Spoken Word: Black Woman's Smile. (D.C. Jena 6 Rally 9/20)

[chelseat1314]

tht was so amzing i mean im speechless because he hit right on the nose evrything he said was nothing less than correct

[MESSIAHTHEgOD]

PEACE GREAT WORK

[Griot4Ever]

Wow...

I thought I was a spoken word artist

WOW...

[digitaldreus]

This has to be one of the most powerful and prolific pieces of poetry ever written. My brother, you have captured the essence of how I feel about a black woman.

I don't think any poem has elicited this much emotion from so many people, ever. Thank you my brother for these messiah-like words. It makes me proud to realize that someone understands. Someone TRULY UNDERSTANDS.

[hijaabiforlife]

OOOOO that is what i call a poem....gave me the chills.

[apparition2]

Racist, queer little jerks are so fear driven and consumed with self loathing that all they have to offer is "hate". Always the same damned thing. Covet, lie, occupy, steal, rape, consume and destroy. This ugly legacy speaks for itself in the Iraq Holocaust but this time the chickens are coming home to roost on them.

Neocruds lie so much that if they tell you that water is wet then you had better turn on your shower to verify it.

[BreathOfOurAncestors]

It is interesting how spin-doctors take anything pro-black and convert it into hate. I long for the day when black people wake from the drug-induced coma that's left us stagnate since the 60's.

Thank you for your informed observation making it clear that truth crushed to earth does rise and eventually chickens really do find they're roost.

[Truth2Freedom]

Ask Barry Pope, a so-called Black disc jockey who has a You Tube spot he posted, why he has been accused and arrested for raping women in the community. One of the lowest creatures on this earth is a rapist!!! Serial rapist are in the Black community, and some of them present themselves as harmless community members.

[BreathOfOurAncestors]

Please tell me what in God's name this has to do with this poem?

[sheizjamaican]

Why iz it when Afro-beings accepts and give tribute to their struggle and to express our feelings towards all our ancestors have been thru, its seen as racism? So, we are not supose to talk about it, we are not supose to face it and teach it to our children so it is known thru out our generations? Isnt it a fact that the white race tricked our people to come to a world unknown to them under false pretense for the sole purpose of slavery? Werent our ancestors, raped tortured murdered, etc? THINK!

[BreathOfOurAncestors]

Amen my sister. I believe that we can learn to love enough to change the conditions most Blacks find themselves in today. But we cannot heal or get better until we deal with the wounds of slavery.The poverty throughout the African Disaspora today is the result of slavery and if we don't ever address it we will remain poverty stricken. There are those who don't want us to look at the past because of all the shame associated. I say we must treat the wounds or they will never heal. Its time to heal

[pookiebear97]

Because it's yt people's guilt complex they want us to forget because in ways they are hurtin' from their forefathers sins as well....It's called projection.

[aabaa98]

the slaves came from africa,sold to the white man by africans

[BreathOfOurAncestors]

This 5 minute poem's been labeled PROPAGANDA. Consider that HBO is airing a 7 part 2-hour mini-series entitled John Adams; depicting how brave & courageous George Washington, Tom Jefferson & the rest of America's founders were. It wont mention the fact that GW owned more than 200 slaves or that Jefferson had more than 20 children by black women. Talk about PROPAGANDA! Propaganda is when one manipulates truth to suit ones purposes. This poem is truth, not 14 hours of PROPAGANDA.

[sheizjamaican]

WEll we wont, we dont preach hatred, but if the truth hurts that then look at yourself(whites) and hurt yourself because this is from the doings of your ancestors. and if all that we endured remained in our dna from ours.

[BreathOfOurAncestors]

MissOrchid: the problem here is that you see this as separatist & that is not the intention at all. this is a love poem; a call for black men to treat their women better. you have interpreted it erroneously because i point out truths that are undeniable. because i point out the problem doesn't mean i perpetuate it, quite the contrary; for how could we ever fix what has not been identified as broken. i wish you could find away to love instead of finding fault. this is about healing, not hate.

[dgw2008]

Slyvia609-B.O.O.A.-I have been to your "hood", as a matter of fact I have been to ghettos from Atl-NO-NY-Middle East and I can tell you that people who have been treated much worse than you can ever imagine have a much better disposition than the females that this video is defending.BTW Im asian,I have no guilt. If your race was persecuted it is because it was too weak to prevent it. Also I am not a christian,but if you are going to throw your religion in my face, make sure you adhere to it.

[sylvia609]

I am still going to pray for you. Peace.

