📖 Plantains and Our Becoming: Poems
By Melania Luisa Marte

An Ode to Identity, Heritage, and Black Latinx Womanhood

In Plantains and Our Becoming, Melania Luisa Marte crafts a powerful collection of poems that celebrates the complex intersections of Blackness, Latinidad, womanhood, and self-discovery. Through vivid, lyrical prose, Marte delves into themes of cultural heritage, ancestral memory, and the intimate experience of finding oneself amidst the narratives of diaspora.

🍌 A Celebration of Identity
The title poem, “Plantains and Our Becoming,” weaves a vibrant metaphor between the beloved Caribbean food staple and the process of self-realization. Like plantains, which are both a symbol of home and survival, Marte’s poems speak to the resilience of Black Latinx women and the beauty of embracing a multifaceted identity.

🌍 Voices from the Diaspora
This poetry collection is deeply rooted in the Afro-Caribbean and Dominican diasporic experience, exploring the intersectionality of race, ethnicity, and gender. Marte amplifies the voices of her ancestors and gives space for both joy and pain in recounting the complexities of navigating two worlds.

💫 Themes of Ancestry, Liberation, and Healing
Marte’s work touches on themes of ancestral legacy, liberation, and healing, often invoking spirituality and historical context. She reflects on the erasure and reclamation of Afro-Latinx identity, grappling with both colonial trauma and cultural pride. Her poems pulse with the rhythms of memory, migration, and the reclamation of the body and voice.

Praise for Plantains and Our Becoming:

• "A poetic tour de force that honors Black Latinx womanhood" – Booklist
• "Marte’s poetry is rich with the flavors of heritage and self-discovery" – Publisher’s Weekly
• "A vital and necessary voice in contemporary poetry" – The Rumpus

📚 For Readers Who Enjoy:

• Poetry collections that explore the intersections of race, culture, and gender.
• Poets like Elizabeth Acevedo, Warsan Shire, and Ada Limón.
• Themes of diaspora, belonging, and self-empowerment.