Golden Brown Skin

by S.C. Says

The first collection of poetry by spoken word artist S.C. Says, dealing with his journey with mental health, surviving depression, on being bi-racial, navigating family and relationships, and finding God.

Andre Bradford, a.k.a. S.C. Says, is an Austin based slam poet & speaker who has been writing & performing spoken word poetry since 2013. His one-man slam poetry show on empathy called Kintsukuroi has toured & featured at venues, schools, universities & conferences across the country. He is a two time Austin Poetry Slam Champion, The 2022 Grand Slam Champion, & he also once popped a bag of popcorn without burning a single kernel which is arguably one of his greatest achievements.

120 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2022

About the author

Andre Bradford, a.k.a. S.C. Says, is an Austin based slam poet who has been performing slam poetry since 2013. He's toured and featured at venues and universities across the country, and his work has been featured in the Huffington Post, Write About Now, The Edge radio, The Culture Trip, and Blavity. He is a two time Austin Poetry Slam Champion, the 2022 Texas Grand Slam Champion, and is the author of the poetry collection Golden Brown Skin. He also once popped a bag of popcorn without burning a single kernel, which is arguably one of his greatest achievements.

His poetry covers a gamut of topics ranging from being mixed race, to social justice, to mental health awareness, to never settling in relationships. Slam poetry is an art form he loves due to its raw vulnerability and its ability to cultivate transparency and dialogues into many different walks of life.

Reviews

[Jannie Kitchen]

I never thought that I would describe a book of poetry as a page-turner, but when I say I devoured this book, I mean I literally could not put it down. I will never forget reading it at a restaurant and having the waiter come over to ask me if I was ok; I’m sure he could see on my face that my heart was bursting into a million pieces and that I had completely forgotten where I was, enveloped in the world S.C. Says’ words created. I honestly don’t know how they did it; each poem was a self-contained, beautifully concluded work and yet I needed to read what came next. I’m also sure the waiter was not 100% happy about it, as I absolutely stayed for 2 hours to finish the book.

S.C. Says’ command of language was also unlike any poetry I’ve read before. They somehow managed to use words that were so precise for each moment, with layers of meaning that were so evocative, while simultaneously lacking any pretense and always seeming like they were a friend just talking to me.

There was so much to learn from these poems and I look forward to keeping this book with me. I know I’m going to return to it often. (Also something I never thought I’d say about poetry!)

[M.R. Orduna]

Such a beautiful journey. Really takes you through every emotion through relatable storytelling and incredible writing!

[Heidi]

This book has the most fully expansive humanity I've yet seen. S.C.’s reaching across with his vulnerability to those parts of us. He looks at and embraces his own negative aspects and others, so each person in the book is completely dimensional. Alongside supposed (societal) weaknesses live beautiful moments of human grace and connection. S.C. shows us the seemingly small, quiet thing that really matters, that has a huge impact in the heart, on the heart, and on a person’s future. There’s also anger at times (rightly so), and hard statements that ring true because S.C. has done much inner work to forge his way to us.

Warning: readers will never forget these moments and stories from S.C., because they’ve settled in and have worked their magic.

This book is a clarion call. It asks us to personally reflect, as all good books do, but it’s not a simple, easy thing—S.C. had to confront hate and missed connections, and asks us to bridge relationships with him, not just look at hard things and say we’re sorry they happened to him. He’s “seeking out the company of honesty and raw tenacity,” and he found it and shared its lessons with us.

Way too many beautiful and life-changing lines to quote.
This one gets me every time though:
“…gave in
to the voice telling me my body & my empty
were made for each other.”

Best read in one sitting. You can fully see S.C.’s heart as he bares it to you, and you can then see all of your own raw pulsing heart at the same time. Prepare to be changed. These poems are necessary and healing.

[Camille Jantzen]

Heart wrenching, relatable, and eye opening to issues we do not see fully with our own eyes.