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Third Annual African-American Spoken
Word Festival
A Report by Larry
Ukali Johnson-Redd
So the Third
Annual African-American Spoken Word Festival was
broadcast about 20 minutes late due to technical
difficulties but once it started it lasted 2 and half
hours without a hitch. Larry Chew, a KPOO radio
personality (www.kpoo.com),
called and said the Festival was broadcasting loud and
clear.
Ukali Flowing at the Second Annual African-American
Spoken Word
Queen D
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Queen D
started it off with thoughtful smooth Spoken
Word. Queen D was followed by smooth and
cultural Charles Chatmon and Shakeel Ali
with Lexo with some street level Hip Hop
Spoken Word. More to come on this sister
that is for sure with her poise and
confidence from a real sister’s heart!
I
listened to the great Queen D, the Poet, on
MP 3. She was clear as if she was in the
room, I met this intelligent beautiful
sister and heard her read some of her poems
that had such a hard edge that I wanted to
let the sister know we Black Men were not
all bad. She read one evening (in January
2007) in Terry Moore’s The Show: the biggest
clean mouth poetry show in Sacramento.
No
doubt though this sister Queen D is an
African Queen to her heart! Well, Queen D
floated into the venue on a cloud with her
fiancé. She belted out a couple of
hard-edged pieces and then melted everyone
at the end of her performance, viding on
love! She did two lovely love-filled poems
on African culture and one much more
personal. |
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This prompted the
Cameraman Brother Lyn interviewing her on the video to
ask if she was in love and you have to see the video for
this interview and to see how Queen D blushed while
saying, yes. Black Love is not a dinosaur but alive and
well. I wished we had a professional photographer there
who could have taken a picture of Queen D with her man.
You see, I too believe in Black Love!! May Black Love
Flourish!! I wish Queen D and her Man all of the
happiness in the world.
Charles Chatmon
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Then
came South Central Los Angeles born Charles
Chatmon in a deeply cultural, contemporary
and historical well-spoken presentation all
acknowledging African-American History Month
Charles
brought it to the audience from South
Central with his honest sincere and
heartfelt feelings and I strongly urge you
to make plans to attend the June 14 2008 LA
Black Book Expo in LA at 3980 Menlo to hear
this brother and buy his books. I prefer
The Voices from South Central but
Charles delivered from both of his books and
announced he is working on his third book.
The 07 LA Black Book Expo (LABBX) in
August 07 was off the chain with Spoken
Word, African authored books including
children’s books! The next LABBX will also
be off the chain so make plans now to be in
LA June 14,2008 from 10 AM to 6 PM.
Charles Chapmon andChandra Adams |
Charles next book is titled The
Depths Of My Soul!
Shakeel Ali and Lexo
Shakeel and Lexo
came on stage at first with classical Hip Hop moves and
banging beat, aura, (Shakeel respectfully requested more
bass but there was no more bass to be had in a library
setting) and spoken word with Big Thingz! Then Shakeel
began showing how heavy he is by free style rapping
again with more Hip Hop music praising Joe Marshall Ph.
D and Mc Arthur Foundation Black Genesis award winner
and originator of Omega Boys Club-Potrero Hill- and
Street Soldier. Shakeel and Lexo worked in praise for
KPOO!
Then Shakeel
pointed out that this should be African History Month
linking our identity to our motherland Africa saying
also that Marcus Books was part of his university
education, praised Haki Madhubuti of Chicago, the late
John Hendric Clarke whom I met in Harlem years ago and
saw speak in Oakland and Ivan Van Sertima. Then. Shakeel
flowed about African pyramid builders, advised we buy
relevant DVD’s and turnoff network TV, praised Fred
Hampton Jr. and the POCC, their Block Radio Show,
Minister of Information JR and Shakeel mentioned Audio
Rebellion. Shakeel then switched to a jazzy beat and
music while speaking about Pathways For Kids where he is
doing big things as the program director and read a
letter of award for a $50,000 grant from the Gap
Foundation that mention him in particular for doing big
things!
