Affrilachian Poets

"127 Notebooks" by Mitchell L.H. Douglas

The lean, musical poems in this touching second collection depict a southern family after the death of its matriarch. Douglas transcribes the spirit and ghosts of one people's America in poems that are principled and tender.

Coal Black voices is an intimate mosaic of images, poetry, and storytelling by the Affrilachian Poets as they glimpses of life in the American Black South and Appalachian region. The ensemble of African-American writers challenge simple notions of an all white Appalachian region and culture while drawing on the traditions such as the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Arts Movement, and the experiences of the African Diaspora. The poetry of the Afrilachian poets celebrates their African heritage and rural roots while encompassing themes of racism and Black identity. In this documentary they give voice to the pleasures of family, land, good food, artistic community, music and transformation

In the tradition of the Langton Hughes classic Montage of a Dream Deferred, Mitchell L. H. Douglas uses persona poetry to explore the personal and professional struggles of soul legend Donny Hathaway in his debut collection Cooling Board: a Long-Playing Poem. Evoking the sense of listening to a concept album, Douglas presents a narrative in two sides: side one focusing on Hathaway's development as a young musician and subsequent rise to fame and side two bearing witness to the adversity that plagued his later years. Readers will see Hathaway as true to his family, true to his faith, and uncompromising in his quest for musical innovation. In a nod to Hathaway's legacy as a musical trailblazer, Douglas implements a significant poetic innovation in the format of the book. By including alternate versions or "takes" of poems throughout Cooling Board, the reader hears an echo of ideas that can be likened to an album with previously unreleased versions of popular songs. When the poems are revisited in alternate takes, new information emerges, and the reader is forced to consider new interpretations. Along the way, poems resembling liner notes and pop charts enhance the experience, never letting the reader forget that the heart of this ride is the music. Above all, Douglas' depiction of Hathaway gives readers the human side of a man who has remained a mystery in the 30 years since his death.

In urgent new poems, Mitchell L. H. Douglas depicts the assault on people of color in America's increasingly divided Heartland. A devotee of American popular culture, from rock 'n' roll to Star Wars to Marvel comic books, Douglas now wonders whether we will withstand its most odious, self-destructive elements in this searing collection.