Oakland S Citywide Poetry Anthology

POETRY Art is the universal language of the soul. In its truest form it lifts the spirit and consciousness of not only those that create it, but every being that experiences it. For it is this attribute we believe above all others that unites us as one-human family. In our darkest moments it is this light that shines through the artist into the hearts and minds of the world. Th is anthology is the perfect opportunity for us not to only listen to, but to see life through the eyes of theses amazing young poets. And in doing so, we look beyond the challenges of today to the hopes, dreams and answers of tomorrow. We are not defi ned by the things we possess or the clothes that we wear, but by our imagination of things others cannot see. It pleases us to support Project SOAR, a Federal funded project that encourages students to open their minds and hearts. To imagine and to reach beyond what they know so far, into the world of their hearts where a wonderful future lies. And this project is inspirational as well as practical because it gives students tools to make their dreams come true. For it is this that makes us truly architects of a new dawn. Carlos Santana (Guitarist & Founder for AOAND www.architectsofanewdawn.com) Gerald G. Jampolsky, M.D. and Diane Cirincione, PhD (Best-selling author of Love is Letting Go of Fear and Founders of the International Attitudinal Healing Center www.AHInternational.org) Emelda King (Oaklander Youth Advocate) It is essential to see creative education taught in our public schools. This poetry anthology gives students the wonderful opportunity to share their deepest feelings and their highest dreams. When we share our insights with others, we build community, which works towards joining, and not separating us as a human race. Amana Harris, Associate Director of Attitudinal Healing Connection, Inc. - West Oakland www.AHC-Oakland.org These writings are from the kids that inherited the world we made for them. What a rich collection from the voices of the future. Janell Moon, Poet Laureate of Emeryville 2011-2012

"Voices from the Middle represents the rainbow of diversity that exists in the City of Oakland. These works act as a wonderful resource for parents, educators, community leaders and others concerned about our youth growing up in today's society; as this book sheds light and offers solutions to the issues young people face in Oakland. This collection of poetry is another reminder that together, we can do great things." -Ronald V. Dellums, Mayor, City of Oakland "As I read the words our (Oakland Unified School) children put on paper, I began to cry. My tears were joyful tears because of all the passion written in their words." -Karen B. Todd, Director of Project SOAR II "This fantastic poetry blends language, music, art and soul into a single, sublime composition which captures the distinctive spirit that makes Oakland so wonderfully unique." -Dr. Kimberly Statham, State Administrator, Oakland Unified School District "This is a wonderful collection of the courageous voices of our youth, sharing the complexity of their lives, the world as they know it, their fears, dreams, and hopes for the world that they will surely impact." -Emily Brizenndiner, Ed.D., Professor and Interim Dean, College of Education and Allied Studies, CA State University, East Bay, Hayward CA

The InsideOut Literary Arts Project (iO) began in 1995 in five Detroit high schools, with weekly classroom visits by a writer-in-residence, the publication of a literary journal for each school, and the mission of encouraging students to use poetry to “think broadly, create bravely, and share their voices with the wider world.” Twenty years later, the program serves some five thousand K–12 students per year, has received national exposure and accolades (including a recent visit to the White House), and has seen numerous student writers recognized for their creativity and performance. In To Light a Fire: 20 Years with the InsideOut Literary Arts Project, founding director Terry Blackhawk and senior writer Peter Markus collect the experiences of writers who have participated in InsideOut over the years to give readers an inside look at the urban classroom and the creative spark of Detroit’s students. In short and insightful essays, contributors discuss how iO’s creative magic happened during the course of their work in Detroit schools. Poets such as Jamaal May, John Rybicki, Robert Fanning, and francine j. harris describe the many ways that poetry can be used as a tool to reach others, and how poetic work shaped them as teachers in return. Contributors describe nurturing a love of language, guiding excursions into imagination, and helping students find their own voices. They also describe the difficulties of getting through to kids, the challenges of oversized classrooms, and of working with children who seem to have been forgotten. Despite their own frequent angst and personal uncertainties about doing the right thing, they describe the joys and rewards that come from believing in students and supporting the risks that they take as writers. To Light a Fire captures the story—one poet, poem, and poetic moment at a time—of helping students to discover they can imagine, dream, and speak in a way that will make people listen. Fellow educators, poets, and creative writers will be moved and inspired by this collection.

