West Oakland to West Africa (WO2WA) provides a sustained exchange to connect members of the African Diaspora and Africa through creative writing. Our core values are to create a safe place for the transparent healing and growth of Black people; to deliver innovative and authentic forms of writing and to engage the medium of spoken word to shape and define the narratives of the Diaspora; to allow a visceral and uncensored critique of social systems through artistic expression. Our goal is to facilitate Sankofa, a return to retrieve what has been forgotten or lost. By doing so, we hope to continue to promote Afrocentric approaches to international and cross-cultural relationships that support holistic partnerships between Americans and the world around us. - Karla Brundage The anthology is a culmination of workshops in Africa and America featuring the poets included, and shares experiences of foreigner/returnee, neo-African, borrower of phrases, and experimenter of styles that shape-and will continue to shape-the vibrant exchange between Africa and the Diaspora. Poetry is an artistic vehicle that allows this to happen with humility and pride; honesty and fear strive for a way to establish a meaningful dialogue after centuries of separation. -Rashidah Ismaili Founder Karla Brundage, conceived of the West Oakland to West Africa organization while living and working in West Africa from 2013-2016. As an African-American woman, she established West Oakland to West Africa with the mission of providing a connection to Africa for African-Americans, using poetry as a healing technology to traverse borders spiritually, if not physically. West Africa Poetry Exchange (WO2WA), which has facilitated cross-cultural exchange between Oakland and West African poets and the publication of three books Our Spirits Carry Our Voices, Sisters Across Oceans and the upcoming Black Rootedness collection. A Bay Area based poet, activist, and educator with a passion for social justice. Born in Berkeley, California in the summer of love to a Black mother and white father, Karla spent most of her childhood in Hawaii where she developed a deep love of nature. Her musical loves include Hawaiian, West African, and Hip Hop sounds.