I remember when I first heard Sonia Sanchez speak - the cadence of her voice, the punctuated rhythms of her staccato verse. Like a full bodied wine, the flavor of her words lingered. My body hummed. Somehow she knew my story. She was a griot dispensing a herstory of resilience, defiance and strength. The black woman instead of being confined to one singular definition was appreciated as a diaspora of resplendent colors each owning her individual experience. I walked away that day feeling as if t...

First and foremost, many thanks go to Haymarket Books for the review copy.Overall this is a really solid collection. It's difficult reviewing collections - there will always be some pieces that speak to you more than others. All in all I'd say about a quarter of the poems absolutely blew me away, half were good, and a quarter didn't really resonate with me, which is a pretty good ratio. The thread running through the collection was cohesive, and each section had its own flavor while still playin...

Open to any page and get smacked with truth, humor, wit, power, or horror. Gushing with impressive moving voices. Pages of divinity.You should read it aloud (I'm guessing most people are like me and do not read poetry aloud to themselves). Camonghne Felix is so f'ing good; the bit below is just a tiny taste of her incredible piece. A video of her performance brought me to tears. I enjoyed this more than the first volume of this series; I think that's because the collection, themes, and stylings

This is a wonderful description and explanation if the various experiences of the human condition for black females. There were poems I related to as if they were memories or urgent cries. Then, there were others that described another life that I have not experienced in my brown skin. This is a perfect example of how black girls and women are not one generalization, but that they are different and varied, each one unique. Reading this as a black woman reminded me that I am a person, as strange

This year, poetry has led me on a thoughtful journey. I recently read this incredible anthology! A beautiful celebration of black women and their stories. I even had to screenshot and share several poems with my friends. That alone was a true sign of a collection that resonated, that lifted a voice to the experience of being a black woman and pure thankfulness to have come across it..Also random fact: I was introduced to Jamila Woods’ music through the Black Girl in Om Spotify playlist. To know

raw. passionate. real.some poems are tear jerkers, all are thought provoking. I heard some of the poets in the book share at the Schomburg and knew I had to have their live with me. Thank you for your work! Favorites include;Supremacy -Ariana Brownmicro - Britteney Black Rose Kaprialleged (erasure) - Candice IlohWading (Ode to an Almost First Kiss) -Alexa PatrickN - Jamila WoodsThis Poem for Sugar Hill, Harlem - JP HowardDivination - Deborah D.E.E.P. MoutonThis collection is special

Breakbeat Poets Vol. 2: Black Girl Magic edited by Mahogany L. Browne, Idrissa Simmonds, and Jamila Woods is a fantastic collection of poetry. From Justice Ameer’s “My Beauty” to Lauren Whitehead’s “Outside my Harlem Window” to “Sonnet (47)” by Nikki Wallschlaeger, from Eve Ewing to Noname to Morgan Parker, there are so many fantastic poems in this collection. It’s a highly recommended reads.

3.5/5 - only a handful of favorites but overall enjoyable and reflective

This is a gorgeous collection of poetry. Black women...we are seen, loved, and affirmed on these pages. We find a sisterhood on these pages. This is a gift for us, by us! Get yourself a copy. You'll want to return to it often!

"We are the color pulsing beneath the closed eye, the tinge of a roomat moonfall, we are steady suspect since we share our hue with the night.Because we are never seen clearly-consistently spied upon through a safely distanced shroud-we diminished, trivialized, spoken of as stain.We are the rollicking hips and the curious hair, the bristling oddity, the tangled waft of shea and spiced oil, the throats that refuse to constrict. Everyonehas had a go at us, poking fervently at spaces in our spirit,...

This book is a celebration of Black women across the African diaspora, a testament to grown and young women owning their power, a space for the Black women who love hip hop and the Black women who have a complicated relationship with it. This book is an ever-flowing river filled with stories of their struggles, their hopes, their joys, what makes them magic, what makes them laugh, how they survive, how they thrive. These poems will stir you, show you mirrors, open doors and make homes in your bo...

[5 stars] A beautifully curated collection of poetry by Black cis and trans women and nonbinary folks. Poems on activism and identity and sex and sadness and joy and oppression and longing and life. Whether you devour it in one sitting or return to it one by one, invest in this volume and its celebration of Blackness, womanhood, and survival.

one of longest poetry books i've read. one of the most relatable to me. never once did i feel like i was just staring at the pages and turning them. i connected with this. also some of the poems being slam poems i can find on youtube definately helped. made it feel kind of interactive. i love that you can tell which poems are to be performed instead of just read based on them having a real rhythm. you know going into this i didn't expect it to be 300 pages long. i'm reading this on my kindle, it...

well organized with a bunch of truly incredible poems! my favorites were “You Mean You Don’t Weep at the Nail Salon?” by Elizabeth Acevedo and “creation story after Safia Elhillo” by nonae

It took me a very long time to read this collection and I guess I'm "done" because I've now read all the poems at least once, but I'm sure I will reread many of the pieces in here!

A fabulous collection of poems that covers a wide range of topics Black Girls of all ages experience. Each section of the collection begins with a quote from a renowned poet/writer i.e. Sonia Sanchez, Maya Angelou, Zora Neale Hurston, Assata Shakur. The quotes set the tone of the section and the poems of the emerging poets align brilliantly. This is a collection for lovers of poetry and lovers of Black Girls.

★★★★½And I am woke. And I am wounded.And I am wilting.And I am wandering.~Finding Diaspora by Thiahera Nurseoh. my. god.This was beautiful. It was honest, & it was sometimes brutal.Some poems were hard to read.Some gave my goosebumps, some made me cry. Just... wow. I've said this before and I'll probably say it again:with poetry collections some you'll like, some you won't. It's sooo rare for me to love every poem in an anthology. But this collection. Wow. I didn't absolutely love every one, but...

When I went to read this book I knew that it was not written for me. I expected there to be a lot in these poems that I had not experienced and that I could not relate to. However I still wanted to read it because it would be sad to only read poems you could relate to. What I loved most about this anthology is that the topics and themes may be similar but each woman has her own voice. It felt like I was going through a cycle of emotions for each injustice. Anger, sadness, grief, hopelessness, an...

One of the most powerful poetry anthologies I’ve read. Browne and Simmons and Woods have put together a phenomenal collection of voices. As Patricia Smith says in her foreword, “These pages are not populated by a Black girl, not a single, all-encompassing icon, but all of us— spewing pointed curses from Brooklyn, Philly and Queens, DC and Kentucky, casting spells from the Chi and the City of Angels, chanting ritually from the ATL, Minneapolis, and pinpoints in the Caribbean. We are immigrant, di...

Still don't feel like I can talk about poetry with any degree of expertise, but I really liked this anthology, thought all of the pieces were interesting and heavy-hittting, and overall enjoyed my time with it. Another great get from last year's Haymarket Books sale.