Raised in the steamy bayous of New Orleans in the early 1900s, LeRoi "King" Tremain, caught up in his family's ongoing feud with the rival DuMont family, learns to fight. But when the teenage King mistakenly kills two white deputies during a botched raid on the DuMonts, the Tremains' fear of reprisal forces King to flee Louisiana. King thus embarks on an adventure that first takes him to France, where he fights in World War I as a member of the segregated 369th Battalion—in the bigoted army he finds himself locked in combat with American soldiers as well as with Germans. When he returns to America, he battles the Mob in Jazz Age Harlem, the KKK in Louisiana, and crooked politicians trying to destroy a black township in Oklahoma. King Tremain is driven by two principal forces: He wants to be treated with respect, and he wants to create a family dynasty much like the one he left behind in Louisiana. This is a stunning debut by novelist Guy Johnson that provides a true depiction of the lives of African-Americans in the early decades of the twentieth century.

“You done lived a tough life, boy, and I know I’m part responsible for that. I ain’t askin’ you to excuse me or forgive me. Just know I did the best I knew to do. I was just tryin’ to make you tough enough to deal with the world. To stand tall among men, I knew you had to be strong and have yo’ own mind.” “You were preparing me for war, Grandfather.” Guy Johnson, the author of the critically acclaimed debut Standing at the Scratch Line, continues the Tremain family saga. Jackson St. Clair Tremain hasn’t spoken to his grandfather King in nearly twenty years. Disgusted by the violence and bloodlust that seemed to be his grandfather’s way of life, Jackson chose to distance himself from King and live a simpler life. But now King is gravely ill, and his impending death places Jackson’s life—as well as those of his family and friends—in jeopardy. Reluctantly, Jackson travels to Mexico to see King. But after a brief reconciliation, his grandfather is assassinated, and Jackson suspects that his grandmother Serena may have had a hand in it. Jackson takes control of King’s organization, and as he does, he reflects on the summers he spent in Mexico as a child and the lessons he learned there at the knee of his strong-willed, complex grandfather. In Echoes of a Distant Summer, Guy Johnson introduces us to a new hero, Jackson St. Clair Tremain, who learns that, like his grandfather, he must be willing to protect those he loves—at all costs.

This new collection of essays, contributed by scholars and former Panthers, is a ground-breaking work that offers thought-provoking and pertinent observations about the many facets of the Party. By placing the perspectives of participants and scholars side by side, Dr. Jones presents an insider view and initiates a vital dialogue that is absent from most historical studies.

The editors and contributors to Color of Violence ask: What would it take to end violence against women of color? Presenting the fierce and vital writing of organizers, lawyers, scholars, poets, and policy makers, Color of Violence radically repositions the antiviolence movement by putting women of color at its center. The contributors shift the focus from domestic violence and sexual assault and map innovative strategies of movement building and resistance used by women of color around the world. The volume's thirty pieces—which include poems, short essays, position papers, letters, and personal reflections—cover violence against women of color in its myriad forms, manifestations, and settings, while identifying the links between gender, militarism, reproductive and economic violence, prisons and policing, colonialism, and war. At a time of heightened state surveillance and repression of people of color, Color of Violence is an essential intervention. Contributors. Dena Al-Adeeb, Patricia Allard, Lina Baroudi, Communities Against Rape and Abuse (CARA), Critical Resistance, Sarah Deer, Eman Desouky, Ana Clarissa Rojas Durazo, Dana Erekat, Nirmala Erevelles, Sylvanna Falcón, Rosa Linda Fregoso, Emi Koyama, Elizabeth "Betita" Martínez, maina minahal, Nadine Naber, Stormy Ogden, Julia Chinyere Oparah, Beth Richie, Andrea J. Ritchie, Dorothy Roberts, Loretta J. Ross, s.r., Puneet Kaur Chawla Sahota, Renee Saucedo, Sista II Sista, Aishah Simmons, Andrea Smith, Neferti Tadiar, TransJustice, Haunani-Kay Trask, Traci C. West, Janelle White