Opal Palmer Adisa employs the modes of autobiography, dramatic monologues, lyrical observations, encomiums, prose poems and prophetic rants in a collection that enacts the construction of a sense of identity whose dimensions encompass a Rastafarian sense of inner 'i-ness', gender, race, geography, the spiritual, the social and the political. In several poems, Palmer speaks through the voices of iconic historical figures such as Phyllis Wheatley, who after the process of cultural loss and enforced imitation finds her own voice, or a ghostly Nat Turner who speaks as an invisible presence in the white world storing away his knowledge of that world to use the next time round. There are contemporary icons, too, such as the late Audrey Lorde, Barbara Christian and June Jordan, strong women who are held up as models of writers committed to the responsibility of speaking out, of pursuing beauty in their writing and personal relationships, of supporting community and fighting injustice.
Palmer speaks more directly of self in poems that explore the experience of being a Black person in the world of Oakland, poems which range from a pained but empathetic response to the racial transformations of Michael Jackson, her experience of Black male chauvinism in the classroom and a moving account of the senility of a beloved grandmother. The empathy in Opal Palmer Adisa's work is nowhere more clearly seen than in "Ancestry", a poem that rejects the customary practice of choosing only the past's heroes to relate to, embracing both rebels and betrayers, fighters and the acquiescent: 'i claim all of them/ and you who turned against us/ and led them to our secret place.../ i claim you aunt jemima/ and uncle tom.../ we are all one family...' Then, almost at the end of the collection, comes a poem called "Beyond the Frame" that in its oblique but inescapable images of childhood sexual abuse, suddenly begins to suggest what kind of act of will has gone into the construction of an 'I' who is 'an incisor gnawing my way.'

About the Author
Opal Palmer Adisa is a Jamaica-born, award-winning poet, educator and storyteller. The author of several books of poetry and stories for both adults and children, her most recent is It Begins With Tears; her Tamarind and Mango Women won the 1992 won the 1992 Pen Oakland/Josephine Miles Award. Her poetry, stories and articles have been anthologized widely. She is the co-founder of Watoto Wa Kuumba, a children's theatre group that she directed from 1979-1991. Since 1993, Opal Palmer Adisa has taught literature and served as Chair of the Ethnic Studies/Cultural Diversity Program at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland. She is an educator in the area of diversity work, African American poetry and literature, and performance workshops. In addition, she speaks on issues of parenting, hosting a regular show on the topic at a Pacific Radio Network affiliate station. She is a regular performer of her work on college campuses.


Book Information
ISBN 9781845230449
Author Opal Palmer Adisa
Format Paperback
Page Count 120
Imprint Peepal Tree Press Ltd
Publisher Peepal Tree Press Ltd
Weight(grams) 270g