Poetry. African & African American Studies. These are songs of standing up to darkness and transforming it into music. The creative processes these poets use to channel their visionary works, are the same creative processes that we channel in revolutionary struggle in the streets or the halls of power. What is really happening behind the smoke and mirrors? Why is it happening? What--if anything--can we do about it? The poems in this anthology are forged in the politics of revolt. They are conjurations, spells to envelop our consciousness through sounds and images, music and meanings. Constructive social change needs a high level of consciousness, and these poems leave us strengthened in our struggle to leave a livable world to our grandchildren. Keep this book beside your pillow, let it fill your dreams.--John Curl
Contributors include: Eugene B. Redmond, Angel L. Martinez, Adam Gottlieb, Dorothy Payne, Eric Allen Yankee, Adrian Ernesto Cepeda, Dee Allen, Eleanor Goldfield, Irene Monica Sanchez, Anmarie Soucie, Anika Paris, M.A. Peterson, Henry Howard, Carlos Raul Dufflar, Jackie Lopez, Elizabeth Marino, Alessandra Bava, Tim Hall, Victor Avila, Juan Cardenas, Chris Devcich, Teresa Mei Chuc, Michael Castro, Karen Melander-Magoon, Iris De Anda, Antonieta Villamil, S.L. Kerns, Gabor Gyukics, Lynn White, Luis J. Rodriguez, Dawnna Mathieu, Sherman Pearl, Paul David Adkins, Megan D. Robinson, Joshua Hegarty, Jeffery Martin, Jessica M. Wilson Cardenas, Arthur Hurts, Ernest Rosenthal, Peter Coco, Patrick A. Harford, David A. Romero, R. Bremner, Gloria Vando, Camari Carter, Diamanda Galas, Fred Dodsworth, David S. Pointer, El Williams III, Dylan Garcia, John Kaniecki, Tim Kahl, Ayo Ayoola-Amale, Michael Schiffman, Christian Elder, Jack Hirschman, Maria Elena Danelli, Nina Serano, Issac J Torres, Mahnaz Badihian, Stan Ginsburg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Author Biography:
Mark Lipman, founder of VAGABOND and recipient of the 2015 Joe Hill Labor Poetry Award is a writer, poet, multi- media artist and activist. He is the author of six books, most recently, Poetry for the Masses and Global Economic Amnesty. Co-founder of the Berkeley Stop the War Coalition (USA), Agir Contre la Guerre (France) and Occupy Los Angeles, he has been an outspoken critic of war and occupation since 2001. Mark uses poetry to connect communities to the greater social issues that affect all of our lives, while building consciousness through the spoken word. Currently, he is a member of POWER (People Organized for Westside Renewal), the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World); Occupy Venice, the Revolutionary Poets Brigade and 100 Thousand Poets for Change.
