Mirror Mirror
the audio for this poem is temporarily unavailable/
We know you knew about Inner City Blues.
We know you knew about Thug Life.
And wanted to save the children.
And would answer if your homie calls.
Everybody loved you after the dance giving sexual healing.
You got around asking what’s your phone number and how do you want it?
A breach birth because you were born on the East Coast headed for Hollywood.
A breach birth because you were born on the East Coast headed for Hollywood.
On your label hot acts like Smokey Robinson and the Miracles.
On your label hot acts like Snoop Doggy Dogg and the Dogg Pound.
Mercy mercy me nobody told them whats going on like you.
I ain’t mad at cha because you gotta keep your head up.
Some said you were so negative some said so positive.
Some said you were so negative some said so positive.
My favorite lyric, “ ” yeah that one.
My favorite lyric, “ ” yeah that one.
It was hectic during your lifetime the war the riots and all.
It was hectic during your lifetime the war the riots and all.
You were a troubled man.
You saw death around the corner.
So sad you life ended so young.
So sad you life ended so young.
It makes me wanna holla.
It makes me feel trapped against all odds.
People still love your music.
People still love your music.
Your style was complex in its simplicity.
Your style was complex in its simplicity.
We miss you 2Pac we miss you Tupac Shakur.
We miss you Marvin we miss you Marvin Gaye.
By Kemit Mawakana (aka The Seven-Foot Poet)
Peace (when appropriate) War (when necessary)
Copyright 1998.
Kemet 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.
Roger McKenzie is the international editor of the UK-based Morning Star, the only English-language socialist daily newspaper in the world. He joins us from Oxford to discuss how the UK supports…
Zohran Mamdani, the choice of Democratic Party voters in New York City, is anathema to the billionaire class. So much so that the New York Times elevated the work of a white supremacist in an effort…
“Neither disaster, catastrophe, nor calamity can take precedence … over the color-caste system.”
The UN Group of Experts on DRC reports the obvious, that Rwandan President Paul Kagame intends to annex DRC’s Kivu Provinces.
Zohran Mamdani’s victory rattled NYC’s political elite. But to win Black voters and defeat the Democrat machine, he must reject Al Sharpton’s co-optation and align with radical Black organizers.
