Keeping Peace: Reflections on Life, Legacy, Commitment and Struggle

"A Poet, Preacher, And Philosopher sit down to talk after greeting each other with warm laughter and the easy telling of quick stories from the last time they'd been together. There is genuine joy in the tones that emerge in their speech as the relax in the presence of each other's work and legacy. The commonality and differences in the paths they've walked and the ideas they've promulgated adds a respectful tension necessary for high-level exchange and learning. Knowledge of history suggest smiles are imminent from knowing that they are again in the company of those who have not only charged into uncounted battles for human rights and justice, it is their life commitment and practice. Their ideas and work have expanded in understand and delivery. They have been criticized and often misunderstood and yet, they stood, and are still standing, in the growing storm we face today."--Publisher's website

Lasana Kazembe is a poet, professor, educational consultant and teaching artist. His work explores Black Aesthetics, cultural memory, critical literacy and arts-based education. He is an Assistant Professor of Education at Indiana University in Indianapolis.

Michael Simanga is an activist poet, novelist, essayist, producer, historian, scholar, educator and cultural worker. He grew up in Detroit and lives in Atlanta with his wife, poet Lita Hooper, their children and grandchildren. He teaches in the Department of African American Studies at Georgia State University.