I, TOO, SING THE OCEAN’S SONG

In the tradition of Civil Rights activist Frederick Douglass, a fellow Eastern Shore of Maryland born citizen, for the 4th of 
July, The Black Mermaid Project is proud to announce it’s latest 
publication titled ‘I, TOO, SING the OCEAN’S SONG’ coauthored by 
mother and daughter team of Dr. Jaky B. and Kendra Banks, respectively. 
It is an ode in rhythm to the famous poem ‘I, Too’ often called ‘I, Too Am 
America’ written by Renaissance author Langston Hughes. The Hughes 
poem talks about the dichotomy of racism and wanting to sit at the 
same table as an American citizen. Wherein this poem invokes the 
rhythm, some of the mood and the length portrayed in the original 
poem, a major difference, much like the Honorable Shirley Chisholm, is 
that no one is asking permission to sit at the table of another culture. 
Rather the flow, the words are about independence, actual and spiritual 
freedom, peace with the waters of life, peace with the ocean and all its 
life. ‘I, TOO, SING the OCEAN’S SONG’ addresses slavery in his own way
by emphasizing freedom and independence as a choice.
Maybe the best addition to the original poem is the stunning artwork. 
“The book is visually extremely impressive” co- author Dr. Jaky B. said. 
“Kendra worked very hard developing original descriptive language for AI 
to get her visions expressed to coincide with the words created for ‘I, 
TOO, SING the OCEAN’S SONG’.”
“I wanted a book with Black Mermaids of different hues, hair, personality just as powerful as the words themselves,” said 
co-author Kendra Banks. “The Black Mermaids Initiative is all about building the self-esteem of Black girls.