The most well-known spoken word poem from National Poetry Slam Champion Elizabeth Acevedo comes alive in the brand-new illustrated book called, Inheritance: A Visual Poem. Paired with vivid, full-color illustrations by artist Andrea Pippins, Inheritance: A Visual Poem addresses Elizabeth’s experiences being Afro-Latinidad and the traits and struggles she inherited through her racial and ethnic heritage.
Elizabeth says Buffalo is one of her favorite places. She says, I did a lot of touring of colleges when I was getting my spoken word show off the ground and Buffalo was one of those places that really loved me.
Elizabeth says Inheritance was originally a spoken word poem that she wrote over thirteen years ago when she was a senior in college and it came from a place of anger of wanting to express that I wasn’t ashamed of my ancestors, I wasn’t ashamed of my hair, I was tired of being told I had to fix it and straighten it in order to be accepted and loved. She says the poem came out of this moment of you’re not going to tell me anymore I have anything to fix because there is nothing broken about me. Elizabeth says now we are in a moment where I wanted to offer it again, less from anger and more as an invitation of love and acceptance with these beautiful images that just show so much pride.
Inheritance: A Visual Poem is available now wherever books are sold
