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We Want Our Bodies Back urges black women to demand better from men.”—Essence



Over the past two decades, Jessica Care Moore has become a cultural force as a poet, performer, publisher, activist, and critic. Now, in WE WANT OUR BODIES BACK: Poems (Amistad), Moore’s latest collection begins when she first truly discovers her body when the men around her begin to make unwanted advances. WE WANT OUR BODIES BACK is a clarion call for women to take ownership of their physical, emotional, and spiritual selves.



Inspired by and dedicated to Black Lives Matter activist Sandra Bland, Moore also looks at race relations through powerful stanzas, focusing on how Black bodies are mistreated in America.



Moore touches on how young Black girls and boys are taught what to do if, and when, they will be pulled over by the police, why they have to be taught these heartbreaking lessons so early on, and the names of the Black women and men whose lives were taken because of police brutality.



Through these stanzas divided into 5 parts and connected with the lyrics of Nina Simone (an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist), Moore speaks for and to the women that are often overlooked, and shines a light on the women who have previously, and are currently, taking a stand against racism, having built a fortress of power for themselves, and the women who will follow in their brave footsteps.