[BreathOfOurAncestors]

dgw2008:i CAN tell u that NO OTHER PEOPLE in the history of the civilized world have been stripped of all their culture, customs & traditions, denied their names, removed from their land, denied education & classed as 3/5 human. Asians have never been stripped of their Asian ancestry as Africans in America have. As for your 'too weak to prevent it' comment. No white supremacist aryian skin-head could be more racist than you obviously are. I pray your hatred never turns against you and yours.

[sylvia609]

Breath - with respect to your response to dgw2008 who happens to be one of the most racist people in the world - Amen my brother! Amen!

[olneymike]

Breath-

You obviously have no background in history and frankly couldn't be more inaccurate in your claim. Most slaves in history had 0% status, were shunned from education and were given adopted names of their new culture(read the book of Daniel!!) Egypt, a country that blacks in this country often credit as a pillar of African pride, has a past of the most brutal slave practices in recorded history, with an M/O of murdering new-borns to keep down slave numbers.

[Wurfel6692]

Don't even bother listening to Breath, he is an ignorant fool who is too busy shoving his head into African history to have any knowledge of anything else. His goal is solely to put down others, as he has showed me in previous arguments we have had.

He is a soar excuse for a worker for peace. It's sad that people like him would actually be trusted in the black community, as it seems that he is one of the few remaining needles in their culture's tattered side.

[breathofmyancestors7]

olneymike:On the contrary, my study of history is quite adequate. Black people enslaved by America are the only people in the history of the civilized world who were stripped of all their customs, all their culture & all their traditions, taken from their homeland & worked for over 300 years. If you can show me any other people in history who have suffered such a fate I will gladly apologize and come to your Youtube film and publicly sing your intellectual praises.

[yADigProductions26]

@breathofmyancestors7 Dayum thas sum real spit

[dgw2008]

Sylvia609- If you are going to call me ignorant, please confront me with more than just unfounded rhetoric and before you pray for me please consult Matt.5/22-24 and remember that God is not on your side when you are simply seeking justification to drive a wedge between his people, no matter what color they are. If you are a believer then you should let your light shine. How can you be good example if you are always frowning and expecting a world full of sinners to make you smile?

[BreathOfOurAncestors]

dgw2008:the definition of ignorant=lack of knowledge.Your lack of knowledge as to the point of this poem is glaring. If you would apply Matt:5/22-24 to your own soul & understand that your black brothers & sisters are in pain as a result of your behavior then we all could start healing. But no, you wont even admit that people are hurting, thoug the evidence is everywhere. Sir, wake up. There's lots of blood in the land and pain as its result. Is God on your side because you are in denyial?

[sylvia609]

And by the way, I did not call you ignorant. I said your unfortunate level of ignorance...

Trust that I will not stoop that low and if it was misinterpreted or misunderstood, or if I was not clear, my apologies.

[dgw2008]

Happiness is between your ears...If you are not smiling you are only giving credit to your opposition. If you are attributing your lack of a positive attitude to the historical depravity that you have never experienced except for in your imagination then you are extremely weak and should not consider leading people untill you have your dillusional thinking under some sort of control.... Unless we do away with segregation provocating speeches such as this we will only regress into more depravity.

[sylvia609]

dgw2008 - I am going to pray for you. Your unfortunate level of ignorance saddens me. Here's the bottom line. Ty Gray-El wrote a love poem for Black men to man up and start accepting responsibility for their treatment of the Black woman - all the while pointing out some reasons why he should. It's okay for everybody else to talk about their problems but the minute we try to share some love we get hated for trying to do so. Ask Betty Shabazz about Malcolm, ask Coretta about Malcom, ask...

[sylvia609]

dgw2008 - I am going to pray for you. Your unfortunate level of ignorance saddens me. Here's the bottom line. Ty Gray-El wrote a love poem for Black men to man up and start accepting responsibility for their treatment of the Black woman - all the while pointing out some reasons why he should. It's okay for everybody else to talk about their problems but the minute we try to share some love we get hated for trying to do so. Ask Betty Shabazz about Malcolm, ask Coretta about Martin, ask...

[dgw2008]

Sylvia609- If you are going to call me ignorant, please confront me with more than just unfounded rhetoric and before you pray for me please consult Matt.5/22-24 and remember that God is not on your side when you are simply seeking justification to drive a wedge between his people, no matter what color they are. If you are a believer then you should let your light shine. How can you be a good example if you are always frowning and expecting a world full of sinners to make you smile?

[sylvia609]

You have interpreted Mat.5/22-24 the way you want it interpreted therefore allowing yourself to think the way you think is right. The truth is, God loves us all and I do too. It just saddens me that you and others like you want to think otherwise. Peace.

