Reparations Now!
- Hallie Moberg Brauer
- May 15, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 19, 2024
Title:Reparations Now!
Author: Ashley M. Jones, age 31, currently serves as the state of Alabama’s first Black and youngest-ever poet laureate.
What is it? A book - Reparations Now! is actually a collection of poems about reparations, which the author describes as the repairs that need to happen and the space that needs to be created for Black people to experience belongingness in American culture and society.

Who should read it? Everyone.
Two minute skinny: If you are anything like us, poetry is not a genre of writing you engage with all the time (at least not since that one literature class in college!) Thus, you may not be overly inclined to pick up a book of poetry. But humor us this one time and try it! Take it one poem at a time, one line at a time, and engage with Jones’s challenging, thought provoking, and beautiful poetry.
Jones seeks to speak to the Black experience in the United States today - one that is fraught with the history of slavery, racism, and continued systemic oppression. Her poems may make you uncomfortable. Good. She writes along many themes including grief, rage, disappointment, and constant frustration.
And yet, while the collection of poems speaks to pain, frustration, and oppressive experiences, it is also hopeful. It recognizes the light in each individual, and offers a perspective that seems to encourage everyone to keep facing forward, to keep moving towards a less broken existence. She challenges the systems that exist, while uplifting the people living in them. She beautifully honors her ancestors and the generations of Black Americans who have suffered before her, recognizing she is building upon the strength they have willed to her. It is truly a thought-provoking experience to engage with her poetry, and although it might leave you challenged, we think it will leave you enlightened as well.
Our favorite poems from the collection:
She is Beauty She is Grace (17)
All Y’all Really from Alabama (20)
God Made My Whole Body (29)
I Cannot Talk About the South Without Talking About Black Women (55)
Rating? Worth the Investment? We give this beautiful, powerful collection of poems the highest rating. It is certainly worth it to take the time to engage with Jones’s work, even if poetry is not usually your thing, or if it might seem daunting to begin reading. As people who don’t typically read poetry, we still found her work very accessible.
Listen, I don’t have time for a whole book… What's second best? We think it is worth it to check out this book, even if it is only to read one poem a day! However, if that feels like too much, here you can hear a brief conversation with Jones about her book, and here you can listen to her speak about what it means to her to be the first Black and youngest poet laureate in the state of Alabama.
And in case you wanted to go deeper: Something that makes poetry so unique is that it can be engaged with both in written form as well as in spoken form. Here is a link where you can listen to Ashley M. Jones perform her poetry.
Reparations Now! is Jones's third book of poetry. You can check out her first book, Magic City Gospel and second, dark // thing if you are interested in delving more into her work.
Blog Post by Hallie Moberg Brauer
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