Do we really understand our systems of governing?

Images from Morguefile by Cohdra/Mzacha

It would be nice to have a PBS style program on government systems. A comprehensive and objective look in the differences between. Capitalism, socialism, communism, or any other currently practiced or not. There is too much labeling of "ism", with probably no real understanding of either. Not an hour or so, a BIG DEAL, ALL WEEK kind of thing. Possibly aired on all major networks simultaneously. So EVERYONE has to watch. Also, a exam of the Constitution, and wether or not it endorses or rejects any of these. Expressed or implied.

Should Mike Pence get "Playa' of the Year"

This entire political cycle has been crazy. From the beginning of the recent presidential campaign until now, many of us still can't believe our ears. We have accepted the present reality, yet it is still mind blowing. I mean the election results. I wasn't even referring to the ensuing chaos that came out of it. We're eight months in, and it still feels surreal. More and more, Mike Pence grabs my interest in a small way.

When Mike Pence was announced as Trump's running mate, many of us thought, who's this guy? Like we often do with many politicians. He didn't seem to have much controversy surrounding him. Like most accomplished politicians, he was well spoken and had a good grasp of most issues. Although being Trump's running mate, he never seemed to get a lot of slack. Even when defending something the President said, or a position he took. By the very nature of the position, vice presidents play a background role. The Vice President has been doing just that. Now and then he would pop up and address the press, but mostly staying away from the camera and public. I'm sure this is mostly just the routine of a vice president, but sometimes I wonder.

Soon after the election I would jokingly refer to Mike Pence as the genius of the year. When the President was choosing a VP, many thought of the candidates as those willing to sabotage their careers. I had occasionally joked that eventually Trump will get himself impeached, and it would be Pence to the White House. Shortly after making that joke, I began to feel like this may happen. Shortly after that, I began to feel like maybe this is a simple strategy on Pence's part. Get elected by being on a popular ticket, then when the President's antics get himself removed, the VP is next in line. All he has to do is quietly play the background, support the President's positions, and wait for things to play themselves out. Like he's been doing.

Private Businesses & Public Rights

Photo by Jusben at Morguefile

An issue that was tossed around for the past few years. Does a private business that is open to the public have an obligation to serve the entire public equally. The two key words are "private" and "public". When something is considered private, then it is up to the owner what to do with it. Conversely, when something is considered public, then it belongs to the community. The community owns it equally and, within reason, has equal right to determine it's fate. At least that is the theory.

Does a business have a right to pick its customers, or does the community it serves have some say about how it behaves. of course it has a basic right to choose it's clientele. Businesses constantly have to deal with problem customers. Some customers are mean, demanding or just a pain in the butt. Most businesses have a small portion that they would rather not serve. Usually this is for business reasons. They disrupt service, cost more than they spend, etc. But what if they aren't problem customers. What if they are just people they don't agree with or just don't like? If it's they're own personal business, shouldn't they have the right to say "I don't want to serve you", for whatever reason or no reason at all. How about the customers' point of view? If you are a member of a community, do you have a right to be served at any business open to the public? After all, it's open to the public and we all are the public.

This year, the Supreme Court will hear Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. This is the Colorado bakery case that was is the news a while back. It was in the news so long ago, I thought this was decided already. A Denver baker refused to service a gay couple on religious grounds. It seems that a few laws are clashing. On one hand there is the baker's right to religious freedom, on the other is the right of citizens to be treated fairly. Maintaining religious freedom while respecting the public's constitutional rights can be tricky. Religious dogma by its nature can have a tendency to impose itself on people around it.  Religious practices don't allow for respectful decent. Certain rules must be followed a certain way, or there will be hell to pay. possibly literally.Then there are people's interpretations of these rules and philosophy. This is where things get muddy and feelings harden. But all that's beside the point. Where does the baker's rights end and the customer's rights begin. There's no way to respect both at the same time. Someone has to walk away unhappy.

The case is between Masterpiece's owner Jack Phillips and David Mullins and Charlie, a same sex couple. In July 2012, Craig and Mullins tried to order a customized wedding cake for their wedding. Phillips refused on the basis of it conflicting with his christian beliefs. The original case, Craig v. Masterpiece Cakeshop, resulted in a win for Craig and Mullins. The subsequent appeal lost. Now Jack Phillips is suing the Colorado Civil Rights Commission. in his losing case and appeal,  Phillips asserted that because of the creative nature of the business, the issue falls under the First Amendment as free speech and the Free Exercise Clause. The Free Exercise Clause of the Constitution gives Phillips the right of free expression of his religion without interference or prejudice from the government. But Craig and Mullins also have a Constitutional right on their side. Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 gives the couple the right of equal treatment in businesses that openly serve the public, which accurately describes Phillips' business.

This case may be a delicate one since both parties have basic rights to assert. Phillips has freedom of religion, and Craig and Mullins deserve equal treatment under the law. We cherish and hold to high esteem our individual rights and ability to follow our beliefs freely. We equally hold the rights of the community as a whole as important. The community has a right to be treated fairly. The Constitution not only gives Phillips the right of free expression of his religion, but also is neutral on taking any position on religion. But Phillips also enjoys the benefits of operating private business open to the public. Just like a government office, a public business should have to be fair to the community as a whole. Allowing public businesses to refuse service on personal social preferences can have a negative effect on the business and social climate of a community. It can encourge social bias and justify attitudes that may lie under the surface. Of course, bias and attitudes always exist, and forcing businesses to be fair to everyone cannot stop this. We have full individual rights to accept and socialize with who we want. Certainly this basic right that we all SHOULD, have will support these positions anyway. But the difference is that we as individuals have every right to accept and socialize with who we want. Businesses like Masterpiece serves the community as a whole, and should have to respect to right of the community as a whole. Once Masterpiece Cakeshop is allowed to do this, any  other business can(and will) find a way to discriminate for other reasons. It probably would't happen right away, but definitely work it's way into other. We can't force people to like or except other people, NOR SHOULD WE. We all, Craig, Mullins and Phillips, deserve fair treatment when we enter any public establishment. After all, Phillips could enter another business looking for service run by another christian denomination, and be refused service on the same basis.

