Branches of the Tree of Life - The Collected Poems of Abiodun Oyewole, 1969-2013

Abiodun Oyewole|Gabrielle David

ISBN 10: 1940939038 / ISBN 13: 9781940939032

Published by 2LEAF PR, 2014

About this Item

Dieser Artikel ist ein Print on Demand Artikel und wird nach Ihrer Bestellung fuer Sie gedruckt. &Uumlber den AutorrnrnABIODUN OYEWOLE is a poet, teacher, and founding member of the American music and spoken-word group the Last Poets, which laid the groundwork for the emergence of Hip-Hop. Over the years, Oyewole has collaborated on more t.

Seller Inventory # 597279607

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Branches of the Tree of Life - The Collected Poems of Abiodun Oyewole, 1969-2013
• Publisher: 2LEAF PR
• Publication Date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1940939038
• ISBN 13: 9781940939032
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

BRANCHES OF THE TREE OF LIFE is the first comprehensive volume of poems by Abiodun Oyewole, many of them never before published. Oyewole's poems are powerful, often political, always lyrical and profoundly moving. Over the course of his forty-year career and his long affiliation with The Last Poets, Oyewole is one of several poets credited for liberating American poetry by creating open, vocal, spontaneous, energetic and uncensored vernacular verse that paved the way for spoken word and Hip Hop. Using the spiritual, the sacred and the mystical, Oyewole often turns to the tree as a symbol of change and growth. His poetry re-branches into different directions, becoming grandeur in its proportions, and more complexly diversified in its structure. BRANCHES OF THE TREE OF LIFE is a living testament to a stunning career that confirms Abiodun Oyewole's place at the forefront of poetic achievement.

About the Authors

Abiodun Oyewole is a well-known poet, educator, and one of the founding members of the influential spoken-word group The Last Poets, which was formed in 1968. The group released their iconic self-titled album in 1970, significantly contributing to the emergence of hip hop. After rejoining The Last Poets in the 1990s, Oyewole produced more albums and gained international recognition through his performances around the globe. He began publishing his poetry with 2Leaf Press, starting with "Branches of The Tree of Life: The Collected Poems of Abiodun Oyewole 1969-2013" (2014) and "The Beauty of Being" (2018). He also edited "Black Lives Have Always Mattered" (2017) and wrote "NAKED, A New Poetry Collection" (2020). Oyewole earned a BS in biology and a BA in communications from Shaw University, an MA in education from Columbia University, and was a Columbia Charles H. Revson Fellow in 1989. He continues to perform poetry, lead workshops, and give lectures on various subjects, while also hosting a weekly salon for artists in New York.

Betty J. Dopson is an administrator, organizer and cultural activist. Having worked at Sydenham Hospital, she received her bachelor's degree in Communications Arts and Sciences from Queens College and became the Director of Public Relations at Harlem Hospital Center, where she served for fifteen years. During her tenure, she established "Harlem Hospital Babies Day," published the hospital's newspaper, Centerview, recorded oral histories from the medical staff for The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and produced and hosted the cable TV program "Your Health is Your Responsibility." She went on to work as the director of SQPA, NY Beacon School, which offered classes such as GED Prep, computer training, ESL, and recreational programming. Dopson is the co-founder and co-chair of CEMOTAP, Committee to Eliminate Media Offensive to African People, a twenty-seven-year-old watch organization created to monitor and confront offensive electronic and print media. Her book, Shared Secrets of Elder Sisters (2010), was mounted as a play by the Queens Black Spectrum Theater where she performed as a one-woman show.

Gabrielle David is a multidisciplinary artist known for her work as a poet, writer, musician, photographer, editor, web designer, and graphic designer. She is the founder and publisher of 2Leaf Press, a Black/Brown female-led nonprofit press based in New York that promotes multicultural literature and literacy. During the 1990s, she founded the award-winning quarterly phati'tude Literary Magazine, serving as editor-in-chief, and was the literature coordinator at the Langston Hughes Community Library and Cultural Center in Queens, New York. David has edited multiple books for 2Leaf Press and authored the six-volume series TRAILBLAZERS, which highlights the contributions of Black women in American history (https://trailblazersblackwomen.org). She is active in the literary community, participating in panel discussions and workshops, and has contributed articles and essays to various print and online platforms. https://gabrielledavid.com