Selected Poems/Poesia Selecta (Pioneers of Modern Us Hispanic Literature)

the long version

"Pales Matos was a native, and lifelong resident, of Puerto Rico. Though he was not black, he became one of the Caribbean's leading advocates of poesia negra (black poetry). His landmark 1937 collection Tuntun de Pasa y Griferia: Poesia Afro-Antillana (Tom-Tom of Kinky Hair and Black Things: Afro-Caribbean Poetry) joyously celebrated the African aspects and source of Puerto Rico's culture and influenced later generations of writers throughout the Western hemisphere."--BOOK JACKET.