Religion and the Law

photo by Morguefile

Recently the supreme court decided on the issue of same sex marriage. After years of the allowing the states to decide, the supreme court made it the law. Period. Issue over, right? Not so fast. In Kentucky, Rowan county clerk Kim Davis was found in contempt of court for refusing to administer marriage licenses to gay couples. Honestly, I would like to see her incur a fine first, but on second thought, she was in contempt of court.

My original purpose of this article, was to examine the notion of a "Traditional Marriage". However, a similar incident came up. Charee Stanley, a muslim flight attendant for ExpressJet Airlines, recently refused to serve alcohol on grounds of her religious beliefs. Just then, i saw the larger issue of what freedom of religion truly means.

The very first amendment in the Constitution guarantees the freedom to practice one's religion. Though, many evangelical Christians feel that they under attack. For sometime now, evangelical Christians have been voicing concern about the U.S. slipping away from its Christian heritage. Many of these voices in the present republican party. Religion and faith has been an increasingly popular issue with conservative voters since the late 90's.

Religion isn't only addressed in the first amendment. Article Six of the Constitution makes federal law the supreme law of the land. Article Six also says that no religious test shall ever be a prerequisite for any government office. Before any amendment is mentioned, the framers are already separating the law from religion, and establishing federal law over any other law. Evangelical Christians assert that their rights under the Free Exercise Clause, of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment are continuously violated.

Some opponents have criticized Kim Davis' personal marriage record. Fair or not, it's certainly worth a mention. If one has two divorces, yet defends God's definition of marriage, there's at least a small element of contradiction. Kim Davis has cited the religious accommodations made for muslim detainees as a double standard. The two cases are not the same. Whatever accommodations that muslim detainees receive are simply to allow them to practice their religion. Davis' decision(or any decision by a public official for that matter), affects the citizens of Rowan county. When she failed to issue marriage licenses, she subjected residents to her practice of religion. Freedom of religion doesn't only apply to Kim Davis. Freedom of religion also gives citizens the right not to have her practice of religion imposed on them. That may have not been her intent, but as a public official, that is the result.

The thing that is missed in all of this is that the first amendment not only guarantees freedom of religion, it also expressly rejects support for any religion. Americans not only have the right to practice their religion, we should also be free from having another religion imposed on us. As a state official, refusing a right of other citizens because of her beliefs, imposes the rules her religion on others. She can't violate their first amendment rights in order to preserve hers. Especially not as a government official. Which brings us to her second violation. As a government official, she is expressly bound to follow the Constitution. Her rights aren't violated, since she can resign from the Rowan county clerk's office. The fact that she would lose a good job is for her to reckon with her faith, not for the citizens she serves to bear.

Kim Davis and Charee Stanley were both wrong. Of course, being a public servant, the issue with Kim Davis is easier to frame. She is an elected official, and the law is the law. Residents of Rowan county either can't, or shouldn't have to find another clerk's office. She was elected to serve Rowan county in accordance to the laws of the United States and Kentucky, and has the responsibility to do so. In the case of Charee Stanley, she is not a government official, but serves the public still. As a patron of any business, we all have a right to equal treatment. If she can make arrangements with coworkers to serve alcohol for her, fine, but her duties are her responsibility. We all just want service without a hassle. If Davis and Stanley want to hold true to their faith, they can both get jobs at Chick-fil-A. I'm sure they're hiring.

Forget Racism. The Confederate flag represents treason.

photo by Morguefile

The Confederate flag has made a lot of controversy lately. Actually, it was controversy for years. Some say that it supports racism, some say it's a symbol of heritage. I am against the flag at any government or public facility. My position is that regardless of which side you stand on the racism debate, I don't see how we can't agree on the issue of treason on this.

The Confederate flag, whether racist or not, has a long history of being tied to racism. Of course, the Klu Klux Klan have proudly displayed it throughout it's history. A symbol of pride in southern heritage it may be. I'm not arguing either side of that. I'm sure that for many people it is just that. I think that's beside the point. The rebel battle flag honors an armed REBELLION against the United States. If a person wants to display the flag on their lawn, as clothing, or as representative of their group, they should be able to do so proudly. I can't think of any logic to displaying, the battle flag of all things, the symbol of an illegal secession.

There is some debate as to the legality of the secession. Did the southern states have a right to secede? Of course they did. But did they have the right in the way they did it? Between the United States Constitution and the Articles of Confederation, no legal right to secede is addressed. Of course, the counter argument is hard to ignore. It's unlikely that the south (or any state) would get a legal secession. In the years up to the civil war, northern states had much more voting power in congress, and would have been able to vote down secession even with a united south. This may be why no significant attempt to legally secede was made. Then again, that was the cause of the war in the first place. The south feared that slavery (oops, tied to racism again) would eventually be voted away, and they'd be powerless to stop it. Despite, or maybe because no clear guidelines exist, the fairest path to session should be similar to admission, an act of Congress. You get out the same way you came in.

Being an entertainment professional I'm constantly encountering the debate on our influence on the public. Violence in music, television, movies and video games. We all know the discussion. We've all had it at some point. No I don't believe that any song, film or image can drive someone to do bad things, without the presence of some underlying issue. However images do matter. We are all conscious of how we present ourselves when we go out into the world. To work, to party. Some of us even have to look a certain way just to go to the laundromat. When our own ethnic, age, gender, or whatever group is presented in a way that we don't agree with, we voice our opinion. Much like defenders of the rebel flag, or advocates against it.

When the rebel flag was hoisted to during civil rights movement, the point was to symbolize defiance to the movement. It's image, intentional or otherwise, indicates a government acceptance of what it's history, and what it means to anyone familiar with it. If an individual embraces racism, the vision of the flag in front of a government building can unconsciously say, this state stands with you. But I got off track. My argument was that it represents treason. The racism part is so tied to the rebel flag, it's hard to separate it.

