Poetic Justice VI: If You
Weren’t There, You Missed Out
by Tony Boyd
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| Tammy "Michelle" Perry, Danette Simmons at PJOM 6 |
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| F. L. Jones |
Simply put, Poetic Justice VI held on Friday 12/4/15..... was
off the heezy. That Groove I told you that permeates Fayetteville and beyond
was in full effect. Poets, singers, and comedians graced the stage to release,
educate, and entertain. Veterans and first-timers alike brought their best. A
mood was set as soon as you walked through the lounge doorway, mellow 90’s
R&B permeating the room. Early attendees were jamming to the rhythmic beats
in their seats. More than a few “Wooo yeahs!” and “That’s what I’m talking
back!” could be heard from the crowd. Seats filled up fairly quickly. A lot of hugging, laughing, and chatting was
going on. It was a family like atmosphere.
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| Cherokee Lian |
Umoja Soul’s intrepid leader, our
very own Leora “F. L. Jones” Jackson was first to take the stage to introduce
the night’s Mistress and Master of Ceremony, Tina Gaston and Jared Carter. Tina
and Jared’s seemingly effortless stage chemistry immediately engages the crowd
and get the night’s festivities on track. Jared was first to take the stage to
bring us an original untitled piece (that we will call Sweet Be Sweet) of his
own. I gather it’s an ode to the women in his life, daughters, mother, aunts,
grandmothers, etc.
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| Tina Gaston & Jared Gaston, |
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| DJ Adams |
Tina followed him up with an original piece of her own
entitled, “Does It Bother You?” The
way I see it, it was an ode to defiance, defying negativity, hate and attempts
to take away your spirit. Its also seems like an example of standing up for
yourself, being strong within yourself, fighting back…for yourself. Stirring.
F. L. Jones returned to the stage
to engage us with a new piece called “Why
Can’t We Say Her Name?” Relatively much has been made of the male Black lives
senselessly lost to police misconduct.
Jones’ piece sought to shed light on the Black female lives also lost to
the same travesty. Aiyana Stanley-Jones, Sandra Bland, Adaisha Miller, Darnesha
Harris, Erica Collins, etc., etc., etc. Their stories should be front page as
well. As she left the stage, the crowd showed their appreciation for the
knowledge she bestowed with a rousing round of snaps.
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| Stacy "LIFE" Harper |
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| Jesse B |
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| Jin |
Next up, a personal favorite of
mine, Cherokee Lann. This young man has an incredible natural timing and
cadence that sync flawlessly with the prose he spits. He attacks the mike with
the ferocity of a boxer heading into a championship bout. Left jab, left jab,
feint, straight right, his words land like blows to the soul. His piece was
titled “Know That I Know”. It was a
one on one conversation between good friends where one is contemplating suicide
and the other trying to talk them out of it. So much undercover pain and silent
suffering in the world. Some folks aren’t blessed enough to have someone who
knows them so well that they can tell what’s going on without being told. Cherokee’s
piece struck a nerve and gave one pause. You never know who’s in need of being
pulled back from the edge.
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| Danette Simmons |
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| Haley Smith |
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| J.D Rowland |
From Cherokee’s lyrical poetry,
we transitioned to the musical stylings of Jessie B. His first time up, he set a
mellow mood by doing his rendition of “Love” by Musiq Soulchild. Channeling his
inner Jon B., he graced the stage three more times belting out soulful
renditions of other R&B hits. His version of “Nice and Slow” by Usher
really took some audience members back.
You could tell by the swaying bodies, raised/slowly waving right arms,
and the singing along. Not to mention the smiles and “Wooo yeahs!”
reverberating around the room. Later, he reached a little farther back to hit
us with Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come”. Last but not least, he brought
our multi-talented Mistress of Ceremony, Tina Gaston to the stage with him to
perform a duet. The song he chose has a special meaning to me. It was Beyoncé and Justin Timberlake’s “Until
The End of Time”. I had to sing along to
that one. Jessie exited the stage to
appreciative applause each time.
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| Mike Day |
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| Steve Coger |
Anne Shelley, still grooving from
Jessie B’s performance, danced to the stage and dropped some powerful
revelation with “My People, Chapter 1”. Speaking as one white person to all others in
attendance, she first spoke to how some
white people can be defensive, feel like they don’t see color and don’t feel
responsible for the plight of Blacks and other minorities. She explained to
them that being a victim of racism is a helluva lot worse than just being
called a racist. She encouraged them to look at the part that they play in the
perpetuation of racism, white privilege and inequality. She spoke of the very
recent example of some white people protesting the all Black cast of “The Wiz”,
calling it reverse racism and suggesting there should be an all White version.
