ATL, Swing Over to the City of Ink.

Today the City of Ink will be kicking off their two-year anniversary with a socially conscious art show, "Enough Iz Enough: Artists United Against Police Brutality." My poem "Puck the Folice" will be hanging on the gallery walls tonight and the next 30 days. Please come out to support this very important message and check out some 30 artists who've artistically expressed their disapproval with past and current acts of police abuse. See you there! (Pics coming soon, hopefully)

13 Phrases #3: Alise Leslie

While browsing the blogosphere, I came across sister Alise Leslie. I became an instant fan of her poetry and have been following her work since. My third installment of "13 Phrases" features Leslie and I hope that you find her as talented, real and incredible as I do! Enjoy.

1. By day, I am an unemployed, newly laid off bum. But, a few weeks ago I was an account manager at a print company, and I hated it with a passion.

2. I write best when I am feeling "some kinda way," meaning when I am in a state of imbalance or can't pinpoint my exact emotion. Something about that state of limbo that gets my creative juices flowing,

3. When I find it difficult to complete a piece, I put it away. Then I do something that always brings me out of writer's block: I write about writer's block. It seems counter intuitive, but it works, and I have written some awesome writer's block poems and haiku.

4. Something that helps me recover from Writer's Block is -- besides the aforementioned writer's block remedy -- hanging out with artists. One artist that inspires me greatly is my blog partner in crime over at naturallyalise.blogspot.com. Many poems and rants have come from our random IM or face to face conversations. She's often my muse.

5. I starting writing because... as a preteen to fill the void of my latchkey kid, only child existence. Writing was/is a companion. Also, it helped me to begin healing a lot of emotional scars that I didn't know how to deal with.

6. I continued to write because truthfully, my always brutally honest and critical mother found something I wrote and thought it was the best thing ever, and bragged to anyone who would listen that I was awesome. And then after hearing that I started reading my notebooks and found that I really did feel the same way.

7. I will always write because it is the only thing I have genuinely felt I was great at doing AND enjoyed it as well. I have lots of skills academically and otherwise, but this is all that I had a love for.

8. If I weren't a writer, I'd be a mess, writing is the only thing that has gotten me through some of my darkest moments. When I couldn't afford therapy, my notebook and laptop listened...

9. The author who influences and inspires my work is [Nikki Giovanni]... I have an imaginary friendship in my head with Nikki Giovanni, she embodies so much much of what I want to be, that being: unapologetic, confident, genuine, and wise. I actually look up to a lot of the local poets/spoken word artists in my area, they are on the rise and I know they will be incredibly successful in their artistic endeavors.

10. The most important goal I have as a writer is to make it my full time job, not just a hobby or aspiration. I want to be able to state it as my occupation.

11. People who read my work are most likely to feel my passion and vulnerability. They will see the incredible confidence mixed with my doubt and uncertainty, the dichotomy of Naturally Alise...

12. My most significant piece to date is like asking a mother to pick her favorite child, can't do it, but here is a piece that is newer that shows my raw vulnerabilities about my artistic process and about love all in one poem is "scary @ me": http://blackwomanlost.blogspot.com/2008/12/final-thought.html

Also a piece that is important to me is my scathing attack of BET, a lot of people appreciated me writing this piece and I was overwhelmed at their response to it when I perform it: http://blackwomanlost.blogspot.com/2008/10/b-to-e-to-t.html

13. There is nothing more important than love. Sounds cheesy but I don't just mean in the romantic sense. The giving and receiving of love with friends and family make everything worthwhile.

Excerpt from Alise in Wonderland:

The Dictionary is Our Kama Sutra

Please refer to me as a sexy nerd....
Attracted to the utterances of the likeminded .....
I am enchanted by creative expression
... simply said words turn me on...
The foreplay of your witty banter nibbles on my ears...
Arousing me with adjectives
.....seducing with syllables,
Don't get me wrong: I do enjoy the emotions in your hearts ocean,
but best believe the size of your word power matters...
You penetrate me intellectually ,
And my mind wraps around you.
Expressing yourself in positions I never imagined.
The dictionary is our kama sutra.
Poetry is our candlelight.
You illuminate the deepest caverns of my mind.
Conversation is our bedroom .....
I am not intimidated by intelligence,
In fact I want to be immersed in it,
Inundated until I explode....
I scream out analogies and idioms...
I pulsate with multiple eargasms
And after you cuddle me new concepts...
Lightly stroke my face with similes
Protecting me in the arms of your prose...
And we slowly slip into a smalltalk slumber............

