Overview

""Blood at the Root: An Nkisi is simultaneously a lyrical exploration that grips the soul and intellect and is also a poignant journey through parenthood, love, identity, and heritage. An intimate offering, Campbell explores the profound responsibility and joy of raising a daughter, weaving together reflections on roots and resilience through ancestral wisdom, unflinching love. Much like the titular phrase suggests, this work digs deep, unearthing truths that are raw, haunting, and profoundly beautiful."" -Javon Johnson, author of Ain't Never Not Been Black (Button Poetry, 2020) and Killing Poetry: Blackness and the Making of Slam and Spoken Word Communities (Rutgers University Press, 2017) ""Tshaka Campbell's Blood at the Root: An Nkisi is an aria of unconditional love from a father to his daughter. These poem offerings are simultaneously creation myth, praise song, and protection prayer. If you know Tshaka's work, trust that this book will both break and mend you. If you don't know it yet, you are about to be blessed in discovering."" -Arlene Biala, author of her beckoning hands, American Book Award winner and Santa Clara County Poet Laureate, 2016-2017 ""Tshaka Cambell is one of the most powerful poetic voices of our generation. His work has been a gift in my life. For over twenty years I've watched him captivate audiences with his rhythmic wisdom and unforgettable performance style. Blood at the Root: An Nkisi deepens the conversation. It is a compelling compilation of poetry from a master of his craft."" -IN-Q, Emmy-nominated poet, multi-platinum songwriter, world renowned keynote speaker, and the best-selling author of Inquire Within (HarperOne, 2020)

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Reviews

""Tshaka Campbell, equal parts herald, homie, and babalawo, is once more writing at the top of his game. Blood at the Root: An Nkisi is an opus work that belongs on the bookshelf between your Bible, Things Fall Apart, and The Autobiography of Malcolm X; or stored in the kitchen next to the Lawry's, the ginger, and the echinacea. At a moment when so much is at stake, these glass bottle poems are both inspirational and necessary for our wellbeing, so keep them close by.""-Tama L. Brisbane, Poet Laureate Emeritus of Stockton, California and Executive Director of With Our Word /WOW Inc.""""What piece of myself do I leave for her and what should she never know? / Is DNA enough?"" Tshaka Campbell's Blood at the Root: An Nkisi is a passionately masterful dive into fatherhood and family. These are observant stories, fables, ""verses as lanterns in the darkness"" centered on grandparents, masculinity, relationships, self-respect, and even on surviving 9-11-all beautifully rendered with the most delicate truth and clarity offered to the author's daughter. Tshaka has a long, solid resume of essential work and this collection is proof of his power, all rooted in community and family. Glorious and essential work.""-James Cagney, Cave Canem fellow, award-winning author of Black Steel Magnolias in the Hour of Chaos Theory (Black Lawrence Press, 2023) and Martian: The Saint of Loneliness (Nomadic Press, 2022) ""I love Tshaka Campbell's language; it sings from the page. It's intimate, it's raw and I can clearly hear the ancestors speaking through him to us. But most of all, I hear a lyrical father we all need for our daughters.""-Babs Gons, Poet Laureate of the Netherlands (2023-2025)""Tshaka Campbell is a powerhouse whose poetics effortlessly bends conventional expression to arrest emotion and attention. In this collection, Campbell invites readers into an intimate journey where the desire to be worthy of the title ""father"" becomes permission for a process of self-discovery through a tender unpacking of bloodlines and histories. Here, breathing life into ancestral and lived silences becomes a means of self-revival which simultaneously says to the inheritor of his bloodline, that she is power, walks in it, comes from it and should never forget who she is. Blood at the Root: An Nkisi stands is testament to the power of knowing where you come from-a reminder that we are all worthy of presence, wherever we may find ourselves.""-Tolu Agbelusi, author of Locating Strongwoman (Jacaranda Press, 2020)""In Blood at the Root: An Nkisi, Tshaka Campbell wields a remarkable command of imagery, bridging the everyday and the extraordinary to spark deeper reflection and meaning. Each poem uncovers the brilliance and emotional gravity woven into our shared experiences, relationships, and memories. By uniting vivid impressions with reflections on purpose, pivotal moments, and the importance of human bonds, Campbell ultimately awakens readers to the transformative power that emerges whenever people truly connect.""-Anthony ""Ant Black"" Blacksher, poet, professor, and publisher of the San Diego Poetry Annual

Author Information

Originally from London, England, Tshaka Campbell was raised on his father's teachings of solidarity and brought up on orators the likes of Garvey's Pan-Africanism to William Churchill, as such, he adopted his father's intense love of language. Tshaka began writing poetry long before performing it in an attempt to find his own voice and point of view within the art form. As a performer, he is recognized as an accomplished artist internationally and performance accolades include not only being a member of the Nuyorican national poetry slam team and the Da Poetry Lounge (DPL) slam team, but also earning the Grand Champion title in San Francisco and Hollywood. He has also been honored with the UK Unsigned Artist award in poetry.Tshaka is the first black, Santa Clara County Poet Laureate. Atiba Azikiwe Andrews was born in Berkeley, California. Azikwe attended the California College of the Arts in Oakland / San Francisco. He moved to Los Angeles in 2001 and moved back to Oakland in 2011. He also lived in Brooklyn from 2018 to 2021 and has shown his work in those cities. He was part of an art program called ArtShare in Los Angeles and assisted with an afterschool program for at risk kids. Azikwe also worked with at-risk youth in NY. He works with acrylic on canvas and wood. His work mostly consists of figures and portraits. Azikwe lives in the Bay Area now and continues to share his work in different arenas. Tureeda Mikell, Story Medicine Woman, author of The Body Oracle of Memory (Black Lawrence Press, 2024) and Synchronicity: Oracle of Sun Medicine (Nomadic Press, 2020), nominated for the California Book Award, poet, is an educator and activist for holism, Black Panther Alum named Woman of Truths. Published in numerous anthologies, most recently, Black Fire 1 & II, Revolutionary Poets Brigade, with Uncommon Ground, Storm Warning, City Light's Second Stutter, Freedom Lifted, U. C. B. Digital Papers E-Zine, Stanford University's Extreme -Bay Area Poets, The Maynard, Temba Tupu, Emory University, and The EastSide Arts Alliance's Patrice Lumumba Anthologie and most recent release, Poetry Is Bread, 2025.A youth advocate, Mikell has published over 73 student anthologies from five bay area counties since 1989. She has traveled or Zoomed her work extensively across the country and internationally from Africa, Egypt, Mexico to China.

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