Poesia ~ the written word.
Reading the Word tells the Story of the World ~
Writing the Word tells Your Story.
Writing the Word tells Your Story.
These are some of the most student & Teacher-recommended Performance Poetry selections:
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"Like Totally Whatever"
Melissa Lozada-Oliva "It's like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway were geniuses for turning women into question marks... It's like rapes happen all the time on campuses but as soon as Jon Krakauer writes about it - it's suddenly innovative nonfiction.. and not like something girls are like making up... for like... attention." ALABANZA
Martín Espada reads his original poem dedicated to the "43 members of Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Local 100, working at the Windows on the World restaurant, who lost their lives in the attack on the World Trade Center" Introduced by Angela Davis "I will teach you... Music is all we have..." "To This Day"
Shane Koyczan "And they'll never understand that she's raising two kids whose definition of beauty begins with the word mom... because they see her heart before they see her skin... because she's always only ever been amazing." Help this message have a far reaching and long lasting effect in confronting bullying. Please share generously. http://www.tothisdayproject.com |
"No Child Left Behind"
Dominique Christina & Denice Frohman "You feed us the rotten fruit of untold stories then penalize us when we'd rather be gangstas than listen to another nifty little tale about George Washington Carver and his innovation with that peanut... see there's nothing threatening about the entomology about Jiffy, but you talk to us about Haiti and we might remember the fire in our bellies." "cuz he's black"
Jovon Johnson "Don't like the fact that he learned to hide from the cops well before he knew how to read. Angrier that his survival depends more on his ability to deal with authorities than it does his own literacy." |
AntroPoesia: Poetry which requires the author to physically go into their community, nature, the world - and write via this influence
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Murrieta
by Jackie Lopez As quiet as a prophet and pauper, as melancholy as the rose, I sit and stare at the Murrieta racists. I am in shock and awe at this world. I want to escape. I want to go to Mexico or Washington. I want to march in the disheveled masses who are attacked. I think my pure heart is being stoned for her adultery on a daily basis. The prisons are getting fuller. The middle class is getting thinner. I’m getting braver. If “we are one” consciousness doesn’t spread soon, I do believe“divide and conquer” will flourish. Scapegoating is elementary-so know the middle class. Skin color is becoming more and more important. They say that it all gets better in time, only I know it is up to us to make it better. So, I will wear the flag for heaven on earth. So, I will write about the brown, red, yellow, gold, black, and white skins. I will give drink to the thirsty. I will give bread to the hungry. My black eyes will look up to the stars and shed red tears. As quiet as a prophet and pauper, as hungry as a lioness, I gather my garments of poetry for justice in our world. I kneel before the power of the Great Spirit and plead for mercy. |
The prisons are getting fuller.
The speed of lightning is near, and I hear the saints marching in. I hear the trumpet. I hear the drum. I hear the guitar. And, I hear a march for an orphaned child and a raped mother. I see Liberty’s face, and I see her torch. We are all the unwashed masses. We are all on the cross. They gave us vinegar in Murrieta. We resurrected in the morning. And, all the world is watching. |
"Curandera "
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"On Language"
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"I am Joaquin"
by Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzalez
by Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzalez
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Click on the Libro image to read portions of the book
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