Some of us are more conscientious than others, honoring obligations and paying due respects. Some of us are honest about it, and some not. The Seven Foot Poet reveals a little of himself, and invites each of us to look within.
Are You Like Me?
By Kemet Mawakana
a.k.a. The Seven Foot Poet
the audio MP3 of this poem is temporarily unavailable.
Are you like me?
Did you hit the cook-outs bar-b-qs?
Hangout on the deck with Heineken Hypnotic or Becks?
Chill in the backyard with tall glass of lemonade?
Beat the heat in the pool or at the beach?
Let the August sun justify a catnap or 40-winks?
Did you let August come and go and not celebrate
The Great
The Honorable
Marcus Mosiah Garvey?
Yet somehow managed to catch all you favorite TV shows
and blockbuster movies?
Are you like me?
Huh?
Are you like me?
Did you start the summer with Black Biker Week
And end it with Martha’s Vineyard on Labor day
as your last summer get away?
Did you let August come and go and not commemorate
The Great
The Honorable
George Jackson? Jonathan Jackson?
Or any political prisoner or fallen soldier of the BLA?
Did you say
next summer I’m going to get with the Black August and put in work
but for now I’ll just wear the t-shirt?
Are you like me?
Huh?
Are you like me?
Did you meticulously plan out you party or a trip
for the every 4-year political convention?
Do you refuse to take a holiday for thanksgiving or St. Patrick’s Day
And damn sure won’t be spending up your savings on Christmas gifts
Nevertheless yet and still somehow every August
you manage to forget
the Haitian Revolution?
Not even a moment to reflect
Or silence out of respect
For the commencement or significance
Of one of humanity’s greatest freedom accomplishments?
Are you like me?
Huh?
Are you like me?
Or do you behavior better than that?
By Kemit Mawakana (aka The Seven-Foot Poet)
Peace (when appropriate) War (when necessary)
Copyright 2008.
Kemit Mawakana (aka “The Seven-Foot Poet”) is a highly acclaimed spoken-word artist, and has published two books A . . . Z . . . Infinity and Crucifixion of My Soul. The collective body of his works presented weekly in BAR are in tribute to Listervelt Middleton, Dr. John Henrik Clarke, and “For The People”. Currently, he is a facilitator at AYA Educational Institute (www.ayaed.com) and can be reached at sevenfootpoet@gmail.com.
Richard Medhurst, independent journalist, joins to discuss events in Gaza as the International Court of Justice prepares considers South Africa’s invoking the genocide convention against Israel.
Marcus McDonald, lead organizer with Charleston Black Lives Matter and Tamara, Palestinian American organizer with Free Palestine Charleston, join to discuss how an historic Black church was used for…
Andrew Garber of the Brennan Center joins us to discuss a Georgia judge’s decision in favor of True the Vote, an organization whose mass challenges of voter eligibility limit the franchise,…
Most Martin Luther King birthday celebrations are tawdry displays of political cynicism and cooptation. The people must recapture the day from war criminals and their Black misleadership puppets
On the 220th anniversary of Haitian independence, we reprint the speech given at the first Solidarity Conference of the Peoples of Africa, Asia, and Latin America by Haitian revolutionary, Paul…