For many years my attitude was the same as most Americans, pretty ambivalent towards the flying of the Confederate flag on government grounds. "If the south wants to fly it's flag, whatever". Like a lot of people, my attitude has changed as a result of it's history, along with recent events. Many defenders of the rebel flag take issue with this as tying of racism to the flag. this anger is misplaced. The problem with this that the civil war, the KKK, and most anyone rallying in defense of racism has spent decades burning that link into our psyche. They are at fault for the perception of the flag. But who wants to go head-to-head with them. Some may even end up criticizing family members. Oooh!

I think the Confederate flag should go. If you want to wear it on clothing, fly it in front of your home or on the back of your car (as I've seen quite a bit lately), you should have every right. Regardless of your position of racism or not, it is the flag of an illegal armed rebellion against the illegal United States. And I can't think of any reason for that to fly over anything but private property.

Free 2 Spit: & plenty of Spoken Word

I've known Baub Bidon for a while. Now that I think of it, I'm not sure how we met. We're part of a small circle, occasionally crossing paths with others. Some more occasionally than others. About 15 years ago, he was some younger brother of some local print businessman in New Haven, CT. Here begins the circle.

As the years trudged on we all had our own things we did. I would run into Baub and he, always smiling, would ask what I was doing. Always interested in what's going on. He would talk about he was doing stand up. As the years moved along it became acting. Or was that the other way around. It's been a while. At some point he was doing poetry, and unknowingly found a home.

Baub runs Free to Spit, a small poetry forum  in New Haven that now attracts a variety of poets fromup and down the upper Atlantic coast, and from other countries. He is often invited to perform as far away as Denver, CO. 

Although I started this magazine on sort of momentary inspiration, I had inconsiously decided this some years back, and Baub was always an early pick for an interview. We met a local coffee shop in mid afternoon, I guess we both had to get out of the house. It was to be a short interview about poetry and Free to Spit. We ended up spending the rest of the day. Man… I forgot Baub can talk.

How long were you in the industry? What inspired you?

Since ‘97-’98. 16 years. Actually it going even much further, but as far as my actual inspiration, and how I got into it… along time ago, there was a brother by the name of Kevin Houston, aka Rev Kev. He used to work with a lot of young people and this was back in ah… I was at this program called the Youth At Risk Program in ’89. So I made good friends with Rev Kev. And Rev Kev used to do this type of poetry, somewhat different from, you know the typical… “au thou, blah, blah…Shakespeare”, you know, “and the birds and the bees”.

So he was doing something a little different, but I never knew what that was. I always liked poetry. I never knew what that was. I didn’t really learn to really appreciate or understand what he was feeling… until I got involved… with the poetry scene, and the poetry scene I sorta walked in on. I walked in on it. This brother by the name of Ngoma… Ngoma Hill, that’s my mentor, and before I even go into that, I used to do stand up. Stand up comedy. And doing comedy… the type of comedian I was, because I looked up to brothas like Eddie Murphy, you know, so I used to do impressions. You know, impersonate people.

So I walked into this poetry thing, and I also had like a worldly sense and mentality. Everything that wasn’t normal was kind of funny, out of place, you know what I mean. So I walked into this spot, this brother, he had this… thing that looked like a tree trunk. You know. It looked like a long, skinny log. And he was blowin’. He would blow in it, for a good minute or two. “buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz”. And he would do that for a long time and the whole room would be quiet! Right! And I’m like oh my god. This dude just quiet the whole room, blowin’ in this thing! And when he was done… he had this poem, (imitating Ngoma Hill’s deep voice) ”www.virtualplantation.com” and he had this… such a wonderful poem.

But I was like the comedian type of heart. I left this venue, and… I was mocking him. I was mocking him. ”www.virtualplantation.com” And it went from being like impersonating… this guy… blowin’ in a tree trunk, and reciting a poem. And I was walking down the street, and I was like, “Young black children playing the cotton fields of the city…” which was my words, and his voice! And I was playing around with that, playing around with that. And I kept on sayin’ receptively, receptively, receptively, receptively. By the time that I got home… I had a poem. This was in 1994. And I wrote it down, I was called “Play”. “Young black children playing the cotton fields of the city… Sellin’ that nitty gritty, the people actin’ silly… Poor man comes from the slums, by four hundred and fitty… Upon your money standin’ on a cold corner beggin’ for pennies… Has a name, but is hidden in his own shadow, searchin’ for recognition…”.

So I… I had that poem. And… I worked on that poem. I worked hard, I worked on that poem. And the one time when I finally performed the piece… someone asked me was I reciting Ngoma’s poem. ‘Cause I was doing it with his voice… but it was my poem. You know. And then I had, like mad people asking man, was that Ngoma’s poem. But it was Ngoma’s style. So, technically Ngoma, gave me a voice. Like, through his voice, I found my own. That poem, I totally do it totally different now. I do it with my voice now. Because, you know, I got my own style. And that poem, inspired other poems, inspired other poems, inspired other poems. I think that was in ’94-’95.

So, sometimes you don’t realize you’re inspiring people. You know. He does what he does, because he wants to share, with people, his truths. When we share, certain people, get somethin’ out of it. And I was one of the ones, who got so inspired. Even though, it was through a joke, through jokin’ around, I accidentally became a poet. Because of Ngoma. And I became somethin’ that I love. Because I never saw myself doing poetry man. If you asked me… 30 years ago… I wouldn’t see myself doing poetry full time.

Who are your influences?