Contact Alise Leslie:

Email: naturallyalise@gmail.com
Website: http://blackwomanlost.blogspot.com
Buy: http://naturallyalise.homestead.com/AliseHome.html

ATTN. Skin Deep Revolutionaries

I was looking up graf for various inspirational purposes and came across a piece by Banksy, a well-known British street artist. The text, "This Revolution is for Display Purposes Only," reminded me of a piece from my first collection, [If] Life's Rotten, Write to the Core.

I tell my students that sharing is caring, so here you go:

To My Skin Deep Revolutionaries

My lyrics send intangible postcards
To pseudo intellects and skin-deep revolutionaries
“I wish you were here”
Because I refuse to spit sacrificial rhymes in ya ear
Which I release into space in the form of art
And abandon when I get them off my heart
I’m trying to reach beyond being a well-versed revolutionary
And transform into a rehearsed revolutionary
I’d rather turn my black back against the system
Than floss a koufe yellin’ “Black is back son!”
In the form of a souped-up poem
Having rhyme but no reason
Other than the fact that the notion of bucking the system is in season
Like cats who like to wear their poems
You know the type who find a cause and try it on
Like those really earthy kids who think being socially conscious
Is synonymous with wearing a multitude of buttons
Transforming themselves into walking slogans
So at best I can slap a skin-deep revolutionary on my bumper
One who, like me, knows the system is still a virgin
But don’t realize to get by we’ve got to do more than hump her with words
We’ve gotta love her with verbs
Love her until she bleeds justice and breeds equality
And accepts the responsibility of taking care of our black babies
I’ve gotta be more than a skin-deep revolutionary
A pseudo intellect or a watered-down activist
Taking advantage of words and neglecting action
Like those who sub their bling with beads to prepare
For their poems on Sierra Leone
Because their revolution is only skin deep
But I want my revolution to scream like me
So this is my lyrical postcard, and “I wish you were here”

Motivating African Proverbs.

"He who marries a beauty marries trouble." (Nigeria) - This proverb need not only be applied to our relationships, but to life in respect to the things we choose to commit to, material or other.

"Without retaliation, evils would one day become extinct from the world." (Nigeria) - So many wars have been carried on in the name of historical "beefs" or because of the mindset that if you cut me, I must shoot you. This does not create a climate where change or peace can be cultivated.

"To be without a friend is to be poor indeed." (Tanzania) - Healthy relationships will always outlast money. I believe so many people should incorporate this knowledge into their day-to-day.

"If you damage the character of another, you damage your own." (Yoruba) - It's so ugly to go out of your way to ruin someone's reputation. And yes, it makes you look horrific.

"Sleep is the cousin of death." (Congo) - I once thought Nas created this line. Hip Hop is so intelligent.

Revolutionary Inspiration

I'm still putting in work on my second novel. Experimental Fiction is exciting to play with. I've been brainstorming several elements that I could incorporate to make the manuscript a good read. At the same time, the story is about revolution, rebellion and change. I'm being very cautious about how far I go because I don't want the seriousness of the subject matter to be overshadowed by cheesy imaginative concepts. To stay focused, I've been looking at photography of past rebellions/riots, and a series covering the Newark rebellion of 1967 really caught my eye. This photo in particular, which really demonstrates how an out-of-control situation can begin to effect later generations. You can check out the entire series on the New York Times site.

Interview with Hip Hop Visualist: Goldi Gold

However expected, one may not be able to interpret the spirit of an artist by what he puts on his canvas. This isn’t the case with Jersey born and Atlanta molded artist, Goldi Gold. His use of clean lines and bold, vibrant colors mimics his own candor and energetic, bubbly personality. He’s not particularly incognito. One may catch him at the City of Ink— Atlanta’s best-dressed tattoo shop, a Hip Hop show at Lenny’s, or any other Atlanta hot spot where hipsters hang and artists of all mediums connect. Some of these folks may know that Goldi Gold was once Army strong and runs a blog that complements his clothing line, Jungle45: products of the konkrete jungle... [Read more on SchemeMag.com]

Poems by Amiri Baraka

Amiri Baraka makes me want to be a better poet. His flow and subject matter appeal to many generations. When I heard him speak in person some seven or so years ago, I was not only impressed by his words, but his overall aura as an artist. Amiri Baraka's controversial work has at times been noted for being anti-woman, homophobic, racist and anti-Semitic. While I don't agree with all of Baraka's ideas, as a writer, I respect his voice as a fellow poet. Enjoy.

Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note

Lately, I've become accustomed to the way
The ground opens up and envelopes me
Each time I go out to walk the dog.
Or the broad edged silly music the wind
Makes when I run for a bus...

Things have come to that.

And now, each night I count the stars.
And each night I get the same number.
And when they will not come to be counted,
I count the holes they leave.

Nobody sings anymore.

And then last night I tiptoed up
To my daughter's room and heard her
Talking to someone, and when I opened
The door, there was no one there...
Only she on her knees, peeking into

Her own clasped hands

+ + +

Wise I

WHYS (Nobody Knows
The Trouble I Seen)
Traditional

If you ever find
yourself, some where
lost and surrounded
by enemies
who won't let you
speak in your own language
who destroy your statues
& instruments, who ban
your omm bomm ba boom
then you are in trouble
deep trouble
they ban your
own boom ba boom
you in deep deep
trouble

humph!

probably take you several hundred years
to get
out

13 Phrases #2: Niki Eskobar

Niki Eskobar is a revolutionary, a mother-to-be, an animal rights activist, a strong and beautiful women's rights champion. In the midst of all that she is, she still has time to create, but not without reason. Each verse she delivers and painting she shares is an ode to the struggle. Her words are powerful and thought-provoking. I am more than a fan of her work. Esko inspires me to not only be a better writer, but a better fighter. Enjoy installment #2 of "13 Phrases," featuring Niki Eskobar. Shalom.

1. By day, I am chlorophyll, by night I am the moth.

2. I write best when I have had a full day of absorbing other people's art (poetry, rap, photography, painting, guitar, etc). Exposing myself to the process and stories of others is a part of writing practice. Sometimes it is not possible to see an art show or visit a friend's house; so, I have to read everyday in order to be full.

3. When I find it difficult to complete a piece, I stay away from it for a long time. Initially, I stay away because I am scared of it. I'm scared that the piece will prove that I am an incapable writer. I assume that I will leave it alone forever. Eventually (a week or a month later) I pull it out again and face it. Then I realize, again, that distancing myself from raw work is a part of writing. Just as a writer goes back in time and memory, a writer's process is the Cha-cha.

4. Three things that help me recover from Writer's Block are: journaling, reading, live shows. I journal for a couple hours a day (diary-entry type words) to carve tunnels through barriers. Then, I read anything from comic books to news articles. Days or weeks pass and I am able to rejuvenate and shed skin. Starting last December until the end of January, I did nothing but read a book every 2-6 days and marked my favorite lines and ideas. I've also found that the most inspiring words come from the youth. Seeing live hip-hop shows put on by local youth sparks new possibilities. Last year I made it a goal to see as many shows as possible. This can keep writer's block far, far away.

5. I starting writing because I was given a lot of paper, pencils, and art kits as a kid. I would sit at my desk and draw for hours. When I learned how to construct sentences, I told the stories of my drawings. Everyone in my family thought that I only liked to draw but the truth is that I have filled up more notebooks with short stories and poetry than drawing pads.

6. I continued to write because I need to continuously discover my relationship to this world. Much of this need stems from cultural history and identity. In many ways, I am displaced, and story-telling through poetry and other forms best encourages this non-linear learning.

7. I will always write because "the writer who is a writer is a rebel who never stops." Even if I lost my hands, there will always be a way to write!

8. If I weren't a writer, it would be because I never learned how to spell, use a pen, and read. I could still paint, or take photos, or play piano. An artist is an artist because of creativity, not the genre or medium.

9. The [writers] who influence and inspire my work are Walt Whitman, Pablo Neruda, Cherrie Moraga, Patrick Rosal, Janice Mirikitani, Barbara Jane Reyes, Langston Hughes, Mike Avila (his poems & his letters), Ricardo Flores Magon, Jose Garcia Villa, Joma Sison, Tess Uriza Holthe, Pele, Blue Scholars, Kiwi, Bambu, Nomi/Power Struggle, Yusef Komunyakaa, the infamous Meredith Hobbs, Juan Felipe Herrera, bell hooks (to name a few).