[BreathOfOurAncestors]

dgw2008:come to the hood where violence rules, people are starving & hope is non-existent then maintain your 'positive attitude'

We are all, each one of us the some total of all our historical experiences. You say 'depravity you never experienced' obviously you have never been out of your ivory tower. Blacks have been & still are drived educationally, economically, socially & historically. And consider this; it is only YOUR GUILT which offends you & makes you find this love poem provocating.

[dgw2008]

Sylvia609-B.O.O.A.-I have been to your "hood" in fact I have been to ghettos from Atl-NO-NY-Middle East and I have seen people who suffer through more than you can imagine that have a better disposition than the females that this video is defending.BTW IM ASIAN I have no guilt.If your race was persecuted it is because it was too weak to prevent it.Also Im not a christian, but if you throw your religion in my face, make sure you adhere to it. All that you cling to is unfounded rhetoric. So sad...

[BreathOfOurAncestors]

I suggest to all hate-filled folk who have come spitting venom all over this loving tribute to the strength of black women; YOU GET OVER IT. Your HATE shows your ignorance & your continued mockery is foolish,uneducated, myopia. You see, you are making fun of your great, great grandmothers. Have you forgotten that you are spewing hate on your ancestors? Have you forgotten that black women are the mothers of civilization? HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN THAT IF IT WERE NOT FOR HER, YOU WOULD NOT BE? Accept it!

[starsfirst]

You are too involved in being "black power" and racial. Your poem should've been called "Hi Guys Let Me Stir Up Some Hatred Amongst The Black Community Towards White People And Remind Them Of What Their Ancestors Did To Our Ancestors Poem" this was uncalled for. Black women are happy now. Man, if there is ANYTHING for black women to be unhappy about know, its the fact that their men would so obviously prefer a white woman over a black woman. Not you of course, you know to show restraint!

[BreathOfOurAncestors]

The power of brainwashing is evident in the responses from Blacks who have been so thoroughly TRAINED to hate their own that they are pissed at this love poem to their own mothers, sisters, wives, etc.

Here's what's interesting, if Steven Spielberg had directed this, you would be buying tickets, instead of sending death threats.You flocked to see Amistad, but because a black man reminds us of the same truth you find fault and want to kill him.Learn to love yourselves, please!Please WAKE UP!

[Arroyoribera]

To my son (a young white man): Son, you ask me why I comment everywhere we go in Spokane that we don't see blacks. You remind me that we are all the same. Yes, we are all the same -- flesh and bones and potential and spirit. But our histories are not all the same. And history means more than you yet understand as a young teen. I hope this helps you begin to understand, son. Justice is a work in progress and there is much work to be done. Dad

[BreathOfOurAncestors]

Arroyoribera: I really respect your comment. This poem is about love for my people. It is not about hate at all and it pains me that any time a black person points out the truth about history he gets maligned. Steven Spielberg won awards for the movie Amistad, but let a black man state the same historical truth and I become racist. Nobody referred to him as racist for making the film. Why is that. Will anyone respond to this question?

For the record, we are all brothers & sisters under the skin

[Arroyoribera]

To make sure we understand each other--Your video moved me greatly & is in no way racist. Spokane is one of the whitest cities per capita in the US. The Aryan Nations church & other racists have made it famous. 2 of 16 "US domestic terror acts" in the early 1990s were committed by white supremacists here, per the FBI. I understood your video entirely. I was in junior high in Bossier City during desegregation and saw racist hate. Your video is love. I wanted my son to know that. Thanks so much

[galanoth17]

stupid reaction by the crowd... they should've been awed and quiet... i understand more than them what they went through and i'm not black

[BreathOfOurAncestors]

galanoth17: Are you suggesting the crowd's reaction was stupid because they applauded and agreed?

Please can you tell me what makes you hate black people so much. The fact that they enjoyed hearing something that touched their souls should make anyone hearing it feel good.

Instead you find a way to put it down. Does that tell you something about yourself?

Hatred will turn on you and eat your insides. I pray that you come around before that happens. Learn to love instead of hate.

[galanoth17]

fuck off... stop speculating so much

[BreathOfOurAncestors]

I wonder why this Love poem is causing so much hate to be stirred up.

IT IS A LOVE POEM TO BLACK WOMEN!

What's the matter? Why are people so upset that I would have the heart to write something meaningful and prideful about my sisters?

I love my people, why do you have such a problem with that?

And why is your hatred so strong? What is it about our melanin that you hate so much?

Please respond to these questions?

[Negativions]

uhhh people with pride, people with pride. If you got whiped then stand up and resist! If you stay at home posting comments on youtube like the rest of us, sit down and shut up, it doesn't matter of you are dark skinned, wtf people.

