{"product_id":"finna-isbn-9780593132456","title":"Finna","description":"\u003cb\u003eSharp, lyrical poems celebrating the Black vernacular—its influence on pop culture, its necessity for familial survival, its rite in storytelling and in creating the safety found only within its intimacy\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e“Terrific . . . illuminates life in this country in a strikingly original way.”—Ron Charles, \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR • The New York Public Library • \u003ci\u003eTordotcom\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDefinition of \u003ci\u003efinna,\u003c\/i\u003e created by the author: \u003cb\u003efin·na\u003c\/b\u003e \/ˈfinə\/ contraction: (1) going to; intending to [rooted in African American Vernacular English] (2) eye dialect spelling of “fixing to” (3) Black possibility; Black futurity; Blackness as tomorrow\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThese poems consider the brevity and disposability of Black lives and other oppressed people in our current era of emboldened white supremacy, and the use of the Black vernacular in America’s vast reserve of racial and gendered epithets. \u003ci\u003eFinna\u003c\/i\u003e explores the erasure of peoples in the American narrative; asks how gendered language can provoke violence; and finally, how the Black vernacular, expands our notions of possibility, giving us a new language of hope:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003enothing about our people is romantic\u003cbr\u003e\u0026amp; it shouldn’t be. our people deserve\u003cbr\u003epoetry without meter. we deserve our\u003cbr\u003eown jagged rhythm \u0026amp; our own uneven\u003cbr\u003ewalk towards sun. you make happening happen.\u003cbr\u003ewe happen to love. this is our greatest\u003cbr\u003eaction.\u003c\/i\u003e“Simply outstanding poetry.”\u003cb\u003e—Roxane Gay, author of \u003ci\u003eHunger \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eBad Feminist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “I am thankful for the honesty and self-examination in this work, yes. But even beyond that, I am thankful for a speaker who speaks as my people might, yelling across a parking lot or during a card game. I am thankful that this, too, is a part of the honesty this marvelous collection is in pursuit of.”\u003cb\u003e—Hanif Abdurraqib, author of \u003ci\u003eGo Ahead in the Rain \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eA Fortune for Your Disaster\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Nate Marshall’s terrific new book, \u003ci\u003eFinna,\u003c\/i\u003e contains poems that jump from tough to witty to tender. Written in a streetwise vernacular, these pieces about what it means to be a Black man in America feel the beat of rap and the burden of history. His search for the ‘Nate Marshall origin story’ illuminates life in this country in a strikingly original way.”\u003cb\u003e—Ron Charles, \u003ci\u003eThe\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “My original blurb was ‘this book decent,’ but I was told that the editor wouldn’t go for that so I am going to tell you instead that this book catalyzes a necessary conversation about Black language practices, culture, ownership, and belonging, and the commodification of Black people’s tongues. . . . So, like I said, this book decent.”—\u003cb\u003eEve L. Ewing, author of\u003ci\u003e Electric Arches\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003e1919\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“These poems here, these backhand slaps of what-you-didn’t-know-you-needed, finna be that swift fissure in the landscape of lyric. This werk is relentlessly rhythmed, deja-Chi all over again, and it’s finna hit harder than necessary or known. These snippets of precisely bladed black boy gospel, penned by the nonpareil son of the wild hundreds, finna resound and reach an impossible reach—in fact, if karma knows its stuff, this craved-for and combustible collection finna find itself peeking from the back pocket of that other Nate Marshall’s stiff and sturdy MAGA-issued denims.”\u003cb\u003e—Patricia Smith, author of\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003ci\u003eIncendiary Art\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e“In \u003ci\u003eFinna\u003c\/i\u003e, I hear Etheridge Knight, I hear Terrance Hayes, but most vividly, I hear Nate Marshall naming his many selves as some flee, others linger, and one in particular threatens to hunt him down. And yes: ‘I feel you Nate Marshall. \/ i’ve left places \u0026amp; loves \/ when they told me they loved \/ a Nate Marshall \/ I didn’t recognize.’ Don’t be fooled by the calm and assured clarity of this poet’s voice; there is a trip wire hidden in damn near every line break.”\u003cb\u003e—Saeed Jones, author of\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003ci\u003eHow We Fight for Our Lives\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eand \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePrelude to Bruise\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e“\u003ci\u003eFinna\u003c\/i\u003e is a hip millennium blues song shot through with bolts of joy and humor, an innovative homage to home, and a trenchant critique of so-called race in these so-called United States. Please believe, there ain’t no sophomore slumping for this super talented poet.”\u003cb\u003e—Mitchell S. Jackson, author of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSurvival Math\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eNate Marshall\u003c\/b\u003e is an award-winning writer, rapper, educator, and editor. He is the author and editor of numerous works including \u003ci\u003eWild Hundreds \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop\u003c\/i\u003e. Nate is a member of The Dark Noise Collective and co-directs Crescendo Literary. He is an assistant professor of English at Colorado College. He is from the South Side of Chicago.Nate Marshall is a white supremacist from Colorado or Nate Marshall is a poet from the South Side of Chicago or i love you Nate Marshall\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewhen i first made\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003emy name Nate\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ei was a boy\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eat summer camp\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003elooking for cool\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ein the muggy shadow\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u0026amp; so when the white boys\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003esnipped Nathaniel\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eto just a touch of the tongue\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eto the mouth roof\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eit seemed to me\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ea religious moment,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ea new confirmation as okay.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethis was 2000 \u0026amp;\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eyou must have been\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNate Marshall\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003efor decades by then.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ei find you, years later,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eburied in a google search\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u0026amp; follow you silently\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003efor the next year\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003elike a high school crush.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ei tell my students about you\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethe day when we wonder what if\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eprivilege hadn’t put us in\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ea college classroom.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ei tell my ex about you in bed\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u0026amp; it’s convenient that there’s this other\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNate Marshall to be the liar\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003elying there this time.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ei see your failed campaign \u0026amp; watch how your ties\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eto white supremacists spelled your demise.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003emy Black history month paper on the Black Panthers\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ein 3rd grade wouldn’t color me radical enough \u0026amp; i am ashamed\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ei’ve never been pushed out of a spotlight for loving\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003emy people too much. your day job is roofing \u0026amp; i just watch HGTV\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ein hotels. you are the truer amongst us Nate. you, peddler of propaganda\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u0026amp; seller of shingles.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ecan you show me to love how you love?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eevery time i’ve said what’s good nigga\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eit’s possible we’ve matched\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eour mouths, symmetrical\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003earound the two g’s in the middle.