Molefi Kete Asante is a truth seeker and a warrior for humanity. His view of mankind is that there is only one “race”, that of Homo-sapiens. To this end, Asante has steadfastly argued for the liberation of the most oppressed of this species. As an Afrocentrist, he believes that everything needed to advance humanity can be found in the wisdom of ancient African teachings. Africa’s Gifts of the Spirit, clarifies and illuminates the power of “Nyanga” which is in itself a gift from mother Africa, one that has been transmitted across generations throughout space and time.

Thought. Activism. Love. These are three words that well characterize the life, career, and contributions of Edmund W. Gordon. Like his mentor W.E.B. Du Bois, Edmund W. Gordon has led a pragmatist line of inquiry, a concern with the practical application of ideas in a universe that's understood to be always changing but still informed by underlying persistent challenges.

The 61 poems here concentrate on some of the most traumatic events in Black history from colonial to contemporary times, from the arrival of enslaved Africans in 1619 to Black revolts, Civil War atrocities, incalculable lynchings, the Tulsa massacre, the brave sacrifices of Rosa Parks, the Freedom Riders, the heroes of school desegregation, the murders of Emmet Till, Dr. King, Fred Hampton, Malcolm X, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, George Floyd, Breanna Taylor, Eric Garner, and Tyre Nichols. And so many other Black tragedies. Each poem here carries a brief head note identifying the person, place, time, or event that addresses the historical context of the poem. Some poems are written in a his/her recollection of the historical event. Above all, each poem highlights the topography of Black trauma, be that a Civil War fort, a lynching tree, a prison, a school, an island, a ghetto, a river, a national monument, a church, or city street. These resistance poems are chronicles, laments, petitions, heroic recollections about racial attacks on Black people in America.

BUT PAUSE ON KING, begin talking to folks, and the clutter, the noise of the rest of America falls away, and you are transported beyond the sometimes battered facade into a black America that, with astonishing welcome, reveals itself as not only more separate and self-contained than imagined but also more tightly interconnected, powerfully whole. Many black people have moved beyond the neighborhoods through which King runs (though there are now King streets in new black suburbs), but few live beyond the reach of the sounds, sentiments, and stories rooted on King. These are streets united by struggle and circumstance, by history and happenstance. One King street leads to the next and next and back again. For many whites, a street sign that says Martin Luther King tells them they are lost. For many blacks, a street sign that says Martin Luther King tells them they are found.

The Chicago Literary Hall of Fame has partnered with Chicago publishers After Hours Press and Third World Press to produce a definitive collection of poetry by living Chicago poets. Wherever I’m At: An Anthology of Chicago Poetry features the work of a widely diverse list of over 160 poets and artists all with strong ties to Chicagoland. With a Foreword by noted scholar Carlo Rotello, the new anthology is edited by Donald G. Evans (executive director of the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame) who completed the project begun by the late poet-editor-teacher Robin Metz formerly of Knox College.