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Electric Arches
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 11
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Remember that moment when you first encountered a character who seemed to be written just for you? That feeling of belonging remains with readers the rest of their lives - but not everyone regularly sees themselves on the pages of a book. In this timely anthology, Glory Edim brings together original essays by some of our best black women writers to shine a light on how important it is that we all - regardless of gender, race, religion, or ability - have the opportunity to find ourselves in literature.
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"We were eight years in power" was the lament of Reconstruction-era black politicians as the American experiment in multiracial democracy ended with the return of white supremacist rule in the South. Now Ta-Nehisi Coates explores the tragic echoes of that history in our own time: the unprecedented election of a black president followed by a vicious backlash that fueled the election of the man Coates argues is America's "first white president".
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4 out of 5 stars
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The poetry of Nikki Giovanni has spurred movements, turned hearts, and informed generations. She's been hailed as a firebrand, a radical, a healer, and a sage; a wise and courageous voice who has spoken out on the sensitive issues, including race and gender, that touch our national consciousness.
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The beloved and best-selling author of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings reads aloud from her third book of verse. She not only gives life to many of her most cherished poems, but she also presents personal introductions to several favorites, including "One More Round", "Woman Work", and "Life Doesn't Frighten Me".
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5 out of 5 stars
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Nothing compares to hearing the actual author read
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Pride
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Zuri Benitez has pride. Brooklyn pride, family pride, and pride in her Afro-Latino roots. But pride might not be enough to save her rapidly gentrifying neighborhood from becoming unrecognizable. When the wealthy Darcy family moves in across the street, Zuri wants nothing to do with their two teenage sons, even as her older sister, Janae, starts to fall for the charming Ainsley. She especially can’t stand the judgmental and arrogant Darius. Yet as Zuri and Darius are forced to find common ground, their initial dislike shifts into an unexpected understanding.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Every girl from the hood needs to listen to this
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Training School for Negro Girls
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Unapologetic
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 38
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Drawing on Black intellectual and grassroots organizing traditions, including the Haitian Revolution, the US civil rights movement, and LGBTQ rights and feminist movements, Unapologetic challenges all of us engaged in the social justice struggle to make the movement for Black liberation more radical, more queer, and more feminist. This audiobook provides a vision for how social justice movements can become sharper and more effective through principled struggle, healing justice, and leadership development.
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5 out of 5 stars
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I learned a lot
- By Mickey Guyton on 10-28-18
Publisher's Summary
Electric Arches is an imaginative exploration of Black girlhood and womanhood through poetry, visual art, and narrative prose.
Blending stark realism with the surreal and fantastic, Eve L. Ewing's narrative takes us from the streets of 1990s Chicago to an unspecified future, deftly navigating the boundaries of space, time, and reality. Ewing imagines familiar figures in magical circumstances - blues legend Koko Taylor is a tall-tale hero; LeBron James travels through time and encounters his teenage self. She identifies everyday objects - hair moisturizer, a spiral notebook - as precious icons.
Her visual art is spare, playful, and poignant - a cereal box decoder ring that allows the wearer to understand what Black girls are saying; a teacher's angry, subversive message scrawled on the chalkboard. Electric Arches invites fresh conversations about race, gender, the city, identity, and the joy and pain of growing up.
Eve L. Ewing is a writer, scholar, artist, and educator from Chicago. Her work has appeared in Poetry, The New Yorker, New Republic, The Nation, The Atlantic, and many other publications. She is a sociologist at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration.
What members say
Average Customer Ratings
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5 out of 5 stars
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5 out of 5 stars
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5 Stars39
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Erin Cline
- 11-01-17
100% recommend
All of the poems are moving and Eve is an amazing narrator. Will listen again.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 02-05-18
I can't stop listening to this one.
This collection of stories stay with you long after you finish. I love it. 5/5 stars
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Devdac
- Harleysville, PA United States
- 01-21-18
Nice!
Very good! I enjoyed this even though I’m not a fan of poetry. The author is very gifted.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Francis
- Wellington, New Zealand
- 12-31-17
Brilliant
One of the best things I've read all year. An astonishing set of poems blurring afrofuturism with biography, with guest appearances by Erykah Badu and Metta World Peace and Prince and Assata Shakur. Ewing's reading is fantastic - an incredible audio production, complementing a brilliant book.