Shop Books by Bryonn
What would a modern-day prophet say on the day he returns home from prison? The Prophet Returns tackles this question and honors the influential legacy of Kahlil Gibran. Once written off as a writer of “meaningless mysticism,” Gibran refused to limit his work to a single tradition and brought together the Judeo-Christian and Islamic insights of his nation and family in his writings. With the exception of the Bible and Koran, Gibran’s 1923 masterpiece “The Prophet” reportedly outsold all other books in the 20th century. Working in prisons since the 1980’s, Bryonn Bain was wrongfully imprisoned while studying law at Harvard. A Brooklyn poet, prison activist and Nuyorican Grand Slam poetry champion, Bain has performed and lectured on hip hop, spoken word and the prison crisis at more than 100 campuses and correctional facilities nationwide.
The Prophet Returns (2011)
The Ugly Side of Beautiful: Rethinking Race and Prisons in America (2012)
Racially profiled and wrongfully imprisoned during his second year at Harvard Law School, hip-hop activist Bryonn Bain successfully sued the New York City Police Department and wrote the Village Voice cover story “Walking While Black.” Now, Bain has taken his own disturbing experiences of racial profiling and personal demoralization and turned them into teachable moments for an entire nation. The Ugly Side of Beautiful takes an unflinching look at the injustices of our prison system and strives to help us think outside the cage.
Rebel Speaks: A Justice Movement Mixtape (2022)
Rebel Speak sounds the alarm for a global movement to end systemic injustice led by people doing the day-to-day rebel work in the prison capital of the world. Prison activist, artist, and scholar Bryonn Rolly Bain brings us transformative oral-history ciphers, rooted in the tradition of call-and-response, to lay bare the struggle and sacrifice on the front lines of the fight to abolish the prison-industrial complex.
At 5 and 10 years old, my son and godson began sketching magical drawings inspired by my poetry. Three years later, the masterpieces of Indigo Bain and Siddhartha Ullah have metamorphosed into this hopeful, bilingual children’s book, FISH & BREAD. Translated into the Spanish PESCADO Y PAN by Francisca Sanchez, Immediate Past President of the California Association of Bilingual Educators (CABE), these verses and visuals link ancient stories from sacred scripture, the spoken word poetics of our time, and the youthful imagination and aesthetics of these millennial prodigies. Drawing on words and images featured in the internationally-acclaimed, hip hop theater production “Lyrics From Lockdown” – executive produced by Harry Belafonte, proceeds from distribution of this book over the next decade will support the education of these gifted young artists.
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Fish & Bread Pescado Y Pan (2015)
At 11 and 13 years old, my sons began sketching drawings inspired by my poetry. One year later, the masterpieces of Kahlil Immanuel Bain and Idries Krishna Bain have metamorphosed into this soulful, trilingual children’s book TEMPLE WORSHIP. Translated into the Spanish ADORACION DEL TEMPLO by Rosie Rios (UC Berkeley) and the Chinese 圣殿朝拜 by Jingqiu Guan (Duke University), these verses and visuals walk us through spiritual experiences of everyday life, the spoken word poetics of our time, and the youthful imagination and aesthetics of millennial prodigies. Drawing on words and images that inspired the groundbreaking hip hop theater Broadway production “Lyrics From Lockdown” — executive produced by Harry Belafonte and live-streamed to prisons nationwide, proceeds from this book over the next decade will support the education of these gifted young artists.
Email for availability.