My influences are Rev Kev, Ngoma Hill, definitely I consider my mentor. Amiri Baraka… Saul Williams! Actually. Saul Williams… ridiculous man. He might as well be like the godfather of spoken word. As they call it now. I love Nikki Giovanni, she’s one of my favorite poets, but, a lot of my inspiration comes from the local Poets who don’t get the recognition and national attention. Like Sister Isis, Monique Jarvis. Oh god! (snapping his fingers and trying to remember) There’s some dope female poets I am not mentioning right now… Oh! This young lady by the name of K - Love. I actually wrote a poem about her. I bumped into her in New York. A lot of the sistas in the poetry scene inspire me. Like, the really strong ones.

Any particular reason why the women inspire you?

The women inspire me… I was in this organization called Blackout Arts Collective. Well, I still consider myself to be blackout. Blackout Arts Collective is an organization that was created to uplift communities of color and women, through art. It was founded by Bryonn Bain. The women… it’s something about the real poets. You have poets… that do what they think spoken word is supposed to sound like. Or… they want be a slam poet. But they’ll talk about the clichés of poetry. They’ll write poetry with all these clichés in it about free Mumia… free Mandela. You know. And they’ll talk about poverty, and police brutality …throw a little police brutality in there. But a lot of those poems have no soul to ‘em. You know.

So, when I say the real female poets, like… when she strips herself naked… and she peels her skin back… and she… recites herself. You can feel, every little bit of everything. Like these sistas “Climbing PoeTree”, Alixa and Naima. And these sistas, they had this poem I think it’s called “Diamonds”. And They talk about if nature didn’t do her job. Like if the rivers didn’t flow in, and the sun didn’t… just a beautiful poem. So… like… stuff that moves me, that inspires me… say… (spontaneously) I wanna go write. Like, this gave me an idea. An idea for a piece. Because I get inspired by social situations like the whole Trayvon… situation.

What about subject matter as an influence? Are you mostly inspired by people or…

I’m inspired by people.

More than subject matter?

Because their lives are subject matter. Like… if you’re standing at a bus stop. You have that old drug addict… woman. Who is drug addict / mentally impaired / … hustler. You know. You think of the sister, that be holding the dolls downtown, and she’s praising Jesus, and then she’s like… “Can I get a cigarette?” You know, but… they have stories. They have stories man, I talked to her. I talked to this sista. I bumped into her by accident. By accident. It was so funny. I felt like, you know, the spirit of God… energy brought us together. Because I’m walking down Crown St., and I see this woman. And she’d talking to Jesus. She’s like… “Je-sus. Jesus. Whyyy… whyyy every time I ask you for a dollar, you never give it to me. Je-sus.” (chuckle) I’m serious. And I just so happened to have a couple of dollars in my pocket. So whether I gave it to her… or maybe Jesus gave it to her. But, it just so happened that as I was walking up the street. And I was maybe three feet away from her, she’s askin’ Jesus for a dollar. And I go in my pocket and give her a dollar.

But there are two ends to that story. She could have just saw me, and then started to say it out loud so I could hear her sayin’ that. Or two, Jesus probably really did give it to her through me. So… ever since then her and I have been cool. Like every time I see her. She don’t even call me by my name. She’s like… (soft female voice) “Coun-try. Country. How dat girl doing Country? You still seeing that girl Country? She come around? Huh? I’ll bet you see her. You ‘member we used to do…” And her whole… teeth are like gone. So you got to imagine somebody, with barely no teeth. “Country… you know… you know we used to have sumptin’ going too Country. You still remember that? Remember that Country? Let me get a ciga-, Country you got a cigarette and a coffee. Could you get me a coffee? A small coffee no sugar.” (laugh) Yea, so… that’s exactly how she is. Like… if you hear her, you’ll be like, that’s the woman Baub was talkin’ about.

So those are your inspirations. Everyday people?

Yea, everyday people. And I talk, like I meet people like that, and I talk to them because I wanna find out more than what the world sees. Or what their putting out to the world physically. And I don’t talk to them like they got issues. I talk to them like regular people. And they open up. And you be like… God, this one intelligent mother fucker. You’re like Wow!. I didn’t even know. Sometimes they come out and they talk, like they get out of character. And they talk. And you like… Wow. That’s an intelligent person. It’s almost like, after they finish talking to you, they give you that wink. It’s like the spirits winked at you. I could go on.

Tell me about Free 2 Spit.

Well Free 2 Spit, I felt was necessary. ‘Cause I was going out of Connecticut, when you really wanted good poetry. You know. You go to New York, to D.C., go to Philly. Go to Chicago. To find like, really… good strong… poets. Poets that would dig somewhere different. And a lot of the venues, especially in New York, where in the community. They were in the hood. Ngoma used to have Sugar Shack. Sugar Shack was in the hood. One of the places I performed at, Cafe Lago. When I first met this sista by the name of something Jones. Wow, I forgot her name. Well, she used to have a show on Comedy Central. She was doing different characters. I met this other sista by the name of La Bruja, and Mariposa, spanish poet. Great poet. She was on Def Poetry Jam. I met a lot of the greatest poets, out in Cafe Lago. I think it was 137th Street, and Amsterdam, or something like that. It was in the hood. Ya understand what I’m sayin’.

So when you come back to New Haven… and that’s not because it was in the hood or whatever. But that’s what I really admired. It’s like, these venues are poppin’ up, in the people’s communities, in their neighborhoods. But the venues that we had here, we had one venue here. We had one. And I’m talking bout post Blue’s Cafe… Sandra’s. So there wasn’t really anything here. The one venue that we really had after that just stopped. We had the public library. And to tell you the truth that’s another place I started off at. But the public library, when I first went there, was all white poets. Old women and men. Like 50, 60. And their poems was a lot of… “…the birds, and the bees… and the sun…” Ya know. So, the poems were dry. And it wasn’t that we didn’t like those poems. It’s just that… it’s like… those poems were like a disregard, for what was really going on. It was like these poets were just tooting their own horn, and entertaining each other over tea… or coffee. It was like they didn’t care about poverty. That’s how we felt. it’s like the spirits… stuff that you don’t understand what going on, the spirit knows head on, exactly what’s going on. So it’s like, the spirits like… these people don’t care about me. They don’t care about my struggle. They don’t care the fact that, 20 something kids, are being murdered each year in the inner city. Ya know. They’re not talkin’ about that stuff.

