Bøger af Regina Jennings

Blacks in Race Defense: Killers and Cutthroats in poetry highlights particular Black people who fought physically against the White enemies who sought to either enslave African and African descended people and in the modern era Blacks who physically fought to halt historical and contemporary police killings of Black people. In poetry and brief essays this subject matter is grounded in reference works for further reading, yet creatively rendered providing poetic narratives reflecting and presenting the lives of each person. In poetry, we discover the inner world of each warrior, male and female, and how their particular time period shaped how they thought, how they lived and why they took up arms against state sponsored killers. Mapping each person, each brave warrior in the culture of African and African American people, we get to sample not only a historical understanding of how courage emerges, but also spiritual, energetic elements that are germane to the philosophy and belief systems of Black people. Africans from the ancient of times to today think in terms of the past, present, and future entangled in their moment to moment existence on Earth. The poetic narratives in Blacks in Race Defense: Killers and Cutthroats honors those elements in metaphor and similes haunting, heroic and always already present.

"Panther Poems" is based on Regina Jennings' personal experience in the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. Through the eyes of a teenager and runaway, we get the reflections of youth in a mature unblemished voice that speaks an honesty that brings alive the electricity of the 1960s, that changed the world in music, culture, and politics. Some of the poems are sketches, almost short, short stories and others are nuggets, containing a blend of immediate vibrancy, dreamy in content. Some of her obviously personal poems retain individual privacy released in coming-of-age memories- of believing one can change the world, with faith, confidence yet uncertainty. Mistakes are vividly portrayed, along with the emotions that confound them. There are several central themes in "Panther Poems", beginning with revolutionary Black resistance to racism; the historical continuity of racism; the ancient Afrikan responses to racism and war; Black families; White families; American amnesia; the masking and unmasking of the n/Negro turning into the Black. The author compacts these themes in poetry that is often autobiographical, biographical, heroic, running the gamut of human emotions, while chronologically, she dips back into ancient Afrikan history binding it to contemporary moments in the 1960s right up to the present day. This poetry book is actually a novel, film or play in the waiting. Her biographical poems do not just showcase Panther names and personalities that we know, such as Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton, but also Panthers not readily familiar, particularly those killed while being Black Panthers. She makes human the warrior inside each person entering the selected ones into the mythic and the mystery of why we live on Earth and the unknown after death. Some of the poems are downright hilarious, such as "Airplaning to Oakland" and "Cinnamon" and others such as "Sapling White Boys" boldly bring to the fore White mental instability and cover-up. Jennings captures the American experience from the perspective of a poetic African-American realist. A compelling read that one can only get from someone who truly believed in the Panther organization and in that belief became a member risking her life for the purpose of defending Black people from what Bobby Seale has called "avaricious policemen." When we consider the demonstrations that are happening in the 21st century since the murder or assassination of George Floyd it is alarming to realize that we are dealing with similar issues today that the Panthers back in the 20th century were attempting to eradicate. In her sometimes dreamy and imaginative style, this author candidly exposes the enormous sacrifice that she and all Black Panthers gave to make their organization operable. She also exposes how much the price of freedom is and the historicity of those who banded together to make the possibility of Black nationhood a reality. In the heroic tradition, she honors the legend of Bobby and Huey the Black Panther founders. Yet, her major focus is Panther Sisters and in the poem "Sister Panthers Dance" it actually reads like a song which accompanies the actual Panther songs that Jennings shares throughout this book . Black people and song are synonymous with America where the first American songs were spirituals which Black enslaved people sung into masquerade for resistance, songs to outwit their enslavers, and songs to assist their maintaining faith and belief that all will be alright in the "bye and bye." In fact, faith has been the hallmark of Black living, especially in America and in this poetry book we sample the thoughts and deeds of a people who joined the vanguard Black army in order to challenge the police; stop police murders of Black people, and to feed, clothe, protect, and love Black people as they paved the way for more Blacks to enter into politics for the first time in history since Reconstruction. In this lyrical wonder, the Panther legacy comes alive

