Imagine Being More Afraid of Freedom than Slavery

Imagine Being More Afraid of Freedom than Slavery is a powerful and relevant collection of poems by Pamela Sneed that explores the political and personal issues of enslavement, sexuality, emotional trauma, and abuse. It charts the journey of an artist trying to escape cycles of dependency and reclaim lost self and identity, drawing parallels to Harriet Tubmans journey on the Underground Railroad. Sneeds poems offer a raging cry and a roadmap for those interested in transforming the personal into social justice and abolitionist practices.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 80 pages
Publication date: 05 September 2023
Publisher: Fordham University Press

“If anger were an ax, it would split me open, and if this is a sermon, let it be my granddaddy's sermon, my grandmother's foot-tapping, steady rocking, choir singing” – from “This Is Not a New Age”

First published in 1998, Imagine Being More Afraid of Freedom Than Slavery is the debut collection by acclaimed poet and performer Pamela Sneed. Provocative and potent, it tackles the political and personal issues of enslavement, sexuality, emotional trauma, and abuse. These poems chart the journey of an artist trying to escape cycles of dependency and reclaim lost self and identity. Drawing parallels to Harriet Tubman's journey on the Underground Railroad, Sneed's explorations of the woods are a metaphor and emotional path one must explore to attain self-ownership. Sneeds poems are bound by the search for love, freedom, and justice – from images of lesbian love to Emmet Tills bloated body, they offer a raging cry and a roadmap for those interested in transforming the personal into social justice and abolitionist practices.

Sneed's poetry is a powerful exploration of the human experience, tackling themes of love, freedom, and justice with raw honesty and emotional intensity. Her use of language is masterful, with vivid imagery and metaphorical language that brings her poems to life and makes them accessible to a wide audience. One of the most striking aspects of Sneed's poetry is her ability to connect the personal to the political, using her own experiences and struggles as a means to shed light on larger social issues.

In "This Is Not a New Age," for example, Sneed explores the issue of enslavement and its impact on individuals and society. Through the use of powerful imagery and metaphor, she creates a vivid portrait of the experience of being enslaved and the struggles that individuals faced in their daily lives. She also draws parallels to Harriet Tubman's journey on the Underground Railroad, using the woods as a metaphor for the emotional and physical journey that Tubman took to escape slavery.

Sneed's poetry is also deeply personal, reflecting her own experiences and struggles with addiction, abuse, and trauma. In "Imagine Being More Afraid of Freedom Than Slavery," she explores the emotional toll that these experiences can take on an individual and the ways in which they can shape one's identity. She uses the image of the ax to represent the destructive power of anger and the way in which it can split an individual open, leaving them vulnerable and broken.

At the same time, Sneed's poetry is also hopeful and inspiring, offering a roadmap for those who are struggling with personal and social injustices. She encourages readers to reclaim their lost self and identity and to use their own experiences and struggles as a means to create change in the world. She also offers a call to action, urging readers to join her in the fight for freedom, justice, and equality.

In conclusion, Imagine Being More Afraid of Freedom Than Slavery is a stunning debut collection by Pamela Sneed. Her poetry is a powerful exploration of the human experience, tackling themes of love, freedom, and justice with raw honesty and emotional intensity. Through her use of language, imagery, and metaphor, Sneed creates a vivid portrait of the experiences of enslavement and the struggles that individuals face in their daily lives. She also connects the personal to the political, using her own experiences and struggles as a means to shed light on larger social issues. At the same time, Sneed's poetry is deeply personal, reflecting her own experiences and struggles with addiction, abuse, and trauma. She offers a roadmap for those who are struggling with personal and social injustices, encouraging readers to reclaim their lost self and identity and to use their own experiences and struggles as a means to create change in the world.

Weight: 150g
Dimension: 156 x 234 x 7 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781531504847