I see you strapped up
ready to let your pistol loose
Jump out boys
In the black navi taking pictures
Life’s a marathon
young soldier, not a race.

What you need to do
is slow down your pace
and just listen
Ya missin the whole world
Settling for chump change
That shyt is Crumbs
And what’s even more strange

I see you influenced by others
I  see you posted on the block
Think these ya guys ya boys
Well they not!!!

You think they care
they don’t
And they won’t
Come see yo ass in jail

I’m in these prisons everyday
I see young black males

WHO LOOK JUST LIKE YOU
DID WHAT YOU TRYING TO DO
WISH THEY HAD ANOTHER CHANCE
DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCE

Wish they didn’t live as animals
Locked inside a cage
Didn’t you read about them indictments
On the front page?

HE LOOKED AT ME
AND SAID “SO, THAT’S NOT ME.”
I SAID
YOUNG SOLDIER “IT’S NOT NOW
BUT ONE DAY IT COULD BE.”

I had that conversation with a young man, standing in front of a murder shrine on the block he hustled yay. Even though he sold dope and was armed, what you see as a thug I saw as my child. Your answer is to lock him away, my answer is to find a way so that he may live in peace and become a stakeholder of his community.

We need schools not jails because being young is not a crime. However, denying them the opportunity to reach their greatness most certainly is!

He’s got some interesting points. Is making political change all a game? Are we players in the game or are we just being played? You tell me.

If you are a poet, or a poet enthusiast, you should probably check this out. Sure, poets are the vanguard of the revolution, but there are definitely a few things we should keep in mind. Oh and watch the whole thing, you should know that poets save the best for last.

Share your thoughts on Gil Scott-Heron’s legacy by tweeting @TheLeague99.

First lady Michelle Obama is hosting a poetry night at the White House, featuring Common. Fox News is stirring up controversy by claiming that Common shouldn’t be at the White House because of his spoken word pieces on police brutality and his anti-Bush rhetoric. They even went so far as to call him “vile,” while enabling commenters to post blatantly racist and xenophobic comments below… [File under hypocrisy]

Rob ‘Biko’ Baker accompanied me in Madison, Wi where this young lady came onto the stage and literally set it on fire! The truth is sometimes a dish served cold and on this night at Stomp The Madness 2010, Jasmine Mans is the waitress. KEEP THE TIP!

Her current spoken word piece, entitled, ‘Nicki Minaj’ is an attempt to educate Nicki and her fanbase about the effects of Onika Tanya Maraj’s public persona on black girls, specifically negative. Before it made WorldstarHipHop, I was a big fan of this piece so much that I had to personally call her up and show my support and even though it’s not that new of a performance, i’m sure she has a bunch of new fans after witnessing it. “People want the real”, I say it all the time!

It is a great time to be living in Columbus. I guess it could just be me because it seems like everyday I’m here someone says that they are bored. Life as a community organizer however has been high pace and the high octane people I am constantly in the company of keeps me motivated and in good spirits. The summer officially began on Monday and Columbus is feeling the heat. So I guess it is fair to say that when it comes to organizing if you can’t take the heat then stay out of the summer time!

Poetry and progressive thinking tends to go hand and hand. I got introduced to my mentor Ha2tim at a poetry spot and it was him who introduced me to C J and the LYVEF. Since the day I enter a spoken word poetry show for the first time, I have experienced an entirely new side of life, and poetry has been there every step of the way. I have heard, written or performed what seems like a poem for possible human emotion but I am always inspired by the art form and people’s ability to articulate their inner environment.

Recently I was asked to host a local poetry set. I have hosted before, but this time is unique in a lot of ways. For one, I get to be part of the creation of something that is being started from scratch. It is being held at a place called the Drexel Radio Café which is attached to a small, independent movie theater which is one of the corner stones of its community. Bexley Ohio is one of the wealthiest and best managed communities in central Ohio and it is the home of the Drexel Theater and the Drexel Radio Café. Although Bexley is surrounded on all sides by Columbus, it is a city of its own with a distinctive culture. Outside of delivering high quality poetry every week, we will also enjoy the opportunity to be able to blend the culture of Bexley with the cultures of the surrounding communities using spoken word as the comfortable medium.

We are riding a major wave of momentum in the city of Columbus.  I am fortunate enough to have been introduced into this way of life at a point in time when there was already a significant amount of movement already taking place. Now I have been placed in a position where I am responsible for being one of the individuals guiding the momentum. I must admit, it has been a very humbling realization. It is also a responsibility I feel compelled to accept because I am both aware and able to assist in the struggle for equality. A monumental wave is about to reach land and I get to be along for the ride. I have been looking forward to this moment my entire life and now its here. I finally get to test out my sea legs!

MILWAUKEE, WI – Renowned community activist and national poet, Muhibb Dyer is on a mission to take you on an intimate journey of a people’s struggle from early civilization to present time; an intricate look through the eyes, words and sounds of one man’s poetry that captures the essence of several generational stages of Hope, Triumph and Heartbreak.

photo by Isaiah Merriweather

Join that journey on Saturday, February 20th, 2010, with the one man stage play entitled, “From Kings, To Thugs, To Presidents” at the nostalgic Miramar Theatre located at 2844 N. Oakland Avenue in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This powerful stage play is executive produced by the host and co-founder of Poetry Unplugged (PU), Kwabena Antoine Nixon.

