The Beauty of Being P.O. Box 4378  Grand Central Station A Collection of Fables, Short Stories & Essays New York, New York 10163-4378 by Abiodun Oyewole TEL: 646.801.4227  FAX: 646.998.1318 www.2leafpress.org  [email protected] Introduction by Felipe Luciano

THE BEAUTY OF BEING, A COLLECTION OF FABLES, SHORT STORIES AND ESSAYS, is Abiodun Oyewole’s debut collection of prose. Oyewole writes frankly about his experience as a young poet and activist, and provides life lessons with fables and a fascinating travelogue that promotes resilience and self-care to his readers. As the title suggests, THE BEAUTY OF BEING investigates a natural, moral, and sacred spiritual being of self- love, reminding readers if they use these elements as part of the beauty within, endless possibilities await. In his fables, Oyewole has a unique eye for the tiniest details that sheds light on the whole. In his essays, he provides an analysis about , the state of poetry today, and shares first- hand accounts of what activism means to him. Perhaps the most riveting part of this book are his stories of remembrance, which at first glance read like a travelogue but when closely examined, is a love story with a beautiful mediation on grief and loss. Throughout THE BEAUTY OF BEING, Oyewole brilliantly yet subtly interweaves mediations on race, class, culture, life and death, illusion and reality, while deftly showcasing several points of view in a contained space. In THE BEAUTY OF BEING, Oyewole connects to readers with sincerity, humor, heart and grace.

“Abiodun Oyewole is a born storyteller, a real griot. I’ve been waiting for this book for a long time. When you read his stories in The Beauty of Being, most of them personal and touching, it’s like you can hear him telling them to you in his warm and melodious COVER ART: Annelie Solis voice. This book is not only a historically relevant book, especially when he writes Abiodun Oyewole about The Last Poets and , but it is also full of wisdom.” PHOTO CREDIT: Vagabond — Christine Otten is a Dutch writer, journalist, performer, and the author of The Last Poets (2016)

“The Beauty of Being is a spiritual journey. From the jungles of Central America to the jungle of New York City’s , these tales are of one man’s journey through life, with his beloveds meeting angels and nature on its own terms, plunging back and forth from the abyss to paradise.” — Baba Donn Babatunde, percussionist of The Last Poets

“As a former member of the Harlem Committee for Self-Defense, we sponsored Malcolm X’s birthday celebration in Mount Morris Park, so we “birthed” the Last Poets and witnessed their growth close up. Founding member Abiodun Oyewole was a natural storyteller, but he was different than the other poets. While all of them gave us enlightenment, his infectious smile and laugh gave us immense JOY in living our blackness. His ENLIGHTENED JOY is truly contagious and fully present in The Beauty of Being.”

PAPERBACK $16.99 | EBOOK $7.99 — Gaye Todd Adegbalola, blues musician PROSE, SHORT STORIES | 166 pp. | 5” x 8” ISBN: 978-1940939742 (pbk.) APR. About the Author ISBN: 978-1940939834 (ebk.) JUN. ABIODUN OYEWOLE is a poet, teacher, and founding member of the American music and Contact: Gabrielle David spoken-word group, The Last Poets, which laid the groundwork for the emergence of hip hop. [email protected] He is the editor of Black Lives Have Always Mattered (2017), Branches of The Tree of Life: 646.801.4227 The Collected Poems of Abiodun Oyewole 1969-2013 (2014), and co-editor of On A Mission: Selected Poems and a History of the Last Poets (1996). Oyewole received his BS in biology and BA in communications at Shaw University, an MA in Education at Columbia University, and is a Columbia Charles H. Revson Fellow (1989).” # # #

2Leaf Press is an imprint of The Intercultural Alliance of Artists & Scholars, Inc., (IAAS) www.theiaas.org