The Best Book Review Ever for It Ain't Truth If It Doesn't Hurt

I received an email today from a beloved educator and friend from back home in Minneapolis letting me know that he is including my book as part of the book list for his class next fall.

He also shared with me why and sent me the opening paragraph from one of his students, a conservative Chinese woman that had lots of questions about mixed race folks, queer folks, and politics. This woman teaches Chinese and translated some of of lines in the book into Chinese to help her understand better.

This is why I write. And this will keep me writing until I jump into the dirt for that long nap. You can purchase a copy here.

IT AIN’T TRUTH IF IT DOESN’T HURT

I was shocked, surprised and excited when I read Brandon Lacy Campos’s poem “It ain’t truth if it doesn’t hurt.” I read once, twice, checked my English – Chinese dictionary, read it a third and fourth time. I was shocked by Brandon’s straight forward thinking, he bravely writes: “I don’t believe in America, I don’t believe in the Constitution…” If this was in China, he could be put in jail for that statement. But thanks to the freedom of this great nation, Brandon is not in jail, his book was published and distributed. I admire Brandon’s courage to stand up for his point of view, regardless of how others may possibly criticize. I admire his spiritual freedom and plenitude sentiments towards the people he loves. I was surprised to read a very different style of poems, they have lots of graphic descriptions, long and short, they are parallelism, but not strict on rhyme, and are strong and powerful. I was excited to read his poetry, its raw without any shyness, and I felt his rage and anxiety. I saw the death and blood, and smelled the rosebud and paint. I fell in love with the writing… And as a conservative Chinese woman, felt the excitement of holding Brandon’s collection as if holding a banned book.