New Releases by Lorenzo Pace

Locked is a play that explores an African American family''s past and the pain of slavery, racism, and discrimination in America. A young man, Jalani Pace, returns to his grandmother''s house in the South for a visit and discovers an old lock hidden in a drawer. When Jalani asks about the lock, his grandmother, Mary Alice, becomes nervous that the family''s secrets (and her pain) will be unearthed. What lessons will the old lock teach Jalani, his family, and our nation about race, the past, and our future? Locked, a full-length play in two acts, explores this question and celebrates the human spirit''s ability to overcome.

In this story based on true events, Jalani, a freed slave, gives the lock that held him in chains to his eldest child as a symbol of his enslavement. Includes information about African Burial Ground Memorial Sculpture in New York City created by Jalani''s descendent, Lorenzo Pace.

Artist Lorenzo Pace participated in the civil rights movement and marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. His unique cultural perspective and first-person eyewitness account of the era is made immediate and accessible to elementary students with his artistic collages of primary source materials.

This illustrated children''s book discusses the life of the abolitionists Frederick Douglass and the founding of the anti-slavery newspaper "North Star."

Artist Lorenzo Pace uses his grandmother’s quilts in a powerful, personal, and artistic presentation of Harriet Tubman’s heroic participation in the Underground Railroad. The Pace family artifacts are like the quilts slaves made and used for giving signals and directions to those seeking freedom. His unique narrative voice and point of view make this a brilliant, age-appropriate informational text. About the Author/Illustrator Lorenzo Pace is the former director of the Montclair State University Art Galleries in Upper Montclair, New Jersey. He is the sculptor commissioned to create Triumph of the Human Spirit for the African Burial Ground Memorial in Foley Square Park in New York City. He is currently a Professor of Art at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

With this quartet of stories and narrative non-fiction, emerging readers will come to know the important events and some of the key figures in African American history. The lives and accomplishments of the subjects are presented with clear language, primary sources, and memorable illustrations. Children are never too young to begin learning about key themes such as justice, resilience, perseverance, and

Sculptor Lorenzo Pace won the commission to create the African Burial Ground Memorial sculpture in New York City, which has at its base a replica of the lock that imprisoned his great-grandfather as a slave, passed down through the generations. Pace’s beautiful story about the fictional Jalani’s chained arrival in the United States tells an uplifting story for children about his ultimate freedom. About the Author/Illustrator Lorenzo Pace is the former director of the Montclair State University Art Galleries in Upper Montclair, New Jersey. He is the sculptor commissioned to create Triumph of the Human Spirit for the African Burial Ground Memorial in Foley Square Park in New York City. He is currently a Professor of Art at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

La raccolta comprende un centinaio di composizioni raggruppate in cinque parti secondo una suddivisione tipologica. I Preamboli sono dei punti di partenza, dei presupposti a ciò che viene dopo. Le Conclusioni, complementari ai primi, sono invece dei punti di arrivo, dei pensieri compiuti. Le Dediche sono poesie indirizzate a qualcuno, mentre i Frammenti sono episodi di vita. Infine, Il naufrago e la luna raccoglie un gruppo di poesie nate tutte insieme, in un breve arco di tempo, quindi collegate come genesi ma non come argomento. Lo spirito della scala scandisce un percorso complesso quanto affascinante di crescita individuale, di apertura alla vita e all’amore. La Poesia e la pienezza dei contenuti di verità che essa silenziosamente rivela divengono straordinari strumenti per una conoscenza profonda e priva di illusioni. La sete d’eternità si traduce allora nel desiderio insopprimibile di indagare con lucidità il proprio sentire, intraprendendo con speranza e con fermezza un intenso viaggio di ricerca interiore, un percorso esplorativo e creativo che permetterà al poeta di comprendere le ragioni più autentiche dello spirito e della mente. (Francesca Panzacchi, Direttore Collana Blue)