Lenny Duncan, Psalms of My People: a Story of Black Liberation as Told Through Hip-Hop. Minneapolis, MN: Broadleaf Books, 2024. ISBN: 9781506479026.
"If you want to understand the Black experience in the US, you must understand hip-hop, and Psalms of My People is your guide" (from back cover).
The book is arranged into 15 chapters. The first chapter mostly sets up the book and builds up the reader's expectations. The remaining 14 chapters then look at the specific works and artists. It does more than just look at artists and their works. Hip hop is the lens the author uses to give us a lesson in the Black experience in the United States. Along with the religious tone we get important history lessons.
I picked this up mainly out of curiosity, and it was well worth reading. You may think the psalms are simple. They are easy to ready, but they are filled with references, symbols, and signs. If you need a little help on the references, the author includes endnotes. At times, the endnotes are seriously interesting. Initially I was not sure what to make of the book, but once I started reading, it drew me right in. I just kept reading. It is an accessible text, and the psalms format gives the material a bit of rhythm. There is a musicality as you read. Along the way, depending on age, you may recall certain events. I often found myself nodding as I recalled certain stories and events. I did learn quite a bit along the way as well. In addition, this book can inspire readers to search for other works and continue learning.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book. It is a small book that packs a lot of history and wisdom. It offers an interesting and different way to look at the Black American experience of struggle and liberation through hip hop. I do recommend this one for all libraries.
5 out of 5 stars.
Additional reading notes:
What the book is:
"The true history of enslaved Black peoples and our descendants here in america has been disputed, policed, destroyed, and written by our oppressors. Psalms of My People is a poetic liberation narrative history of Black america as told by our prophets: hip-hop artists" (4).
The premise of the book:
"That hip-hop is more accurately living scripture in the way theologians use the term than the King James Bible. That is has more authority than the Bible compared with most of the ways, meanings, and frameworks people use the Bible for. That hip-hop is the Holy Spirit at work-- for a people, for salvation-- and should be listened to closely" (15).
By the way, this book may also send you back to find your CD's or mixtapes to listen to the hip-hop music the book discusses.
A note on life:
"Life is always more full of mystery, wandering gods, eldritch creatures, beings of old, ancient covenants, battles for the very cosmos, and sacred stories that are happening not in the distant path but here and now" (19).
How revolutions start:
"All sacred revolutions start in this way-- or continue, depending on your perspective. It begins when we each, in our own way, across time and space, step up for the liberation of humanity" (33).
Quoting from James Baldwin, "The Artist's Struggle for Integrity":
"The time has come, it seems to me, to recognize that the framework in which we operate weighs on us heavily to be borne and is about to kill us. It is time to ask very hard questions and to take very rude positions. And no matter at what price" (qtd. in 255).
This book qualifies for the following 2024 Reading Challenge:
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