Love Laugh & Organize

Growing up I loved reading poetry. Most of the stuff I read was writing over a hundred years ago and dealt with topics of love, death, family, and nationalism. It helped me think about the world I lived in and how their message translates (very vaguely) into current times.

One thing that I felt these poems lacked was its connection with me and my identity. The idea of writing my own poetry and coming up with my own history and poetic legacy was in college with a spoken word class I took. It not only taught me the ins and outs of poetry writing and performance, but it opened my eyes to all the current writers that are writing about the same topics, just relating it more towards current times and current struggles. I grew to love many Bar Area poets and performers and was torn because they were so good yet went without mention amongst mainstrean literature and entertainment.

Because of this, I like to highlight performers and the amazing topics they talk about. I can spend all night on youtube and other media outlets watching and listening to amazing performers. Unfortunately, Def Poetry Jam is one of the very few outlets where these performances are documented.

When I listen to poetry, I try to first understand what it is trying to tell me, and secondly, how it relates and affects me. There are many performances that I love, but very few leave me stunned and breathless. I was left speechless after listening to Daniel Beatty's performance of "Knock Knock". It is about the relationship of a kid and his father and how life experience and life lessons have affected the family.

It really got to me because it not only deals with the issue of injustice and institutional racism, but also how a family deals with the affects of injustice and racism. It reminds me a lot about my family and my many family members and friends who are in this same situation.

Below are two performances. The first one is "Knock Knock" and the second is another one entitled "Duality Duel"(another amazing performance).

Check it out:

Knock Knock


Duality Duel



knocking on the door,

-DM

Since Easter Sunday and Good Friday are right around the corner, it is that time when I reflect on my own religious affiliations and why I have not been a better catholic. I also always get into a discussion with myself about what it means to be religious and the point of religion. I always come up with the same answer: Hope.

We are born into this world, we live our life, and then die. To know that you live your life to the fullest only to have it come to a halting stop scares even the toughest people. Religion give people hope. Hope that living a good life will result into eternal happiness, Hope that treating people with respect is an investment to pay for admission into heaven.

This is also a time when I question my religion. Whether or not there is really Hope in this world, "Will i have a happy family? Will I be on my deathbed without regrets? Did I really make the best with the time I had?" Also, questions such as, "Whats the point of hoping for a better world when the world we live in is so fucked up? Praying can only go so far when racism still infests our society. Where is God/Hope when my loved ones died?"

These questions arise from the absence of Hope. People, including myself, want to see, feel, and know that Hope exist as a real and tangible life goal as opposed to an abstract way of life.

In honor of the religious events and existence of colonized oppression, I found this spoken word piece that exemplifies some of the internal struggles I deal with when it comes to religion and colonized oppression. Enjoy




Looking in the mirror,

-DM