Dwight Hobbes’ Let Me Tell You About Al Flowers (ETO/Even The Odds Press) is an interesting and insightful read. Brother Al has been through some experiences that eventually led up to his transformation to a path of truth and justice. As most transformations do, the pain, the suffering and the witnessing of human tragedy and the injustice brought upon himself, his family and community finally allowed the ancestors’ spirits to burst out of him. Since this awakening Al has been on a mission to rebuild the Black community. Often being a thorn in the sides of Black and White people in the struggle for justice, Brother Flowers can have an intrusive and blusterous way of engaging the status quo. This book is a story of the transformation of a kid from the projects of Chicago to his migration to Minnesota in the 70s to a leading activist for social, economic and political justice in the Black community in Minneapolis.
Hobbes’ (dwighthobbes.weebly.com), author of Something I Said and longtime Twin Cities journalist and essayist, finger prints are throughout this autobiography helping bring out the context, history and cultural nuances surrounding Al’s footsteps throughout his engagements and relationships with the various people, organizations and government entities in his quest for justice. In a kind of stream of consciousness narrative, one gets a great introduction to the man, the father, the brother, the son and the activist Al Flowers.
ANURA SI ASAR is Founder/Owner of Papyrus Press Publishing and a Captain with the Minneapolis Fire Department.
