Poetry. African &amp; African American Studies. Women's Studies. LGBTQIA Studies. t'ai freedom ford's second collection of poems, &amp; MORE BLACK, is direct, ingenious, vibrant, alive, queer, &amp; BLACK. By turns tough and sexy, wrapped up in the evolving language and sonics of life, these poems take their cue from Wanda Coleman's American Sonnets as they rhapsodize and dialogue with artists such as Carrie Mae Weems, Glenn Ligon, and Wangechi Mutu, along with many other musicians, artists, and writers. The kinetic energy of ford's words leap off the page in rebellious, stunning, and revelatory fashion--poems that mesmerize with sheer velocity and telling pauses.

& more black

Literature & Fiction

ford, t’ai freedom

Poetry

Augury Books

An astonishing debut, how to get over is part instruction manual, part prayer, part testimony. It attempts to solve the reader’s problems (by telling them how to get over), while simultaneously creating them―troubling the waters with witness and blues. ford’s poems witness via a series of “past life portraits” that navigate personal space as well as the imagined persona. These portraits conjure the blues via the imagined lives of the inanimate (a whip, a machete), the historic (a Negro burial ground, Harriet Tubman, The Red Summer), the iconic (Pecola Breedlove, Richard Pryor, Rodney King). At the same time, these portraits focus on the past lives of the author and grapple with themes including sexuality, sexual abuse, and substance abuse. The collection’s namesake poems speak to bullying and homophobia, blackness, whiteness and gentrification, and even directly address pop culture icons like Kanye West, Chaka Khan, and Nicky Minaj. Grounded in memory and re-memory, these poems pray in the voice of the ancestors and testify on their behalf. ford’s poems not only remind how the history and legacy of slavery placed African-Americans at an unfair disadvantage, but attempt to illuminate the beautiful struggle of a people’s endurance and resilience. The reader embarks upon a journey through these poems, circa 1787 to 2013, and emerges realizing that everything is connected―the ways we live, lie, love, and die―the ways we all get over.

how to get over

Red Hen Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by ford, t’ai freedom. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by ford, t’ai freedom

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by ford, t’ai freedom. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

& more black

how to get over