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by P. Carol Johnson (Author), Lauren A. Mills (Illustrator)
P. Carol Johnson is a poet of remembrance, resistance, and reclamation. Born into the legacy of Jamestown, South Carolina, a town founded by her fourth great-grandfather-Johnson carries the oral traditions of her ancestors with reverence and fire. O' Africa is her debut poetry collection: a lyrical archive of Black southern life and Pan-African memory, where sharecroppers, seers, and storytellers rise from the soil of history. Her work is resonant for those exploring identity and intergenerational legacy. Her verses spiral through time, retrieving what was buried and transforming it into radiant truth. Each line Johnson writes honors the griot's role: to remember, to heal, and to guide. Her poetry lifts up the voices of the past and offers a steady foothold for those stepping into the future. Illustrated by the award-winning Lauren A. Mills, O' Africa traces James family history from 1815 through 2025 through poetry, prose, and narrative. Part I calls forth a challenge- to bridge divisions and reclaim dignity in the face of fragmentation. Part II traces the James family lineage, revealing the poets, prophets, and builders of a legacy whose names remain etched into time. Part III stands as both closure and beginning, leading toward Volume II, where the echoes of Carol Denise Johnson usher in new voices, new storytellers, new keepers of the ancestral flame.
