Bone Sutures
$15.00 – $27.00
martin king & brother malcolm are present in this work’s opening poem, re-minding that 5 decades since their assassinations we’re still at war, and consciousness is fundamentally disengaged from the world’s suffering—& our own.
bone sutures, unwiring the mathematic of blackbody otherness speaks to unraveling the otherness that immobilizes individual & collective identity.
in large part this otherness is an outgrowth of the double consciousness w.e.b. du bois identified in the souls of blackfolk, 1903: an identity perceived thru blackskin praxis & internalized white institutional & social rejection. it’s the precursor to ralph ellison’s invisible man, 1952, & james baldwin’s 1963 essay, my dungeon shook, in the fire next time.
i write of this today not only as historical referent, but as the crucible i’ve come thru & continue to pass. my afrikan american lens is an ancestral truth i daily bring to conscious relationship in the communities i serve. i write poetry because, as i say in an earlier poem:
poetry is inspired sound moving thru life unabated, is truth’s insistence having its way in malleable flesh. poetry is wind rising & falling in bodies attuned to the motion of the sea; it’s air that fuels flame indelibly hinged to sacred earth’s revolutions. it is revolution!
bone sutures is a meditation for unwiring & dismantling mindfog.
may you find something here that is a music you can dance to; the mind to act & strength to weather the consequence & persevere. huemanity & earth require no less.
oko 12/17
Description
Bone Sutures is a poetic exploration of systemic oppression, Black identity, and resistance against racial violence in America and beyond. Omowalé-Kétu Oladuwa combines sharp, lyrical verse with historical reflection, contemporary outrage, and cultural reclamation. The collection captures centuries of pain—from the African diaspora and transatlantic slavery to the modern-day violence faced by Black communities in America.
It weaves:
- Historical and Cultural Roots: The poems honor ancestors, traditions, and resistance against colonial and racial oppression.
- Modern Realities: The verses highlight police brutality, systemic racism, and the countless Black lives lost to violence.
- Spiritual and Symbolic Language: The work uses nature (e.g., rivers, hurricanes, weeds) and jazz music as symbols of survival, resistance, and rebirth.
- Collective Hope and Resistance: Despite the brutal history and continued oppression, Oladuwa’s work calls for remembrance, solidarity, and collective action to reawaken Black identity and liberate the oppressed.
The structure moves between past and present, memory and action, weaving a tapestry that calls for justice and rebirth of communal strength.
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