{"id":4057,"date":"2025-09-11T13:22:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T13:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=4057"},"modified":"2025-09-11T13:22:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T13:22:00","slug":"book-review-the-other-revival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=4057","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: The Other Revival"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Other Revival<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

by Salaam Green<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong> Poetry \/ Black & African American History<\/p>\n

ISBN: <\/strong>9798990220874<\/p>\n

Print Length:<\/strong> 124 pages<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Reviewed by Nikolas Mavreas<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>A healing collection that remembers and projects the voices of a small community<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cIn the beginning there was the life of the enslaved man and the enslaved woman fully evolved, fully loved, fully remembered.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Salaam Green, the inaugural poet laureate of Birmingham, Alabama, has produced The Other Revival<\/em> out of her communication with the descendants of the Wallace House plantation, descendants of both the enslavers and the enslaved.<\/p>\n

Many of the pieces were written during Homecoming days at the Wallace House, making for a spontaneity which is evident in the book. The name of the collaborator is given after the title of each poem, and short informational notes are provided for them in the back of the book, in addition to some of their direct thoughts in prose.<\/p>\n

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And so Green\u2019s poetic voice, enriched by collaboration, acts as an interpreter for the complexities nesting in the descendants of the Wallace House. The book\u2019s style shines in much of its forceful, passionate moments, like in the newly found readiness to \u201cscream the part that once was whispered.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In the poems from the perspective of the enslavers\u2019 descendants, like \u201cI Do Descend,\u201d guilt is substituted with reflective accountability. In \u201cWashing the White Out,\u201d the versificatory playfulness contrasts with the gravity of the content. And \u201cPrelude to a Sweeter Belonging,\u201d this reader\u2019s favorite in the collection, takes advantage of more traditional technique and imagery to moving effect. We are struck by the cruel jaggedness of the singular instead of plural \u201cwing\u201d in its penultimate line:<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, how dignified and how far and free
the bird with clipped wing flies\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Green\u2019s technique is generally reserved. The illuminated sensibility in these pieces is expressed through undecorated and unhazarding diction. The gears of the poetry\u2019s mechanics don\u2019t betray themselves by clunky noises, but it is also not always clear whether that is because they are so well oiled or missing altogether. So great a subject matter can, naturally, overwhelm its medium, its form and its craft. One thing is certain: The story is in the clarity of content not the lavishness of method.<\/p>\n

The poems tell a captivating, intimate story of Black resilience in the smallest corners of American history. The spread-apart nature of the shifting perspectives tells a full story that shows intelligent forethought on the part of Salaam. This was and is a good idea. A collection that modifies the conscience and reclaims the holy awe of joy, The Other Revival<\/em> is the kind of poetry that does not sing in simple tunes but that which renders dissonance bearable enough to be confronted.<\/p>\n

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Thank you for reading Nikolas Mavreas\u2019s book review of The Other Revival <\/em>by Salaam Green! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.<\/p>\n

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The Other Revival by Salaam Green Genre: Poetry \/ Black & African American History ISBN: 9798990220874 Print Length: 124 pages Amazon Bookshop Reviewed by Nikolas Mavreas A healing collection that remembers and projects the voices of a small community \u201cIn the beginning there was the life of the enslaved man and the enslaved woman fully […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4058,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4057"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}