 Good evening ladies and gentlemen My name is Abram Emerson. I represent the Snake Legacy Project in the Black Power Chronicle, the local community. We're presenting to you this evening our reach out effort into our local community and into to the younger people. Okay, our first mandate is for us who come out of the Black Power movement is to chronicle our experiences. So that people, especially the young people around who the new activists will know have a foundation which they can look to. Our next mandate is to reach out to our younger people. Okay, this is part of our reach out. We know that through poetry we can find a connection. We understand that we need to create cultural bonds. Now in 1965, William Reese took the Carmichael on the cell of art, chanted Black Power. At that point in time was created a whole new cultural phenomenon. Africa wasn't about Tarzan, no more. It wasn't about process had no more. Okay, it was about being proud of who you are, standing up. Okay, and understanding that power runs things. Snake had a bad experience in the 1964 Democratic Convention, gained that understanding that power was the name of the gang. And set forth through their organizing efforts, and set forth to produce the first Black Panther Party in Alabama in 1965, in Lyons County, Alabama. Where the people were able to use the Black Panther symbol, just like the Democratic Party used the dump. Like the Republican Party used the elephant in order to identify the people who were of their interest when they went to the poll. After which you had a spread of a cultural phenomenon. You had a new renaissance. Poets came out of everywhere. You had the likes of Haki Murahuti. You had the likes of Amira Baraka, Sonya Sanchez, Nicky Jill Binder, and loads of different poets and writers and playwrights across this country that put out literature to connect with our people. We here in San Antonio had a local Snake chapter, and tonight we are the ones who are presenting this to you. And I want to introduce to you first to talk about the local Snake chapter, Mr. Mario Salas, who was the Minister of Information for Snake. Thanks. Let me start off by saying, give yourself a round of applause. It's so nice to see Joe. One of the things that we always talk about and we wanted to do was pass on this legacy to the younger generation. Let me tell you, in San Antonio, when we were in Snake, also the Black Panther Party, the original Black Panther Party, one of the things that we had to encounter was the segregationist mayor, that mayor was Walter McAllister. They had an expressway named after him, they had a park named after him, and I could go on and on and on about the people whose names are on the streets, on different place names, and so forth, who we even slave owners, segregationists, or what have you. We had to fight them. When Bob and Joe Phillips, and that's the name I want you to remember, Bob and Joe Phillips was beaten to death on the Broncos Street, right across the street from the African-American cemetery. We were close by, beaten to death by the police, nothing ever happened, no one was ever charged. So we're looking at police abuse that has extended itself all the way from slavery to even now. So we grew up in that era. We grew up in a time when it wasn't safe to march. We grew up in a time when it wasn't a celebration to march, but we risked it later. And there were several times when the mayor of San Antonio issued shoot to kill orders because we were having demonstrations right downtown where the Black Lives Matter folks were having demonstrations. So I am so happy to see and hear about the Black Lives Matter folks marching in San Antonio, laying down in the street. And I did go up and lay down at North Star Mall with them, lay down in the street in front of the River Center Mall. And admittedly, someone had to help me get up at that point. But that's the kind of legacy that I see as being passed on and it should be passed on. I have to say that it's very important. We have some historical material back there just to look at. It's not for sale, but it is for you to look at. Those are the books that you haven't read or the ones you need to read. I'm a professor at the University of Texas. I'll be teaching African American Studies. And by the way, I'll use some more students to sign up for my class, Mario Salas. And I would appreciate that if you do for the spring semester. And by the way, you'll be in for a treat because I teach it. You'll never forget what you learned in my class. You will never ever forget because I teach the things that have been ignored. And that's what professors do with these good ones. They teach the things that are ignored. And when you look at all of the stuff that's ignored and not taught, then you can begin to develop some altruism about what took place during the historical havoc. So I'm looking forward to doing that. But tonight, I'm looking forward to hearing from these young folks. And I never knew there was this many young poets in San Antonio. So I can tell you, I love you. I appreciate you. And we will continue to struggle. As the revolutionaries in Angola used to say in Portuguese, a luta contra nula, which means the struggle continues. Thank you. May I still defend you? I really don't know what to tell you, except this is not new. This trouble has been going on for thousands of years. Thousands of years. And it hasn't changed one bit. You may wonder, what do