Songs of Yemaya

Book excerpt: Yemaya, African deity of the Yoruba religion, is the mother of all Orishas and ruler of the seas. She is protective of her children, cleansing them of all sorrow. The anthology, Songs of Yemaya, is a collection of work by black women encapsulating their dynamic quotes, poems, essays and stories. Songs of Yemaya centers the black woman's narrative through the various lenses of its contributors. In the seemingly genderless black struggle for racial equality, the black woman's voice prevails reminding the world of its place as the mother of all, and its essence represented by water and the deity, Yemaya. In a society that all too often reduces black women, Songs of Yemaya mutes the biased, racialized, genderized narrative with a swoop of the mighty pen by its authors. These are their songs.