Poem for the Living: The Memory of Cheikh Anta Diop

Since the publication of W.E.B. Dubois' SOULS OF BLACK FOLK, at the beginning of the 20th century, the Afro-American literary community has been the focus of a starburst of creative activity. The 1920's & '30's saw Jean Toomer's CAIN & Sterling A. Brown's SOUTHERN ROAD in the United States. While in the Caribbean there was the emergence of The Negritude Literary Movement out of which came Aime Cesaire's widely acclaimed epic, RETURN TO MY NATIVE LAND. Mwatabu Okantah's long awaited epic work, POEM FOR THE LIVING & THE MEMORY OF CHEIKH ANTA DIOP, appears at a crucial juncture in Afro-American literary history. Its unrushed wholeness not only imparts the stature & dignity of black people, but links in a concentric manner the extraordinary achievements & events present in the souls, lives & visions of black folk. Okantah's own complexity of vision, broad range of historical knowledge & search for a mythic sense of place is evident throughout this sustained journey. How long have we waited for the majestic, grandiose, imposingly great story of the African sojourn to the United States & back to Africa. Poem For The Living brilliantly weaves back in time & space to the early Black civilizations along the Nile, across the Western plains of Africa, to the coastal regions of the U.S.A. where New World Africans continued & expanded cultural creativity & diversity. Adult & young readers seeking adventure, drama & a sustained eloquence & elegance similar to a well executed jazz solo will welcome this first major epic poem of African-America: Poem For The Living & The Memory of Cheikh Anta Diop.