Poetry. African American Studies. Latino/Latina Studies. Bilingual Edition. Translated from the Spanish by Antonio D. Tillis. This volume offers an introductory biographical sketch of Jiménez, a critical assessment of the Spanish version of the text, Caribe Africano en despertar, and an English translation of the poetic work. Within the work, Jiménez's multiple poetic voices interrogate the cultural politics of the Caribbean region, placing special interest on his homeland, the Dominican Republic. In so doing, Jiménez's poetry brings to the surface contemporary questioning of the continual negation of the history of Africa within the region, due to Spanish, Dutch, British, and French colonial rule and subsequent post-colonial legacies. Key themes of the poetry relate to cultural identity, loss of heritage, post-colonial displacement, poverty, and ultimately reclamation of Africa and the rich African heritages replete within Caribbean nations. Here is a poetic work that speaks to the multifaceted socio-historical, political, and cultural circumstances that unite Africa-descendants within the Caribbean region, even as it distinguishes rich cultural heritages unique to particular island nations.

Author City: Santo Domingo DOM

Probably one of the first writers to utilize his poetic voice to proclaim African ancestry in the Dominican Republic, Blas Jiménez was a poet, intellectual, and activist. He belongs to what has been defined as the second wave of Afro-Hispanic writers among whom are Nancy Morejon of Cuba, Quince Duncan of Costa Rica and Carlos Guillermo Wilson of Panama. He maintained a weekly column in one of the country's most circulated newpapers, Hoy. Additionally, he was an avid lecturer throughout Latin America, Europe, and the United States. He died in 2009.