Role Call: A Generational Anthology of Social and Political Black Literature and Art

“Welcome to the 21st Century” bids the opening line of this literary “multimedia” experience, brought to us by three leading black author-activists of the post–Civil Rights Movement generation: Tony Medina, Samiya A. Bashir, and Quraysh Ali Lansana. This collection of more than three hundred poems, essays, paintings, photos and mixed media representations features a myriad of voices of the generation that bridges the gap between the children of the Civil Rights Movement and those of the present hip hop movement. Role Call is described by its editors as a manifesto for this much maligned often misunderstood generation, eager to shake off the fetters of society’s unflattering inaccurate labels. Its pages tell of a generation that has bravely taken up the challenge passed along by their forebears to fight for equality and justice. Boldly taking on issues of race relations, popular culture, sexuality, education, technology and the rise of the prison industry, Role Call reflects the love for self, family, and community necessary to any struggle for equality. This diverse collection of dynamic voices and visions tackles its subjects with fresh, sparse language, rich imagery and passion for the issues and the work that signal the arrival of a new Black Power–one that is spiritually grounded, forged in multiple alliances, and based on the credo that each of our experiences matter.