Kwabena Antoine Nixon and Muhibb Dyer are undeniably two of the most dynamic elements in our community that are cultivating a scene of positive and influential change with a local and national following of sold out events. Their penetrating poetry reaches the core of their audiences painting real life scenarios geared towards societal issues with a mirror effect. Their “Flood the Hood with Dreams” seminars serve as a catalyst to diminish violence within our communities by empowering you to dream big and achieve your goals by getting past your environment and background so that you can receive your dreams by taking responsibility of your future.

Much like the late activist Malcolm X, they have encountered similar trials in their lifetime that was enough to make them fall victim to the streets adding to the statistics in the African American community for black males. But instead they are using their life’s experiences as a spring board to motivate others through poetry and inspiration that will create change regardless of your current environment.

You don’t want to miss this powerful performance by one of America’s leading master poets, Muhibb Dyer. Doors open at 7:00pm. Tickets are $10.00.

Check out this powerful poem by Bobby Drake. B.Drake is a League Alum and Milwaukee based spoken word artist and producer. Police brutality is real, and it’s a relic of 20th century thinking. We can’t let the bad apples continue to spoil the bunch. Go here to learn your rights!!

Bobby Drake — “I Am Somebody” by 99problemsdotorg

Below is a clip from spoken word artist Mario Willis. It’s a freewrite inspired by Chris Matthews’ “I forgot Obama was Black” comment. Willis is a poet out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and often juxtaposes humor and sorrow in his poetry to talk about the struggles of inner city America. Check out his “challenge”, it’s pretty funny, yet extremely poignant. The rest of the freewrite is after the jump, and it is pretty damn entertaining as well.

photo by Isaiah Merriweather

** a challenge**
for the next week every time someone says something smart or important, remark that you forgot their race. Like “Wow, you did a good job today Tom, I forgot you were German”, “nice report Patty, i forgot you were Polish”, “Thanks for the help with my homework, Chananya, I forgot you were a jew”…

more of Mario’s freewrite after the jump.

I was born in the ghetto
to teenage parents
unprepared for the stumble ahead
have went hungry
ate appetite for dinner
slept on floors
frostbitten
have seen violence on street corners
in front of liquor stores.
and dead bodies
before my 5th grade year
had a Grandmother who gave me faith
like a 50 yard pass for a first down
nearly impossible, if not just improbable.
have stepped over failures
on my way to a school bus
that would take me
1 hour
to a school room
where a teacher
would see more nigger than student.
have made decrees that God was dead
if not just improbable
then seen miracles so awe inspiring
that the shroud of Turin might cry.
to see faith reassembled
I confess
have stolen, lied, and cheated.
ate chicken, watermelon
and danced to drunk to remember
but I pray with all that is within me
every weary, tattered, barely breathing bone in my body
You never forget that I am black
never say those words about me
for a hour or a minute,
a nano second.

Mr. Matthews
we are a strong people
stand with the blood of middle passage.
imprints of fish hooks in our jaw bone
have been caught up
hoodwinked and bambozzeled
lost.
have been subverted
killed for looking at what we might want
had our soul legislated away
been cattle
then walked, marched, died
to find some sort of justice
some prayer for freedom
you said that for a hour
you forgot that he was black
like my skin was a disease
an affliction
to be remedied with disregard
as if my sons and my daughter
black as the hour after midnight
should lose their ethnicity
like keys
to prove they are worthy

we are a proud people

Mr. Matthew’s
have been hung, chained and arrested
called many things in the shadows
other than black
other than nigger
that have left us poor and disenfranchised
but we are clearly American
they pained to pull every ounce of Kimit
from my flesh
leaving my DNA pocked
with the inferiority
to at first listen when you spew such rhetoric

but you must have LOST YOUR MIND

don’t you ever forget that I am black
if equality comes at the price of my heritage
then let my great grandmothers bones
be lifted from the grave
so that I can push one threw my nose
so you can see me
as Black as I am

is that African enough for you

let me cover myself in red kool-aid and tap dance
a jig for you and your Mammy

is that Black enough for you

will lean with it rock with it
like little black boys hanging from tree limbs

President Obama looked the politician
“capitulation” and rhetoric be damned
but he most assuredly looked black
as black as a people
who fought every war this country has lied in
as black as
first responders who died on 9-11
black as Crispus Attucks
the first man to die for the cause of revolution
black as Martin, Malcolm, A. Philip Randolph, W.E.B. Debouis
and the millions of souls
lost in the ocean
to the greatest crime against humanity
this world has ever seen
Mr. Matthews
he looked so black on that podium
and weren’t we all proud…

** a challenge**
for the next week every time someone says something smart or important, remark that you forgot their race. Like “Wow, you did a good job today Tom, I forgot you were German”, “nice report Patty, i forgot you were Polish”, “Thanks for the help with my homework, Chananya, I forgot you were a jew”…