The Trayvon Generation By Elizabeth Alexander

Multi-talented Elizabeth Alexander shines as a poet, educator, scholar and cultural advocate. Her new book The Trayvon Generation is showcase for her talents. She names the young people growing up in the last twenty years the Trayvon Generation. She movingly describes the costs and hopes that come out of the last two decades of highly visible violence targeted at Blacks. Viral videos of police brutality and lack of accountability have made it impossible to avoid conversations about racism and the systemic injustices that began when the first Black slaves arrived on our shores in 1619. Bringing her gift as an artist to her book project increases its impact. She uses personal stories, poetry, paintings and film references to bring her academic expertise to life. The book includes powerful reproductions of artwork in a beautifully published volume. It is only 130 pages, but its message is both highly informative and deeply moving. The Trayvon Generation is an important resource for our times reflecting the combined gifts of Alexander’s many talents as well as her lived reality as the mother of two sons born into the Trayvon Generation.