I do? How do I fight this? You fight it by living every day. You fight it by not surrendering your dignity and your humanity. All very important. And since the first man tried to express himself in poetry, we've been fighting that struggle. We've been fighting that struggle in different ways. We fought it then, we fight it now. It has not changed. It's not going to get any better. It's going to always be changed. There ain't no other things. This isn't right. There's no other things. The leader of Langston is the A. I want to welcome and thank everybody for coming. Again, my name is Paul Gallo. I was one of the leaders and the Langston used the A. It was on the I one time. Those of us like myself, we were like our friends of the poets. Langston used the A. When we first came and began, it was doing more plays, but it was coming more and more demanding, but to pull together whole cast to put on plays. And we were being influenced by the last poets. The old Scott and others. But we wanted to start doing more poetry. We had drums and put it on in town. All of us that were part of the theater group's band, for lack of a better word, came from the West End. So the Smith movement, the Black Power movement, and bought those and others like myself and the others from the West End. Mario told me recently, just the other day, there used to be Newcombeville. So many don't start with very tourist news. But one thing that we ever said, for us, it started with the killing of Bobby Dover. Black lives have always been about him. That's why we became involved and concerned about his life and our lives and folks' lives. It's always been a fight for Black lives. Whether we were talking about the lynching and the thirties of being enslaved in those days, it's always been about Black lives. And for me, I'm happy to see that the struggle does continue. And it continues with you in the room. It continues when you get out of the street. When Abram and Becky and Dan Green came back from the meeting to play in this event, my concern was, we didn't want a bunch of old portraits sitting around, talking about it back in the day. How can we introduce ourselves to the Black Lives Matter movement? And how can we be supportive of their movement? And at the same time, we aren't old and buried and dead. We are organizing in the community. We want to know how can we be supportive of some of those things that we're doing so our communities can continue to grow. So let me give it back to you because I know. And once again, thank you for coming out. They shot Mark. Technologists, techniques change the thing that they are out. Out of what they say, I die. I get it. See, they better elaborate today. My friend, he won't bother me. He overstepped the line. It was cracked from pain, they said. A fighter can only play the game of life so long. He can't hide. Mickey won the internal war. Found we could ride the power train. Africa called the plane was lost. He died in the rain. The lost kids, the Mexican connection said, this is the time to ban the line, ban freedom from our oppression. Disease filled his life. He died. I say to stand. The door unlocked. The assassin entered. Back out. The room produced a silent shout. We packed, ran here, lived another day. I still walk. I still live. I still have to build. Revolutionaries don't live long. That me. That young. Anyway. We're going to the first round of over my court. Anybody happy tonight? So let's not remember this like a library or a funeral. Is there anybody happy in here tonight? Close to be. You see, if I can go to your house. I can go to your house. I can go to the shop. When you ain't got food. If you got the right kind of color, you can put your head in there. You got all I need is you. Everybody looking for the keep. The keep was already there. We need to get back with these elves. The elves had killed a pack of. And I just want to say right now, for all of these elders who just spoke all who were sitting right here. I want to say. So I want to say thank you and that I'm still in each as you sneak around and get at your feet. I'm listening Because I'm hungry Please make some noise with you July 30th, I had a massive stroke. I'm a jungle next up. We're gonna do something. We're gonna get everybody together It's got ready for some good poetry. Say yes Now I'm gonna work with my people because my people got my list So we can start calling off these good folks. Are you ready? for the incredible Phyllis Ligard I'm very excited about tonight I want to start with My favorite boy Langston Hughes Born in 1906 and died in 1967 He is not dead. I too Sing America. You see I am the darkest They tell me to eat in the kitchen when company comes Well and I grow strong Now tomorrow When company comes Nobody dare say to me Besides They'll see how beautiful I am And it'd be a shame I too Langston Hughes like David in the Bible speaks of rivers David in songs one and three Speaks of a tree planted by the rivers of water known rivers ancient as the world and Older than the flow of human blood in human veins My soul grows deep Like the rivers I bathed in The euphrates when dogs were young near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep I looked upon the now And saw periods above me Of the Mississippi You remember when Abe Lincoln went down to And I've seen its muddy bosom Turned all golden in the sunset On rivers Colorado and Tony elder Ancient dusty rivers My soul Mama feels silly