[PeaceVendetta]

Yay! Comon Whites Make The Black Women SMILES!!! Have The Guts Man!

Peace From K.L,M'sia.

[shebaisTFC]

check 50 cents/kanye west/rihannas new videos on my challe and download them from my site

[samantha9090]

preach on!!! Amazing words of wisdom and truth. So encouraging and thought provoking....thank you for putting a smile on this black woman!!!

[Negativions]

This is cool if it isn't projected to me, or to the general public of today. We didn't do anything to you, you didn't do anything to us. Yes, it sucks what happened, but we weren't there and niether were you, so please, just don't project. I've it happen and it is retarded. Go ahead an call me evil, or whatever, but I never hurt a person.

[shanie2711]

I almost can't help but laugh when people say words like slavery, and we weren't there. Racism is still prevailent and creates barriers that are inforced by the government. You talk as if we have progressed as a nation since slavery...Do we not know about the Jim Crow laws and The Civil Rights Movement. We have every right to be upset because the world you live and the footsteps layed out before you doesn't give my people this same opportunity. Education is power ignorance is stupidity

[Negativions]

Dude, you are 20. Go get a job if you don't have one, be a wage slave like the rest of us, we aren't hurting you. You were born mid 1980s. Your life isn't so hard. I am white and I have no pride in the color of my skin, it is irrelevant. I was poor, I shit in trash bags. Now I'm about to get a bachelors payed for by myself. Don't project.

[nadoop]

Well, the government elite shits on ALL of us - regardless of race. We are all modern day slaves to the gov. But I don't think it's fair to get upset when blacks acknowledge our ancestors - what they've gone through, and the impact it has on AA people TODAY. The Irish and Italians talk about their ancestor's experiences too, so why can't we? And don't assume just bcuz we acknowledge our past, doesn't mean we don't have jobs. I'm pretty sure that most of us are working. ;-)

[altaski]

i like when dem african-american womens shake they ass on all dem Jay Z vids... gold chains and platinum rings make any black woman smile

[BreathOfOurAncestors]

altaski: your disrespect is strengthening, sir. it galvanizes those of us who recognize what led to the 'vids' that you probably sit around your trailor-park-mansion, in your wife-beater-teeshirt and fantasize off of.

obviously the truth in this piece forces the hate coursing thru your vains to bubble-up and spew out of your mouth. i feel sorry for you and pray that one day you will learn to love instead of hate and recognize that the Black women in this video are your MAMA's fore-parents...

[peculliar6]

could you please stop crying and get over it. this is the 21st century

[BigJLuke]

Peculliar is an apt name for u. Unless you are joking, you are peculiarly evil evidently. If you are seriously asking us to get over 400 years of being treated like cows and sheep and deliberately miseducated, then you are the devil and should go back to hell.

[BreathOfOurAncestors]

peculliar6:I am always amazed at the lack of compassion in people who lack melanin. Is there one statement in this poem that is not the truth? Have you no heart for those millions that your ancestors killed & used like labor mules & branded like animals. When the Jews cry about their pain & suffering & Hitler & the holocaust, I don't hear you telling them to "get over it."

One more question; WHY IS YOUR HATRED SO STRONG? WHAT MAKES MY BLACKNESS SO WRONG. What fuels your hatred?

[BigJLuke]

Man this thing is ice-cold. Every young dude and old-head as well need to be held down and this joint pumped in they're ears.

Brotha, I don't know where you come from, but every body on this planet to listen to this.

I ain't never again going to even think about hurting a black woman...damn...

[Ancestral1]

Bro. Ty, man I don't know why Oprah, Tavis & the rest of them are not talking about this. Once we start to address this right here, we can heal.

Thank you my brother. THIS IS A WAKE UP CALL!

[BreathOfOurAncestors]

Ancestral1: Rich, not wealthy, black people are so comfortable within their plush gilded shanty-sheds that they are terrified to address the issues that would take away their Bentley's & Benz's. When we really start to love each other & reject this Eurocentric linear disconnected thinking. We all rise!

SELF LOVE IS THE SAVIOR.

Ty

[SingstaMay]

Thank you so much for this and the powerfully beautiful video you posted.

[BreathOfOurAncestors]

I would like to thank all of you who have made A Black Woman's Smile so popular.

I appreciate your support, sincerely.

_Ty Gray-EL

[QueenQuanda]

Wow! this man really loves us(Black Women). I'd like to meet him and tell him thank you for making the world realize what it truly means to be a Black woman. Wow, a Black man who really loves Black women. That's amazing!

