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Spoken Word in Babylon System: The Professional Poet

Jerry QuicklyLast week Jerry Quickly interviewed a group of “professional” poets on KPFK. I will assume that most of these people were souls of African descent. The poets were on the air to promote at least three bullets:

  • Their show at the L.A. Theatre Center.
  • The pathetic state of the “art” of spoken word.
  • The “professional poet.”In the promotion of the show at the L.A. Theatre Center, I recognized the name Jaha Zainabu. We are proud and pleased to host a small sample of her work here at kintespace.com. The second name that was known to me was Gina Loring—also here at kintespace.com. None of these names were represented during the Jerry Quickly interview so whatever ‘bad stuff’ to be said in this Blog post have very little to do with them…

The Approach toward the Pathetic State of Spoken Word

The speakers in the Jerry Quickly interview came at the pathetic state of spoken word from a fundamentally Babylonian shopkeeper point of view instead of a political point of view. I see this approach as incorrect only because I do not intend to “make a living” off of poetry. The solace and nipple comfort for the people who are trying to make a living being an “artist” these days is that I am not talented or skilled and, in fact, I am a part of the tyranny of mediocrity that dominates the poetry scene. This of course is an act of murder toward an innocent man and I choose to escape as a fugitive instead of trying to represent myself in an artificial court of law—for laws laid by corrupt flesh men.

My recommended political point of view looking on the pathetic state of spoken word is to see the possibility that the hordes of mediocre poets out there are developed deliberately by a dominator culture. An empire cannot contain a population that knows how to think and command language. My recommendation is not to condemn the victims but to take the opportunity to remind us of the systems in place that create such bland, dependent and egocentric people. Speech itself is under attack because Hitler knows what brought him to power…

Regarding the “Professional Poet”

The opinion here is that the poet is fundamentally fascinated with language and speech itself. This area of fascination is most rewarding for poets of African descent because they descend from the oldest cultures on Earth—peoples so old that they have a collective memory of the innovation of word making (logic) itself. My discipline based on this fascination immediately permits me to ignore “artists” who find no value whatsoever in this primitivism. This is not destructive on my part because any agile and swift Babylonian shopkeeper can spot a customer who is not going to buy it and they ignore me before I have “my chance” to ignore them. It’s a win-null situation—me with null…

The grounding here is that a poet who professes is not far from a prophet—and when you hear a prophet speak it will “move you”—to quote two words I heard during the interview. What I came away with from the Quickly interview is that the mediocre masses should be willing to pay money to listen to words that surely may question the need to make money. The mediocre masses are willing to pay money to not listen to the mediocre masses—they need a “professional” instead—a very New York state of mind… It’s like a little empire state building inside of an empire state building. No thing is free and materialists get what they pay for…

So let me guess here…

  • A small cartel of spoken word artists will form a caste system that companies like Viacom can package and shop around as voices of diversity. It looks similar to the time in New Orleans when creoles approached the white town fathers with a deal…
  • The business model of the “professional poet” will resemble that of the “rap artist”—from the much respect deserved for the work of Mos Def down to the television appearances of famous names we all know and we don’t want the search engines to hit here today…
  • The “professional poet” will become a recognizable product for the entertainment industry and this will be seen as an innovative achievement instead of yet another Negro job program for talented, charismatic tokens used to pacify the mediocre masses…

Comments

carolyn baxter, 2006-12-04 12:55:09

Ilive in East Village in NYC.The Capitol of really Awful Poetry,mixed in with some gems at times,The reason its so Bad is to ''eating''on Poetry is tough...Poetry takes no ''Halfsteppers''Nowadays you have to have Balls! and a Hustle.If you work a 9to 5 ''The Muse escapes you before you take off your shoes'' and relax after a hard days work. I'd work 12 hourshifts as a Nurse then I was DEAD.I'd sleep, rise from my coffin, and do it all over again.4days on 3 days DEAD.In Hybernation sleep..Untill 9/11.That did it.The deeams, Deja Vu BIGTIME excellerated Ceativity BIGTIME,..Spritually to intence for this writing I realised what made me feel good and what I was here to do.I've known it before been published many times, but it was that middleclass civil Servent whos womb I came out of,thatwas still influencing me.Not now a Jumbo jet explodes in your face hell! youll jump in an Elephants chest over some bullshit after that.So when I say Balls I mean you have to eat less,write more live below your means,and stand Up to and for what you beleave.. etc. but you have a purpose,and are always centered That s worth Gold.Now as for the commercial clones that will be created...yeah thats the way of the american exploytation ...Way but somehwere in the middle of all the spit and bullshit,,maybe ..just maybe a good poet like me can get out a small living,and respected for their craft.As a Blackwoman I'd apprciate the work,as Im committed to my art,and a lil to old to do the ''starving artist bit'' authorsden.com/carolyncbaxter

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