Mutabaruka: The First Poems / The Next Poems

by Mutabaruka

MUTABARUKA was born Allan Hope in Rae Town, Kingston, Jamaica on December 26, 1952. Internationally acclaimed poet, reggae performer, radio host, actor, social critic and Rastafarian spokesman, he is Jamaica's voice of the people. His work focuses on themes of social justice, human rights and black liberation. In the 1970s he began publishing his highly controversial poems, and since the early 1980s he has performed his work all over the world. He has released several outstanding albums of dub poetry, a marriage of reggae rhythms and the spoken word. This book contains a reprint of his first major collection of poems of the 1970s, " the First Poems," and a new anthology of his best work written between 1980 and 2002, " the Next Poems."

Genres: Poetry, Music

144 pages, Paperback

Published January 24, 2005

Reviews

[Rol-J Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is difficult to write a review for any work by Mutabaruka. If you watch his performances or listen to his radio programmes, you would easily understand Mutabaruka the Rastafarian, the Social Justice Champion, the Pan-Africanist, the Jamaican, the Human Existing in a Caribbean Civilisation scarred by centuries of exploit. This collection of Mutabaruka's work from the 1970s right up to the 21st Century is potent and shows his progression as a poet but also shows how firm he has remained in his belief that people of African descent must continue their fight for freedom.

What more can one truly write?