Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  January and February rush in with oodles of work for the aspiring or ambitious black writer. For the rest of us, it is just work as usual. The cynical wag has dubbed the period NNE or National Negro Employment months because the demand is so high. At Asili, we celebrate multicultural achievement. black, latino, asian, native american or otherwise, every month! This issue, we celebrate the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. not with the number of contributions about his life, but with the heartfelt expressions of personal integrity embodied in our creative works.  For this editor, King was much more than a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness. He embodied that most precious of spiritual gifts, the power to wake us up to who we really are. It is laudable that he gave his life serving others.  It is praiseworthy that he tried to love somebody.  It is meet that he came down on the right side of the war issue and tried to feed the hungry, house the homeless, heal the sick and so on. But what he did for me, through his words, deeds and example, was to show me how to act in the face of oppression and injustice and in doing so validate who I am. I am forever grateful for this gift.  Happy birthday, Martin!

We would also like to draw attention in this issue to the "light under the bushel" who is Adrian Castro.  Castro is an extraordinary talent who is reinventing poetry as we know it.  We pay tribute to him and his talent after the third installment of his tour de force, Cantos, on his page. Adrian is coming with a new book in April. Look for it!

Al Young regales us with more poetry from his volume, The Sounds of Dreams Remembered." He gives us five easy pieces, Chops, All-American Champion in Love, Animal, Who Am I in Twilight and Blue Collar. Al is great in each of these, but I am partial to "Champion" and " Twilight." Give him a good read. From Peabody Award winner Quincy Troupe we get. the evocative Sighting Birds at the Beach, the jocular Whenever Eye Walk By, the slick Style Is and the beautiful Jerez De La Frontera from his book Choruses. Quincy has Never been better. East St. Louis Poet Laureate Eugene Redmond recounts the  funeral of Henry Dumas and expounds on Love As Upbringing from his volume "The Eye in the Ceiling." Felix Morriseau-Leroy begins the beautiful Natif-Natal which will be completed next issue. Thanks again to the Morriseau-Leroy family for permission to keep the works of this great poet alive .

Geoffrey Philp completes his Florida poetry suite with Huracan, fantasy land and alligator Alley. Do yourself a favor and read this gifted poety carefully. Preston Allen changes up this issue with ironically interesting story, God Awaits the Church of Our Blessed Redeemer Who Walked Upon the Waters! from his novel the Faithful. This is a combination of a historical piece and a soap opera. I think you will really enjoy it. The always brilliantly consistent Michael Hettich charms with Fruit Trees and Flowers, Loons, The Small Bird, Watching My Children Sleep and Love Poem in Early May.  This is great stuff. Clarence St. Hilaire comes back at you in French and English with When Poets Laugh, La Revolution and Forgive me, Well done, Clarence. Evelyn Escoto smokes with History Eats Itself and John. West Coast editorial consultant Joyce McNair presents the delightful short, The Stereo. Is this one real or no? You be the judge. Morris Johnson returns after a long hiatus with a sobering expository piece on the cleric, Martin Luther (not King). Things aren't always what they seem! CM Clark follows her brilliant Asili debut with two more excellent pieces,There Are No Victims and Resurrection Day. We have only scratched the surface of this great talent.  Watch out for more. Roy Morrison is back three more "weighty" pieces Jersey Shore, Weight and Waiting. The wonderful Fred Wolven spell binds with YOUNGER THAN I AM NOW, YOUNGER THAN I WILL EVER BE, MAYBE AN ARMY OF SCIENTISTS and ROETHKE WOULD HAVE BEEN DISAPPOINTED Your editor humbly submits the fifth installment in the saga of the boy avatar, Shango, in Oshun's Kiss, Osayin's Redemption. He also commemorates three cultural heroes in Homer Plessy: Man/Event (1862-1925), Emmitt Till: Shaping a People’s Dream and REMEMBERING MARTIN.  Enjoy the issue!