Role Call: A Generational Anthology of Social and Political Black Literature and Art

“Welcome to the 21st Century” bids the opening line of this literary “multimedia” experience, brought to us by three leading black author-activists of the post–Civil Rights Movement generation: Tony Medina, Samiya A. Bashir, and Quraysh Ali Lansana. This collection of more than three hundred poems, essays, paintings, photos and mixed media representations features a myriad of voices of the generation that bridges the gap between the children of the Civil Rights Movement and those of the present hip hop movement. Role Call is described by its editors as a manifesto for this much maligned often misunderstood generation, eager to shake off the fetters of society’s unflattering inaccurate labels. Its pages tell of a generation that has bravely taken up the challenge passed along by their forebears to fight for equality and justice. Boldly taking on issues of race relations, popular culture, sexuality, education, technology and the rise of the prison industry, Role Call reflects the love for self, family, and community necessary to any struggle for equality. This diverse collection of dynamic voices and visions tackles its subjects with fresh, sparse language, rich imagery and passion for the issues and the work that signal the arrival of a new Black Power–one that is spiritually grounded, forged in multiple alliances, and based on the credo that each of our experiences matter. What Is The Role Of Today's Emerging Young Artists In The Current Struggle For Equality And Justice? Future Generation / John Abner -- I Write / Askhari -- Sankofa / Pamela Plummer -- Aya / Kim Mayhorn -- Incantation For The Word / Adrian Castro -- Percussion Permeates / Eric Mack -- How Music Relates To The Brain ; No One's Slave / Jeremiah Hoseah Landes -- From Girl In The Mirror / Natasha Tarpley -- Dear Mama / Angela Shannon -- I Am My Mother / Staceyann Chin -- Sticks And Stones / Kim Louise -- Detail -a Woman Was Lynched The Other Day / Kim Mayhorn -- Case Of Blues / Gina M. Streaty -- Homage To Leonardo Drew's Number Eight / Allison Joseph -- Dumas / Jabari Asim -- Believe Me / Shane Book -- The Poet / Sheila L. Prevost -- The Good Doctor Writes / Dj Renegade -- After The Verdict / G. Winston James -- Larry / Brian Gilmore -- Kofi / Johnalynn Holland -- Harbors And Spirits / Jeffrey Renard Allen -- Coltrane Spoke To Me One Night / Tony Medina -- The Role Call / Thomas Sayers Ellis. How Do The Voices Of The Next Generation Define The Issues And Politics Of Today? America In Control / John Abner -- On The Use Of Charliebrown/teachatalk / R.c. Glenn -- Music, Man, What Is It Gonna Be? / Morgan Michael Craft -- The Rapper / Sheila L. Prevost -- Guernica / Kevin Young -- We Play In The Do-it-yourself Family Rooms / Kate Rushin -- Retired, Ronald Reagan Sits In His Dayroom / Tyehimba Jess -- Blood And Wine / Samiya A. Bashir -- Corporate America Comes To El Barrio / Shaggy Flores -- Jobless / Calida Garcia -- The Bird Cage Bunch / Charlie R. Braxton -- Survivors / Kysha N. Brown -- Faces / Renaldo Davidson -- Callin Out Ya Uncle / Tish Benson -- Returned To Sender / Mendi Lewis Obadike -- Dear Daddy / Andrea M. Wren -- Reba Is A State Child And What You Call Fast / Kate Rushin -- Berneatha's Story / Samiya A. Bashir -- Excerpt From Monster / Dael Orlandersmith -- Who's Afraid Of A Black Grrrl Revolution? / Brigette M. Moore -- What It's Like To Be A Mixed Girl / Tara Betts -- Growing Wild / Carol Smith Passariello -- Braiding Rituals / Kenneth L. Addison -- Poem Where My Mother And Father Are Absent / Shara Mccallum -- The Zoo / Melanie Hope -- Celebration / Jacqueline Johnson -- Black Or American / Jill Robinson -- Untitled, From The Consumer Series / Derrick Adams -- What I Am / Terrence Hayes -- My Environment / Kraig A. Blue -- Justice In The Techno Age / Nancy Mercado -- Arriving With Orders From Shaka Sankofa / Theodore A. Harris -- War Pigs / S.r. Bonafide -- Cheney And Mandela : Reconciling The Truth / Farai Chideya -- Cleaning The White House Latrine / Tony Medina -- The Future Adventures Of Tutor The Turtle / Tim Seibles -- The Cross, The Gun, Necklacing And Black People / Theodore A. Harris -- The Bush Boys / Kelly Norman Ellis -- Turtle Eggs / Pamela Sneed -- Mother Tongue : Unman Chant / Edwin Torres -- The Power Of The Press / Lisa C. Moore -- Lethal / Sheila L. Prevost -- Invasion Of The Body Snatchers / Tim Seibles. The Role Call. Role Call Is An Exploration Of Our Current Cultural Landscape In Poetry, Fiction, Essays, Visual Arts And Theater-on-the-page. Girl Child, Paw Ain't No Mlk / Shirley Carter -- This City Has A Broken Halo / Artress Bethany White -- Catechism / Honorée Fanonne Jeffers -- Mother Love ; Untitled / Shara Mccallum -- Mama's Boy / Roy L. Pickering Jr. -- Kneeling Figure / Renaldo Davidson -- The Sweeper's Job / Clairesa Clay -- The Month Of May / Shirley Carter -- Seven / Kim Ransom -- I Did Not Intend To Live Past The Knowing / Shirley Carter -- Eight / Lyrae Van Clieff-stefanon -- Blue Paloma / Kenneth L. Addison -- A Father's Love / Daniel Black -- Allow Him To Parent / John Abner -- My Body Is Bread / Shay Youngblood -- Back / Tim Seibles -- Sex When I Don't Want It / Kiini Ibura Salaam -- Sometimes There Are No Words / Gwendolyn Mitchell -- Every Morning / Esther Iverem -- Second Birth / Emily Hooper Lansana -- Reach For The Sun / Antoinette Pressley-sanon -- My Mother Left Me Long Before I Was Born / Staceyann Chin -- Jamaica Farewell / Shara Mccallum -- Babylon Queens / Quashelle Curtis -- Irresistible Intentions / Kagendo -- Auld Lang Syne / Kelly Norman Ellis -- Daily News / John Abner -- Son Rise / Frank X Walker -- Social Security / R. Erica Doyle -- Bodega Optimo / Stevenson Estimé -- Crematorium / Arthur Ade Amaker -- Dreamy Blues / Brian Gilmore -- Haiku / Lenard D. Moore -- Passing The Middle / Jabari Asim -- Lynching / Sheila L. Prevost -- Black Men Don't Kill Themselves / Darlene Anita Scott -- The First (and Last) Anti-clinton Poem / Kenneth Carroll -- New Rules Of The Road / Reginald Harris -- A Story For America / Edwin Torres -- Negative / Kevin Young -- Vibrate Plain / Eric Mack -- Clash Of Denial / Doug Jones -- The House Of Dangerous Surprise / Lita Hooper -- Soundtrack For Us / Janeé Bolden -- The Inside / Jenoyne Adams -- Berry / Calida Garcia -- On Days / Melissa Mcewen -- When Lost, Ask For Directions / Kysha N. Brown. Role Call Is A Litmus Test Of- And A Call To Arms To- A Generation Grown Fat On The Limited Freedoms Won By The Civil Rights Struggle. Is Excess Sin / Shirley Carter -- Warning / Lissette Norman -- The Escape / Samiya A. Bashir -- The Ghost Of Orpheus / Anthony Butts -- The Bible And The Gun / Theodore A. Harris -- Irony Of Negro Policeman / Kevin Young -- There Is An Emptiness Approaching / Sharrif Simmons -- Alive / Navin June Norling -- Better Roses / Holly Bass -- What Now? Losing Communication / John Abner -- P.s. / Carl Hancock Rux -- Atonia / Ayesha J. Gallion -- Goodnight California / Kenneth L. Addison -- L.a. Suite / Jeffrey Renard Allen -- Cash, Media & Math / Stevenson Estimé -- New Recipe / Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie -- That Midnight Train To Georgia / Melanie Hope -- On Hearing Of The Death