another round of applause And just so you could ride this wave with us I'm blessed to be one of the babies of the movement And I know we got some babies of the movement as well And we talked about sneaking, we talked about the Panthers And you know we're celebrating the 50th anniversary And I just see my mom and my dad and Chairman Fred and everybody And they were paving the way for us I'm going to ask you for a second Because all of this is a connection from my elders to our young people So I'm probably going to bring up maybe the youngest person in the room Anybody younger than six? Nobody younger than six? Sorry, I'm about to bring up the youngest person in the room We're about to bring up my daughter Ross Amika Harman Come on up now This is the spirit of L.A. Joe Baker Born on December 13, 1903 In Norfolk, Virginia I graduated from Shaw University As Cosmologic Tony I began my role with the NAACP As Cosmologic Tony In 1940 In 1957 I moved to Atlanta I was organized on the Houston organization The Southern Christian Leisure Conference SKL I wanted to assist the new student activists The new student activists And organize a meeting at Shaw University In April of 1960 From that meeting From that meeting The student nonprofit And coordinating committee Snake was birth See y'all, the Southern Seas We know it, we keep doing it like this But the students play us Welcome to keep the Southern Seas I shake, I shake Alright, thank you all Coming up next Anybody want to hear another hot boy say yes? Yes! Coming right now Let's bring up right now This is Antoinette Franklin Once again, knock it another round for Mama Franklin I remember when Cape Radio used to be available for us And Energy and Money were saying about all the wonderful things By being black Likes to use and inspiring me Maya Angelou, Sonia Sanchez So it's wonderful to be able to be a poet And give these things back I have to carry my friend with me But that's okay, we'll make it work out The names are many This is dedicated to my ancestors I wish to thank them The kings, the queens, the hunters The warriors, the levitamas The basket weavers, the farmers The poets, the craftsmen, the geos Those who lived through the indignity Of captured enslavement, violation, and brutality Those taken from their homeland To Gory Island The land of no return Transported from a home they would never see again I want them to be proud And know that their struggle was not in vain I think the survivors of the Middle Passage If they had not survived Where would my history be? I honor their presence When the wind rustles morning leaves Brightened by the sun I hear them in my dreams And listen to sages bearing news Only a poet can use Think of my existence What I was born to be A fighter for equality Think of all those people who died So I could taste freedom Think of the blood-stained banner Of heritage left to me I am more than one people Their names are African, Scottish Spanish, Mexican, Choctaw, Seminole And New Iberian Creole Think of my people on the banks of the Nile And my great-great-grandmother's rape Bearing the slave master's child My granny said There were no happy slaves on those dusty plantations And my family wanted the best for me She spoke of loving God The love of family A need for education And living righteous with Think about the purpose Of my purpose in the scheme of things About the blood-stained banner of courage And it's like, well, they're not listening to Keep the stories here I know Elvis here, but it's... Talk on the street, and then there's Young people say, well, Elvis in hell And hidden themselves over here So we gotta go for what we know Over here, and tonight Show that it's so not true That that bridge is here That we learn from each other That we go back and forth It reminds me of the old meekers of incense And the drummers drumming And everybody just coming and dancing And doing what they do Thank you, we cannot stop this If you're enjoying the boys that are coming out Right now, I need you to make some noise I need to know what you're out there These lights are bright, so I can't see you on So I can only hear you on I need y'all to make the noise And if y'all haven't guessed it I'm a little loud I know I'm working the mic man I know you're out there, but thank you for following me But we gotta make this noise We got ancestors who are just jumping down That we're together and we're connected It's not lookity bookity, it's real And it's how we got here And we got to continue sharing that If I'm alone, stay quiet Now put your hands together To shake y'all Be here, I'm honored to be here Humble to be here I didn't know what a gift it is To be a poet until I started hanging around some of my elders And hearing them speak So, y'all, he was Standing out second in his pain Yes, you already know he was black And he's a genius I think about sticking up this calmest thought You see his pockets was a-lit And he was his writ He steals what he wants Cause he can't afford what he needs Money grows on the bushes, not trees Previously he He prayed about it Hoping God would help him a lot In his current situation When problems were sustained He was losing his patience Bro, where were you at? He took matters into his own hands Did away with God's will He was making his own plans And this is his first time I could tell he was an eschema He was hesitant when he was a victim To make check on FEMA I wanted to help the brother So I crossed the