“The Before Columbus Foundation, founded in 1976 by Ishmael Reed and others, remains ‘dedicated to the promotion and dissemination of contemporary American multicultural literature.’ … Blind Persistence is the Before Columbus story as told by a host of leading American poets, novelists, public intellectuals. Contributors include Wajahat Ali, Carolyn Forché, Joy Harjo, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Nancy Mercado, Margaret Porter Troupe, Shawn Wong and more.”