[BreathOfOurAncestors]

QueenQuanda: Thank you for this observation. You are right. I really do love you my sister and I hope to make the world understand how significant and important you are to us and to the world at large...You stay strong!

Ty Gray-EL

[Melanized1]

Again, these have to be the most powerful words I ever heard. My God, this is a sign that it is time for Black people to rise from the sleep we have been sleeping for the last 400 years.

Thank you again my brother, this is a clear indicator that it is time to rise.

[BreathOfOurAncestors]

I appreciate you my brother. When we really start to love our way back up out of slavery's vestiges we will realize how wrong we have been with respect to our women. We are the only race on earth that disrepects its women. We have to change that, immediately!

Ty Gray-EL

[RicoTheScorpio]

A Black Woman's Smile is today's wake up call, hopefully it's the last - if we all wake up to appreciate the beauty of our culture and receive this message without attempting to kill the messenger.

[TjuhuTiy]

As Sr. Instructor at an HBCU (will not name here),once ostricized after reciting poetry I wrote entitled: "My Afraka, My Woman", what was most moving was the stained glass images of black women near the end of the original footage. I felt something in my DNA move and change and had a vision of potent greatness seeing that.

[queenrie1969]

And out of the shadows comes a voice that speaks to us like the drum of our ancestral home. Ty.. Thank you so much.. Your words spoke directly to my soul and combined with that DNA you referenced in this phenomenal piece. I needed to hear it... we all need to hear it. Keep it coming strong.. dont back down an inch with what you are doing to bring knowledge and encouragement to our people. God Bless!

[BreathOfOurAncestors]

Queenrie1969:THANK YOU MY SISTER! Thank you. It has been and still is the intestinal fortitude and the indomitable strength of you, the mother of civilization, which has sustained us. We owe you life itself and praise God for your undying love. You have nurtured us through hell and high water and I will defend you to the death. I love you! And may almighty God bless you and keep you forever...

-Ty Gray-EL

[foronlyhislove]

A voice crying out from the wildernest. I thank God for the words of love and encouragment for us sisters, which are found in all shades of beauty. I too have a man that makes me smile, and a Savior who gives me joy. May you be forever blessed and inspired to share a great word.

[charleygirl727]

who is this man? Does he have a book or something?

[BreathOfOurAncestors]

Peace my sister. You can find my materials at breathofmyancestorsllc dot com

And thank you for your wonderful comments...

[charleygirl727]

I have been criticized,degraded,disrespect­ed and called out of my name and character by certain people and from the mouths of these same people they have the audacity to ask me why don't I walk around with a smile on my face! This really hit home for me.

I thank you very much for this piece. You have just made this black woman smile!

[Ancestral1]

This is absolutely awesome! I pray our Ancestors bless and keep this voice rising. If we can keep these words reverberating around the cosmos, we will learn to love ourselves again. Then none of it will have been in vain.

God bless you and keep you speaking my brother. 4ever

[Cbrooms]

Ty,

You've outdone yourself this time. The video was great and certainly makes the point. Reality stinks, but it speaks to our strength that we CAN still smile. Your video is a testament to our determination and will. It made me feel powerful beyond words. I can take the hardest hits and still come out on top. You made this Black woman smile.

Keep it up. --Christine

[cherylfbrown2]

tell the truth...

[mzcat69]

nuff respect 1love tru luv!!!

[kglove01]

The sad thing is that a 50 Cent or Little Wayne will get into more of our children's ears instead of REAL poetic words like this.

[Talithapraiz]

Too sad but too true

[ursulariceel]

Once Again and as Always you amaze me with your ability to pierce one's soul with your Spoken Word. I Love you Daddy! Always!

[wasalaqawi]

MAN UP!!!!! my brother

[daddysgil8792]

I have seen Ty Gray-EL (and worked with him many times) and trust me, all of his work is captivating. Watching him, you briefly think, see and hear a little of Dr. King. I love his work and commend him on his passion. However, I am more proud than anything. He is truly delivering his God given talent to people that need to hear it. God bless you Ty!

[DirectorQ]

A MOVEMENT IS IN PROGRESS.

[DeeOhMin]

yo lemme know if anyone else got anymore with the people who did raps or poems..I'm tryin to find myself on here lol

[youngfella77]

Great!Great!Great!

[VLJ2006]

a beautiful poem but true all black women including myself have to struggle so much but

I will continue the fight

[Glamouris305]

Good Speech

[robyn2288]

I had to rate this one! excellent!!!! I love this poem

[mmawrestler04]

Couldn't agree with you more, brother was extremely good with his words.

[tomyq68]

That was a great speech.