Naming our destiny : new and selected poems / June Jordan.

Part one. From things that I do in the dark (1958 - 1977) : Who look at me -- For my Jamaican sister a little bit lost on the island of Manhattan -- Juice of a lemon on the trail of little yellow -- One minus one minus one -- On the spirit of Mildred Jordan -- Ah, momma -- From the "Talking back of Miss Valentine Jones" : Poem # one -- The wedding -- The reception -- Roman poem number eight -- Roman poem number thirteen -- Roman poem number fourteen -- For my brother -- It's about you : on the beach -- Of nightsong and flight -- About long distances on Saturday -- Calling on all silent minorities -- No poem because time is not a name -- On a New Year's Eve -- For Ethelbert -- For Dave : 1776 -- Meta-rhetoric -- On the loss of energy (and other things) -- What would I do white -- In memoriam: Martin Luther King, Jr -- For Michael Angelo Thompson (October 25, 1959 - March 23, 1973) -- On moral leadership as a political dilemma (Watergate, 1973) -- Uhuru in the O.R. -- If you saw a negro lady -- Roman poem number five -- Roman poem number six -- About Enrique's drawing -- On declining values -- Some people -- Fragments from a parable -- Getting down to get over --

Part two. From passion (1977 - 1980) : The morning on the mountains -- Current events - Case in point -- Newport Jazz Festival -- Patricia's poem -- Letter to the local police -- Poem about police violence -- Sketching in the transcendental -- A poem about intelligence for my brothers and sisters -- 1977 : Poem for Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer -- Poem for South African women -- Unemployment monologue -- A song of Sojourner Truth -- Alla Tha's All right, but -- Free flight -- Letter to my friend the poet Ntozake Shange -- En passant -- A short note to my very critical and well-beloved friends and comrades -- Rape is not a poem -- Memo: -- What is this in reference to? or we must get together sometime soon -- Poem about my rights -- Grand Army Plaza --

Part three. From living room (1980 - 1984) : From sea to shining sea -- Des Moines Iowa rap -- First poem from Nicaragua libre: teotecacinte -- From Nicaragua libre : photograph of Managua -- Problems of translation : problems of language -- Poem on the road ; for Alice Walker -- A song for Soweto -- Song of the law abiding citizen -- October 23, 1983 -- Menu -- Addenda to the papal bull -- Poem for Guatemala -- On the real world : meditation #1 -- Poem on -- A runaway lil bit poem -- Deliza questioning perplexities -- Poem towards a final solution -- Apologies to all people in Lebanon -- Another poem about the man -- Poor form -- The test of Atlanta 1979 -- Relativity -- Home : January 29, 1984 -- Nightline : September 20, 1982 -- Moving towards home --

Part four. North star (new poems, 1985 - 1989) : Famine -- Intifada -- Ghazal at full moon -- Poem from taped testimony in the tradition of Bernard Goetz -- Aftermath -- To free Nelson Mandela -- Dance : Nicaragua -- Verse for Ronald Slapjack who publicly declared, "I, too, am a Contra!" -- Poem instead of a Columbus Day parade -- An always lei of ginger blossoms for the First Lady of Hawai'i : Queen Lili'uokalani -- Something like a sonnet for Phillis Miracle Wheatley -- Poem for Benjamin Franklin -- The torn sky : lesson #1 -- Take them out! -- Poem for Jan -- Solidarity -- In Paris -- Poem on the second consecutive day of rain -- Out in the country of my country -- A Richland County lyric for Elizabeth Asleep -- The Madison experience -- A sonnet from Stony Brook -- A sonnet for A.B.T. -- Poem for Bell's theorem -- Last poem on Bell's theorem -- Romance in irony -- Trying to capture rapture -- Winter honey -- At some moment the confidence snaps -- Double standard lifestyle studies : #1 -- Poem for joy -- Poem at midnight of my life -- The female and the silence of a man -- Poem for buddy -- Smash the church -- Don't estimate! -- "Financial Planning" -- Poem for Mark -- Deliza come to London town -- Deliza and the tv news -- Sometimes Deliza -- War and memory.

"This collection is the definitive anthology of work by June Jordan, compiling poetry from nearly 20 years--including over 50 poems published in the U.S. for the first time. Empathetic to all it encounters, her poetry is a deeply personal music sounded in response to universal concerns. In "Naming Our Destiny", she addresses racism, oppression, and dispossession with a call for justice and for sensitivity to our world. June Jordan's works include seven books of poetry, two books of essays, and a novel. She is currently a professor of English at the University of California at Berkeley." -- From book jacket