30 Poems, 30 Days. #30: 23 questions

Arizona has been on some crazy neo-nazi bullshit!  First, it passes anti-immigration law which legalizes and institutionalizes racial profiling and now it wants to ban ethnic studies and teachers with accents from teaching.  Conservative forces are coming hard against the wave of Obama politics. Oh boy, the ruckus kind of excites me…in the most mean muggin’ fist pumpin’ way, of course.  Shit is poppin’ off!

Today concludes my series of “30 Poems, 30 Days” in honor of April being National Poetry Month.  I’ll be real, by the second week I was feeling the strain.  I’m hella relieved this shit is finally over!  Don’t forget that every poem part of this series is a rough first draft off the top daily “poem”.  Some things that came out I liked.  Most things that came out were crap.  I’m looking forward to revisiting all my pieces to go into editing and revision.  I’ll compile them into a “30 Poems, 30 Days” collection somewhere on my blog for easy access.  Now that these daily poems are over, I’m excited to go back to posting better blog posts about shit poppin’ off in my life and all over the world.  Feels like I’ve been holding out on the updates. Coming soooon!!  Thank you for reading.

23 questions

is an accent unamerican?
if there is a fear that students will pick up accents from teachers, does that mean american society condemns those currently speaking with accents?
are those currently speaking with accents then considered less american?
or less patriotic?
or less respectable?
or less citizenesque?
or less human?

why is it a crime to promote ethnic solidarity?
is it a crime to unite on cultural similarities?
is it illegal to celebrate community within diversity?
is it not a natural feeling to connect with those of similar past experiences?
you feel me?
why are people so scared of people coming together on the strength of common ground?
who is scared of who?

if a hundred people lived yesterday, are there not a hundred stories to tell?
a hundred points of views?
a hundred opinions?
a hundred affected?
a hundred affected in a hundred different ways?
but if a hundred people lived yesterday, and only 5 survived,
or only 5 spoke english
or only 5 knew how to write
or only 5 knew how to read
because only 5 were allowed to go to school,
then there would only be 5 stories to survive time,
5 legacies to pass down
and how much information are we missing
to formulate our full understanding of history
if stories of the other 95
are never heard?

is the purpose of history to convince the individual who the enemy is?
to polarize the present and say, if you don’t feel the same way, there is something wrong with you?
or is the purpose of history to present a palette of possibilities
for what the future can be?

April 30, 2010 | 1 Comment »

Remember Black April, 35 Years Later

On April 30, 1975, the world changed forever.

I hate it when people say things like “Blacklisted” or “the black sheep”…it’s so covertly racist.

But the “Fall of Saigon” a.k.a. “Liberation of Saigon” (choose a side) on April 30, 1975 has become known as “Black April”. 35 years later, like the beautiful phoenix, my community rises from the ash.

I won’t be able to post a longer, better blog entry until later in the day.  In the mean time, I wanted to throw this quick post up to remember the legacy of my family and…… ma peoples!!!

Peep this old photo.  My parents escaped on a boat like this.  We know how to rock the MFN boat!! It’s in my blood.

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30 Poems, 30 Days. #29: eyes

eyes

crawl into facebook
eyeballs scan refreshed news feed
now i’m being watched.

April 29, 2010 | No Comments »

30 Poems, 30 Days. #28: arizona is bologna

arizona is bologna

don’t matter what you look like
show me your papers.

don’t look like that you matter
show me your papers.

you look madder than the hatter
show me your papers.

sombrero on the skyline
show me your papers.

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Get educated: Arizona passes  insanely racist new law SB1070

April 28, 2010 | 2 Comments »

30 Poems, 30 Days. #27: the come-up

the come-up

kanye can’t be kanye forever
picasso died a long time ago
ne-yo will run out of songs
curtains are calling for ronald takakis
sequels to legitimize history
pete wilson has yet to meet his undertaker
arizona is bologna, we need a real deli slicer
jabbawockee bones grow brittle
teachers yearn to become students
children cry for their fathers
mothers cradle miracles
the hood needs more supermarkets
the earth needs more farmers
everybody needs a lawyer,
even those who can’t speak english.
after school enrichment isn’t enough,
ed policies will soon integrate.
one day congresswo/man #27 will pass away,
somebody’s got to fill the seat.
every four years my peers get stronger
i don’t know who the succeeding president will be
but i’ve already met her.
i love seeing my friends grab dreams,
the come-up is unstoppable.
it is only a matter of time.