So like, our stories are being brushed underneath these flowers. These flowers and these beautiful birds… chirping. That’s why young people… when you talk to them about poetry, they don’t really… “Man I don’t do poetry, I don’t do that stuff, I listen to rap.” “cause rap is pretty much is talking about me. So, when they do come to the poetry venues, and it’s like… “Oh my God! It’s a little different than what I thought. Than what I was taught in school. ”So, we really didn’t have a venue. There’s was the Blues Cafe. And actually I wanted to get that venue. And the guy told me when they first made it the Blues Cafe. I told him I wanted to bring some poetry in there. And he denied me. He was like well, you got to talk to the owner. There’s nothing I can do, da, da, da, da. Then the next thing you know, somebody else ended up getting the venue. And they did a little poetry venue. But he was a professor at Yale. Actually cool dude. Derrick Gilbert aka D-Knowledge. If you remember the movie Higher Learning. Yea. He does the poem…”hi-gher… hi-gher… hi-gher learning”. Yea. D-Knowledge, great dude man. I miss that dude.

So, when D-Knowledge left, that era, was this brotha Bryonn Bain was living here. We had poetry… like potent. Like potent, potent poetry. Like people were digging underneath that freakin’ flower. (laugh) We were digging underneath that hill man. So, you know where the mind was. We were building something. So… so Brion left. Everybody was startin’ to do their own thing. Then, reality was hittin’ some people. i didn’t want poetry to die out in Connecticut. Especially in New Haven.So, I’ve been going around lookin’ at venues. I tried bringing it in the hood, in New Haven. I brought it to this spot called Junes Place, which is on Water Street. It was a bar. We only did one show there. The first Free 2 Spit was in October of 2004.  2014 would make it our 10 anniversary. We moved it from Junes Place to Porky’s. There was some trouble keeping it going there. So Free 2 Spit went on lockdown. We tried to resurface in 2006. In Hartford, at Club Charisma. Dude’s a very hype guy… (low quick male voice) “You know what we’re gonna do right. We’re gonna get your people and get my people. And we’re gonna get a lot of people in here.” Ya know. His thing was like, we’re gonna pack this club! And I’m thinkin’ we’re gonna pack this club. You know. Free 2 Spit is at a club! But they paid us, to bring Free 2 Spit over there.

Was that the first time you were getting paid to do Free 2 Spit?

Yea. What we were charging was, the first 10 poets gets in free. But you know like, poets are free. And then it like $5. But Club Charisma was promoting their female and male revues. They was promoting stuff when they had like djs coming to the club. ya know. They promote it on the radio station, and I’m like, ya’ll not promoting Free 2 Spit. You not promotin’ the poetry. So, one thing backed up to the other, and the venue shut down. I’m like aw man that’s mess up. So I was like I will not invite anybody to another Free 2 Spit, unless I have control. So the inspiration was really to bring something to New Haven.

Is that when you got your current home?

Yea, On Howe Street. So what happened with that. The Peoples Center. Is one of the most realist, places you can ever be. A lot of them are activists. A lot of them fight for political justice. Fight for all kinds of stuff. I see the history with that space. It’s part of the Freedom Trail. Back in the 50’s and 60’s. People who were going down south to protest. It’s also the first integrated basketball and theatre group in New Haven, was there. So, because of the history of the space, because of the people. So they asked me to bring some poetry. We had this thing called First Friday Cafe thing that we did there. So I was like, wow! How come I didn’t think about this?

Free 2 Spit started at the people’s center on November 7th 2008 (3 days after Obama was elected). So what I learned, I don’t give myself credit, really. I give Free 2 Spit credit for Free 2 Spit. ‘Cause Free 2 Spit, taught me a lot. And one thing that it taught me, that it was necessary. Like, the reason we are in the space we are today, is because of the big gap, in our community, between the young generation and the wise generation. So, that’s a platform, for the young and the wise to come together, and speak their truth. Whether it’s through poetry, song, rhyme… whatever. It’s a platform for them. And it’s a community platform.

Was it a struggle to keep it going? Financially, or organizationally?

It’s a struggle. Yes, it’s a struggle because that I knew if I had the budget, I’d be able to do a lot more. But at the same time, the people, make it a struggle. “Cause you have a certain group of people, you do have a lot of cells in the community scene. With crabs in ‘em. You know the crab mentality. Even though they speak social justice, they only support a particular group of people. it’s like they chose who they’re going to support, and who they’re not. And sometimes it’s a conscious effort to the point that it becomes a subconscious effort. Where it like, I don’t support this dude. He’s not important enough to me. He’s not doing anything for me. So if it’s not benefiting them, they’re not going to support it. Especially when these people pose as your friends, when you see them. You think they’re cool with you, but you don’t see them at your joint, but they’ll shot way across town, past your joint, to go to another joint. And vice versa.

Do you think it was the natural desire to be at the bigger venue, or was that even the case?

It had nothing to do with bigger venue. It had to do with what click you were. So in the poetry scene, you have a lot of clickage. Like, okay, your not part of my click. I’ll say what’s up to you when I see you, but, I’m not going to support you. I’ll support you if my click is there. It’s like, they don’t see the bigger picture. A lot of these people, are really about making a name for themselves. They forget the purpose.

To push poetry?

Not even just poetry, but the poetry behind the poetry… itself. It’s like… You can be a great poet. You can be a Langston Hughes, you can be a Paul Lawrence Dunbar, you can be a Sonja Sanchez. What made these poets so great is they really meant what they were sayin’. Like to me, a really great poet, Nina Simone. Nina Simone… her poetry was her… her skin. Her poetry was her… articulating… words at times. Her poetry was the rawness in the stuff she was saying. because she said what she meant and she meant what she said, and that’s what made Nina Simone… that woman is timeless. She will always be relevant in anything. This is someone who can sing something as simple as… “Here comes the sun… little darl-ing”, but it the spirit behind, the poetry behind that. 

