, New York.
An Ancient Collection Reimagined Composed around the Buddha’s lifetime, the Therigatha (“Verses of the Elder Nuns”) contains the poems of the first Buddhist women: princesses and courtesans, tired wives of arranged marriages and the desperately in love, those born into limitless wealth and those born with nothing at all. The original authors of the Therigatha were women from every kind of background, but they all shared a deep-seated desire for awakening and liberation. In The First Free Women, Matty Weingast has reimagined this ancient collection and created a contemporary and radical adaptation that takes the essence of each poem and highlights the struggles and doubts, as well as the strength, perseverance, and profound compassion, embodied by these courageous women.