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In other news: Check out my girl Rebekah, in U-N-I’s latest video.  She’s the gorgeous dame with the sexy curls.  We used to fall asleep in class and talk shit together.  This girl always saved me a seat and one time told a chic off like, “You can’t sit there my girl SAHRA is sitting there! I said you can’t.”  LOL. Love you, B.

Can’t help it if my friends are dope.  No homie bias.

April 27, 2010 | 1 Comment »

A post dedicated to Janet Brown

Janet Brown was my greatest mentor during my time at UCLA.  I met her my freshman year.  I was the front desk intern for the Community Programs Office (CPO) and she was the director of the CPO project, Writing Success Program (WSP).  In my last two years at UCLA, I joined Janet in WSP staff as a Writing Counselor.  We spent countless hours hanging out together in the WSP office, rapping about life, art and annoying college students.  We complained about office politics, paradoxical progressivism and the damn spiral model.  She had snowy white hair and wore denim shirts.  She was my boss but I loved taking care of her like my mom.  I would remind her to work on her novel the way parents remind their kids to eat their peas.  In turn, she would yell at me for not working on my art (I was too busy with too many campus involvements).

Needless to say, Janet has had a profound impact on me as a writer, dreamer and human being.  She had a revolutionary approach to the writing process and to life—both of which I apply and pass on to others every day.  I feel blessed to be endowed with the gift of her wisdom.  She was the first person to help me truly understand death.

After Janet passed, a few friends and I initiated the Janet Brown Scholarship to preserve her legacy and help support students through higher education.  Janet taught me that money is energy.  After this realization, I came to better terms with my role within capitalist society.  It’s okay to want money.  I used to be scared of money because I’ve only witnessed it for its destructive ability.  But money doesn’t have to be evil.  Money is energy, its got transformative powers. Wanting or having a lot of money isn’t selling out—HOW you get there makes the judgment call.  The point of “struggling” isn’t to struggle forever.  Don’t we all want nice things?  Don’t we all deserve nice things? Even more, imagine all the nice things we can do (for others) with money.  Don’t get it twisted: Money is NEVER the goal.  Money is the MEANS, yadidameeeean?

To read more about Janet’s legacy and the scholarship, click here.

I will leave you all now, with words from the legend Janet Brown herself.  This is a letter I found off Janet’s desktop.  We photocopied it and sealed it in envelopes for all her memorial attendees.  If you take the time to answer these simple questions, your life can only get better.


WHAT WOULD JANET SAY?

The following are original words by Janet Brown—left behind on the Writing Success Program’s office computer. Janet showed her students the power in their own thoughts, creativity, and voice to motivate them in their writing and in life. If you went to Janet for answers, she would give you questions. Janet says:

Power Questions

· When am I most naturally myself?
· What is one thing I could stop doing, or start doing, or do differently, starting today, that would improve the quality of my life?
· What is my greatest talent?
· How can I get paid for doing what I love?
· Who are my most inspiring role models? Do I apply their lessons daily?
· How can I best be of service to others?
· What is my heart’s deepest desire?
· What are the greatest obstacles to the fulfillment of my dreams and goals?
· What are the blessings of my life? DO I recount them every day?
· What legacy would I live to leave?

Write drunk. Revise sober.

All values fall within this matrix. That is, to live a happy or productive life all humans need to feel:

Certainty/Comfort
Uncertainty/Variety
Significance
Connection/Love
Growth
Contribution

Improve the quality of your questions

Get rid of –
Why am I so stupid?
Why does this always happen to me?

