Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

They
Bill Quigley
20 Aug 2008
🖨️ Print Article

7_foot_poet_upright_250wideby Kemet Mawakana, a.k.a. the Seven Foot Poet

How many times have we heard that "they" control your hood, your head and sometimes your heart, to hear some tell it.  You know "how they do us", right?"  The Seven Foot Poet wants you to ask the next question. 

Just who are "They"?  

“THEY”

The audio for this poem is temporarily unavailable.

 

“Aberrant behavior is shaped by its consequences”

 

The mysterious “they” are everywhere

“they” did that to me

“they” did this to them

“they” did that too

“they” hurt my family and friends

 

“they” are going to get theirs

“they” better get back

“they” allowed it to happen

“they” strategically set up that

 

“they” thrive and continue to hide

When you refer to them as “they”

“they” lose effectiveness and get more resistance

When “they” is stripped away

 

Name the names

Tell me the addresses

Show me their pictures

I want their parents’ and their children’s identities too

I want “they” to consider immediate retribution upon them and their loved ones

Before “they” do what “they” do

Then “they” will reconsider

Sick the paparazzi on the board members

Publish the policy makers

Advertise the advisors

Broadcast the manipulators

Don’t show me reality shows that could hardly be any faker

Because it is consequences that shape behavior.

 

By Kemit Mawakana (aka The Seven-Foot Poet)

 

Peace (when appropriate) War (when necessary)

 
 

Copyright 2008.

 

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.

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


More Stories


  • Closed store sign
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Gary, Indiana Struggles for Two Weeks Without Electricity
    28 Aug 2026
    Akili Shakur is a revolutionary activist and the wife of political prisoner Shaka Shakur. She joins us from Gary, Indiana, where some residents have been without power for more than two weeks after…
  • x
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist , Dhoruba bin-Wahad , Kelonji Changa
    The Guardian Open Letter Exposed: Margaret Kimberley & Dhoruba Bin Wahad Speak Out
    26 Aug 2026
    In this special broadcast, BAR Senior Columnist and Executive Editor Margaret Kimberley and Black Panther Veteran Dhoruba Bin Wahad offer an uncompromising, sharp critique of the anti-Iranian open…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Hakeem Jeffries and Jared Kushner Meeting Reveals Ugly Truths About U.S. Politics
    26 Aug 2026
    If the Democratic Party prevails in the midterm elections, Hakeem Jeffries will become the Speaker of the House of Representatives. But his decision to meet with Jared Kushner was a textbook case of…
  • ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    A People(s)-Centered Human Rights Critique of “An Open Letter to Iran’s Political Prisoners”
    26 Aug 2026
    A People(s)-Centered Human Rights framework rejects the liberal abstraction that makes a false symmetry between Iranian authoritarianism and U.S. imperialism, which obscures the fact that one is a…
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: The CIA and Studies on Guerrilla Warfare, Robert Molteno, 1979
    26 Aug 2026
    “In the period since 1969, one can detect the same old close ties between right-wing U.S. academics, think tanks, foundations, and the U.S. Government…”
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us