"Offend!" contemporary African American writer Jamaica Kincaid boldly advises Black writers, while Ralph Waldo Emerson almost one hundred and fifty years ago advised: "Speak the rude truth in all its ways."
That is what these political poems do, some of which are admittedly experimental. They expose many of the glaring inconsistencies between some of America's cherished slogans, such as: "liberty and justice for all", "truth", "equality", and the harsh realities of life here for millions of America's minority members, her poor, and her homeless.
If you are a member of one of America's "less favored" minorities-particularly an African American, do not want comfortable, disengaged, safe poetry about majestic sunsets, cute pond frogs or rhododendrons, and are either politically engaged or at least acutely aware of America's continuing patterns of social injustice, then these poems are definitely for you!
Richard Gloucester is the pen name of Robert Betts, an Black American writer in the Boston, Massachusetts area. Mister Gloucester, a poet and science fiction author for over thirty years, has been published both online and in print across the United States and Europe, including in Great Britain and France. As a writer mainly of "soft" science fiction, Mister Gloucester uses literary techniques to explore various social themes in futuristic settings. Mister Gloucester will be attending graduate school, either in 2002 or 2003, to begin his graduate studies in both Pure and Applied Mathematics.
Are there glaring inconsistencies between the American Dream, and America's realities? We have all heard the phrase from the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag: "Indivisible, With Liberty And Justice For All." We've all heard the phrase, but then there was the infamous Amadou Diallo case....
This original Black poetry and essay collection does not celebrate relationships and rhododendrons, beautiful music and majestic sunsets. Instead, it is courageous, raw, energy charged iconoclastic poetry, some of it, admittedly, avant garde, handling important racial and social themes such as the Amadou Diallo affair, police brutality, child abuse, class injustice which crosses the color line, and, in general, the abuse of power which goes on with impunity.
you are Black and not too timid to read poetry that is by no means safe, comfortable and politically correct, then by all means get this book!