Of Gwendolyn Brooks / James E. Cherry -- 1977 / Eisa Davis -- Arsonist / Gregory Pardlo -- Making Foots / Nikky Finney -- I Was There Once / Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie -- To The Winners / Rohan B. Preston -- Try To Remember That South African Man / John Keene -- Thoughts On Those Flags / Akintiunde -- The Butt Of The Joke / Nikky Finney -- Children Of The Sun / Shirley Carter -- Glory / Thomas Sayers Ellis -- Pasadena City Hall, April 29, 1992 / Douglas Kearney -- 33 Fisher Ave. / Kenneth L. Addison -- Have You Seen Them? / Kate Rushin -- Boys Think / Jacqueline P. Banyon -- George Washington / R. Gregory Christie -- Those Innocent Eyes Once Weren't / R.c. Glenn. Role Call Takes On Race, Sexuality, Education, Nationalism, Spirituality, Aids, Globalization, Hip Hop And The Prison Industrial Complex. Untitled, From The Consumer Series / Derrick Adams -- Narcissus Sits By The River To Take The S.a.t. / Samiya A. Bashir -- Gesture Of A Woman-in-process / Natasha Trethewey -- Retaining Dignity / Calida Garcia -- Excerpt From The Book Of Sarahs, Part I / Catherine Mckinley -- Nemsi / Quashelle Curtis -- Excerpt From The Book Of Sarahs, Part Ii / Catherine Mckinley -- Girl In Crib / Renaldo Davidson -- Detailing The Nape / Nelson Demery Iii -- Paper Armor / Eisa Davis -- The Storm Beneath The Bone / Edwin Torres -- Silhouette With Barbed Wire / Hannan Saleh -- You In America Now / R. Erica Doyle -- Drive / Duriel E. Harris -- Evidence / Bruce Morrow -- What I Brought To The Family Reunion / Reginald Harris -- Cousin Rita / Nichole L. Shields -- Survivor Rememory / Faith Sangoma -- Faggot / Thomas Sayers Ellis -- She / Nichole L. Shields -- Silent Languages / Nelson Demery Iii -- Bull-jean Slipn In / Sharon Bridgforth -- Cum. Cum. / Karma Mayet Johnson -- Bull-jean & Trouble / Sharon Bridgforth -- Excerpt From The Singer / Jacqueline Woodson -- Where The Boys Are / Marvin K. White -- Period / Lyrae Van Clief-stefanon -- First Day / Angela Shannon -- Snow / Sharan Strange -- Home Speech / Kim Mayhorn -- Plenilunium / Andre O. Hoilette -- Scribulus / Toni Asante Lightfoot -- Lyric For A New Life / Nancy Mercado -- Juking At Miz Annie's / Charlie R. Braxton -- Microscope / Natasha Trethewey -- For The Distinguished Historian-- / Sheree Renée Thomas -- Who Is Black? / Rosa Clemente -- At The Olmec Exhibit In Washington, D.c. / Alicia Vogl Sáenz -- My Love Affair With Jamaica / Staceyann Chin -- Evil Gettin' There / Jiton Sharmayne Davidson -- Street Corner Revival / Kenneth L. Addison -- Gawd And Alluh Huh Sistahs / Letta Neely -- The Goode Lorde / Dj Renegade -- A Woman Was Lynched The Other Day / Kim Mayhorn -- Moontime & Mezuzahs / Carol Smith Passariello -- Three Market Women / Antoinette Pressley-sanon -- When She Carried A Calabash / Adrian Castro -- The Eyes That Never Left Mine / Angela Hodison-malele -- Through It All / G. Winston James -- Vellum / Danielle Legros Georges -- A Real Place / Thomas Glave -- Pest / Major L. Jackson -- Statement On The Killing Of Patrick Dorismond / Quraysh Ali Lansana -- Bone Memories / Rohan B. Preston -- You Pay For What You Get / Willie Perdomo -- Human-murderers ; We Wear Our Flesh Like Flames / Theodore A. Harris -- Girl In Flames / Hannan Saleh -- Death By Marriage / Ta'shia Asanti -- The Runaways / Marilyn Fleming -- The List Grows / Danielle Legros Georges -- Resistance To Repression / Theodore A. Harris -- Free Trade, Free Cuba / Farai Chideya -- Our Bones Have Numbers On Them / Theodore A. Harris -- Ten Pound Draw / Willie Perdomo -- American Visa / Samiya A. Bashir -- Afro-american / Sheila L. Prevost -- Coming To