Phenomenal Woman, performed by Maya Angelou

missing Amiri Baraka today – His Bornday

Amiri Imamu Baraka
Poet Laureate, Playwright, Speaker, Activist

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just so I could hear her voice

B.T. Conversation (before twitter) Giovanni&Baldwin

Toni Cade Bambara, the scholar

This book. Is. Absolutely. Brilliant.

“The Salt Eaters” is one of those books that took me years to read. For some reason, I always seemed to begin to read it and after the first few pages I had to put it down. Part because I couldn’t grasp the concept of what was going on and because I had too much going on in my life. See, this book demands you be abandoned when you read it. After finally reading the book, I realized it was difficult to read because it was personal. It felt like a conversation I would have with my girlfriends. It was “an older book” that was still relevant. It gave me the feel of a Zora Neale Hurston book or Toni Morrison. It is time bending and revolutionary.

I was introduced to Bambara around the time I began to consume myself with literature from black women. The summer going in to my sophomore year of undergraduate school when I sat on the library floor and found Sanchez, Shange, Giovanni, Walker, Brooks, Jordan, Clifton to name a few. I was a theatre student, who also loved poetry, scouring for material to perform and interpret for auditions and competitions. Bambara was one of the names that kept coming up so I kept her on my list of authors that “changed the game”.

Those who know me know that I am a thrift store book shopper. I never buy used books for over $3.00 and one day (years ago) I came across this book:

a Reason Enough

This is a reason enough to read! What are you reading? The best writers read and the best readers write…. at least that’s what I’ve been told 🙂

Happy Birthday Mother Maya Angelou!

Thank you for everything!

Love Always,

Us 💕

SHE CHRONICLES: Video Post, Sonia Sanchez

SHE CHRONICLES: “To A Women Whose Voice I Like” a video post by Nikki Giovanni

“Show me someone not full of themselves and I’ll show you an empty person.”

SHE CHRONICLES: Nikki Giovanni, a video post

“Talk to me poem, I’m all alone.”