The Poetic Testament of this Defiant Generation
Ewuare X. Osayande’s Our Breath is the Whisper of Our Ancestor’s Defiance is the poetic testament of the post-Civil Rights generation. Spanning 30 years and including poems from five previously published books along with new work, this anthology is the crowning achievement of a poet-scribe who is a faithful witness to the freedom stride of his people. In Our Breath, Osayande is our ambassador of Blackness, extolling the virtues of justice as love in poems that read like psalms and proverbs for a world on fire.
Ewuare X. Osayande is a civil rights lawyer, award-winning poet, and the author of Our Breath is the Whisper of Our Ancestors’ Defiance. A former professor of African American Studies at Rutgers University, his other books include Whose America?, Blood Luxury, and Black Phoenix Uprising. He is the 2024 recipient of the Richard H. Semsker Prize for Civil Rights Law.
Engagements
Ewuare X. Osayande’s presentations are inspiring, informative and empowering! Rooted in history and driven by the urgency of now, Osayande provides his audiences with a roadmap that seeks a liberated future for all. During this time of unprecedented attack on civil rights, Osayande reminds us of our shared humanity in resilient community with the world.
Lectures
“Ewuare X. Osayande is brilliant and compelling. His criticism is passionate and captures the urgency of the contemporary crisis in African American life. A powerful voice in the tradition of David Walker, Frederick Douglass, and Malcolm X. Consider his work essential learning.”
Dr. Wayne Glasker
Professor Emeritus, Africana Studies
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY
Workshops
"Ewuare X. Osayande, through his work, gives us an unrestrained, honest, informed, disciplined, and challenging analysis. Here is a servant leader who lovingly critiques our communities with the disciplined distance necessary for individual and communal transformation.”
Dr. Joyce A. Joyce
Professor, English Department
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY
Poetry
"Ewuare X. Osayande’s poetry offers an unflinching critique of racism, sexism, and hypocrisy. His world-informed work provides a stinging assessment of the ravages of capitalism. Osayande’s voice is a clarion call for justice, and therefore, it is a voice of hope.”
Dr. Mary Dillard
Asst. Professor, African History
SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE
“Ewuare Osayande is a storyteller not defined by zip-code, but, as the best poets have done, he claims the Earth and its peoples as his subjects. His voice is singular, urgent and a drumbeat redefining the world of possibilities for us all.”
Haki R. Madhubuti
Founder & President
Third World Press
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