Terry Moore
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It was
now time for Terry Moore from Sacramento to
step to the stage! Terry arrived right at
that moment, from Sacramento by car. So in
order to give my brother Poet from Sac a few
moments to build up his aura I jumped out
after one of those great Pat Womack-Clarke
introductions and did a couple of my Spoken
Word pieces. When I thought Terry was ready
and he appeared on stage I introduced Terry
Moore and he brought it spoken word about
love sisters his daughter and the loves past
of his life including a salute to
African-American History
Then
Terry, who I met 4 years ago, brought it. He
was hot passionate and with history and love
for our Black women and his love for his
daughter Tyra! |
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Terry Moore, what
can you say, the folks in Sacramento give Terry so much
love and support that San Francisco could not compare to
that. So Terry asked why the sisters in the audience
were so quiet. One sister answered they were in awe of
the 6 foot-plus Slam Champ award winner, who has won so
many awards every type they are too many to mention.
Check him out at
http://www.terrymoore.info/
He Said She Said Black
Relationship Forum
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Charles
Chatmon, author of Voices of South
Central, read a piece he stated was
appropriate for the He Said She Said about
the status of Black Love. Charles asked our
sisters “to stand common ground not elevated
ground.” The combination of Charles Chatmon
and Mrs. Patricia Womack-Clarke and their
rotating rapid fire of questions made this
the best He Said She Said yet!
Charles
Chatmon introduced Pearl and it was on.
Charles and Patricia Womack Clark began
rotating asking—shooting questions at Pearl
Jr and with their 2-minute limit on time to
answer their questions
enjoyed
presenting his Spoken Word and the reception
after the flow of his Spoken Word at the
Third Annual African-American Spoken Word
Festival at the San Francisco Public Library
earlier!
Larry Ukali Johnson-Redd,
Patricia Womack-Clarke, and Charles Chatmon |
The time went so fast that we ran
through our Question-and-Answer period proving we would
need to do another San Francisco Bay Area again to allow
for more audience participation. We could not get it all
done and said in that time frame but we made a good down
payment on it.
The Feast
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Then we
the Festival Poets, Artists and Participants
feasted on a great and healthy meal by
Southern Hospitality Caterers operated by
Chef Lester Clarke and his wife Patricia
Womack: We had bite size Sweet Potato Pie
and Pecan pies that could not be resisted!
If you
are in the San Francisco Bay Area contact
Chef Lester and Patricia to cater your
affair at 510-932-8337 or at
lesterclarke@comcast.net!!! Thank you
Chef Lester.
Looking Forward
Many
thanks to Charles, Pearl (and her Man/Video
person Cecil) for coming up to San Francisco
from Los Angeles and keeping it real! When
they do return I hope the San Francisco Bay
Area will come out and support the effort as
well as buy their great books. |
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Because we
had a great Festival and many people heard it around the
Bay Area and around the world through
www.kpoo.com and KPOO FM 89.5! Many thanks to the
KPOO Radio Station Management.
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Ukali on YouTube
Ukali Flowing at the Second Annual African-American
Spoken Word
Loving Black Women, Part 1 /
Larry Ukali Johnson-Redd Live In Nigeria
2005
Larry Ukali Johnson Redd on Lovin Black
Woman
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Announcement for
The Third Annual African-American Spoken Word Festival
Saturday February 9, 2008 from 2 PM to 5 PM
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2:40 PM to 3:00 PM
Charles Chapmon
Poet from South Central Los Angeles
www.labbx.com
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3:25
PM to 3:30 PM
Introductions by He Said She
Said Moderators
Wanda Sabir, and Charles Chatmon and Patricia Womack
of
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4:10 PM to 4:45 PM
Open
Mic and Autographing of books
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Soul Truth
By
Larry Ukali Johnson-Redd
I love your
Dark deep tone
And your light brown skin
Really turns me on
Love your
Hazel to dark eyes
Love your curves
And historically close ties
Love to see you while
I'm walking down the street
Really love to see you
Even if we do not speak
Dark and lovely
Light and out of sight
And every sister in between
Know what I mean
Sister you are
Sweet and tight
One race, one destiny
You know that's right
Springing from
A common root
Black Women are beautiful
And
that's the soul truth
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Millions of Black Women
By
Larry Ukali Johnson-Redd
Millions of Black Women
With us on the ship
Millions of Black Women
Together we made the trip
Millions of Black Women
Fine, beautiful and intelligent
You are heaven sent
We can share a house
Or even a tent
Millions of Black Women
of African origin and decent
Millions of sisters
Stand by their Black Man
On African, Caribbean
Pacific and American Land
Throughout the African World
From the woman to the girl
Millions of beautiful sisters
Assisting the Black Man
Brothers love our sisters
The best way you can!!
