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RJ Wright, performing at IWPS 2019 in San Diego, CA.
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Button Poetry is committed to developing a coherent and effective system of production, distribution, promotion and fundraising for spoken word and performance poetry.
We seek to showcase the power and diversity of voices in our community. By encouraging and broadcasting the best and brightest performance poets of today, we hope to broaden poetry’s audience, to expand its reach and develop a greater level of cultural appreciation for the art form.
Transcript provided by YouTube (unedited)
0:02
In case you haven’t noticed,
0:04
I’m black.
0:05
I’m so black a game of spades and/or dominoes might end our friendship.
0:09
I’m so black, if you asked me, “Michael Jackson or Prince?”
0:11
I will ask, “MJ before or after Pepsi tried to assassinate him?”
0:15
The answer is still Prince, but there is, in fact, a difference.
0:17
I’m so black
0:18
I’ve been whooped with a shoe, a switch, a hanger, a door, an extension cord,
0:21
“’cause I told you, don’t touch none in this goddamn store
0:24
’cause you think I’m playing ’cause I ain’t one of your little friends,
0:27
I’m your mamma.”
0:28
I’m so black whenever a black boy is gunned down,
0:30
my mamma calls me just to hear the melody of my breath
0:33
crescendo through the phone.
0:34
I’m so black, the police siren
0:36
sound like the Amazing Grace being sung at a funeral.
0:38
I’m so black that Becky dated me just to piss off her parents.
0:41
Yes, she was white, and yes, that was her real name.
0:44
No, not all white women are bad.
0:46
Yes, I feel the need to say this because black men have died for less.
0:49
“You look lost, boy. Look like you shouldn’t be around here, boy.
0:51
Look like you need help to getting back to where you belong, boy!”
0:54
I’m so black, whenever they say “all lives matter,”
0:56
it sounds like white tears and the cheers of a lynch mob.
0:59
I’m so black that a cellphone or a book or a pen or my hands
1:04
could all be mistaken for weapons.
1:06
Yeah… I’m black, so black they told me I wouldn’t graduate from high school.
1:10
So black, in December, I’ll have my Master’s.
1:12
So black, so black,
1:14
so black I love hip-hop, R&B, jazz, rock and roll, pop,
1:18
neo-soul, country…
1:19
Yes, niggers like country too.
1:21
No, you can’t say “nigger” if you’re not black.
1:23
Yes, you can be big or a little mad about it–
1:25
that is your prerogative. My nigga!
1:27
I’m so black you want to be me until it’s time to be me.
1:31
My black is not a monolith,
1:32
it comes in all shapes, sizes, shades, genders, and sexualities.
1:34
My black is a mother’s prayer being answered.
1:36
My black is a father’s protection.
1:38
My black is the presence of all.
1:39
My black is candy after Sunday School,
1:41
cornbread and collard greens, kale and cabbage.
1:43
My black be savage. Fuck my black!
1:45
May be painful at times,
1:47
but I wouldn’t trade it for all the privilege in the world!
1:49
(cheers and applause)
—
This post was previously published on YouTube.
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