Poetry. Latinx Studies. Italian Studies. Environmental Studies. Power, it is said, never concedes a thing without a fight, we all know this to be true. The struggle seems to always be with us. This is no different. We fight, not because we want to, but because we must-our combined future and very lives depend on it. We fight as an affirmation that we believe in a better future that we have the power to bring into being. This book, EXTREME (AN ANTHOLOGY FOR SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE), comes neither at the beginning nor at the end of that struggle, but as a continuation at a critical juncture in time, bringing forth the poetic voices of today in a scope that is both American and international in the same breath, that speaks to who we are at the root of our humanity.As poets (by which we mean all artists) our duty here is two-fold, to both speak the truth to power, of the reality of the world in which we live, and also to set loose our own imaginations, to dare to let ourselves dream of a better world and way of life that cares equally for the planet on which we live and for those who live on it, for this is how we spark the light within others to make those dreams become a reality. So yes, we do say that another world, one that is sustainable for future generations, where human rights and our ecology is restored, is not only possible, but inevitable, for it is we, those of us who are writing and reading and living these pages herein, who are going to make it happen, through the power of our words and actions.Includes such poetic greats as Jack Hirschman, Neeli Cherkovski, Antonieta Villamil and Lawrence Ferlinghetti, to name a few."Prophetic poets are the courageous and compassionate vanguard of a better world to come even in our bleak time. This book keeps our flame lit and our fire burning!" - Dr. Cornel West