Alabanza And Selected Poems 1982-2002

Alabanza Is A Twenty-year Collection Charting The Emergence Of Martn Espada As The Preeminent Latino Lyric Voice Of His Generation. Alabanza Means Praise In Spanish, And Espada Praises The People Whitman Called Them The Others Are Down Upon: The African Slaves Who Brought Their Music To Puerto Rico; A Prison Inmate Provoking Brawls So He Could Write Poetry In Solitary Confinement; A Janitor And His Solitary Strike; Espadas Own Father, Who Was Jailed In Mississippi For Refusing To Go To The Back Of The Bus. The Poet Bears Witness To Death And Rebirth At The Ruins Of A Famine Village In Ireland, A Town Plaza In Mxico Welcoming A March Of Zapatista Rebels, And The Courtroom Where He Worked As A Tenant Lawyer.