Growing up I used to hear my parents’ play a ton of records, everything from the Bee Gees to Donna Summers. When my Dad thought, I was asleep, I remember I would hear the crackle of the vinyl spin off the words of George Carlin and Redd Foxx.  I remember my parents even buying my first 45 record and up to this day I don’t really listen to country music, but I will listen to Kenny Rogers The Gambler. The records that really grabbed my attention was not the vinyl made by singers and comedians, but those of poets, The Last Poets, specifically.

These records used to fill my house when my Dad had some old friends over, and they used to talk about how much harder it was in the old days. How they went to rallies and volunteered at soup kitchens. They also talked about getting hosed down and arrested, just for standing up for equality. They also talked how these records, like Last Poets “When the Revolution Comes,” inspired them to do more and be more than their parents’ generation.

In today’s climate, everyone seems to be conscious but as in another one of the Last Poets records, most people may really fear revolution. We catch up with Naima, as she struggles to find an “internship” in the revolution, as most of are told that you can change form within, Naima wants to change it now. She finds a job as a “racial translator,” where she challenges the preconceived notions of the double standards most of America believes people of color have. By the end of this volume, Naima starts a revolution, leaving no stone unturned, as she and her crew starts their reign of Aztlan.

Overall, the strongest of four volumes I have reviewed, as this delivers, as all penultimate installments should. The payoff is immense. The story by Jewels, definitely brings everything full circle, as her main character more than proves she is the revolution. The art by Ronald Nelson is electric and reels the reader right in. Altogether, the strongest volume yet, as the main character’s “knowledge of self,” is what prepares her for war.

Story: Jewels Art: Ronald Nelson
Story: 10 Art: 10 Overall: 10 Recommendation: Buy