Da Black Book of Linguistic Liberation is McInnis' fourth collection of poetry. In this collection, McInnis uses his poetry to teach and celebrate African American history, culture, and beauty. Accordingly, he also challenges blacks and whites who continue to create policy or behavior that he sees as detrimental to African Americans. Yet, with all his socio-political fire, McInnis' poems are still driven by his wit and imagery, allowing him to paint pictures that are bold, vivid, and beautiful. This work is a seamless balance of art and protest where readers are encouraged (demanded) to understand that life can be beautiful if we seek to become better than we are. Understand one thing before beginning this memorable literary journey: C. Liegh McInnis does not come to play. The author/independent publisher's latest dynamic work, Da Black Book of Linguistic Liberation is testimony. Don't let the talk about rainbows forever in McInnis' acknowledgment mislead you. His written words strike with sniper-like precision, rattling the minds of the complacent, ignorant, and politically indifferent like injections from a caffeine-filled syringe. From the opening words, titled Black Man with phrases like I created remedial education for Socrates. I was the one who suggested the elephant to Hannibal, the donkey to Jesus, and the Cadillac to Rev. Ike. Da Black Book of Liberation justifies its title. He keeps it coming by slapping his readers upside the head and across the face with the conscious-raising messages of poems such as Mississippi Courage and What Good Are Poems? Even when Da Black Book is mellow, it still manages to be potent. Witness the poem, Equal Tears, which urges people of color to trade weeping water for bullets and cry Black rain all over the United Plantations of Ameriklan. Occasionally, Da Black Book offers sweet sonnets, which written in tribute to poetry itself, evidence of just who passionately McInnis loves the word and the rhythm, but it's mostly heavy artillery, as he takes his aim at the nation's portrayal of history, its school system, and its incarceration of the people from whom he writes with dedication. This is a far cry from the traditional black book that has come to represent the care-free thrills of Saturday nights in the black community. Rather, it is more like an instruction manual, a survival guide for any person of color who seeks to gain a true sense of freedom in this day and age of declining consciousness and increasing white fear. With this latest collection, C. Liegh McInnis easily joins the ranks of other powerful, young urban poets who are reinvigorating the black cultural and literary scene. --Eddie B. Allen, Jr., Senior Writer --Michigan Chronicle C. Liegh McInnis is an instructor of English at Jackson State University, the publisher and editor of Black Magnolias Literary Journal, and the author of seven books, including four collections of poetry, one collection of short fiction (Scripts: Sketches and Tales of Urban Mississippi), and one work of literary criticism (The Lyrics of Prince: A Literary Look at a Creative, Musical Poet, Philosopher, and Storyteller). He has presented papers at national conferences, such as College Language Association and the Neo-Griot Conference, and his work has appeared in Bum Rush the Page: A Def Poetry Jam, Sable, New Delta Review, The Black World Today, In Motion Magazine, MultiCultural Review, A Deeper Shade, and New Laurel Review. He has also been invited by colleges and libraries all over the country to read his poetry and fiction and to lecture on various topics, such creative writing and various aspects of African American literature, music, and history. McInnis can be contacted through Psychedelic Literature, 203 Lynn Lane, Clinton, MS 39056, (601) 925-1281, psychedeliclit@bellsouth.net.