Lately I’ve been getting more into spoken word (a type of poetry; like slam poetry sort of… it’s a lot more intense than regular poetry). I have a book of it and a CD, and last week I went to see Carlos Andres Gomez on campus (as mentioned in my previous post!).
Anyway, I thought I would share a couple of my favorite pieces of his, via YouTube.
Distinctly Beautiful: He talks about his experiences as a public school teacher in New York City (the Bronx, I think), and how he used to ask the girls to do an activity where they write “I am distinctly beautiful because…” on their papers.
What’s Genocide: Again, starting from an experience as a school teacher, he talks about what genocide is—in the United States. The video is a bit annotated.
Here's the link to the full version, sound only: http://www.speakyoursoul.org/speak/poems/whats.genocide
Man Up: And lastly, this is actually my most favorite. He didn’t perform this when I saw him, but I found it on YouTube and I really like it. It’s like 10 minutes long, but I got really into it and it went quite quickly.
That’s about it I guess… I just like his ability to write about life as it really is… and how it is so evident from his work that he genuinely loves and cares for all sorts of people. That is rare!