street My feet hitting the concrete And seeing with his rapid heartbeat I took a seat next to him He knew God already So instead I introduced to him My pen He didn't appreciate the power Then so I let him hold it And soon he lost control of it The command on his body His hands started to move On the ground, put you in a bag He had things in the groove of his thoughts And he began to write Like that in my head She was walking outside Away from some man With an empty magna wrapper and a hand And yes, the sage reports She was black Her skirt was too something A hole or some sort You see, she had a degree But the bush is not a tree I wanted to help the sister So I crossed the street My feet hitting the concrete And seeing with his rapid heartbeat I took a seat next to her She knew God already So instead I introduced to him My pen Understand, when the words get inside of you And your blood get the bullet Oh my goodness Be careful of what comes out Because we've been held down It's been locked for so long And when we found the key Opened and unlocked it in this company I'm really kidding It's because it wasn't for them To be speaking the things that they're speaking I'm talking about a brother Who never got to see 21 But he had all business done His words were so powerful That he had doctors expecting money Coming to be free in the hood I really get confused at me Because they're saying Who could this be? Free medical? What? MS? For me? I can get tested for everything And it's still for free South Side of Chicago Starting to work for me What? No daily alone machine That can stop these bees It was young boys Who again never saw 21 The scale of the police That the surge of guns This simple sport Oh my God The father was shot over And over They danced on his soul Saying that the nigga is dead But at least he was booping around There was nothing more for Fred Mark Clark is homeboy Let's talk about homeboys for a second You got so many people Who be Facebook hating Underrating disrespect Brother who never really slept By this man was asleep Lost his life The crooked bullet took him out In ease from Peoria I remember you Mark Clark I say peace So now I'm just going to start Speaking for peeps That took trips on ships With no sheets We got to talk about the Sankofa And how dirty they did Our clinic They said I want you pregnant We would just take the knife And open you up And we So many people playing soccer But I remember soccer When it was just these children They were stomping on These hardwood boards On these wicked ships I speak for peeps Who took trips With no sheets They said I'm going to be On hunger strikes Men were strong at the time They said no We got to keep these big girls Eating So they took this hammer And cracked out the front In a mile They said niggas they got to smile I need to do his work And let's work it out So all you ice grills Come on, let's smile again We still bust what I tell you Hey man We're going to talk about people Who took trips On ships With no sheets People were talking about that We got to just have black people I want to go back My chairman Fred said Let's go on and have this opress People just need to find their power I don't care what color you are now If you're oppressed I need you to grow with me now Because I understand that the oppression If I'm oppressed It's not just the oppression Now I'm saying that I have to have an impression I have to start speaking And I'm going to speak life now So let's talk about the life of those Who took trips On ships With no sheets They told them that it was just darkness And even in your own foot Had your own diarrhea Can you imagine People are inside of your fire Hazard and you still live Don't get mad at me Because it wasn't What I was brought up to be They don't want to talk about it Don't walk with the same cold foot And me keep saying that We need to keep telling them These stories of people Who took trips On ships With no sheets Because what this sacrifice was The book called Holden Jones And this book is my take On poetry sharing my community Through poetry And talking about all the great people I made a positive impact on I want to get some later But I'm about to share a little poetry from this And I talked about a trip I took down I-10 Someone told me it's going to be a terrible drive But when I saw what they saw I saw something totally different As I traveled through What used to be mountains Wild life and trees I see the beauty of what was And still is Your wonderful works On the landscape of earth As I sat on ocean banks The sight, sound and smell Calms me As I long to be near And when it's out of my sight Was it just for me Who can truly see You're in the water You're in the trees And you're all over me Those are just some of the things That make me wonder About the great, great wonder My wonder He's a lover And they keep her up my soul Wonder That makes me wonder My sweet wonder Yeah Lover of mine My, my soul You protected me When I was young You carried me as I grow Sweet wonder Lover of mine My soul Sometimes I wonder I sit in wonder About the great, great wonder Lover of mine My, my soul If you open a channel You can learn something And I can learn something You know everybody Want a dollar or four To the tickle they want I got that to be better And I got my shyness to know You know I got I got all this stuff in my hair And I just want to be honest And thank you all tonight For sharing Every time I post And I