Reflections of a Revolutionary

A BALLAD FOR THE DAWN

Reflections of a Revolutionary

By Rev. Dr. Thomas L. Nins

What constitutes a revolutionary? I can picture such embodied by Martin Luther King, Jr., Huey Newton, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Marsha P. Johnson, Marcus Garvey. This also includes authors and poets such as James Baldwin, Nikki Giovanni, Gil-Scott Heron, Phillis Wheatley, Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Joseph Beam, Audre Lorde, and Gwendolyn Brooks. The author of this body of work encompasses and connects revolution with transformation in the community, hence I bring to you Rev. Dr. Thomas L. Nins’ A Ballad for the Dawn: Reflections of a Revolutionary.

In a collection that spans over 20 years, Nins shares multi-faceted dimensions of his poetic voice, from growing up in St. Paul’s Rondo community and North Minneapolis to where he is today as a pastor and champion for social justice. According to Nins, when he met with his publisher, “she said that while she respected me as a pastor, she was not at all interested in publishing a book with ‘Fifty Poems About Jesus.’ Then she read the manuscript.” Lesson: never make assumptions.

His poems cover the issues of pain and loss, especially the loss of children; his discovery of his unique voice; his struggle with writing love poems; our enemies from within our community; his growth at Virginia Union University, where the themes “good news and a room” play out in his life; relationships; transformation; and his signature poem of social commentary on the community, “A Ballad for the Dawn.”

In his poem “The Get Down,” Nins stated that “poets have always stood in the forefront of a revolution.” Indeed, there are poems in his collection that can make a reader uncomfortable, as they should; that makes their message no less true. Others can serve as a call to action. Others serve to remind us of where we were and where we are as a community. Others remind us that we are rooted in faith. And still others inspire us by a transformative power that happens one day at a time, one person at a time, “hope paired with the human spirit.”

I acknowledge Rev. Nins for a collection that invites readers to let his words marinate in the spirit, which he ends with a blessing. I give a hat tip for the cover design to his daughter Aisha and Ms. Varnette Heywood, and I send many blessings to his family. I heartily agree with the way he supports other artists!

A Ballad for the Dawn is available through Amazon and the Minnesota Black Authors Expo website (www.mnblackauthorsexpo.com).

Thank you, Rev. Dr. Nins, for redefining what it means to be revolutionary!