def poetry jam amir sulaiman she said

Def Poetry, also known as Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry or Def Poetry Jam, which was Co-Founded by Bruce George, Danny Simmons and Deborah Pointer is an HBO television series produced by hip-hop music entrepreneur Russell Simmons. The series presents performances by established spoken word poets, as well as up-and-coming ones. Well-known actors and musicians will often surprise the audience by showing up to recite their own original poems. The show is hosted by Mos Def. Def Poetry is a spin-off of Def Comedy Jam.
As he did on Def Comedy, Simmons appears at the end of every episode to thank the audience. The show premiered in 2002 and the latest season to air (Season 6) premiered in February 2007. As of summer 2008, there has been no word about the possibility of a Season 7.
Though techinically not a poetry slam, Def Poetry has become heavily associated with the poetry slam movement, and utilizes many of poetry slam's best known poets, including National Poetry Slam champions such as Beau Sia, Taylor Mali, Big Poppa E, Mayda del Valle, Mike Mcgee, Alix Olson and Rives, among others. Even poets who are critical of the poetry slam, such as John S. Hall, have acknowledged slam's influence on the show. In a 2005 interview, Hall was quoted as saying,
It's true that I was on Def Poetry even though I've never slammed. I'm probably the only person to be on there who hasn't slammed. And I think most people on Def Poetry have won slams or done well in slams. And, all of them, except the special guest stars, the celebrities, are writing slam poems and performing slam poems on Def Poetry, so to me, Def Poetry is still extremely slam-informed, and I think it will probably always be. What they say about Def Poetry is that it wants to bring an urban feel. And to me, they don't mean black or Latino, or non-white. What they really mean is, a rhythm of poetry that comes out of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, that came out of the slams. [1]
In a 2005 interview, Bob Holman, who founded the Nuyorican Poets Cafe's poetry slam and appeared on Season 4 of the show, applauded Def Poetry, noting,
I'm real happy poetry is on television. My hat is off to Russell Simmons, who has found a way to get poems on HBO in a way that feeds his own business. It gives him the back credentials for his hip-hop label, and at the same time he's magnanimous towards the art of poetry, giving us a place like that. It's a great, great moment, just as Def Poetry Jam on Broadway was a great moment, too. Not since Ntozake Shange's For Colored Girls [Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf, 1975 Obie Award-winning play] has a poem like that been on the stage. [2]
In November 2002, a live stage production, Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam opened on Broadway. The show feauted poets Beau Sia, Suheir Hammad, Staceyann Chin, Lemon, Mayda del Valle, Georgia Me, Black Ice, Poetri and Steve Coleman. The show ran on Broadway until May 2003, and won a 2003 Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event.[3]. The show subsequently toured both nationally and internationally.

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[tweeta22]

Deeeeeep

we need more brothers who feel this way

[per14843]

I will join her on that broken neck. Many of us want to find love and give our heart but do not trust the opposite sex enough to give our hearts..so man my neck hurts.

[RaihanatyAJ]

Wow, powerful!

[Liawil10]

I love this poem

[noitslee]

"Having love is more important than having a lover".

[VoteforPedro10]

Anyone notice the crazy dressed guy at the very beginning?

[MsFamousgirl11]

you are just raw man ur words are cold Amir you bad as heck man!!

[ffemt66]

(They are ghost in the streets,

Drunk in the wind, only a moment is spent and those moments are brief,

Our sons' role models are rolling stones unknown or deceased,

They figure we can't teach them manhood, so they'll get grown in the streets,

So in the cold world they find warmth with the men holding the heat.)

That's unreal. I don't think I've heard a more powerful poem. July 20, 2011 I feel this poem like it was written yesterday. Thank you so much for writing that, and thanks for the post

[SoulReaperXll]

lol my 6th time watching this and i still get chills

[jeriesha2011]

love his work

[guilled13]

homo-thugs! lmao.

[bengaliballa]

I think he is the best I have seen in Def Jam.