see the artist come And touch this time I say thank you We're trying to put our hands together If you ready for another Walk too fast and work too hard For the boys who dream too big And too loud The boys who think and speak life Breathing out their curiosity Boys who try to change to fit in Who try to dim their own light So that they never shine brighter Than those around them Boys who pray and pray Every day for normal eyes Normal skin, normal hair Who hide behind masks And deception and dishonesty To walk the streets at night Undetended I always thought something Was wrong with me I felt difficult I felt out of place to understand My skin so dark And so brown Rugged Tough like tar Tried to scrub the niggity off my skin The niggity of being black The burden of being petrally flawed The curse of growing too tall Walking too fast Working too hard Dreaming too big And too loud I restricted my wild tongue Placed a bit over my mouth That the girls of the night Performing held in place I felt my teeth shatter And each piece fell down my throat Down the rabbit hole Each piece cutting a little bit Lending up my throat The pain of stillborn questions and answers I never ever saw the light of day I lie face down with my hands Tight behind my back I lay still, not to move Not to draw any attention I close my eyes, roll on my side Lay down from my brethren In this state, in this position I cause no trouble I do no harm I'm not being difficult I'm not dreaming too big or too loud This is for the boys who watch themselves To be found Why must we lose to them? Why must we die to live? We die face down on the ground Only then do people say our names Hear our names No No to come on and hear that piece Don't stop writing Please don't stop writing Yeah, coming up next Fuck the life out of you with that piece Cause it's so hard to fill And you be talking like that good movie That you be watching And knowing that you didn't see it 20 times But it's like that one part of it Still writing things like I knew it was coming but oh That's the assistant right here Y'all put y'all hands together For Mama Kira in the building y'all Because we should not forget Where we came from We should not forget Our ancestors And what they had to go through Because we're actually Living that today So I want y'all to take a journey with me As I talk about the ghosts and the trees Voices in my head The suffering of the dead The history that they want us to forget The slaughter of those Looked upon as animals and still We aren't really free yet Every branch, every leap Encounters the souls of that they Tried to keep Those souls Live within me I see the images before me And when I close my eyes They haunt me And as I try to forget they taunt me Cause they say I'm over the slave mentality Making excuses about racial brutality Looking for any reason Lynching season To find something that they could Classify as treason And still today Deaths are on the uprise Do the ghosts of the trees True justice is time to fight and rise Their voice never heard Never had a choice Singing the old gospel spirituals Embedded with secret messages Of rejoice I cry But they had to endure In a land of hatred A disease that came from bigotry A disease that they called nigger But when death was their only chore But even though it may be no Supremes in the skies This took care of everybody on the block And she used to make homemade ice cream Old song without missing a beat And that's just what you all do And we take that to heart So my time is dwindling down I forget the chance to introduce One more five person So if y'all ready to hear some good words Say yes, yes, yes Come into the stage right now Y'all put your hands together For Samaj Griffin, y'all Got it by business from past transgressive Committed against my ancestors for centuries And I wonder Do I have it in me Do I have it in me to be accepted And make it in the land where racism Is supposedly banned But yet it'll leave us unhappy Not just in America Daily reminder from the blind That better known as society That preached peace and love But really they hate me and practice I look on, I wonder how is it that I Don't quite fit in But still, because I'm black And we all the same But I don't stand out Because when I speak of success The challenge is a room And it's filled with doubt But if I drop a dope line And pick it up for two, seven, four Like literally slaying that coke Blind my people to shout I find this baffling The battles we face They really trying to win the war We're more consigned With what rappers on tour If she can bend over And touch the floor You see, my great-great-grandmother She had to bend over to this She didn't have cotton in the hand When she came up They would beat and kill you So you see, I've got it by business Of past transgressive Committed against my ancestors for centuries And I wonder Do I have it in me Do I have it in me to witness The unfair treatment Of my sisters and brothers And overlooked the unjust hurdles And the claimant had done It all to do with color Do I work my 9 to 5 And hoping to get by Just because I'm black Opportunity doesn't even Try to pass me by As I listen to the lies And I'm telling them We find a better guy And I watch another man Get the job right And know he was substantial Under qualified And as I look on And despise Been in his flame And in my eyes But the storm in my pride I hold my hand high And try not to cry Wondering why It's supposed