2 Parts Oxygen: How I Learned to Breathe

Touré’s sophomore collection 2 Parts Oxygen is a weighty tribute to family roots, the miraculous privilege of fatherhood, and Islam in Black America. Each poem bears its own load and masterfully ushers the reader in to Toure’s house of words, stories, and intricate lives. It is a thoughtful celebration of joy in the midst of a chaotic era. Regarded by Hip Hop artist Black Thought as the “Amiri Baraka of our time,” Tariq Touré is the soul stirring Baltimore born Muslim griot, whose poetry and prose carries ages wisdom in each letter. Touré’s debut collection of poems, Black Seeds, blitzed through the core of inequality, and proxy war on Black communities in America, winning Best Poetry book of Baltimore in 2016.His poems graced the pages of NAACP image award nominated book A Beautiful Ghetto by heralded photojournalist Devin Allen. In 2017, Touré summoned one of the most powerful oral depictions of the contradictions and conflicts surrounding NFL players and their right to free speech with his Al Jazeera produced poem, For the Love of The Game. The viral poem garnered the praise of civil rights icons such as Omar Suleiman.Praise for 2 Parts OxygenTwo Parts Oxygen is an emotional tour de force - resonating on a cellularlevel, because it is honest, raw and unflinchingly authentic. Each poem callsthe reader to close one’s eyes, inhale, slowly exhale and give thanks - Ameen,Amen, Ase.- Kameelah Mu’Min RashadTariq Touré’s 2 Part Oxygen is both breathtaking and breath-giving in thesame moment. From the very first poem I began sinking deeply into both hisand my own consciousness, gasping for air but refusing to resurface beforeretrieving the gems buried within these pages.Masterful. Meticulous. Memorable.- Youssef KromahEvery time I hear Tariq speak, I hear myself but expressed in ways my tongueis incapable of capturing. Tariq isn’t just an artist, he’s a vessel.- Imam Omar SuleimanTariq Touré doesn't skim over the painful but in a brilliant way pulls us out ourdarknesses. 2 Parts Oxygen is a soothing revelation.- Upile Chisala Read more