10. The most important goal I have as a writer is to remain in wonder of the world. Have you ever met someone who seemed to know everything? Or someone who didn't try anything new because they had heard about it before? Or someone who doesn't look at the stars? I hate that.

11. People who read my work are most likely going to want to jump on police cars at a rally or disagree with my take on presidents. I think those who are genuinely interested are either established in their communities or are finding their place. I hope that at least one person can read my words and use it as another jumping point from reflection to self-critiquing.

12. My most significant piece to date is the one that's on its way to me.

13. There is nothing more important than passion. I will say it over and over: passion can lead one to her community, to her talents, to her family and friends, to true wealth. It makes all the difference in the world.

Excerpt from "Mushy Moons, Sentimental Suns":

Venid a ver la sangre por las calles!
Come see the blood in the streets!
From “Explico Algunos Cosas,” Pablo Neruda

I
Do not speak of flowers, stay as far away
As possible, he advises the class. I look down
At my paper & with one finger I inch it closer
& closer to the edge of the desk & slip
It onto my lap. He asks if anyone wants to read
Their work. No one raises a hand, & so he calls
On the one with averted eyes: me. I shake
My head, but the skin between his brows begins to pinch.
Once again, most of my words will be avoided or dropped
From memory like a heap of squirming, succulent worms.
Standing as a feature in the 1904 World’s Fair,
My own pinched brows exhibit my anger, as my entertained
Classmates examine me. Do not speak of flowers. Stay
Away. With these words pounding behind my eyes, a branding
Iron glow starts to grow hot on my tongue.

Contact Niki Eskobar: http://freskocity.wordpress.com
Email: undone.outdone{at}gmail.com
Website: http://www.myspace.com/endsocialapathy
Buy: I'm working on my manuscript! For now, I will be in the forthcoming issue of Solo Café.

Poetic Response to the Chris Brown/Rihanna Fiasco

To a Would-Be Abuser

Think twice
Before that palm meets
My face
And with your micro-machismo
You proceed to “put me in my place”
Remember that I’ve got cousins
And my cousins have cousins
And I’ve got play cousins on top of those
I’ve got a gramps who keeps a piece
Who’ll quickly adopt microwave mannerisms
And heat shit up
And I’ve got a little evil in me
Somewhere
And those little pieces of me won’t ignore
The Ain opposite my angel
That dances on my left shoulder

Copyright Ain HD ©2009

*This poem can be found in [If] Life's Rotten, Write to the Core on Amazon and Lulu.com.

ATTN: Mitt Romney, from a Fed-Up Artist.

I'm not a writer but I had to say something about this madness. I was cursing aloud when my daughter asked me what was wrong and reminded me that I should not use language like this. I apologized to her and calmly went and sat down to write this note to you adults. If you don't like profane language, stop reading now. So what had happened was...

I went on CNN to catch up on the daily news and I came across an article written by Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, board member of an Winter Olympic committee, and former Presidential Candidate. Now, before I start talking about Gov. Romney, I have to explain how I went into a rage. I had just read an article about Obama telling Senate to cut the crap and get this bill passed already. We're in dire straits. (I'm paraphrasing but let me grab the quote.) Obama says, "Don't come to the table with the same tired arguments and worn ideas that helped to create this crisis." Right on Mr. President.

Now, everyday the news gets worse and worse and I keep seeing news conferences with law makers gathered in Washington hallways and steps to state their case. The Dems say they need to get this bill passed, the clock is tickin'. The Republicans say they want program funding thrown out because they don't create jobs. Some things I can see their point, but for the most part, these are limited funding regiments when you look at the majority of the bill. Typical political stances by both parties.

Then I go read this article by Mitt Romney... I fucking lose it. This guy comes with the same old argument of permanent tax cuts and spending the money on military supplies in Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Iraq, which no doubt will go to the same type of companies that got us in the ginormous debt we are currently suffering from. We've had major tax cuts for wealthy buttheads like good ol' Mitt and it has brought us nothing but misery. Oh and who was for deregulation... Mr. Romney no doubt. See what that got us on Wall Street? People like Mitt Romney don't get it because they are no where close to the tragedy that so many Americans are facing or are close to facing. This is this asshole’s philosophy: Give rich people tax cuts so they can hire more peasants. Cut the spending so we won't go deeper into debt, but if you do spend money, spend it on the motherfuckers that blew a majority of the money in the first place. Oh, and any of the programs that could actually help your broke ass, cut those because we can't afford to because we should spend that money on corporations and banks that can hire people and give loans. Only they're not hiring people and they're not giving loans. They're buying other banks and businesses. I want to punch this dude in the face. (Not to mention, how are you for war and not one of your five healthy sons are involved in it?)

