Here is another young talented poet who skillfully weaves a volume of poems around historical events. The poems concern J. Marion Simms, once called the "Father of Gynecology." He utilized enslaved black women for his "medical" research, and given the race relations during that time, of course did so without any permission given. Anarcha was one of those women. The results were gruesome and inhumane. These are extremely hard hitting poems, as the uncompromised truth often is. These are part of what Toni Morrison called the unspoken truths unspoken. In "Don't Wanna Hear It But", we see where Simms "research" took him: "and now Betsey say/ I expecting.../how you translate /a bludgeonin to/a birth." These poems go further than reporting victimization. "Things Past Telling" explores the relationship people have, after torture, with any aspects of the Divine:"when it came it was a overanswered prayer...black clouds seem like they was mockingall us looking up with sorrowful facescuz we ain’t understandin the nature of prayeror anything called GOD....I'm thinking thats what a answered prayerlooks like...a flood.and God (or something like it)mocking you and the way youasked for it."As the title of the books tells us, Anarcha speaks here, and it feels as if she has been channeled. In "No Magic, No How", she pleads about the identity where she found herself:"what I gotta do Jesus toget out myself?huh?"

Dominique Christina is a fierce, bold, and provocative poet. Her words whether performed publicly or written for the page have the power to shape how one thinks and feels about the world. Her new collection of poems titled “Anarcha Speaks: A History in Poems” does not disappoint. Through the pen of Dominique, the wrenching pain of enslaved Black woman who were subjected to medical experiments by Dr. Marion Sims, are given a voice. Her poems are boomerangs forcing you to reflect and reframe how we’ve thought about God, womanhood, agency, patriarchy, and human love. Two examples of this are only entry points to this excellent collection:god keep me embalmed, unmovinggod of the padlock god of the lash god of the bit and noosewho he answer to? who?(from the poem “danger on the other side”)men don’t care nuthin ‘bout resurrectionnot with womenfold and the flesh we got for poundin…a nail, a nail, for the sin of being born.(from the poem “flicker”)The story arc of these poems kept me turning the page but at the same time I found that rereading each poem rewarded new insights and deeper understanding. I found “Anarcha Speaks” to be profound, searching, and challenging. After sitting with these poems for several days, I kept reflecting on the kind of man I want to become. This book of poems pushed me past surface level reflections. Will I allow myself to really feel the pain that Anarcha encountered? Will I quiet myself, pulling back my ears if necessary and learn to listen to women everywhere? Will I consciously choose to confront and challenge my own privilege and the anger that often simmers below that surface so that something more whole can grow within me?Thank you Dominique for this courageous work that will surely resound in ears and lives willing to listen, change, and grow.