I AM AN AMERICAN by STEVE CONNELL

Independence means freedom of speech to poet Steve Connell. This poem is a declaration of independence. Connell is the Hollywood and LA Champion (2002 and 2003 respectively), as well as National Champion at the National Poetry Slam Competition (2003), and the winner of the 2003 New Word Series National Poetry Slam. His work has been featured on such diverse media/stage outlets as ABC World News, MSNBC's Hardball, Good Morning America, HBO's Def Poetry, Showtime's Crossover, MTV's World AIDS Festival, BET's Lyric Cafe, Artisan Film's Belly DVD, Oprah Winfrey's celebration of Maya Angelou's 75th birthday, and several national radio spots and spoken word tours, most notably Declare Yourself, where he helped register over a million voters. As an actor his feature film debut was a supporting lead in The Beat, which premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. ACLU commissioned Connell and Sekou Tha Misfit to create a new work for them.

Peter M. Smith - DP, Editor, Producer; Steve Connell - Writer, Poet, Producer; Garth MacAleavey - Music; Lee Levin - Sound

Related Websites: stevenconnell.com lasrever.com

• Category

  News & Politics

[aydawnn]

This was beautiful

[DvineINFEKT]

had to watch this as part of an assignment. Very glad I'm been doing my homework.

Hey Toby. Great stuff. hahaha

[daniel mcfarlane]

IDIOT!

[Chosengriffin1]

AMEN!!!!!!!

[MunaPoet]

I love you!! perfect!! This is what the power of words can do!!

[patriotsfan1379]

man does not make nations GOD does and HE BRINGS THEM DOWN OR BUILDS THEM UP ACCORDING TO HIS PLAN MAN IS NOTHING SO DON'T GET IT TWISTED

[greenops]

It's not a us or them, He's saying that God accepts us all while we only accept ourselves we need to love all the nations in essence.

[echeloncrow]

@DvineINFEKT I LOVE TOBY!!!!!!

[BBoyFury]

This guy is fantastic. I disagree that pledging to one nation means pledging against others, because it doesn't always have to be an "us or them" mentality. But hey, like he says, the freedom to disagree is the foundation of our society. I wish we could agree more, but no one should ever be forced into that agreement.

[calrenman]

I disagree with your premise. I would fight for your right to express it!

[MyMurphysLaw]

im moving to australia..