I think Nina Simone would be one of those people, if she was in Connecticut, she would come to a Free 2 Spit. She would pay her $6. To come to Free 2 Spit. She wouldn’t even come as a celebrity. Just like this brotha Jon Goode.  Who actually was in Def Poetry Jam. This brotha was here. Like, Nina Simone sorta reminds me of him a little. Great poet. Great poet Jon Goode, but he pays his $6 to come to Free 2 Spit, in New Haven. But the people I’m talking about, they are not Nina Simone, they are not Sonja Sanchez, they are not Saul Williams, and already they have egos. And the people on that caliber are the most humble there are. We had that in New Haven, at one time. We had like poets, that were just really about the poetry and about the movement. And the movement through poetry and through art.

Any long term plans for Free 2 Spit?

I’m looking to start Free 2 Spit TV.

Tell me about Free 2 Spit TV?

It’s a surprise. It’s will be online, but it’s a surprise. I have a lot of people that I run across, that want to be at Free 2 Spit. And a lot of them don’t live in Connecticut. Or near Connecticut. Some of them are out in like, Germany. I have people hit me up from Germany, from China. I got people as far as like, India, who like my stuff. So, I want to be able to make it available for them as well. There are bigger goals. I’m not trying to be in a box.

Poetry seems at it’s core, a literary discipline. How important is performing live to poets development?

Aw, it very important. I like performing live. When you perform something, it does help your writing. It does help your writing a whole lot. Because your so used to performing, your performing in your head. When I’m writing, I’m performing in my head. Doing it in front of an audience, your just having the opportunity to practice. You know, like I look at it as an opportunity to practice.

But can’t you do that in front of a few friends?

You know what, to me it’s easier to perform in front of a whole room full of people, then sometimes to just perform in front of one or two persons. Before I came to meet you, I had recited one of my pieces to a friend. Because we were talking about hip hop  , because I got this joint called “Beat Box”. And I performed it for him, but I didn’t “perform“ it. Like I just recited the words. Because in front a room full of people I think your absorbing… energy. You know in front of one person, you feel like your bringing attention. Like here I am, on this persons porch, in the neighborhood. And all the sudden I’m like… Because the joint “Beat Box”, I usually beat box before I go into the poem. But I came to in shape with the poem. Like… “Like I’ve been beat boxin’ before beats was in boxes. Way back with Pro-Keds, Converse and colored stripes on tube socks, I put the boom in box and created boom boxes…”

You know I… went in with the poem, but I didn’t go in with the performance of the poem.  It’s when you lose yourself… I guess maybe when your in front of a whole bunch of people… you disappear… and become the poem. Like I disappear, and become the poem. I guess it’s much safer, because we’re already shy people, like I think I’m kinda shy. But when I perform, and I think that the same thing with Michael Jackson, like, he becomes the artist when he’s on stage, he’s not Michael Jackson. So it’s easier to put on a performance as someone else, verses… or as you art, verses as you just being the person. Believe me man, it’s fun losing yourself in a piece man… just lose yourself.

Like, in acting, there was this book I was reading, I think it was called “The Working Actor”. In the book, they actually use the poet as an example, in order for the actor to understand, how to become a great actor.  And then I would hear actors, like a Charles Dutton, and he would talk about playing a character, in a August Wilson play. And how that character was so draining, because you become that character. I never understood that, until I really started performing my poems. You know. There are certain poems that I cannot do. Or I try not to do as much. This one poem called “Ghetto Jazz”. And “Ghetto Jazz”, it talks about gun violence, and stuff in our community. And that poem, is so draining, because I become the characters in it. I become the characters as I recite. Not physically, but spiritually. It’s very draining. And I find myself in tears on stage after I do the poem, or in the middle of the poem, I find myself wiping my eyes. And that’s not something that I usually do. So yea. I think performing is very important. It helps you gain confidence, as a writer. It helps you to know that what you wrote, wasn’t in vain. It helps you to sorta get a feel of what your rhythm is like.

The video “Break the Record” was a well done video. Most low budget videos become pretty boring within the first minute. Your director was able to keep it fresh without any elaborate F/X. Who was the director?

His name was Travis. Travis actually worked with Youth Rights Media, Blackbeard Films, his production. Travis is a genius man. He actually did the edits and everything all in like, less than a week. “Cause I told him the ideas I wanted for the video. And of course I don’t want like, you know, the typical… trying to do something bigger than what you have. That was a good collaboration. Travis is like, he’s an artist. In the sense of being a filmographer. You know how many times I recited that poem. (laugh) It was like, we messed up, messed up on a word. If you look at the video, you’ll notice that there was a line, I say… “Our mobs be rollin’ deep, I mean they’re mob be rollin’ deep” You’ll notice it now. I get right near to the fence, and I put my back to the fence. So I had messed up in that line. You know. We did it so much…

Was the video difficult to film?

No not really. Because it was like, what we going to shoot now? Let’s shoot on top of this building downtown. Ah, lets’s go on top of Ninth Square man, just do this thing. You know what I mean. And I saw the video, I was like wow, this is dope! ‘Cause he did the whole black & white thing. Only thing is like, with the images, but I still thought that was necessary. When I mentioned Malik Jones and everyone of them that I mentioned, to have a photo of them pop up on the screen. That was a great video.

The video “Break the Record” seems to be about injustice. particularly, racial injustice in terms of hostility toward black men. Are you surprised with the recent acquittal of George Zimmerman?

