Official Review: Screaming Blackness by Ronald T May

[Nisha Ward]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Screaming Blackness" by Ronald T May.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Have you ever read something that made you want to scream? To tear the world apart and remake it into something better? Something where everyone is equal and things like racism don’t exist? Have you ever just wanted to fix the ills of society for everyone affected by them?

It’s a harsh, but fitting, reaction to Ronald T. May’s Screaming Blackness. A poetry collection that covers a range of topics, from fatherhood to drug addiction, systemic racism and love, the book challenges the reader to open their eyes to something more. In addition to this, each poem is followed by the author’s comments on the meaning of that poem and its significance to him.

While I did give this book 4 out of 4 stars, I’m not quite sure what to do with it. American racism is still something quite new to me (I’m from the Caribbean where racism is expressed differently), so the system itself is different. That being said, some things will be universal, and May manages to convey them through the pain and the calls to action in his work. As such, the poetry within the book reached out to me where experience could not.

I liked that. I liked that, even when my experiences were so far from the author’s that I might as well be on another planet, I was still able to relate to his work in some way, like the transience in the poem “Passion" and the concern with stories in “Heritage Thoughts". Good writers and good poets have a gift for making their work universal, even when the subject matter is not, and it’s apparent that May is a really, really good writer. There’s a precision to his work that makes me smile even when it breaks my heart, as with the plight of the newly homeless boy in “Stray Boy", and his diction is filled with meaning and purpose.

However, it was hard to enjoy the poetry when the author’s commentary disrupted the flow of each piece. I found it to be redundant, as each poem was easy to understand and stood on its own. They didn’t need to be explained, even if the added context was a nice touch for some of the pieces. Rather, it was distracting, and I could have gone the entire book without the commentary.

Still, despite that and the few errors I found, Screaming Blackness is well worth the full score I’m giving it. It’s a deeply poignant book that touches on issues that are and should be at the forefront of anyone concerned with the health of American society today. Those interested in the issues at the root of the Black Lives Matter movement, and in the lived experiences of a black man in general, will find this well worth the read.

I certainly did.

Happy reading, everyone!

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Screaming Blackness
View: on Bookshelves

[Praise GodWord]

Truly, I've read such books. The need for social equality ought to be emphasized.

[Victoria Copsey]

The sounds like a great read. The title especially caught my eye and piqued my interest. Great review.