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ei won’t lie to you Nate Marshall\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eor to myself Nate Marshall\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ei too have hated a nigga \u0026amp; lived\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eto tweet the tale.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ei too have sat suspicious in my basement\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewondering who was coming for my country.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ei too have googled myself \u0026amp; found a myself\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ei despise.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eonce, you left Twitter\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eafter i told my people to tell you\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethat they loved you \u0026amp; your book\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u0026amp; your commitment to Black people\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u0026amp; i feel you Nate Marshall.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ei’ve left places \u0026amp; loves\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewhen they told me they loved\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ea Nate Marshall\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ei didn’t recognize.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eanother Nate Marshall origin story\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eso, for the purposes of this story let’s say\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eturn of the 20th century my great\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003egrandfather Marshall disappeared\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eso thoroughly nobody know what he looks like.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eso let’s say he’s super high yellow\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eso much so maybe he’s swarthy\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eif he stays out of sun \u0026amp; so\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ein this story he drops my grandpops\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u0026amp; then pulls out of Mississippi to step west\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u0026amp; stretch his legs as a white man.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eso let’s say he has a whole white\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003efamily with a little boy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u0026amp; let’s say he overcorrects\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ecuz he knows the color\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethe boy carries without knowing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eso he tells the little boy\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewe don’t associate with those people\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u0026amp; that little boy has a whole lineage\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewho don’t talk to those people.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eso, maybe the name Marshall is just a passing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003estory we’ll never uncover. maybe he secret\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBlack like a Hollywood actor. but maybe\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ehe knows \u0026amp; wants his name back\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u0026amp; his body too.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003emy daddy’s daddy’s daddy or the etymology of Marshall\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eor a blank space\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eor a space filled\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eor a filled job\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eor a job vacant\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eor a vacant lot\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eor a lot of questions\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eor a question posed\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eor a ’posed to \u0026amp; ain’t\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eor a ain’t known\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eor a known forgotten\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eor a forgotten name\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eor a name left\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eor a left us.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eanother Nate Marshall origin story\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eagain the white me\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eon the internet appears\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u0026amp; this time he wants\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewhat is his.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eour name\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eis a country\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ehe claims\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003efor himself.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eyou need to quit\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eusing my name.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eit is not your name. you are\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003efake! i am Nate Marshall. you are\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003efilth!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNate Marshall calls Nate Marshall\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eall this.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eevery Nate Marshall i know\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ehas an unruly name\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ea word he can’t trace back.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eone Nate Marshall deletes\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ehimself.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eevery Nate Marshall i know\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eis mistaken.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ehow to pronounce Nathaniel\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethe southern folk say the a out long ways\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003epull it apart so the syllables hang loose\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eas laundry on the clothesline.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethe schools i went to,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003etop ranked \u0026amp; unimaginative,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003emake it obvious, unimpressive, a stub of an uh sound\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ecompact \u0026amp; efficiently packaged.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003emy mama says it how she always has\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ebut i can never remember her intonation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethis little blip,   where I   forget my   self.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ebeloved, how you say it though,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethat’s the way it’s said.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ei know when you say me\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003elike i’m an incantation\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ei know i ain’t no lie.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eanother Nate Marshall origin story\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewhen the obscure meaning\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eof the name\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eis no longer an unreachable itch\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethe mouth will fall away,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eboth plump lips will dry\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u0026amp; drop from the stupid face.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eimagine this, a man\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003emade donut, chest open,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ehollow, everything poured\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eout, available, nowhere\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eto drum a warning, no place to\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ekeep out.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eperhaps our rage\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eat the other is just the way\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewe fill what we don’t know\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eabout ourselves.","brand":"One World","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46305316077797,"sku":"NP9780593132456","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780593132456.jpg?v=1767726913","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/finna-isbn-9780593132456","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}