Brothers say it loud
We love you
And my sisters
We need
you too
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5
Reviews by 5 Strong Black Women
Of
Loving
Black Women
By
Larry Ukali Johnson-Redd
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Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in
America
By Melissa V.
Harris-Perry
According to the
author, this society has historically exerted
considerable pressure on black females to fit into one
of a handful of stereotypes, primarily, the Mammy, the
Matriarch or the Jezebel. The selfless
Mammy’s behavior is marked by a slavish devotion to
white folks’ domestic concerns, often at the expense of
those of her own family’s needs. By contrast, the
relatively-hedonistic Jezebel is a sexually-insatiable
temptress. And the Matriarch is generally thought of as
an emasculating figure who denigrates black men, ala the
characters Sapphire and Aunt Esther on the television
shows Amos and Andy and Sanford and Son, respectively.
Professor Perry
points out how the propagation of these harmful myths
have served the mainstream culture well. For instance,
the Mammy suggests that it is almost second nature for
black females to feel a maternal instinct towards
Caucasian babies.
As for the source
of the Jezebel, black women had no control over their
own bodies during slavery given that they were being
auctioned off and bred to maximize profits. Nonetheless,
it was in the interest of plantation owners to propagate
the lie that sisters were sluts inclined to mate
indiscriminately.
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Salvage the Bones
A Novel by Jesmyn Ward
On one level, Salvage the Bones is a simple story about a poor black family that’s about to be trashed by one of the most deadly hurricanes in U.S. history. What makes the novel so powerful, though, is the way Ward winds private passions with that menace gathering force out in the Gulf of Mexico. Without a hint of pretension, in the simple lives of these poor people living among chickens and abandoned cars, she evokes the tenacious love and desperation of classical tragedy. The force that pushes back against Katrina’s inexorable winds is the voice of Ward’s narrator, a 14-year-old girl named Esch, the only daughter among four siblings. Precocious, passionate and sensitive, she speaks almost entirely in phrases soaked in her family’s raw land. Everything here is gritty, loamy and alive, as though the very soil were animated. Her brother’s “blood smells like wet hot earth after summer rain. . . . His scalp looks like fresh turned dirt.” Her father’s hands “are like gravel,” while her own hand “slides through his grip like a wet fish,” and a handsome boy’s “muscles jabbered like chickens.” Admittedly, Ward can push so hard on this simile-obsessed style that her paragraphs risk sounding like a compost heap, but this isn’t usually just metaphor for metaphor’s sake. She conveys something fundamental about Esch’s fluid state of mind: her figurative sense of the world in which all things correspond and connect. She and her brothers live in a ramshackle house steeped in grief since their mother died giving birth to her last child. . . . What remains, what’s salvaged, is something indomitable in these tough siblings, the strength of their love, the permanence of their devotion.— WashingtonPost
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The White Masters of the
World
From
The World and Africa, 1965
By W. E. B. Du Bois
W. E. B. Du Bois’
Arraignment and Indictment of White Civilization
(Fletcher)
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Ancient African Nations
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Negro Digest /
Black World
Browse all issues
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Enjoy!
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The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
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The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
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Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for
Slavery /
George Jackson /
Hurricane Carter
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The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
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January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
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ChickenBones Store
(Books, DVDs, Music, and more)
update 30 January
2012
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