I was disappointed, but I wasn’t surprised. You know, that’s a very tricky question. Because I was surprised. Because in my head, the way it was lookin’, there’s no way in hell, this guy is going to walk out this courthouse. The thing is, Zimmerman, in his head he was a cop. And he was the racist cop, the profiling cop. He was a cowboy / cop / Klu Klux Klan. All in one body. Really, what I think what happened was, he went to try to detain Trayvon. It’s that concept, that America, puts white America, almost like they’re black people overseers. It’s like you put them in that position where, you have more power than they do. That’s what made Zimmerman feel like he had every right to do what he did. He felt like he had that backing. He felt that he was protected. And just killing another black person on the street, America’s not going to be sensitive to that.

“Eye Am Hip hop“ is another well done video of yours. It seems to be about so many different things. Can you break it down for me?

I wanted to talk about Hip hop  , and who Hip hop   is. You know. I wanted to take away from the clichés of like, I wanted to undress Hip hop  , and let you see what Hip hop   really is. Like hip hop   is bigger than… itself. Like who is Hip hop  . Like KRS-One said, rap is something you do, and hip hop is something you live. And in my opinion, Hip hop   was the new movement after the Black Panther movement. And when they killed off all of the Black Panthers, and murdered the black movement, the hip hop came out. You know, so they’re talking about social issues. Things that are going on in our community. And people that can relate to that, that’s what their ears are were gravitating to. It’s very complex. I am hip hop … it’s like sayin’ I am poetry. Because hip hop   and poetry are one and the same. A lot of people say the stuff that a lot of the rappers are doing, came from the Last Poets. To understand hip hop, ya have to understand poetry. And to understand poetry, you have to understand God. Because God is poetry, and poetry is hip hop, and I am hip hop. So I am one with God, I am one. I mean, I go there, I say it’s bigger than this, it’s bigger than that.

When i first saw the title of “Dance With Me”, I thought you had taken a stab at a light, fun subject. I thought I would hear a fun song with a catchy beat. Of course it immediately sounded sexual, but quickly after that I felt there was something deeper underneath. Tell me about it.

I had a crush. I don’t normally write love poems. ‘Cause I got my heart broken, in high school trying to write a love poem. I wrote it to this girl, it was called “I Think of You”. And I never got the girl. So my heart was broken and it seems like a lot of time I wrote love poems to females. I didn’t really get the girl. Almost like it’s a curse or something. So, when I became a full time poet, writer, I’ve always tried to channel my energy writing about people that I love. Or I’ll use the energy of like my best friend for example. To, write about love, because the truth is I really love my best friend but, it’s a love much deeper than romantic love. So anyway, this particular poem, “Dance with Me”… this girl, that I was crazy about, I kept on thinking about her so much. And I also have this thing against like erotic poems.

Well, I have a friend who did erotic poetry, yet criticized the culture as not very deep about it.

Well, before I actually understood… this sista… broke down erotic poetry for me. She, writes a couple of erotic poems, goes by the name of Adina Stone. And there’s nothing blatant in her poems. So then you have people who are just nasty. And then you have the artists, and that’s erotica. To be able to successfully write an erotic poem, you have to be very creative without actually walking about it right up front. Because there’s not even a storyline, there’s nothing. It’s just I wanna f___ you, I wanna do this to you. I wanna pick you up and… you know. So, every poem afterwards, tries to outdo that poem, and be nastier than the last person that was on stage. So I take that back about me not liking erotica. I just don’t like that nasty poetry.

It seem that the art isn’t explored just because it’s sex, and it’s an easy subject.

Yea. It’s like if it’s nasty, people are going to like it, because everybody likes sex. If you hear Eric Jerome Dickey, when he mentions sex in his novels, he’s very creative with it He puts the art in it. He puts the poetry in it. He puts the passion in it. So that makes it beautiful. So, anyway, you know, I kinda confused erotica with just plain nasty. So, I was trying to stay away from that. And I wanted to write a poem, where the guy… is making love with this person, but it didn’t have to be sexual. I wanted to talk about something innocent. Something that’s innocent is just dancing with the person. It doesn’t have to be any music playing. We’re just out… on the grass… underneath the tree, and we’re enjoying each other. And I’m enjoying her just being beautiful, cause this girl was a beautiful person, and I wanted to write a poem that matched her personality. Beautiful woman, physically and mentally, as a person. Like when I go into the kind of woman that I want to talk to, I always look to see how they treat other people around them. It’s not so much trying to be judgmental about how you carry yourself, but it’s like, how do you treat other people around you, and, what are you like in a conversation. What’s your passion, and she’s such a beautiful loving person.

In any industry, it’s commonly assumed any artist would naturally follow a path with more financial possibilities. Assuming there is more money in hip hop recordings than straight poetry. Is there any reason why you don’t do more rap songs?

Actually, I started off doing art, but also one of the things I started off doing, I wanted to be a rapper. You know, at the time, when rappers actually had skills. I have some product out there.

What do you think about the poetry industry today?

I feel like poetry is becoming like hip hop today. It’s becoming watered down. I said like when I was talking about Blackout Arts Collective, before Def Poetry Jam. It seems like a lot of poets had too much jam. (laugh) So, they’re hooked on jam. (laugh) A poem is being inspired right now. So a lot of poets got hooked on that jam, and it became more about making money. Then you have people that’s in it for the wrong reasons. Some dudes are in it just to meet girls. Like you’ll have a poet go up, and he’ll do a poem, and all the sudden he’s doing a erotic poem. Or he’ll sit there and talk about “Queen” this and “Queen” that. And later on, when you’re with the person he’s talking about bitches. You know what I mean? So, a lot of the poets, to me I feel like aren’t who they used to be. But you have a new generation coming up, but the problem is, it’s that gap, in the community, Like nobody’s passin’ the torch. Like the generations before passed the torch, but we’re not passin’ the torch to the young generation. And then we get upset that, they’re not doing things, the way they’re supposed to be doing things. My friend, Jon Goode, great poet. Awesome poet! The state of poetry today, it’s like now you could hear a poem, and think it’s somebody’s poem, and it might not be theirs. That’s how bad it’s gotten. Like my friend Jon Goode, somebody actually took his poems. And took his bio, and put everything with their name. They had a book on Amazon.com for sale. They had a whole book for sale. Their actually reciting these poems on stage at shows. Had it on YouTube. It was that bad.