(Guess they are not familiar with “The Wizard of Oz”). Shelley also pointed out something very
significant. None of the problems we face in race relations today will change
until the practice of America meets the promise of America. This statement has
been echoed down through American history. We are still not there yet.
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| Anne Shelley |
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| Brandon Watts, "Poetic Thoughts" |
A first for (well at least the
ones I’ve attended) Poetic Justice VI, we had comedians. First of these was
J.D. Roland. His first set was about bad family get togethers. Set number 2 was
about dating issues (women so argumentative, they would argue with Jesus if
they dated him). The last set included some religious themed adult humor about
masturbation. You could tell he had done a good job by the uninhibited laughter
from the crowd.
After Jessie B’s second stint, a
young man who I had not seen at previous Poetic Justices followed him on stage.
His name was Steve Coger. He should have been coming sooner. His inaugural
foray onto the Poetic Justice stage blew me away. His piece, “Whose In Heaven”, chronicled the
mistreatment of low income and Black people. It told tales of harassment,
misappropriation and abuse of power by police. His voice too, had a lyrical
quality with an engaging cadence. He should come back and do more.
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| Veronica |
Jared returned to the stage to
introduce the next poet but not before hitting us up with another untitled
original piece of his own which we will call “Flow”. The somber theme of
“Flow” revolved around incarceration.
It was a short but poignant piece.
With that, he graciously relinquished the mic to the next one up, a
poetess named Laura Weeks. Laura’s piece was simply titled “Anxiety”. Anyone
familiar with anxiety, panic attacks, depression, etc. felt what Laura had to
say. She saw her anxiety/panic attacks as a monster (metaphorically). Because
of her “monster” she was considered weird. Though her piece was about something
so negative, it also included positive outlook and about being true to your
self.
Tammy Perry, another first timer,
stepped to the staged to perform an original hymn of her own creation entitled
“The Trinity”. The Trinity refers to the
Holy Trinity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Listening to Tammy sing her soulful, stirring ballad from the bottom of her heart had us all
feeling “churched”. When she left the stage, it was to great applause and
appreciation of a job well done.
I am thankful for the opportunity provided
by Poetic Justice Open Mic night. I am glad that I was able to share my gifts
and talents. Looking forward to many more. Be Blessed. ~ Tammy Michelle Perry.
So many great performances
happened at Poetic Justice VI. Dannette Simmons performed “Stardust” about a mother losing a newborn. Haley Smith performed
“The Power of the Word” about former lovers not being able to be friends. F.L.
Jones read another original of hers called “I
Don’t Know But I Will March For You” speaking about abuse, police violence,
gay rights and more. L.I.F.E. – Life
In Front of Everything
(Stacy Harper) performed “Midnight
Moments” about the tests of life, a sink or swim kind of situation that
helps you to see your own strength. She spoke of not letting the tests
overwhelm you because handling the stress is how champions are created. D.J.
came to the stage to read a work by Maya Angelou. Steve Smith returned to the stage to
entertain the crowd with his version of Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature”.
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| Tina Gaston |
Michael Day stepped to the mic with his original piece “She Can Get It” about uplifting women as opposed to the
denigration that has been going on in popular music. Veronica, yet another
first timer, performed “Myself”. It
was a personal piece about not denying whom she was, not denying self. Our
second comedian, Jin, did a set about weird eye contact and former partiers
becoming parental. Brandon Watts aka Poetic Thoughts shared his untitled piece
about having a testimony and opening up in a relationship.
An effervescent Poetic
Justice stage veteran, Trina, brought her own brand of knowledge in the form of
an original poem called “Ignant”. In
it she decried the inconsistencies in America. Stating that the whole
“knowledge is power” thing is a falsehood.
L.I.F.E. returned to the stage to perform “I Will Sing Hallelujah”, an ever-changing work that incorporates
current events. F.L. Jones reprised her “Shake
The Hands”. Rounding out the evening, Anne Shelley returned to the mic to
do a poem about love in which she states, “ Open arms are like angel wings.”
I would be remiss if I didn’t
mention that Umoja Soul Writers’ Group also took up donations to sponsor
Christmas presents for a deserving boy and girl. It’s a great example of some of what the
organization is about.
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| Trina |
Yes, I know this blog is a little
lengthy compared to the others. That should let you know that it really was a
grand old time at Poetic Justice VI. Poets, singers, comedians, music and an
appreciative audience culminated in a great night had by all. Our minds were
expanded, funny bones tickled, spirits uplifted, and our groove stirred. But
don’t just take my word for it. Here is
a quote from one of our audience
members:
This was my first experience with Umoja
Soul. I have always loved spoken word
and am passionate about poetry. I am so happy to see a group of advocates for
Justice that stands up for just us, and aids in raising awareness in an area
that is deeply underrepresented for minorities. ~ Janine D. Jamison, Fort Smith
