Praise to the Writer

By Alice Lovelace

Toni Cade Bambara,
Southern Collective of African American Writers (SCAAW), 1988
©Susan J. Ross

The world is broken, who will mend it
The world is split, who will sew it

To Toni Cade Bambara,
She who bends so as not to break
Always taking up the slack.
To you, I offer greetings.
I Salute the trinity of your being.
I lay my life at your feet, Sister
My tongue at your service
Howl, Sun
Weep, Moon
Earthly waters, overflow

The world is broken, who will mend it
The world is split, who will sew it

Reborn through the blood
Toni Cade has arrived
She attended at the act of creation
Our world was not too heavy for her to lift
The light of her wisdom was a beacon
Toni Cade made an art of living
Toni stood and we were lifted
Toni spoke and our lives were saved
Toni listened and we were validated
She is the breast that fed our union
Hers’ was the womb of our nourishment

The world is broken
Toni will mend it
The world is split
Toni will sew it

Editor’s Note: This poem is reprinted, with the author’s permission, from In Motion Magazine. Please click below to hear both an audio version of the poem and Ms. Lovelace’s friendship and camaraderie with Toni Cade Bambara. (approximately 3 minutes).

Alice Lovelace is a cultural worker, poet, playwright, teacher and performer. She is co-editor of “Art Changes” at In Motion Magazine, an on-line journal dedicated to issues of democracy. Alice earned her Master’s in Conflict Resolution at Antioch University’s McGregor School. Her focus is on community art as a form of mediation. In 2011, Alice and visual artist Lisa Tuttle collaborated on “Harriet Rising,” commissioned by the City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs Public Art Program and Underground Atlanta, for its four-month long Elevate: Art Above Underground exhibit. The installation remained for a year at Underground Atlanta, and was named one of the 50 best public art projects in the nation by Americans for the Arts’ 2012 Public Art Network Year in Review. Alice is a veteran organizer, and considers her most rewarding effort to be as National Lead Staff Organizers for the first United States Social Forum, a five day gathering in June of 2007 in Atlanta, GA. The Social Forum was attended by 15,000 organizers and activist from the United States and around the world.  For more information, please visit: http://www.alicelovelace.com.