In May of this year, 7News featured the launch of REACH, a youth-oriented NGO, which is advancing art as an antidote to violence. Well, 6 young men who have been given a platform to express themselves using the organization, namely Kyraan Gabourel, Denzel Wade, Stephen Gabb, Micah Goodin, Elizardo Novelo and Raheem Phillips, have launched a book of poems called "We Gat Sonting Fu Seh". It features a live performance DVD of the men in action at several different shows this year. They're offering it as a package to the public to provide a window in the minds of young males who experience the challenges of everyday life in socially marginalized communities. We were at the launch today, and Daniel Ortiz reports:
Daniel Ortiz Reporting
Poets
"Belizeans, Open your eyes. We have something to say. Listen."
And that's what we did; listen to 6 talented young men, whose fledgling careers as spoken word poets have already been documented with a book of poems and a live performance DVD.
Yasser Musa - Director, Image Factory Art Foundation
"I told these guys a few months ago, that when I first heard them speak their words, it was not just touching from an emotional stand point, but it cast a great sense of inspiration in my mind, and the sense of how I view the world, because their voices have such a piercing and gripping power that I am sure that when you see the DVD and read their word, you will agree with me. So, I am deeply honoured to be in their presence."
Here's but a sample of their title poem, prepared specifically or the launch.
Raheem Phillips - Poet
"I am a criminal, not because I've done something wrong, but because I was born on ghetto streets where a lot of criminals live, and I have spent many days of my life being treated like I have something to do with the things that they did, as if we're somehow interconnected like the streets on which we reside. People who think that can make a 'nigga' bubble up inside, because to them, I am a criminal, not because I've done something wrong, but because of the familiar features of my face. When they see me, they see nothing more than a guilty face, because 'all niggas look alike'. Damn, what a life. What a life where quality does not exist, no freedom, no justice, just prejudice, a life where a man can just shoot me because looking at me makes him afraid, a life where I am considered low grade, a life where I am a criminal, not because I have done something wrong, but because of the colour of my skin, in a life where 'niggahood' is a sin. Sometimes, it feels like a crime, punishment, 3 days in a cell, damn, this life is hell. It's funny because the very streets they connect me to are the ones I fear, so I choose my streets wisely, but when I dare take to the streets, I knew not to take, I think to myself, could this have been a mistake? And as I think these thoughts inside my mind, police sirens just in time. I'm saved right?"
Back up
"Wrong, touch the sky.'
Raheem Phillips
"Yes, sir-"
Back up
"Boy, are you disrespecting me?"
Raheem Phillips
"I didnt-"
Back up
"Boy, do you want to be locked up?"
Raheem Phillips
"No sir -"
Back up
"Where do you live?"
Raheem Phillips
"Lake I."
Back up
"Where are you going? Where are you coming from? Do you smoke weed?"
Raheem Phillips
"No sir... And like that, they're gone, me feeling worse than before, knowing that my fears, the police just ignored."
Today's opening of their book and DVD was well received, and those who've been a part of its process are happy with the results
Jamuna Vasquez - REACH Foundation
"REACH's objective are to really get the youth and their voices out, and also to do a lot more advocacy when it comes to the issues of youth, and getting them the platform to express themselves in any kind of expression. This is just the first step."
Micah Goodin - Poet
"I'm grateful for all the support that you've given us. It has been a pleasure working with these guys. I have known them for about 3 years since the inception of youth voices, which focuses on providing young people with a platform for expression. I am also grateful for Yasser and the REACH Foundation for what they've been doing, and their efforts at getting young people to voice their opinion. I see it as being something very important. Often, young people are left out of the decision making processes, and we want to be a part of it."
Denzel Wade - Poet
"We really appreciate everyone coming out and supporting 'We Gat Sonting Fi Seh' because indeed, we do have a lot to say, and we have a lot more to say, and a lot more to do."
Raheem Phillips
"My poems that I have in the book, the theme are - in my own words - the stone cold truth because, like the poem you heard me recite, it's about - I actually lived that story. Actually, this morning I got stopped by police on my way here. So, it's like an everyday thing."
Grandmaster, one of their forerunners - if not the godfather of spoken word poetry - even he took the time out to tip his hat to their talent and their accomplishments so far
Leroy "Grandmaster" Young - Spoken Word Poet
"Well, they make me feel like I want to hang up my hat, standing there, listening to these guys. I work with a couple of them at our little poetry gathering and it's an honor for me passing it on these guys because they are taking it to a whole different level. Everybody has their style. I got my style, but their style is for real. They have something to say; they have a lot to say, and like the guys say, it gives them a platform to voice their opinion and free up themselves. Spoken word is here to be heard. They have something to say."
Daniel Ortiz
"Do you think 'We Gat Sonting Fu Seh' will reach the same level of household usage like 'Presha!'?"
Leroy "Grandmaster" Young
"Yeah, they are a different generation from me, and their generation identify with that kind of spoken word that they do, the way they do it, 'spit' it so fast, and mixed up with that dancehall. My little 'Presha!' still is here, even it has turned stress now.'
Micah Goodin
"I would just like to leave you guys with a single poem. It's called '19'. I am 19, 19 with the cold soul of a 91 year-old decorated bed sores. My eyes have seen it all: black roses tucked inside caskets and mailed to the funeral, but life goes on. Life goes on like a run-on sentence, no punctuations, no full stops, just bad mind, big cops, extended clips, and prison sentences. This is the life for most. So, I hang out on basketball courts with ghosts, because only on 'b-ball' courts can young men wi, when the rim becomes the judge, the bench becomes the jury, and the opposing team, the victim. I am sick of these ghetto gimmicks. So, I open my book, and I close my mouth. I am trying to make it."
The book and DVD is on sale for $25 and it will be available at the Image Factory Shop or The Angelus Press.
