This grouping looks at the centripetal and centrifugal forces shaping Black poetry today, both collective practices and growing ties with the poets and poetry of the world-wide African Diaspora. These eight poets speak to the underlying unity of these two tendencies – a poetry deeply rooted in the history of its people. Poets in this episode: Thomas Sayers Ellis, Patricia Smith, Frank X Walker, Afaa Michael Weaver, Brenda Marie Osbey, Kwame Dawes, Samantha Thornhill, and Lorna Goodison.