Preface

Hope has been generally defined as “trusting or wishing for a favorable outcome; a feeling of confident expectation.”  When looking at today’s headlines, readers more commonly feel hopelessness, rather than hope.  Aids, racism, abortion, murder, abuse, homelessness and rebellion are harsh realities that breed discouragement.  Subsequently, these issues must be addressed.

Battered women feel no one understands their plight.  Rejected little children think they are all alone in this big world.  Teens consider violence an acceptable solution to everyday conflicts.  Homeless families believe America has turned its back on them.  Lawmakers label unborn babies as “fetuses” and enact laws denying their right to life.  However bleak these circumstances may appear – there is hope.

The following poems explore these scenarios, along with others, and offer assurances that every problem has an answer.  I hope these poems will impart understanding and motivate readers to seek viable solutions that will restore hope to this generation.

Loretta  Watson

Once again a courageous Black woman raises her voice and our hopes.  In There Is Hope  Loretta Watson affirms - - and we are happy to believe her.

Nikki Giovanni

Poet, Author, Professor