{"product_id":"necessary-kindling","title":"Necessary Kindling","description":"Using the necessary kindling of unflinching memory and fearless observation, anjail rashida ahmad ignites a slow-burning rage at the generations-long shadow under which African American women have struggled, and sparks a hope that illuminates \"\"how the acts of women- \/ loving themselves- \/ can keep the spirit \/ renewed.\"\" Fueling the poet's fire- sometimes angry-voiced but always poised and graceful- are memories of her grandmother; a son who \"\"hangs \/ between heaven and earth \/ as though he belonged \/ to neither\"\"; and ancestral singers, bluesmen and -women, who \"\"burst the new world,\"\" creating jazz for the African woman \"\"half-stripped of her culture.\"\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn free verses jazzy yet exacting in imagery and thought, ahmad explores the tension between the burden of heritage and fierce pride in tradition. The poet's daughter reminds her of the power that language, especially naming, has to bind, to heal: \"\"she's giving part of my name to her own child, \/ looping us into that intricate tapestry of women's names \/ singing themselves.\"\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThrough gripping narratives, indelible character portraits, and the interplay of cultural and family history, ahmad enfolds readers in the strong weave of a common humanity. Her brilliant and endlessly prolific generation of metaphor shows us that language can gather from any life experience- searing or joyful- \"\"the necessary kindling \/ that will light our way home.","brand":"Louisiana State University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55807360139608,"sku":"9780807127148","price":19.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9780807127148_86b0f227-f95a-4a2e-8314-07664f7b732d.jpg?v=1779516073","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/necessary-kindling","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}