Wanda Robinson

Performance poet now known as Laini Mataka Wanda was born in Baltimore, Maryland USA 18th November 1949 and was a contemporary of the Last Poets and Maya Angelou, and she seemed poised to follow the same career trajectory, but she virtually disappeared after recording Black Ivory, fed up with show business and no longer willing to offer the world her words for what she calls “less than chump change.” She left the record business, worked at various odd jobs, and continued to write. In 1972, she shaved her head and changed her name to Laini Mataka. A year later, her second album was put out by Perception—but without her involvement.

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