Look, this tired old way of thinking is going to be the end of us. So if I had a vote, I vote that cut the crap, strip it of anything that isn't urgent right now and pass the damn bill already. Mitt Romney, please shut the fuck up. If the gargantuan spending that was the Iraq War hasn't tanked us, then spending money on the people of the US won't either. As a matter of fact, your conservative crowd is big on investing. Now it's time to invest in the American people. So fuck your Halliburtons who conveniently relocated their asses to Dubai so they could avoid whatever hellfire that is coming their way after the smoke clears in Iraq, or whoever would benefit from your military spending that you want in this Bill. Jackasses like Mitt Romney don't get it because he's never had to wake up and wonder how he's going to get money to pay for anything. Neither did Bush and that's how they govern. Fiscal my ass. Pass the bloody bill already and Mitt Romney sit down and be quiet... fuck!

Angry artist!

Fabian

RIP Amadou Diallo (Sept. 2, 1975 – Feb. 4, 1999)

On this date, ten years ago, Amadou Diallo was gunned down by four plain-clothed police officers in New York City. Officers approached Diallo using the age-old excuse that he "fit the description" of a suspected rapist in the area. The 23-year-old immigrant from Guinea was hit 19 times out of the 41 shots fired by Sean Carroll, Brendan Murphy, Edward McMellon and Kenneth Boss.

The four officers claimed to believe that Diallo was reaching for a weapon, which was later found to be a wallet, presumably to show them his temporary Visa. The four murderers were acquitted on February 25, 2000, after the jury deliberated for two days.

What. The. F*ck.

In '96, Amadou Diallo moved to NYC to start a business with a family member and to pursue a degree in computer science. As an immigrant, Diallo had a vision of the "American Dream," only to have that dream cut short by rabid, crooked cops. This wasn't the first high-profile case of police brutality. Everyone touched by Diallo's death had feelings reminiscent of those felt when Fred Hampton was gunned down in his Chicago home, when Rodney King was brutally beaten by the LAPD on video and when Malice Green died of blows to the head from a cop in Detroit.

While the uproar was fierce, officers who took their "authority" to the extreme kept on pushing. The deaths of Kathryn Johnston, Sean Bell, Oscar Grant and others followed. This will continue until the "Blue Code of Silence" is dead and officers who abuse their power are held more accountable for their actions.

On February 27, 2009, The City of Ink in Atlanta's famous Castleberry Hill District will be hosting its second anniversary show, "ENOUGH IZ ENOUGH: Artists United Against Police Brutality." If you're in the A, you can make a statement by simply gracing the gallery with your presence. Uhuru!

Build & Customize Your Castle.

If you're in the mood to self-reflect, watch a group of children.

While observing a group of pre-k girls playing with blocks last week, I decided to jump in on the action. I asked the students to build a castle. The result was a disorganized collection of blocks all meshed together in some sort of royal tragedy that I would never choose to live in. The walls were nonexistent. The floors were jagged and uneven. The door was blocked. There were no windows. I started to help the girls fix the castle but I had to realize its beauty despite the fact its lack of function.

The unusual construction of the girls' castle is a metaphor for my own life in two ways:

One, I've never taken the standard approach to anything. In doing that, I sometimes teeter the line between functional and unproductive. In watching the girls carefully piece together their castle, I've realized that while it may be a beautiful thing to create my own path, I must make sure that my rhymes have reason. I, and you, should be sure that no matter how unconventional our approach, the roads we pave lead a higher plain. Everything (not really everything) we do should make us better, stronger, more well-rounded, more intelligent or more monetarily blessed *wink*.

Two, I learned about material expectations. As we get older, we get signals from our peers, from television, and life in general about the stuff we should want to collect. We're sent subliminal messages about how these things should look (ie. the white picket-fenced house). The block castle was a metaphor for my empire, or entire collection of stuff. Their castle looked nothing like a castle, but they were proud of what they built. I am still in the process of gaining this characteristic, but I am learning to be proud of the things that I've obtained thus far.

So build your castle with care, using your own methods, and feel blessed with the result.