As a member of the original Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, I have never forgotten how much that organization advanced my intellectual understanding of the dynamics of America and the world. Poetry and the Black Panther Party: from Ancestral Memory, Morphogenetic Fields to Hip Hop is my literary tribute to that mind awakening organization. Thus, this book is a literary tribute to the brave founders and members of the Black Panther organization, who published poems they wrote in the Black Panther newspaper. By explicating this poetry, using links to African thought and philosophy as well as physics, I have accomplished four intentions: the first, to present this body of literature to contemporary audiences; secondly, to follow a dictate of Malcolm X which is to connect Black America to Africa in all possible ways; thirdly, to unearth American Black literature to academic and lay audiences; and fourthly, to show Black Panthers as artists, minus the guns.To add artistry to the Black Panther legacy broadens the Panthers' humanity which is normally confined to halting police brutality, a chronic problem in Black America. Yet, along with the Panthers' unique approach to solving that dilemma, explicating Panther poetry highlights the African and African-American literary traditions and shows how the originators Bobby G. Seale and Huey P. Newton together founded a unique American organization, which still inspires people locally and globally today. Seale and Newton were working class Black men who started their own newspaper and instituted a plethora of community-based programs using solely Black community resources. They were also cultural consumers who relished in the profound elements of Black music and Black poetry and in Poetry and the Black Panther Party: from Ancestral Memory, Morphogenetic Fields to Hip Hop I catalog how Panther poetry has roots and remedies in ancient African culture. In doing so, in particular for Black Americans and those on the African continent, I have conjoined and resurfaced a buried history alive in contemporary culture.

Regina Jennings' poems passionately reveal the beauty and tragedy of women in the Black Panther Party and beyond. She explores the often haunting reality of growing up Black and female during the spirited, tumultuous 1960s and 1970s.

A lively competition draws her into her rival's blueprints--and maybe even his heart.Olive Kentworth has spent her life hiding her interest in architecture, even though she pores over architectural books and sketches buildings. When she accepts a job on a home expansion, it's only because her cousin Amos agrees to pose as the builder. To further hide her involvement, Olive takes a position as a nanny--not knowing that she'll be working for her idol, Joplin's leading architect, widower Maxfield Scott.Maxfield is intrigued by his new nanny--she makes his home and his life bearable again. His work, on the other hand, is a disaster. An untrained builder is remodeling a completed project of his. What's worse, Maxfield's current client wants changes to his plans because of that builder's work.As the architectural one-upmanship heats up, Olive's involvement becomes harder to hide. Will the relationship between her and Maxfield survive, or will they both miss out on building something for their future?

Left to rue her mistake of falling in love with the wrong man, Maisie Kentworth keeps busy by exploring the idle mine nearby. While managing his mining company, Boone Bragg stumbles across Maisie and the crystal cavern she's discovered. He makes her a proposal that he hopes will solve all their problems, but instead it throws them into chaos.

Assigned to find the kidnapped daughter of a mob boss, Pinkerton operative Calista York is sent to a rowdy mining town in Missouri. But she faces the obstacle of missionary Matthew Cook. He's as determined to stop a local baby raffle as he is the reckless Miss York, whose bad judgment consistently seems to be putting her in harm's way.

Caroline Adams returns to Indian Territory craving adventure after tiring of society life. When she comes across swaggering outlaw Frisco Smith, his plan to obtain property in the Unassigned Lands sparks her own dreams for the future. When the land rush begins, they find themselves battling over a claim--and both dig in their heels.

When dance hall singer Louisa Bell visits Fort Reno to see her brother, she is mistaken for the governess that the harried Major Daniel Adams is waiting for. Between his rowdy troops and his two daughters, he has more responsibility than he can handle alone. Eager for the opportunity, Louisa sets out to show the widower that she is a perfect fit.

When Miranda rashly buys an auction house--then learns it deals in cattle, not antiques--she is at a loss for what to do...and so is the handsome manager.

To fulfill a soldier's dying wish, nurse Abigail Stuart marries him and promises to look after his farm and his sister. But when the real Jeremiah Calhoun shows up alive, can she convince him that she isn't trying to steal his farm? And will she find a way to stay, even though this practical arrangement has turned into a most inconvenient marriage?

Sparks fly when a widowed Latin beauty looking to save her family's farm meets a Texas rancher in this sensational historical debut.

Molly Lovelace wants a better life than the handsome wrangler courting her can provide. When she chases after another love, will she discover happiness or regret?