English: Poetry

Enslaved from birth until the close of the Civil War, the self-taught Horton was the first American slave to protest his bondage in published verse and the first black man to publish a book in the south. As a man and as a poet, his achievements were extraordinary.

In this volume, Joan Sherman collects 62 of Horton's poems. Her comprehensive introduction—combining biography, history, cultural commentary and critical insight—presents a compelling and detailed picture of this remarkable man's life and art.

George Moses Horton (ca. 1797–1883) was born in Northampton County, North Carolina. A slave for 68 years, Horton spent much of his life on a farm near Chapel Hill, and in time he fostered a deep connection with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The author of three books of poetry, Horton was inducted into the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame in May of 1996.

Eminem is the best-selling musical artist of the 21st century. He is also one of the most contentious and most complex artists of our time. His verbal dexterity ranks him among the greatest technical rappers ever. The content of his songs combines the grotesque and the comical with the sincere and the profound, all told through the sophisticated layering of multiple personae. However one finally assesses his contribution to popular culture, there's no denying his central place in it. This collection of essays gives his work the critical attention it has long deserved. Drawing from history, philosophy, sociology, musicology, and other fields, the writers gathered here consider Eminem's place in Hip Hop, the intellectual underpinnings of his work, and the roles of race, gender and privilege in his career, among various other topics. This original treatment will be appreciated by Eminem fans and cultural scholars alike.

While recognizing that humour and irony are often employed as methods of resistance, this careful analysis also acknowledges the ways that they can be used to assert or restore order. Using the framework of humour and irony, five themes emerge from the words of these poets: religious transformations; generic transformations; history, memory, and the nation; photography and representational visibility; and land and the significance of 'home.' Through the double-voice discourse of irony and the textual surprises of humour, these poets challenge hegemonic renderings of themselves and their cultures, even as they enforce their own cultural norms.

From NPR correspondent and New York Times bestselling author, Kwame Alexander, comes a powerful and provocative collection of poems that cut to the heart of the entrenched racism and oppression in America and eloquently explores ongoing events