Problem Solving Questions
1. What is great about this problem?
2. What is not perfect yet?
3. What am I willing to do to make it the way I want it?
4. What am I willing to no longer do to make it the way I want it?
5. How can I enjoy the process while I do what is necessary to make it the way I want it?

The Morning Power Questions
1. What am I happy about in my life right now? What about that makes me happy? How does it make me feel?
2. What am I excited about in my life right now? What about that makes me excited? How does that make me feel?
3. What am I proud of in my life right now? What about that makes me proud? How does that make me feel?
4. What am I grateful for in my life right now? What about that makes me grateful? How does that make me feel?
5. What am I enjoying most in my life right now? What about that do I enjoy? How does that make me feel?
6. What am I committed to in my life right now? What about that makes me committed? How does that make me feel?
7. Who do I love? Who loves me? What about that makes me loving? How does that make me feel?

The Evening Power Questions
1. What have I given today? In what ways have I been a giver today?
2. What did I learn today?
3. How has today added to the quality of my life? How can I use today as an investment in my future?

April 26, 2010 | 1 Comment »

30 Poems, 30 Days. #26: janet brown 365 days later

janet brown 365 days later

i hate calling the dead the dead
it’s so morbid
no one ever really dies
when the breathing stops, do you stop living?
do you stop talking to the ones of passed?
does anyone ever really die?

i can’t delete janet brown’s name from my phone book
it’s the only way i can hold her
so tempted to call but i’m scared of hearing the voice on the other end.
we still talk
i speak my mind
she speaks through the language of omens
like baby ducklings to stop traffic
trees to shield lightning
rivers resurrected to remind the people,
mother nature is watching.
i feel so much closer to her a year later
than i did by her hospital bed.
eyes run dry
i can’t squeeze a tear out for janet
she’s happy to know i’ve pulled away from the cycle of why.
befriended death,
said hello and
until next time.

is our lifeline in the veins of our hearts or the lines of our thoughts?
aren’t sound waves real?
feel but not touch,
hear but not see,
speak and know that words travel with destinations plentiful
both anticipated and unknown.
we only hope it lands in the right ears.

is the heart core to existence?
mind over matter works both ways
if we can push ourselves to exceed the humanly perceived,
can’t we cease the heart if determinedly so?
can’t we think about the pathways to death?
willingness holds ultimate control
like the victor standing atop the slain
mind over matter.

believing is beyond seeing.
is astral travel the cousin of death?
the heart isn’t what keeps the living
every beat ticks like a time bomb
with the final pulse, spirits explode like supernovas
how many people forget
they were a star all along?

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30 Poems, 30 Days. #22: not today

today, this commitment reached an unhealthy point.  shit has been off the wall busy for me and i honestly tried to write a poem to keep my streak going but it wasn’t happening. i’d rather write no poem than write a half-ass, wack-ass, contrived poem. moments like these, i have to realize that if i’m not helping the art form and i’m not helping myself, i need to step back and let go. maybe tomorrow.

this is not a poem.

April 22, 2010 | No Comments »

30 Poems, 30 Days. #21: monay stay

monay stay

top of the hub view
diamonds make the value fall
shred ten thousand bones

April 21, 2010 | 1 Comment »

30 Poems, 30 Days. #20: puff

puff

sip smoke from her lips
slither and vanish to air
sweet silent inhale

April 20, 2010 | No Comments »

My Buddy with his Buddy with his Buddy

Bic Plastics and Marka27 Presents “Buddy Custom Show” from YRB Magazine on Vimeo.

I saw the Egyptian-inspired piece come to life!!  From naked Buddy to Blakhenaton!  Late nights kicking ass in the studio with my buddy, Problak. <3

April 19, 2010 | No Comments »

30 Poems, 30 Days. #19: the little mermaid remixed


(My favorite part is at 3:40-3:55)

I always felt Ariel was faced with the toughest of dilemmas in “The Little Mermaid”.  Become a human forever and live with her prince? Or remain a mermaid and stay with her family under the sea?  I used to ask myself the same question.  I wonder which choice I would’ve made.  It kinda sounds like interracial dating…except a more extreme version because there are less visitation options.  Or like marriage traditions between a man and woman.  What would’ve happened if Prince Eric became a merman? Was that an option?

