God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse is a book of poems by James Weldon Johnson patterned after traditional African-American spiritual oratory. African-American scholars have identified the collection as one of Johnson's two most notable works, the other being Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. The work went on to find acclaim in many circles, proving "enormously popular among both the black cognoscenti as well of the masses of black Americans"...

In a career that has earned her accolades, honorary degrees, and awards from both fellow poets and everyday poetry lovers, Nikki Giovanni has established herself as a writer who can entertain and challenge, inform and inspire. Sometimes controversial, sometimes ethereal, but always beautiful, her poems move readers of all hues and generations. With Bicycles, she's collected poems that serve as a companion to her 1997 Love Poems. An instant classic,...

Thirty-two poems that reflect aspects of the African American experience.

"The debut poetry book from All-Pro NFL wide receiver Lockett is a reflective and positive journey through faith, identity, and life's many challenges and rewards. A scorching read, an evocative portrait of a professional athlete, and a captivating exercise in rhythm and verse, Reflection strives above all else to be a force for positivity."--Publisher's description.

"Colliding with and confrontingThe Tempest and postcolonial identity, the poems in Safiya Sinclair's Cannibal explore Jamaican childhood and history, race relations in America, womanhood, otherness, and exile. She evokes a home no longer accessible and a body at times uninhabitable, often mirrored by a hybrid Eve/Caliban figure. Blooming with intense lyricism and fertile imagery, these full-blooded poems are elegant, mythic, and intricately woven....

"A BreakBeat Poets anthology, Black Girl Magic celebrates and canonizes the words of Black women across the diaspora." --

Best known for Neon Vernacular, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1994, and for Dien Cai Dau, a collection of poems chronicling his experiences as a journalist in Vietnam, Yusef Komunyakaa has become one of America's most compelling poets. Pleasure Dome gathers over twenty-five years of work, including early uncollected poems and a rich selection of new poems.

"Mahogany L. Browne's evocative book-length poem explores the impacts of the prison system on both the incarcerated and the loved ones left behind. I Remember Death by Its Proximity to What I Love is an expansive poetic meditation on who we think is bound by incarceration. The answer: all of us. Weaving personal narrative, case studies, and inventive form, Browne invokes the grief, pain, and resilience in the violent wake of the prison system. This...