THE TRAYVON GENERATION Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

Elizabeth Alexander, who delivered a poem at the first inauguration of Barack Obama, narrates her essay on white supremacy and her opposition to it. The work is also about the nature of racism and its effects--and how expressions of it and responses to it have changed over recent decades. Those who don't believe there is institutionalized racism in the U.S. should listen to this. For the first few minutes, Alexander seems slightly hesitant as she uses pauses for emphasis, but she soon hits her stride, delivering her own words--and those of the artists, musicians, and poets she quotes--with strength, passion, and controlled anger. D.M.H. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2022]