About Askia M. Touré
Born Roland Snellings, on October 13, 1938, in Raleigh, North Carolina, Askia M. Touré is an African-American poet, essayist, political editor, and leading voice of the Black Arts Movement. Toure helped to define a new generation of black consciousness by creating a triumphal identity for the purpose of uplifting the African heritage beyond the oppressive ideas that dominated the time. His volumes of poetry include African Affirmations: Songs for Patriots (2007), Dawnsong!: The Epic Memory of Askia Touré (1999), which was awarded the Stephen Henderson Poetry Award, From the Pyramid to the Projects: Poems of Genocide and Resistance (1989), a collection of poems for which he won the American Book Award, Songhai! (1972), and Juju: Magic Songs for the Black Nation (1970). His poems have been anthologized in Furious Flower: African American Poetry from the Black Arts Movement to the Present (2004) and From Totems to Hip Hop: A Multi-Cultural Anthology of Poetry Across the Americas, 1900-2002 (2002). In 1996, Touré was awarded the Gwendolyn Brooks Lifetime Achievement Award.Browse all poems and texts published on Askia M. Touré
