Ewuare X. Osayande’s OUR BREATH IS THE WHISPER OF OUR ANCESTORS’ DEFIANCE is the poetic manifesto of the Black Lives Matter generation. Spanning 30 years and including poetry from five previously published books along with new and unpublished poems, this anthology is the crowning achievement of a poet-scribe who is a faithful witness to the freedom stride of his people. In this book, Osayande is our impassioned ambassador of Blackness, extolling the virtues of justice, love, and resilience in poems that read like psalms and proverbs for a world on fire. Known for his unsparing critiques of white supremacy, sexism, and class oppressions, Osayande’s poetry champions movements for justice and liberation across the United States and around the world. The poems herein collected are a conscious search for our shared humanity in vital solidarity with the world. In the book's introduction, Dr. Joyce A. Joyce, Professor of English at Temple University writes, "With Our Breath is the Whisper of Our Ancestors' Defiance, Osayande proves to be the poetic scribe of this defiant generation. This epic tome is his Black testament, chronicling the movement of a people to a liberated future."
Ewuare X. Osayande is joining us on the Busboys stage to share more about his ode to the Black Lives Matter generation and Black liberation movements. Copies of the collection of poetry will be available for purchase during and after the event, and Osayande will be signing following the program.
This event is free and open to all. Our program begins at 6:00 pm, and will be followed by an audience Q&A. Copies of OUR BREATH IS THE WHISPER OF OUR ANCESTORS’ DEFIANCE will be available for purchase before and after the event. Please note that this event is in person and will not be livestreamed.
We ask that guests RSVP in order to receive direct updates about the event from Busboys and Poets Books
Ewuare X. Osayande is an award-winning poet, social justice activist, publisher, and lawyer. The author of several books, his most recent is entitled Our Breath is the Whisper of Our Ancestors’ Defiance: The Poetry Anthology (1993-2023). His other books include Blood Luxury, Whose America? and Black Phoenix Uprising. Poet icon Amiri Baraka has stated that “Ewuare Osayande is one of the United States’ most important poets.” His poetry has also been included in a number of anthologies such as Black Fire This Time, Vols. I and II. A former professor of Africana Studies at Rutgers University, he is the founding editor of The Poetariat, an international journal of social justice poetry. Osayande is a graduate of the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law, where he received the 2024 Semsker Prize in Civil Rights Law. Yolanda Wisher, a former Philadelphia Poet Laureate, writes, “Osayande’s poems are anthems for 21st Century Black folk, Harriet’s rifle behind our backs in the swamp. He reminds us that the poet, not the politician, is our pilot of social consciousness.” He presently lives in Silver Spring, MD.
