313 Search results for "bound 2"

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty6z9QMFKNw I want to join the chorus of the many in honoring Nikky Finney for being awarded the National Book Award for Poetry. Her written words and the recounting of her words in her own voice are amazing. And, I use the term amazing not in the typical ways in which we use it to […]

Does someone’s discomfort with a couple’s PDA ever warrant this bus driver’s actions? Can LBGT people feel safe on Chicago’s public transit system? Have you ever felt discriminated against on the CTA? Sound off below!

Visceral, in your face, in your ears, in your snapping fingers, and tapping feet, spoken word poetry sprang loosely from the expressive energies of the blues, the Harlem Renaissance, and hip-hop music which had each permeated black communities throughout America over the course of the century. Mimicking the 1960s beat poets of coffee houses and […]

Yesterday as I sat in the library reading “Go Tell It On The Mountain” by James Baldwin I began to reflect on the role that books have played in my life. Not just any books, but in particular African-American literature. Below is a self-reflective poem that delves into my love,hatred, and passion for the written […]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion regarding which emcee they believe to be the greatest rapper of all time. Mine is Jay-Z. Yours might be 2pac. But is it OK for it to be Eminem?

The news media wants us focused on the back-and-forth, he said-she said, GOP Presidential nomination bullshit, so they’re burying this kind of footage amid other relatively mundane headlines. Go figure. But anybody with a brain, and some level of frustration with corporate greed and political corruption, knows that the biggest and most fascinating story in […]

Behold, the power of Hip Hop. MSNBC’s report regarding Hip Hop’s influence on the Arab Spring is mindblowing. It proves that the very idea of Hip Hop as an artform crosses all ethnic, religious, economic and geographical boundaries. Hip Hop is about speaking truth to power and holding it accountable. Hip Hop is about relaying your […]

Afternoon RoundUp September 9, 2011 The internet has been freaking out today at the prospect of fast food chains like McDonalds, Wendys and Taco Bell accepting food stamps from customers. You’ve got one side arguing that nobody, rich or poor, should be utilizing a tax payer-funded program like food stamps to buy junk food like […]

It seems I’ve been more polemical than usual these last few weeks. So how about something completely worthless and asinine–ok, more worthless and asinine than what I usually post here–this Monday? Because, frankly, all I have to say about The Help‘s (and The Smurfs’) continued box office success this weekend is: Effing really‽‽ (God bless the interrobang.) Anyway, in case […]

When I’m asked “What are you?” a question which my slight racial ambiguity warrants on almost a daily basis, I say black. So I check black on my college app. Then sometimes (most times actually), the question is followed by “Yeah, but what else?” and sometimes “She’s Cuban!” “She’s Puerto Rican.” “She’s Italian.” from eavesdroppers. […]

His work spoke truth to a racist, capitalistic power structure, while at the same time attempting to usurp and dominate that structure with its own values and tools.That is why Tupac’s music was so powerful and dangerous. There will never be another like him.

Last week I lost a hero. The man who helped me fall in love with power of the spoken word passed away leaving behind timeless pieces of greatness that will continue to empower the most marginalized and disaffected.  Gil Scott-Heron used his pen and voice to challenge racism and classism. His mere existence made it […]