Bread and Circus

Read gently and personally by the author, Airea D. Matthews, Bread and Circus is a hybrid memoir-in-verse that blends poetry, photography, and spectral imaging to explore the realities of economic hardship and marginal poverty within the African American urban community. Drawing on archival research and shifting perspectives—from childhood to motherhood to citizenship—it delves into themes of survival, resilience, and what it means to flourish amidst adversity, all while highlighting the complexities of American culture and history.