Is homelessness really a matter of choice? If yes, what drives that choice? What makes a person up-sticks, leave the comfort of their home, to live in the street - the street that kills with tusk-like rock-ends that stab and tear like stampeding elephants ? A place that is cold, when not wet, spitting hailstone or forcing everything standing to bow in veneration. If no, why does society see the homeless as something the cat drags in? What makes us immune and turn a blind eye to the sufferings of our own? David Onamade uses Sorrow, Tears and Blood to explore and recount his first-hand experience of long-term homelessness. It is clinical. It is current. It seeks to provide a different view, devoid of false assumptions.
David Onamade (BA, MA, PhD), has lived in Bristol for many years. He has worked in racial equality for more than 30 years, and was the youngest Chairman of Bristol Racial Equality Council. He was also Chairman of South West Racial Equality Council Network (comprising the then eleven RECs in the South West) and represented the South West at the national board of the British Federation for Racial Equality Councils. He was also Chairman of the Independent Advisory Board (IAG) of Avon & Somerset Constabulary - position he co-held with three different deputy chief constables; and Chairman of Ashley Ward Community Forum (a council ward in Bristol that includes St Pauls), as well as Member of Bristol Democracy Commission (the commission that consulted on the political arrangement for Bristol); Member of the Board of Visitors (BOV, now IMB) to HMP Bristol - a Home Office appointment; and an elected member of the South West Regional Assembly. As relevant, he was a trainer in Equality and Diversity at Work with the Equality Foundation Ltd and Racial Equality Caseworker for many years, before becoming Director then the Chief Executive Officer of Somerset Racial Equality Council, between 2003 and 2013. David has a good knowledge of UK race laws. He was homeless and living on the streets when this poetry was written. In late 2020, with the support of Arkbound Foundation, he was given accommodation by Emmaus Bristol.
Title: Sorrow, Tears and Blood
Author: Onamade, David
ISBN: 9781912092789
Binding:
Publisher: Arkbound
Publication Date: 2021-03-12
Number of Pages: 110
Weight: 0.1200 kg
In this poetry anthology, the author draws on personal experience to depict an entirely raw and honest account of what it's like to be homeless. Following the author's emotional journey, the reader empathises to an extent where you understand how nearly everything that exists can become a hurdle. An example of this is through the personification of the seasons, where something with no malicious intent has such a destructive presence. The beauty of these poems is in the author's detailed observations. Absolutely everything has been noticed by the author and deemed impactful, from friends that were made, to the bees during the warmer seasons. This fully opens the reader's awareness, allowing them to sincerely connect to the author's experiences. - Amran Abdiqadir Mohamed
