Migration Letters

About the book

Migration Letters: Poems by M. Nzadi Keita is a collection that takes a closer look at what it means to be Black in America as the Civil Rights and Black Power movements unfold. Propelled by her family’s migration north to Philadelphia, the poems center her coming-of-age as a Black working-class woman. Keita straddles the personal and public with photorealistic detail.  In lyrical fragments and sustained narratives, Keita’s poems testify to unsung aspects of Black culture and explore how Black Americans journey toward joy.  The collection pays tribute to Black artists throughout: poets like Sonia Sanchez, Etheridge Knight, Amiri Baraka, and Al Young; musicians like Chaka Khan and jazz saxophonist Pharaoh Sanders; and writers Lorraine Hansberry, Toni Morrison, and Gwendolyn Brooks. Migration Letters shares a story about Black people innovating, learning by doing, teaching by witnessing, and evolving that resonates across generations.