The last poets

Harlem, 1969. The air is charged with hope and revolution. The Black Panters are in their prime, crack has not yet hit the streets. This is the backdrop against which The Last Poets wrote their passionate, self-critical poetry. Some twenty years later, young hip-hop bands drew on the Last Poets' legacy, making them the 'founding fathers' of hip-hop. Christine Otten's audacious novel is based on the The Last Poets' life stories, from their youth in the ghetto to their love lives, triumphs, and defeats. The Last Poets is about New York and American history but—like all Great American Novels—even more about human resilience and beauty's staying power.