Slam Poetry, Joaquin

[kMtaber22]

this guy is good.

[monet115]

hot and beautiful words, hot and beautiful poet!

[izalum]

the crucible :)

[switchhitter08]

WAY TO GO, JOAQUIN!!!!

[blink182lover5216]

haha im 14 and 3 months ago i texted my friend a poem i wrote that went my heads on fire my minds in a blaze oh how i wish of better days days with no hatred days with no fear days when all i wonted was for you to be here but that was all a dream a hope a thought a wish i should have wonted more but now all i ask is this that u will let me go my spirit set free so that someday there will be more to see more that a face more than a desperate cry so i might become something before the day i die

[RendezvouDoo]

god bless ppl like him... we need more...

[Teirusu155]

Shows the impression my teachers had on me, I hated the Crucible, but I knew it was the Crucible when he said it. Well done poem!

[BMADillon]

robbery. shameful.

[zihuatanejos]

@BMADillon: what the hell is that suppose to mean?

[orchedorksrok]

@BMADillon you have no idea what you're talking about, stop talking.

[Joethegirl]

i saw the comment made by an ex-student. that made me smile. you must be an amazing teacher. :D

you sure do have a great control over words.

[thebeautifly9]

Mr. Zihuatanejo!! You are freakin awesome. Im sorry I was such a pain in the ass in your class!! Everytime you spoke though, I listened.. I kept every project I did in your class. You are a remarkable person and thanks for being such a great teacher!-- Christian

[tatorsal]

It was in high my love of poetry began, teachers like this do inspire, even with a pathetic paycheck...

[bmccust358]

reminds me a lot of mike mcgee

[supersayan1]

thats true, i have the honor to say he was my english teacher in high school, denton high school

[Ecdysiast96]

I want to be just like you too. I like that poem. I used to do slam poetry with my mom

[redgirlinbluedresses]

This is the ONLY thing I miss about Texas. The poets.

[zprovidence]

Awesome!!

[vergasocsar]

good job...great delivery

[aNaLyRiC]

Video is a lil shaky, but those words compensate for it!

[Fight4delight14G15]

wow very inspiring i love my english teacher but i wouldn't mind them teaming up!!!

[Saggs22]

I love this guy.

[pilgrimsareillegal]

Why do they have to speak like that? It is so irritating. I...hate...this...type...poetr­y...

[PyroDefysGravity]

Then why bother commenting?

[GhostBarbieDog]

because that's a comment and this is the space in which you place comments.

[dryeys]

lol

[ameliabedillia06]

he was an awesome english teacher...very inspiring! i hope you're still doing good!

[justaflirt90]

absolutely love the crucible part!!!

awesome book

awesome poem.

also... "when i saw two wanna be thug vato locos... do what most civilized countries on this planet cannot do, unclench their fist and chose not to fight."

fuckin amazing!!

[headknockinhoney]

touching.

Would love to be a student where he teaches..

[rollas07]

He is the best Teacher i ever had!!!!!! He alwayas perform in class...Ur awasome Mr. Zihuatanejo...... Keep it Up!!!!!!

[twil9ght]

Oohh this one gets me all teary every time! I wish I'd had an English teacher like this.

[DanceStories]

who is the poet? like, what is his name?

[woodsta0818]

his name is Joaquin Zihuatanejo

[elshortino]

for the first portion of this poem, there is some definite Taylor Mali channeling going on. It's like plagiarism of thought. Just expressed in different words. My response: What? The hell...

[Mother3Earth]

slam poetry is the SHIT!

[suicidepages]

Hello! I did a slam poetry thing too, check me out live on my channel. I did it the other night. Wee-hee, tell me what you think. It was very dirty

[kaweezah]

hey..i kinda has the same foundation of taylor mali's on what teachers make (that clip is also in youtube, if you want you can see for it yourself)

[dreamcatcher741]

OMG... he is awsome. If you didn't pick up on it, he was quoting from the Crucible "Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life!" keep it up!

[pirate69hate]

Slam! (duh duh duh, duh duh duh - Let the boys be boys!)

Slam! (duh duh duh, duh duh duh - Make noise b-boys!)

Slam! (duh duh duh, duh duh duh - Let the boys be boys!)

Slam! (duh duh duh, duh duh duh - Make noise b-boys!)

[ikickpuppies1]

fail

[Bellabellie]

That last line. WOW.

Truly.

Head over heels.

[allthekentsmen]

fucking hell! when you coming to britain joaquin!

