Voices Draped in Black, poems

This new collection contains poems written intermittently from the 1980s to the present, celebrating activism and activists, known and unknown, women and men, and the spirit of struggle. Some were assassinated, while some are still alive and some have since passed away. They all have left behind a strong legacy of their commitment and courage. Whether soft or sharp, Ifi s voice is always clear, illuminating, and inspiring. --Mahmood Mamdani, Columbia University In this new anthology, soon after the publication of her evocative Circles of Love, Ifi Amadiume ranges almost effortlessly across a multitudinary landscape of ideas that reminisces on, celebrates and interrogates some of the most pressing political and cultural issues of our time. Exquisite. --Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe, historian, political scientist, critic "Ifi's poems speak of an African humanity, commitment to struggle, praise of African activists both living and those who have fallen, the suffering of war, poverty, underdevelpment inflicted on people, and nature's mysteries. Her voice is draped in human warmth driven by love, a rage motivated by demand for justice for the wretched of the earth, stinging irony, sadness, pain and that recognisable African sense of integrity and dignity." --Ama Biney, scholar-activist, Manager and Lecturer in African & Caribbean Studies, Further Education College, West London