Do you think there are good opportunities for poets that aren’t mainstream?

Most true poets are great actors. I’m talking about true poets are great actors. They can act, they could do commercials. John actually, the whole Black in America, at whole CNN special. He was like the voice of that.

Your thoughts on the effect of bootlegging on the industry. Has bootlegging affected you?

50 Cent said it best. 50 Cent even told people, Yo, got get the CD man, bootleg it. I don’t care. You know, just go get it. When people start bootlegging your stuff, your already making a lot of money.

Do you buy pirated material? Often? Your opinion(feeling)?

I don’t bootleg for two reasons. For one, your not getting the quality, you know it’s not good quality. And two, when I matured as an artist, I would say, if your going to bootleg something, then that must mean you don’t really care about the artist. Cause like Alisha Keys, I love Alisha Keys. I would never ever bootleg Alicia, Nas. Like people offer, Yo! I got the new Nas! I’m like Nas didn’t even come out… I got it before it even came out son. But, on the other hand, the people who are buying bootlegs, I don’t really hate on them. ‘Cause there was a situation with Noriega. Noriega came to New Haven, and a friend of mine wanted his autograph. And Noriega was mad cool. “Yea, yea son! I’m a shine it.” So my homeboy pulls out, a bunch of ryhme CDs. And Noriega was like, “Nah,  can’t sign nobody else’s stuff”. So he went in his pocket, and he pulled out a bootleg version of Noriega’s CD. Noriega was like “Would you look at this shit”. And he started going off on dude, and going off on me! And then I’m like, you wasn’t sellin’ your stuff out your truck at one time.

You know. But it goes even deeper than that. I’m like dude. You don’t get on him, the dude who purchased it. He purchased it because it was cheaper than $16. And he likes your music, but he can’t afford to buy the $16 CD. All he had was like 4, 5 dollars. Now if you’re walking by a vendor, and the vendor say well I got the new Noriega for $2… by all means! I want the new Noriega. Like to him, I went and I supported, this album. I’m listening to it. If anything a bootleg is still promoting the actual artist. So he listened to it, and the artist, cause that’s really where they make their money, at the concert. So, somebody, be like, gimme a bootleg, of Noriega, and I’m like, yo, this is hot man! Where’d you get… yo! This is the stuff! And I go to a store, and have the money. And I see the official Noriega, and looks better than what the dude was showin’ me. I’m like damn. I’m a get this copy. And I’m a call my boy, I’m like, I got the original copy homie. But they both listen to the same song, it’s just the cover photos different. And I’m going to go to the concert. So Nori done made some money off of this dude bootlegging, his shit! You know what I’m sayin’.

What are your plans for the next two to five years?

Wow… be older. (laugh) Nah, nah, nah. Actually… take Free 2 Spit to the next level. It’s gonna be on a deep level. I’m a take me as an artist, on a huge level. I have put… my vision board that I wanted to be a millionaire… this year. That’s my goal. I feel like this man. You was born in this lifetime, on this earth. So you have every right… to have everything, that you want… in life. And it can happen, and it will happen. I just have to take the steps that I need to take, to get there, but I will be there. And I’m going to do it with humility.

If your career levels off from here, would it be worth it?

Oh! It’s always worth it. Worth it ‘til I die. And I’m always trying to get higher. It’s worth it, up to it works.

Whiteboard Animation

I've been somewhat concerned with the rise of whiteboard animation lately. The trend of what I see as replacement animation. A person draws an extensive illustration onscreen. The viewers watch as a hand, armed with a felt marker, I apologize, "Sharpie", draws out the illustration, thus creating the illusion of animation. What is at the core of my fear, money of course! There is an encroaching of my livelihood! I should have said animators instead of my, but let's get real.

This form of animation has been picking up steam over the past few years, and is really getting attention. Like most animators, my roots are in illustration, so I guess I should applaud the new industry(don't hate, congratulate). I don't. I guess it is frustrating enough trying to compete with the talent presently out there. Now there is a new category.

Like any artist or individual with a trade, there is a weird sense of ownership. No one likes someone from another discipline, wandering onto their turf and doing well. Even if they are basically in the same industry. However, to my dismay, most of what I see is pretty good work. They may not be animating, but the work is well done. So why don't I do it myself you ask, because I'm an animator, not an illustrator. Actually I am also illustrator, I'm just in the traditional frame of mind where the two are separated.

This style seems to get most attributed to an organization called RSA Animate. This is a department/division of UK organization RSA, and don't actually offer whiteboard animation as a service. RSA apparently uses this for their own presentation purposes. I'm not sure of what exactly RSA does. They seem to be some kind of think tank for… something. The trend has since caught on with businesses regularly requesting whiteboard specifically. There is now software developed for this, although I'm  not sure why. A video camera and video software should be enough. Then again I don't do whiteboard, so… Some companies even charge rates equal to what some independent animators charge.

There is of course, the inevitable down side. With more artists, or more specifically, people trying to make an easy buck, jump on the bandwagon, the quality has become increasingly cheaper. There are more and more slapped together versions of whiteboard. There are videos where someone has just taken a few stills of a hand with a "Sharpie", and move it around quickly across screen, while revealing the drawing underneath. However, there is also the inevitable up side. Some artists are combining this with actual animation and creating some pretty cool work. OMG! I came close to promoting whiteboard.

In the end I don't fear whiteboard. I probably don't even care. As much as I hate to say it, it's cool to see this opening up for artists. My first thought was that it would pass. Then again that's what I thought about reality TV. If I was offered a job doing whiteboard I'd take it. I'd want to finish the project quickly, but I'd take it. After watching whiteboard videos I notice that I never finish watching. It's cool at first, but after a while, you're just watching someone else draw.