Let’s speculate:

King Triton: So what will it be, Ariel?  Do you want legs, be with Eric, and never live under the sea again, OR do you want to remain a mermaid and find yourself a nice merman down here.

Ariel: Oh father, I love Eric and I want to be with him!  But I don’t want to leave my family and my whole world I grew up in.

King Triton: Well, you must choose.

Ariel: There must be another way.  Can Eric become a merman?

King Triton: Yes, I have the power to do that. I’m King Triton I can do anything!

Eric: But I don’t want to become a merman.

Ariel: Why not? We can live happily together under the sea!

Eric: I have a fantastic life of royalty on land.  I can’t leave that.

Ariel: I have a life of royalty as well.  And if you join me, you could still be a king!

Eric: My family is waiting for me.  You can’t expect me to leave them.

Ariel: But you can expect me to leave mine?

Eric: Why, yes.  It’s because you’re a merwoman! That’s what you’re supposed to do.

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30 Poems, 30 Days. #18: girls like you

girls like you

double omelets on a sunday morning
we sip coffee from across each other
the red leather booth of a 50’s cafe holds our conversation:

girls like you
wrap me up in childhood nostalgia
love to bake dinosaur shaped cookies
touch as magical as tinkerbell’s dust
to sweep the mind off the ground.

girls like you
don’t come around often enough
read malcolm x and the alchemist like the bible
eat vegetarian for ecological reasons
support PETA
but believe in human rights first.

girls like you
know how to make a person laugh
a step away from a comedy central spotlight
smile brighter than the moon
remind the world life is too short to be living in clouds.

girls like you
go after what they want
embody the self-actualized reality
took langston hughes’ advice
now is living the dream ripe like the grapevine.

girls like you
don’t front
it is what
it is what
it is what
it is.

girls like you
voted for obama.

girls like you
are too good to be true.
most men feel undeserving
or unprepared.
his mind is not ready.

i love
girls like you.

i just don’t trust my heart with
girls like you.

April 18, 2010 | 2 Comments »

Los Angeles Trip Recap

Finally, some photos from my Cali trip last week.  I’m still tired and swampy, so here’s my trip in a nutshell.

In Los Angeles:


I like to visit colleges


I like to facilitate workshops


I like to teach


I like to eat veggie frittatas


I like to eat vegan crabcakes


I like to eat vegan curry with cucumbers and spinach


I like to empower (Rare Diamonds Women of Color collective @ Pomona College)


I like to yell (Protest for workers’ rights @ Pomona College)


I like to go to museums, like this one: Art, Activism, Access: 40 Years of Ethnic Studies at UCLA


I like to primp


I like to party

and mooore! More than I can blog about. I like to do it all. Thank you to my Los Angeles family for making it all happen with me.  This trip was fulfilling as well as renewing.  I grew a greater appreciation for Cali once I realized that I couldn’t deny the fact that I spent four pivotal years of my growth there.  I reconnected with many old faces and also new ones. It’s amazing seeing my peers grow in their respective directions and deepen their passions.  I hit on all the things I planned to do (above) and also stumbled upon some random adventures—like a pre-Cochella day party with open bar and free food in the back of a skateshop on Melrose.  So LA. But this random ass party really played a metaphor in my head over the weekend that life is full of surprises, and there is much to discover in this world.  So I gota keep things moving. Hello young world, I love you.

Thanks for reading.

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30 Poems, 30 Days. #17: push

push

meritocracy
is it a force or facade
plow til tomorrow

April 17, 2010 | No Comments »

30 Poems, 30 Days. #16: sonnet, alive

sonnet, alive

(i think i fucked up the iambic pentameter. oh well.)

our bodies are matter for the moments
recognize the metaphysical
internal spirits carry life and potence
life and death beyond traditional
when we die, do we stop living?
spirits rise / bodies beneath the grass
mass deteriorates /  energy flees killing
do we stop talking to the ones of passed?
if life is energy encased
bodies serve as time capsules
must we wait til limbs turn waste?
spirits dance celestial spinning mules
we trap ourselves within these limbs
death need not come to fly at whims.