[222mo222]

Oni The Haitian Sensation - the queen of slam poetry, look her up, read her book. She's awesome

[lemonadegrave]

that was pretty cool.

[artspeakstalent]

This cat is real. He believes in what he says and says what he believes. He is always one in the same...teacher turned poet turned teacher.

[HadiyahJoy]

what are you saying they just held a SLAM a month ago in Right there in Austin?

[Splitter402]

Where does he teach? I live in Austin but I've never seen any of the Slam events here yet

[4Vox]

He used to teach at Denton High School in Denton, Texas. He was my 11th grade English teacher.

Right now he's taking off on teaching to do poetry.

[32oz]

really?

[sanger8990]

@4Vox He's a great poet. I would have loved to have had to honor to be in his classroom. However, I was lucky enough to compete against him. I am a poet as well. Joaquin is far greater than I will ever be, but even though he was never my teacher, he has taught me so much.

[rapunzzle]

He's really good :)

If anyone's a fan of slam, check out Canadian champ Shane Koyczan (some of his stuff is on here) and he's increadible.

[GetKrunk09]

This guy was my English teacher in high school

[Fanta666]

Bravo!!

[6parts7]

this almost made me cry.

[chaplainfelix]

this is awesome. does anyone know of any SLAM poetry houses in Australia?

[KayleeAllyn]

I wish I had a teacher like this in school.

[goshenqueen]

I can't even tell you what this...how this affected me. There are no words. But the part that hit me the most is when he is talking about his only deaf student this year, john, who restores antique radios because he likes the way static feels in his palms.

[DivaTriniLove]

can we please get more of these real teachers! if words are true...let this be...!

[krisw2012]

this is so beautiful thank u BECAUSE IT IS MY NAME

[generalc34]

I think what citizenwind was trying to say is that one hand isn't enough fingers to count the amount of times Joaquin tells the exact same story of another performance poet. Wanna list?

[zihuatanejos]

@generalc34 yes...give us a list

[SamLandry]

Steal? No, not even close. I'm sure there are hundreds, if not thousands, of teachers out there who feel the same way as Joaquin and Taylor Mali. I see two different messages in the poems that some capture the same meaning. You can't steal emotions, you can't fake that shit. I could read Joaquin's poem, go crazy with it, and yet I'll never share the same passion, the same level of energy as he did. So, shame to those who cite stealing. Many artists paint the sea.

[zihuatanejos]

@SamLandry couldn't have said it better.

[mmaumm]

That is what it means to be a teacher.

[hagglethelesser]

That's my old teacher! Holy shit!

[freedomtragedy]

" I make them press the pencils down so hard when they write, they make impressions on things they were not intending to impress" love that. great and original

[Aliya01]

it made me laf and think... completely defies my opinion of teachers.. thanx

[Evanesce33]

That was rather entertaining, I enjoyed it~

[citizenwind]

man, I could've sworn Taylor Mali did this exact poem already.

http://www.taylormali.com/medi­a/whatteachers.mp3

[yoadrian127]

Interesting. I took this film at the Austin Slam Poetry in April. I suppose all English teachers feel the same.

[citizenwind]

this isn't the first time Joaquin's poetry has raised some eyebrows with his ... uh ... thematic similarities.

[citizenwind]

or all English teacher poets steal from each other.

[orchedorksrok]

@yoadrian127 I'm sure any teacher feels the same way. Why else would anyone willingly go into teaching knowing the kind of pay check they are gonna get? To help, inspire, and educate students to hope in the end that they get something out of class. And the day they do, makes the paycheck seem inadequate, because you know you've just made a difference in someone's life.

[anneyeppuda]

I agree ^^

[anidddd]

Or all teachers hate being underpaid and believe what they do is noble.

I've heard the same words come out of my teachers mouthes without the form of poetry.

None of what they actually say is the same though. Taylor's is a conversation with a lawyer, they don't seem at all similar to me. Just the same subject matter.

Taylor Mali is annoying anyway and his 'influences' have been questioned just as well.

[zihuatanejos]

@citizenwind: someone needs to get out and hear more poetry if it sounds the same.

[iwwarmachine]

@citizenwind he did lol

[kenedaj]

i wish he was my english teacher.. we'd get along great.. i love slam poetry

[darvijen]

This guy's good, and a teacher too. He'll be one of those teachers that everyone remembers. Rock on, teacher dude. Keep preaching the power of words.