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

Vietnam
Kemet Mawakana
26 Mar 2008
🖨️ Print Article

7_foot_poet_upright_250wideKemet 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(at)gmail.com.

To read or listen to "Vietnam", please click on the link below. 

 

Vietnam

To listen to the audio of "Vietnam< click the flash player below

Click the flash player below to listen to or the mic to download an mp3 copy of this BA Radio commentary.

At a young and impressionable age

sealed was his fate.

Taught the enemy was an animal

sub-human

now he’s brainwashed

so that he can start boomin’:

 

“Boom boom boom yeah I was gunnin’

And then you look and all you see is . . . .”

 

The enemy’s tiny foothold from within

would not submit or bend;

thus and so the war begins.

 

“Homies all standin around just hangin
Some dope-dealin some gang-bangin
We decide to roll and we deep . . .”

 

The American went on a mission called search and destroy

killing men

raping women and girls

and crippling boys.

Napalm strikes by air support

reinforced thoughts

that the enemy was either a criminal

or should be shot for sport.

 

Because of the undeniable conflict

between his training

and the independent conclusions

reached by his maturing brain

the American turned to narcotics

to put his mind at ease.

 

“Since I was a youth, I smoked weed out . . .”

 

But the war won’t end

it can never end for him

until he looks in the mirror and sees

-- he’s Vietnamese.

 

By Kemit Mawakana (aka The Seven-Foot Poet)

Peace (when appropriate) War (when necessary)

Copyright 2008.

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


More Stories


  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Report July 10, 2026
    10 Jul 2026
    In this week’s segment, we hear about the fascist, white supremacist organization, Patriot Front, and the meaning of their recent march in Washington on July 4th. But we begin with an update on the…
  • El Obeid
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    War in Sudan: Impacts on the Horn of Africa and West Asia
    10 Jul 2026
    The war in Sudan between government forces and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) backed Rapid Support Force (RSF) continues, and so does what experts call the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. The…
  • Patriot Front in DC
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Opposing Patriot Front and White Supremacist Groups
    10 Jul 2026
    Daryle Lamont Jenkins is founder of One People’s Project, which seeks to combat and expose right-wing, white supremacist groups and individuals. He joins us from New Brunswick, New Jersey, to discuss…
  • Jacqueline Luqman
    Black Alliance For Peace
    FIFA and the Red Card - A Special Bulletin
    08 Jul 2026
    FIFA and the USA are nothing more than corrupt institutions who rig, renege, and rationalize the fact that neither adheres to their own purported standards - whether it’s the so-called Declaration of…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Patriot Front and What Once Was Chocolate City
    08 Jul 2026
    The Patriot Front’s bold incursions into U.S. cities are a sign of their burgeoning strength and of the weakness of Black movement politics.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us