April 16, 2010 | No Comments »

Howard Gardner: Theory of Multiple Intelligences

I know I’ve been slacking on the bloggy posts lately—sliding by with haikus and sloppy poems from my “30 Poems, 30 Days” pursuit for National Poetry Month.  My bad.  There’s been a lot of exciting stuff happening.  The irony of this personal bloggy bidness is that the more I get wrapped up in, the more I have to update on, but the less time I have to spend on my blog so when my blog is looking dry and boring it probably means I’m out having a bangin’ ass time somewhere.  HA! When I get a chance, I’ll try to post updates and reflections from my LA trip last week.

Today, me and a few homies from Artists For Humanity were invited to Harvard to talk about art, entrepreneurship, mentorship and social change.  We linked up with the Harvard homie, Howard Gardner.  Howard Gardner is best known for his theory of Multiple Intelligences.  It’s a challenging theory.  Check it out:

Readership’s Hit List:

“Multiple intelligences is an idea that maintains there exist many different types of “intelligences” ascribed to human beings. In response to the question of whether or not measures of intelligence are scientific, Gardner suggests that each individual manifests varying levels of different intelligences, and thus each person has refined in subsequent years.

In 1999 Gardner lists eight intelligences as linguistic, logic-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily kinesthetic, naturalist, interpersonal and intrapersonal. Gardner believes that each intelligence has a unique biological basis, a distinct course of development, and different expert, or “end-state,” performances. At the same time, he emphasizes that a lengthy process of education is required to transform any raw potential into a mature social role.”

Does this mean some human beings are born to be naturally more inclined to success than others?

April 15, 2010 | No Comments »

30 Poems, 30 Days. #15: time

time

rushing /state of mind
no beginning and no end
on to the next one

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Nick Cave: Soundsuits

I went to Nick Cave’s exhibit “Meet Me at the Center of the Earth” last week in L.A. and it made me hella happy.  This dude is nuts and his work is brilliant!  Thank you to the internet, you can now experience a digital tour in the same museum!!

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTO TOUR OF NICK CAVE’S EXHIBIT.

“Experience the largest presentation of work by Chicago-based artist Nick Cave, featuring thirty-five of his Soundsuits—multi-layered, mixed-media sculptures named for the sounds made when the “suits” are worn. Reminiscent of African, Caribbean and other ceremonial ensembles as well as of haute couture, Cave’s work explores issues of transformation, ritual, myth and identity. His virtuosic constructions incorporate yarn, sequins, bottle caps, vintage toys, rusted iron sticks, hair, and more. Mad, humorous, visionary, glamorous and unexpected, the Soundsuits are created from scavenged ordinary materials that Cave re-contextualizes into extraordinary works of art.” –Fowler Museum

April 14, 2010 | No Comments »

30 Poems, 30 Days. #14: lisa

lisa

the middle school removed bathroom mirrors
so lisa wouldn’t look at herself.
she studied her body more than her books
paid attention to the boys more than the teachers
chased after numbers more than the grade.

lisa is twelve years old.

somebody told her nothing more mattered
than being flattered by teenage boys.
with every holla lisa gets,
she feels affirmed.
teenage hormones
feed her growing ego.

somebody told her this is how a real woman acts.
success is sex driven
look the part to get the part.
female empowerment misconstrued
from loving the body
to exploiting the body.

somebody told her she looked cute.
it’s the easiest thing to feel good about.
easier than reading books or doing homework.
she gets cute
to feel good
to forget.

lisa is wearing a cotton cropped jacket
on a brisk 50 degree day.
miss shantell asks,
“where is your coat??”
lisa says,
“are you kidding me?? do you see how cute i look in this?”

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