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Griot (gree'ot), n. A storyteller; among the peoples of West Africa, the singer-poet who recounts tales of heroes, recites the genealogies of the great, and preserves and disseminates the precious traditions of a given society; the griot's main function is to keep an oral history of the tribe or village.

A class of professional musician-entertainers among the Wolof society of Senegal and Gambia . The griot in Senegal is a troubadour who recites poems, or tells of courageous deeds, drawing upon his own sources of inspiration, which, combined with rhythm, produces an intense effect upon the entire community.

Amde Hamilton has just published forty years of poetry in Me Today You Tomorrow: Journey of a Street Poet, chronologically organized by decade beginning with poems from the sixties, a time filled with political strife, up to "now" where Hamilton's poems reflect on a life spent as a Black man in America.

More than a book of poetry, Hamilton mourns the loss of his community as the result of "urban renewal" programs that plucked the heart and soul out of the village of Watts. From the the Filmore in San Francisco to Harlem in New York, the story is much the same. "Watch what happens to New Orleans," he predicts.

Advance Praise for Me Today You Tomorrow

"From the fires of Watts to the global millennium, Amde Hamilton is one of the most powerful, passionate, and truthful voices of the past half century of American letters. His words are weapons and tools - weapons to fight injustice, despair, and wrong, tools to build respect, community, and life. They are a blessing and a call. We cannot ignore them."
Jeff Chang, author of Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation

"In this collected work, "Me Today You Tomorrow," poet Amde takes us on a journey through the Watts community of Los Angeles, through the Slauson Shuffle, pit bulls, the family nest and into when the 90s came. He gives us seasoned advice, talks about Black story while asking the question, "is a dog more civilized than man?" We are used to hearing Amde in performance. So it's very important and quite wonderful to see his poetry in print as we anticipate his next evolution."
Jayne Cortez, author of Women in E Motion, Borders of Disorderly Time, Somewhere in Advance of Nowhere

"Written in fire and blood, Me Today You Tomorrow does what poetry is supposed to do, impel us toward the revolution in values that is so very necessary if we are to survive."
Derrick Jensen, author of The Culture of Make Believe, A Language Older Than Words, Walking on Water: Reading Writing and Revolution