America / Okey Ndibe -- Illegal Ingrate / Marlon Billups -- Criticism Of Political Rap / Mtume Ya Salaam -- Color In My Life / Angela A. Williams -- Hip-hop Barbie / Quashelle Curtis -- Wanda Jean Allen And The State / Evie Shockley -- Black Boxisms : Visiting Room / Kim Mayhorn -- Dear Mama : Remember That Rose Water / Stephanie Mwandishi Gadlin -- Libations For Pharaoh / Michael Simanga -- Less / Johnalynn Holland -- Public School / Quraysh Ali Lansana -- Casualties / Deborah Vaughan -- Imprisonment / Sheila L. Prevost -- Ten Precepts Of A Zen Peacemaker / Angel Kyodo Williams. Role Call Is A Journey Through The Tropics Of Black Rage, Black Love And Black Fire. Black Love. Meditations For Betty Shabazz / Theodore A. Harris -- What Love Is / Toni Assante Lightfoot -- Love Bigger Than Yankee Stadium / Melissa Mcewen -- Sins Of The Father / Kenneth L. Addison -- Labor Poem #2 / Melanie Hope -- Nile & Onan Sitting On A Stoop Eating Ices / Cheryl L. Minor -- Illuminata / Lita Hooper -- Dream Child / Bryant Smith -- The First Time I Saw Flo-jo / Crystal Williams -- Let This Cover You When You Sleep / Bro. Yao -- The Last Moonsong / Sheree Renée Thomas -- My Grandmother's Camera / Johnalynn Holland -- Mr. Pate's Barbershop / Major L. Jackson -- Gwendolyn Brooks / Anthony Walton -- A Tribute To Ms. Gwendolyn Brooks / Michael Guinn -- Hydrangeas / Angela Shannon -- Speaksong / Lenard D. Moore -- Apple Seed / Jessica Care Moore -- I Removed Your Picture From The Brass Frame / Jenoyne Adams -- Woman / Calida Garcia -- I Hate Your Guts / Rebecca Strait -- Nina / Renaldo Davidson -- Sarah Nell / Melissa Mcewen -- The Future As Evaporation / Gregory Pardlo -- Choices / Toni Assante Lightfoot -- A Terrorist's Prayer / Charlie R. Braxton -- #6 / Changamire Semakokiro -- The Availability Of Lead / Jeffrey Renard Allen -- Apocalypse / Charlie R. Braxton -- Mvb-57 / Eric Mack. Role Call Is A Journey Through The Tropics Of Black Rage, Black Love And Black Fire. Black Rage. Jah Witnesses / Michael Datcher -- Nat Turner Dreams Of Insurrection / Elizabeth Alexander -- In Elijah's Fields / Gina M. Streaty -- Detail -- A Woman Was Lynched The Other Day / Kim Mayhorn -- What's Painted On The Walls / Dj Renegade -- Mercury & The Monk / Taj Greenlee -- Broken System / Sheila L. Prevost -- Grind / Lawrence Ytzhak Braithwaite -- Trees On Our Backs / Kevin Powell -- Smolder / Quarysh Ali Lansana -- The Sound Of Burning Hair / Nikky Finney -- Drapery Factory, Gulfport, Mississippi, 1956 / Natasha Trethewey. Role Call Is A Journey Through The Tropics Of Black Rage, Black Love And Black Fire. Black Fire. Love Punany Bad / Quashelle Curtis -- Cakewalk / Shayla Hawkins -- The Plan / John Abner -- Identification Please / Bryant Smith -- Autobiography Of A Black Man / G.e. Patterson -- As For The Body / John Keene -- Long Days Journey / Tony Medina -- The Receptionist-part One / Yona Harvey -- The Algebra Of X / Kazim Ali -- God Is Love So Are They / Renaldo Davidson -- Future / Carol Allen -- Struggle / Kevin Powell -- Hold Up, Motherfucka! / Starr Aché -- #9 / Stevenson Estimé. Edited By Tony Medina, Samiya A. Bashir, Quarishi Ali Lansana ; With A Foreword By Haki R. Madhubuti. ""Welcome to the 21st Century"" bids the opening line of this literary ""multimedia"" experience, brought to us by three leading Black author-activists of the post-Civil Rights Movement generation. This collection of more than 300 poems, essays, paintings, photos, and mixed media representations features myriad voices of the generation bridging the gap between the children of the Civil Rights Movement and those of the present hip hop movement.