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

Poetry from Kemet Mawakana
Kemet Mawakana
27 Feb 2008
🖨️ Print Article

7_foot_poet_upright_250wideaka "The Seven-Foot Poet"

 

"FARE" 

 

Our resident poet contemplates the "Fare" that Black folks are required to pay. When you read and hear this week's offering from Kemit Mawakana, you'll get his meaning.

To experience the written or audio versions of FARE, click the link below. 

 

 

 

Poetry from Kemit Mawakana

aka "The Seven-Foot Poet"

To listen to FARE, click the flash player below
{mp3}poetry/072Fare{/mp3} 

Fare

1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . . 14  . . . 15 . . . 16

A pariah!

Leprosy radiates my skin;

serving as a warning to natives and foreigners alike.

17 . . . 18 . . . 19 . . . 21 . . . 22 . . . 23

Death unto those that dare acknowledge my presence!

My invisibility clear to all who would dare look with a naked eye.

24 . . . 25 . . . 26 . . . 37 . . . 38 . . . 39

Hate, anger and vengeance swell up within,

breaking fences of common sense.

None of them - not one of them - None of them are bound by decency!

41 . . . 42 . . . 47 . . . 48 . . . 49

They hate the fact that me they only loathe and not despise.

They anxiously accelerate to save a business suit from my pursuit,

And the unspeakable acts that I perpetrate.

. . . 51.

Exhausted.  I'm home, no longer mad.

Clearly it's not fair - that I was passed up by 51 taxicabs.

 
Copyright 1996
 
Peace (when appropriate) War (when necessary)

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.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

.

 

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


More Stories


  • x
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio August 14, 2026
    14 Aug 2026
    In this week’s segment we discuss how the U.S. controls other nations in the hemisphere such as Guyana, which become de facto US colonies and assist in imposing imperial policies in the region. But…
  • x
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Guyana and the Struggle Against U.S. Imperialism
    14 Aug 2026
    Gerald Perreira is chairperson of the Organization for the Victory of the People in Guyana. He discusses the America’s Counter-Cartel Coalition (ACCC) known as Shield of the Americas, the latest…
  • El Sayed Harris
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    El-Sayed Is the Arab Obama
    11 Aug 2026
    The Democratic Party will recalibrate its messaging after its well-funded senate candidate in a Michigan primary lost to Abdul El-Sayed, who by his own admission is a capitalist, not a socialist, and…
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    DOCUMENT: Declaration of the Rights of Caribbean Peoples to Self-Determination and Self-Government, West Indies National Emergency Committee, 1940.
    11 Aug 2026
    “Conflicts over colonies constitute the major source of war in the modern world.”
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Saudi Arabia Forms a 14-State Coalition to Stop Ansar Allah
    11 Aug 2026
    Saudi Arabia has formed a 14-state coalition to stop Ansar Allah, which has threatened to blockade its oil tankers in the Red Sea.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us