5 Books Published by Claude L. McInnis on AALBC — Book Cover Collage

Searchin’ for Psychedelica is a seamless blend of physical and metaphysical issues. The imagery is still the core of McInnis’ work, painting pictures that baptize our faded black and white reality in a rainbow of magic realism, making it known that McInnis is searching for more than the trinkets of physical gratification, showing that activities such as sex and drug abuse are merely humanity’s misguided attempt to gain inner peace. This collection contains two of McInnis’ most noted and requested poems. "Mississippi Like" shows that the struggle for African Americans to develop a positive sense of self is a metaphysical journey. "My Journey," shows that McInnis’ ultimate journey is the liberation of the individual from the mindlessness of the masses. Thus, the joy that the reader finds is created by McInnis’ ability to take his individual plight and parallel it to the plight of others seeking to release themselves from the dead-end cage of the social and physical restraint.

Da Black Book of Linguistic Liberation is McInnis’ fourth collection of poetry. In this collection, McInnis uses his poetry to teach and celebrate African American history, culture, and beauty. Accordingly, he also challenges blacks and whites who continue to create policy or behavior that he sees as detrimental to African Americans. Yet, with all his socio-political fire, McInnis’ poems are still driven by his wit and imagery, allowing him to paint pictures that are bold, vivid, and beautiful. This work is a seamless balance of art and protest where readers are encouraged (demanded) to understand that life can be beautiful if we seek to become better than we are.

Prose: Essays and Letters is a thorough collection of essays, lectures, and personal letters by C. Liegh McInnis. Having published essays and articles in close to one hundred journals and newspapers while lecturing at universities and socio-political organizations, McInnis has a body of writings that are diversified and insightful. The core of this work is McInnis’ wit and use of creative elements to enhance the substance of his research. In these works McInnis seeks to provide voice for those who are frustrated with the current state of things. Also, in his personal letters we see the dimensionality of McInnis as well as his own struggle to balance personal and professional, art and economics, and the secular with the sacred.

Confessions: Brainstormin’ from Midnight ’til Dawn is C. Liegh McInnis’ second collection of poetry and his most personal. The attention to imagery is still there, but in this collection McInnis seeks to create images that evoke a catharsis in the reader. Though these poems address emotional and psychological pain and development, McInnis’ metaphysics seem to take a backseat to his concern with tangible life; yet, by the end of the collection the reader realizes that McInnis’ exploration of the tangible has been a symbol of his exploration of the psyche, especially in the matter of how our physical behavior is merely a metaphor of our inner self.

Scripts: Sketches and Tales of Urban Mississippi addresses the lingering issues of Afro-Mississippi struggles while contextualizing present-day issues in the frame of history. The opening story, "Transition," is the tale of a family’s flight from rural Mississippi to Jackson, Mississippi. The following story, "Poni’s Trail," takes the reader to New York City, back to rural Mississippi and finally Jackson, Mississippi. Along the way, you meet engaging characters with anger and confusion. One theme that resonates through the pages is Art. The reader is provided with what art and making art means to the characters. The reader also gets a glimpse of some historical issues, including the explanation and history of the HBCU existence, its failures, and successes. While the short stories are entertaining, they provide a sociological and psychological view of the people of Mississippi.