Monument: Poems New and Selected by Natasha Trethewey A good friend of mine introduced me to former United States Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey's poems, and I'm forever grateful. Trethewey's parents defied laws banning interracial marriage when they married in the 1960s, and she uses her poems to excavate family stories that are both personal and political, shedding light on too-often-ignored Black voices in American history. Image Source: amazon.com