Remembering Amiri Baraka Through His Poetry (7/10/34 – 9/1/14)

Ka’Ba

“A closed win­dow looks down
on a dirty court­yard, and Black people
call across or scream across or walk across
defy­ing phys­ics in the stream of their will.

Our world is full of sound
Our world is more lovely than any­one’s
tho we suf­fer, and kill each oth­er
and some­times fail to walk the air.

We are beau­ti­ful people
With Afric­an ima­gin­a­tions
full of masks and dances and swell­ing chants
with Afric­an eyes, and noses, and arms
tho we sprawl in gray chains in a place
full of win­ters, when what we want is sun.

We have been cap­tured,
and we labor to make our get­away, into
the ancient image; into a new

Cor­res­pond­ence with ourselves
and our Black fam­ily. We need magic
now we need the spells, to raise up
return, destroy,and cre­ate. What will be

the sac­red word?

Monday in B‑Flat

I can pray
all day
& God
wont come.

But if I call
911
The Dev­il
Be here

in a minute!

Pre­face to a Twenty Volume Sui­cide Note

Lately, I’ve become accus­tomed to the way
The ground opens up and envel­opes me
Each time I go out to walk the dog.
Or the broad edged silly music the wind
Makes when I run for a bus…

Things have come to that.

And now, each night I count the stars.
And each night I get the same num­ber.
And when they will not come to be coun­ted,
I count the holes they leave.

Nobody sings any­more.

And then last night I tip­toed up
To my daugh­ter­’s room and heard her
Talk­ing to someone, and when I opened
The door, there was no one there…
Only she on her knees, peek­ing into

Her own clasped hands

Wise I

    WHYS (Nobody Knows
The Trouble I Seen)
Tra­di­tion­al

If you ever find
your­self, some where
lost and sur­roun­ded
by enemies
who won’t let you
speak in your own lan­guage
who des­troy your statues
& instru­ments, who ban
your omm bomm ba boom
then you are in trouble
deep trouble
they ban your
own boom ba boom
you in deep deep
trouble

humph!

prob­ably take you sev­er­al hun­dred years
to get
out!

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Rishma Dhaliwal

Edit­or / PR Con­sult­ant at No Bounds

Rishma Dhali­w­al has extens­ive exper­i­ence study­ing and work­ing in the music and media industry. Hav­ing writ­ten a thes­is on how Hip Hop acts as a social move­ment, she has spent years research­ing and con­nect­ing with artists who use the art form as a tool for bring­ing a voice to the voice­less. Cur­rently work­ing in TV, Rishma brings her PR and media know­ledge to I am Hip Hop and oth­er pro­jects by No Bounds.

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