A collection of poems considers such topics as the plight of African-Americans, the temptation of drugs, the threat of incarceration, and monitoring by the FBI, accompanied by a history of the Last Poets. Original.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
Formed in 1968 at a celebration for Malcolm X, the Last Poets?three poets and a drummer?are often seen as the precursors of present-day rap music. Many performers, including Public Enemy, have acknowledged this debt. This collection gathers 30 poems?written from the Sixties through the Nineties?by two founders of the group. Each poem is prefaced by an informative and often entertaining comment by the poet, and lengthy personal statements are also given. Although the language and subject matter may be disturbing to some readers, and not all the poems hold up on the page as well as when performed, several pieces clearly display the power of these poets. These include Umar's "Bum Rush" (a plea to youths not "to die/ in the/ Streets") and Oyewole's "Pelourinho" (a tribute to the resilient spirit of black people). An excellent introduction to this pioneering group. (Foreword by Amiri Baraka not seen.)?Louis J. Parascandola, Long Island Univ., Brooklyn Campus
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Oyewole and Umar Bin Hassan were members of the Last Poets, a group of writers and musicians inspired by Malcolm X, the music of Miles Davis, and the energy of the streets of Harlem. They were determined to express their political views in fresh and potent language everyone would listen to--poetry with guts--and they succeeded. Here in this vibrant and provocative blend of memoir and poetry, Oyewole and Bin Hassan describe the 1968 birth of the Last Poets and recall the intensity of emotion and conviction that gave rise to student demonstrations, the Black Panthers, and one soul-shattering assassination after another. Reading these poems now, indelible works such as "When the Revolution Comes" and "Panther," one recognizes rap's roots. So little has changed. Schools are still failing inner-city children, and drugs and violence have become even more prevalent and lethal. If only we could all, as Oyewole writes in "Two Little Boys," "come together to create." Donna Seaman
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