Poetry. African American Studies. Edited by Jan Heller Levi and Sara Miles. Foreword by Adrienne Rich. This definitive volume gathers the work from June Jordan's ten books of poetry and includes many never-before-published poems—including a tender, fierce, and innovative collection of poems written before her death in 2002. Throughout her storied career as an artist and activist, Jordan chronicled a living, breathing history of the struggles that have defined the United States. Having engaged in a vast stylistic range, Jordan's work broadened and enriched the traditions of American poetry.

Alice Walker wrote of Jordon: "[She] makes us think of Akhmatova, of Neruda. She is among the bravest of us, the most outraged. She feels for all. She is the universal poet."

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June Jordan was born in Harlem in 1936 and was the author of ten books of poetry, seven collections of essays, two plays, one libretto, a novel, a memoir, five children's books and June Jordan's Poetry for the People: A Revolutionary Blueprint. As a professor at UC Berkeley, Jordan established Poetry for the People, a program to train student teachers how to teach the power of poetry from a multicultural worldview. She was a regular columnist for The Progressive and her articles appeared in The Village Voice, The New York Times, Ms., Essence, and The Nation. After her death from breast cancer in 2002, a school in the San Francisco School District was renamed in her honor.

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