Brave New Voices

My Senior year in High School I had to enter a talent competition as part of my Drama Class grade. It wasn't by choice, but by grade blackmail. I used to write and I listened to rap music but didn't rap. I remembered hearing a poem that resembled rap but was much more powerful. It was Spoken Word. So I wrote a Spoken Word Poem. I won 2nd Place as the only piece of poetry in the competition and was an alternate to the Mid South talent show in the event the winner was unable to make it. I beat out girls who had been singing and winning competitions since they were 5. The funny thing is as I wrote it, it sort of stuck in my head and 12 years later I can still recite it word for word, with a little bit of thought.

So here it goes....

There comes a time, There comes a time
When a man must rewind the hands of time
and look back on his past
Because with it, he cannot last.

He must remember the days of old
and what he was told as child
running wild in the streets with all his dead beat...friends.

His parents teaching, their Godly preachings
that he heard, but did not care to hear...then
Are now sinking in.

At the ripe old age of 31
He can still hear his mother say,
"Son, be a responsible man, do all that you can,
give your very best and nothing less should you demand"

But it's too late to remember way back then...
Those memories are just dust in the wind.
One last breath is all he'll take.
A shot to the head has made his bed
and never more will he awake.

So don't make the same mistakes, I say
and ponder the things of yester yonder.
Search the deepest parts of your soul.

So that you may grow old ,
And reminiscence ,
And reminiscence on your past
Because without it YOU will not last

Not bad for a geeky little white kid from hickville, usa. I've always loved the art and really would have liked to have done more of it...but felt unqualified to do so.

Tonight I watched the opening episode of a new Russell Simmons documentary on HBO, Brave New Voices. I've been waiting a few weeks for it's premier and was glad I was home to catch it. The show follows teenagers around the country displaying their struggles, heartaches, challenges, and victories through the art of spoken word. I found myself in tears a couple of times to see the passion, pain, and power behind the stories of these kids ranging from rape, racism, illness, family situations, and peer ridicule. The courage it takes to be that transparent at that age is astonishing. These young leaders are letting their voice be heard and are the voice for many who are voiceless. If only we all could speak that much truth with that much power.

Below are a couple clips of the guys who really stuck a chord with me. I felt connected a little to this first young man from Michigan, Ben Alfaro. Him coming face to face with his father and his father not realizing that was his son and me not knowing my birth father and having mostly at times an awkward relationship with my step dad, wondering if we really know each other at all. The second young man from New York, B. Yung, described his words like a fire in his chest. Even when he's quiet it's there, burning him up on the inside, waiting to get out. (A Jeremiah maybe?) And when he lets it out, he really let its out. I promise you will see one of these two guys in the finals if not winning the competition.

*Caution...these videos contain some strong language and material due to the nature of the students' life. It (the poetry) wouldn't be real if they (the kids) weren't.