What I'm Reading #94

"The Fire This Time" is a modern response to James Baldwin's seminal work, "The Fire Next Time" which EVERYONE AMERICAN SHOULD BE EXPECTED TO READ, in my humble opinion.  Like it's inspiration, this is a collection of essays on the state of Black/White Race Relations in America.  Unlike it's progenitor, it's authors represent a wide range of contemporary African American writers.  From the very beginning where it opens with a poem by one of my favorite contemporary black poets, Jericho Brown all the way to the end with another amazing poem by another favorite of mine, Natasha Trethewey.  You experience the power and the confusion, the hopes and the disappoints of a new generation of African American voices.  It's the sort of collective dialogue that the vast majority of white people never come close to, and it's dangerous.  Dangerous like a fire that burns away the dross and refines the heart.  This collection will change you, my white brothers and sisters, if only you'll let it.