The BreakBeat Poets, Vol. 2 by Mahogany L. Browne

Here's where we win on every damn page-every page of this somber, celebratory narrative. We are objectified, analyzed,Īnd rearranged to fit someone else's perception of what a voiceless woman should be'. We're seen as theīlaring gold tooth, the tangling weave, the ungrammatical phrase, the publicĮxhibition, the occasional inconvenient corpse. Has had a go at us, poking fervently at spaces in our spirit, plumping us forĬonsumption, starving us for spectacle, killing us for sport. Waft of shea and spiced oil, the throats that refuse to constrict. We are the rollicking hips and the curious hair, the bristling oddity, the tangled 'We are the color pulsing beneath the closed eye, the tinge of a roomĪt moonfall, we are steady suspect since we share our hue with the night.īecause we are never seen clearly-consistently spied upon throughĪ safely distanced shroud-we diminished, trivialized, spoken of as stain. Browne, Idrissa Simmond, and Jamila Woods, the publisher Haymarket books and Edelweiss for giving me an advanced copy of this work in exchange for a fair and honest review. I would like to thank editors Mahogany L. These new voices declare that our story is not history but a glorious future filled with hope and promise.Ī Brief but Spectacular Take on Black Girl Magic by Mahogany L. This second volume addresses the oversight of African-American women’s contributions to the art that is Hip Hop and fills this void with resounding pieces that rejoice in the splendor and beauty that is the Black woman. Browne, Idrissa Simmond and Jamila Woods, this anthology continues where Breakbeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip Hop left off. I am filled.īlack Girl Magic is written in this rich tradition. Reading their words is like a baptism of water and fire. Nikki Giovanni, Audrey Lorde, Rita Dove, June Jordan, Ntozake Shange, bell hooks, Sapphire, Maya Angelou. I walked away that day feeling as if the mantle of power had been passed. The black woman instead of being confined to one singular definition was appreciated as a diaspora of resplendent colors each owning her individual experience. She was a griot dispensing a herstory of resilience, defiance and strength. Like a full bodied wine, the flavor of her words lingered. I remember when I first heard Sonia Sanchez speak - the cadence of her voice, the punctuated rhythms of her staccato verse.

The BreakBeat Poets, Vol. 2 by Mahogany L. Browne