Suheir Hammad

Fiery words from a Palestinian-American poet on what it means to be a woman of color in a racist society. In May I Take Your Order? she writes: "I'm the main dish / walking down the street / my face a menu / of first world delicacies ... men suck my titties in / eyes poppin out big business heads / lickin their lips against / my thighs like I was some / cafe au lait ice cream."

Born Palestinian, Born Black

Poetry. UpSet Press has restored to print Suheir Hammad's first book of poems, BORN PALESTINIAN, BORN BLACK, originally published by Harlem River Press in 1996. The new edition is augmented with a new author's preface, and new poems, under the heading THE GAZA SUITE, as well as a new publisher's note by Zohra Saed, an introduction by Marco Villalobos, and an afterword by Kazim Ali. "The true manifest destiny of Suheir Hammad is to raise her searing vigorous voice, a brave flag over the dispossessed to sing stories of indelible origin and linkage to remind struggling humankind, whatever color or cultural root: We will hold on, we will never be gone. What's more, we will shine the light on one another!"--Naomi Shihab Nye.

Athena Eloy

An excellent read to see the style and work that preceded Breaking Poems which is another short, robust, and powerfully poignant collection. Suheir Hammad manages to bring queerness, blackness, Palestinian-ness altogether for a collection of poetry that predated intersectionality as a well-known fact by 20 years. Keep your eyes on Suheir Hammad--there's more brilliance yet.