Debut Poetry Book: African-American.

It’s official. After months of writing, revising, and a couple days of all-nighting, your boy is finally a published author. I must say, having a physical book in my bookshelf, with my name on it--that is a feeling I can get used to. 

But celebrations aside for a quick minute, this has been one of the most important projects of my life, if not the most important. I knew this collection of poetry needed to be my first. I needed a space to do more than just vent. I needed to reflect deeper than I’ve ever done, I needed to stare through the darkness and the chaos and the rejection and the mistakes to find out for myself what strength looked like on the other side.

Titled African-American., this book is an unveiling of my past and current struggles with my hyphenated identity as an American-born Nigerian male with dark skin. Split between four mindsets (African, American, Neither, and Both), African-American. is both a political discourse and an emotional sprawling. It’s a lot of pain and a lot of stoic anger and a little bit of peace all creatively tied together with a lot of rhyme and rhythm. But it’s me. Or it was. Or it will be. Lol. It’ll make sense when you read it.

Half of me wants this book in the hands of every human with a pulse. The other half is just grateful that anybody wants to read it. But ultimately, I know myself. I don’t have the stomach to consistently spam the world with my work, so I leave it in the hands of you, the reader. If you think the book is “meh”, “alright”, “good enough”, then, by all means, put it down and spend your life doing things that give you a better sense of awe. If, however, you happen to enjoy it, I just ask that you share it with someone who might enjoy it as well (or better yet, someone who you know will be puzzled or offended by every. single. poem.). Lol. Those people are probably my true target audience.

Thanks for all your support. It means a lot to me. I’ve been getting requests to provide signed copies (I’m still baffled by this), so I’ll be providing those in a couple of weeks, possibly through this very site. Until then, you can cop a copy on Amazon. 

Peace,
Benji

P.S. This is just the beginning. Can’t wait to share everything that’s been cooking in the background.