Black Lives, Lines, & Lyrics

Summary

Black Lives, Lines, & Lyrics conveys the 21st Century Black experience through lines and verse. Divided into three measures, this poetry collection provides rhythmical reflections on black experiences with racial and social injustice, a poetic account of the lives lost to police brutality and racial violence, and a lyrical celebration of the beauty, resilience, and humanity of Black people.

Readers agree that this "body of art" is an "amazing book of lyrical content" and "one of the most profound books" they have read "since the likes of Zora Neale Hurston and Maya Angelou." Author D.B. Mays "invites you to gain a better understanding of Black experiences in a three-part journey." Poems, like "AmeriKKKa," "Hypocrisy on the Hill," and "The Black Book" are "thought-provoking and liberating."

Part I, "Black Lyrics,” provides a poetic perspective of the highs and lows of living while Black in the 21st Century, while Part II, "Black Lives,” is a poetic account of the lives lost to racial violence, and Part III, "Black Lines,” is a nod to Hip Hop.  

One reader called the work an "overdue gem that navigates through one of civilization's most sad and challenging realities. D.B. Mays covers so many bases with tremendous grace, style and clarity. A must-read for staying connected with today's call for universal peace and justice." Others wrote that there is "such a wide variety of poetry," and "compelling storytelling." Poems, such as "Stunning," "My Grandparents' Living Room," "Goldilocks," "The Run," and "#SayHerName" evoke "emotional" responses. 

The book aims to help people of all backgrounds gain an appreciation for the beauty and endurance of Black people while bringing the realities of the discrimination and racism that Black people face in America and really, around the world, to the forefront of our social consciousness, conversations, and communities.