Activist, educator, filmmaker, writer, and poet Kalamu ya Salaam (born Vallery Ferdinand, III on 24 March 1947 in New Orleans) presents a collection of selected writings that�celebrates "essential human beauty and goodness." Through essays, poetry, and speeches, ya Salaam distills his years of wisdom, reflecting on a career built on art and activism, which strove to create community while resisting the powerful who worked to tear it apart. Intensely personal and refreshingly honest,�Be About Beauty�covers topics close to the artist's heart: public education, jazz, Black art, Mardi Gras Indians, WWOZ radio, community, and the past and future of New Orleans and its culture.