Poetry: The Soul of Our Struggle

There is a movement going on, a movement of young people who are realizing the oppressive nature of their society and are dedicating their lives to creating new realities for themselves and their communities. Poetry, in its many forms, is at the heart of this movement, speaking out against oppressive systems and speaking up for self-determination, self-identification and bold visions of alternate realities...

“Poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence. It forms the quality of the light within which we predicate our hopes and dreams toward survival and change, first made into language, then into idea, then into more tangible action.�

- Audre Lourde

“The job of the writer is to make revolution irresistible.�
- Toni Cade Bambara

There is a movement going on, a movement of young people who are realizing the oppressive nature of their society and are dedicating their lives to creating new realities for themselves and their communities. Poetry, in its many forms, is at the heart of this movement, speaking out against oppressive systems and speaking up for self-determination, self-identification and bold visions of alternate realities.

Some call it spoken word. At times it sounds like hip-hop. Others insist we use the word poetry. By whatever name, it is our stories, our truths, and our songs, spoken from our own mouths. Poetry, as old as breath itself, is the foundation of all human cultural expression. From poetry comes lyric, song, narrative, drama, scripture, essay and ideology.
Only a few years ago, poetry was hidden in cafés and small intimate circles and often associated with finger snapping. For many young people, poetry was seen purely as an academic exercise, as English teachers led their students to believe only Robert Frost and William Shakespeare defined poetry. It was not cool for young people, especially young men, to express themselves using this cultural art form. For years my poems were hidden in journals under my bed, and along with them my thoughts, ideas and emotions.

Throughout the eighties and nineties, community-based cultural institutions, such as the Nuyorican Poets Café in the Lower East Side (Manhattan), the Afrikan Poetry Theatre in Queens, and the Brooklyn Moon in Fort Greene (Brooklyn) created an open space for myself and other young people to express ourselves in front of a captive audience, at open mics.

An open mic session has its own kind of energy. Sometimes the chairs are arranged like church pews facing a podium or stage with a single microphone. Other times, the chairs are arranged in a circle so that eye contact is continuous. Either way, a space is created where emotions and ideas can be shared without judgement. A list is passed around for people to sign-up for the open mic. An encouraging and energetic host calls each person to take their turn filling this sacred space with words from their notebook, paper or freestyle – extemporaneous poetry. Throughout the open mic, the listeners respond church-like with a mixture of laughter, head-nods, finger-snaps, reflective silence and applause.

The open mic is democracy at work. The microphone is open to all, regardless of gender, race, class, age, education or sexual orientation. All perspectives, even if disputed, are respected. Poetry is an opportunity to gain knowledge from different perspectives, giving us each an understanding of our universal human experience, the formula for creating community.

Through these poetry venues, I was introduced to new people and new ideas. Others raised questions similar to my own – questions of hopelessness, poverty and injustice in our society through their poetry. Some stood up with flyers for rallies, meetings and discussions on many issues. One of the first events I went to was about a man I had never heard of before, Mumia Abu-Jamal. I learned of the unjust treatment Mumia had received, and about other political prisoners and the prison industry. In this way, poetry venues were my entrance into the activism that would shape all my poetry and my life.

At the Uptown New York City Young Communist League club’s monthly “Politics, Poetry & Peace� discussion and open mic, poetry and hip-hop share equal time with topic-based discussion. Many times, we find that a single poem has summed up the sentiments and mood of the discussion. Other times the open mic session adds new elements and allows young people who previously were unable to speak, have a voice.

Without having read the writings of Karl Marx, the speeches of Che Guevara, or the Autobiography of Malcolm X, through poetry, young people clearly and articulately describe their feelings, thoughts and ideas about the conditions surrounding their lives and their communities. Many of these poems, which deal with topics like police brutality, miseducation, the prison industry, racism, and sexism, are personal testimonies against capitalism and imperialism. These poems transcend political analysis, and offer beauty, love and hope for change, transformation and struggle.

The poets themselves are transformed by this process. In a culture where individualism is a core value, but there are no platforms available for individuals to express themselves, the open mic represents true access to society. Now, we have a voice. Each time we mouth our stories and our truths, we speak ourselves into existence. A people who have identified themselves and can describe their conditions is an empowered people. They are beginning a process of transforming and molding themselves, their families and their communities – thus transforming society.

With this modern spoken word movement, history is no longer told in a straight line, by the so-called history-tellers. The telling of history has returned to the oral tradition, read from personal journals and tattered printout sheets at open mics and poetry gatherings everywhere. Individuals indigenous to each community are able to have their story recorded, with their own local, national and global perspectives given full value and appreciation.

In New York, more young people probably get their information from poems than Fox News and the New York Post. In the past two years, while corporate-owned media made jingoistic war cries, poets asked questions and offered alternatives to violent reactions. Even as the American history books record the acquittals of all four police officers involved in the shooting death of Amadou Diallo, New York poets help create a community perspective by screaming, yelling and repeating “41 shots! 41 times! 41 bullets! Why 41?!� These are just two examples of poetry helping to form our consciousness.

Poetry made its way back into the everyday lives of young people through the open mic. These events have given many young people their only opportunity to express themselves. Now poetry can be heard on street corners, at rallies, in schools, in churches, on television, and at open mics everywhere. With this modern resurgence of poetry in our society, this cultural tool will not and cannot be viewed as either a commodity for capitalist exploitation, or merely a political tool for those in the movement, but as a valuable means of human expression in itself.

Everyone should write poetry. What we write, as poets, is on the forefront of ourselves. We write when we are exploring, want to gain clarity or are searching for truths within ourselves. When we form a poem into specific language, we give life to these budding emotions, thoughts and ideas. Poetry is the natural phenomenon of emotions and thoughts forming into words, ideas and then action. Through young people today, poetry again takes its rightful place as the soul of our struggle.

Kahlil Almustafa is a member of the Uptown YCL Club and has a CD/Book entitled "CounterIntelligence," to be released in
March 2004.