This New York Times Book Review, written March 18, 2026, is by Holly Bass. Holly Bass is a poet, journalist, and performance artist based in Washington, D.C., and a 2025-26 visiting fellow with the Center for Racial Justice at the University of Michigan. Joshua Bennett’s two new collections, “We” and “The People Can Fly,” take different paths to the same destination.
Collage by Dakarai Akil
Contemporary America often gives poetry short shrift, treating it as esoteric and niche compared to nonfiction. But in the case of the poet and scholar Joshua Bennett’s two new publications, that would be a mistake. His book-length poem “We (the People of the United States)” carries as much historical research and intellectual heft as his essay collection, “The People Can Fly.”
Like fraternal twins, the volumes have distinctly different features but similar DNA. Poetic lyricism suffuses both books, which catalog Black achievers in the arts, letters and sciences from the 1700s to today. The poetry volume “We” links itself to the nation’s 250th anniversary, while “The People Can Fly” was published in February to mark the 100th anniversary of Black History Month.
“We” opens with a half-dozen pieces loosely about family. A recurring theme is Bennett’s double role: He is a son trying to bridge generational divides with his father, and he is himself father to a young boy. The second part expands to include historical figures and great (mostly Black) Americans — several of whom, such as the astronaut Mae Jemison and the poet Nikki Giovanni, also appear in “The People Can Fly.”
WE (THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES), by Joshua Bennett
THE PEOPLE CAN FLY: American Promise, Black Prodigies, and the Greatest Miracle of All Time, by Joshua Bennett