to The land of the free And the home of the brave Not even 300 years ago Yo great-migrate And his great-grandparents Were slaves Oh, but it's supposed To get new damn names One with a confederate Black steel waves I can't even go He's trying to pray I may be slain But I can't, can't, can't I beat the job now It's a damn shame That hatred and ignorance Is so profound And the people Known as society Remain oblivious Really, I'm just curious Is that anybody Out there feeling Can I get a witness? A witness You see, in this country A witness doesn't matter See, I could watch They count me That white-brained splatter When I go to town It obsessed me My character That woman in testimony Don't even matter R.I.P. Mike Brown So you see I'm kind of I'm just a prehensurant I guess the community Is my answer to the precinct And I wonder Do I have it in me? See, maybe I'm too Intense to my spiritual mind And I see the devil behind This assignment is so blind It tries to hold my race In a bind where I read the race And wait time to get Our lives in order For the divine So I'm on a different mission Than the norm Cause I'm on a mission To see my speech Sorry, sorry about that I'm on a mission To see my people truly Praise because we're so Get to know this time I don't see how You can miss it See, I don't think I'm gonna have it in me Cause I can't walk around And sit brainlessly So to be thankful Whatever they gave to me Really, that's what it is in me You put in a pain in the elbow A bucket too Like a discerned stomach Cause they know they Don't wait more than you See, America in the beginning Was built on the backs Of minorities Included Indians But in history Get no recognition Only recognized For a couple of adventures See, it don't make Some sense to me How we can go on Days and days About living in order In the future But only seconds about Be like, wouldn't y'all Forgive me and say That my grandfather Had faith We should live a fight Another day Let's not let the hand Could be the weight But it's America today All the sunshine Is turning gray And all that hope And it's in faith The hand is with the weight So I draw to my knees And pray For the Lord to make a way Because now My goodness has my mind And slave Because we're still treating Like slaves And my boss said It's not under me today He might not Make it out okay So please, Lord, I pray Help me make it through These things Why is it always The ones who say That you just strap your Sleep belt on Which is about to go Thank you so much My name is Brother Montreya They call me The perfect griot My important thing is that Before I leave you We leave you with information We leave you with information That our children are not getting So just bear with me With me one second We're going to Leave you with this tidbit When you talk to your children And you go to them And you say Who is the very first African-American Female billionaire? Raise your hand Look, everybody Want to name CJ Walker Except she had a teacher And her teacher's name Was Annie But never returned Old Pope alone And she lived in She had the products That were called Poro products And I didn't even know What I had Because my great aunt Had all her products And she had a student By the name of Madam CJ Walker But in true history The first billionaire Was Ms. Malone Out of Illinois Just to let you know how incredible She was She used to collect Dolls And in each doll She would have a diamond And when she would take those Diamonds She would go to different schools And whoever had good grades She would give them the doll And that doll Would be used For their education It is important That we never let anyone else Tell our story Again We need to put These ancestors In the right places Where they are And understand Princesses And our queens Of dolls Coming up next right now We're going to bring The father of all this Back up here I'd like to introduce you And his heart King Abraham y'all This is the first round At this point right now We want to give you Some information About the next project That we're working on I would like Attorney Natasha Sharad To come to the floor We are so, so happy With the turnout Attorney Natasha Sharad Our next event Is coming up In mid to late January It is going to be A know your rights workshop It's going to be a collaboration Of attorneys Myself and others Who will be there To educate you On how to exercise your rights When you're sought Our goal is to cover The most common Sots that you may encounter Whether it's a DWI sock I know some of y'all Have baby mama drama Baby daddy drama So we're going to cover Assault on the injury Questions Things of that nature And of course Just when you're just out And police say that You're under reasonable suspicion Please make sure We have current contact information For you Sell home Or email So that we can let you know The exact date Time and location Okay And we also want to get feedback From you If there's anything in particular You would like the attorneys to cover Please let us know You can email me directly At lawyer at NatashaSharad.com That's lawyer at N-A-T-A-S-H-A-S-H-E-R-R-O-D.com Also, if you're on this side of town Please come and visit me I'm at 2836 East Houston Street Just moved in a couple of weeks ago So I would love for you to drop by Introduce yourself And let me know what you want to know When dealing with the police Thank you Mr. Jonathan David Jones Black Lives Matters Organized And public I want to ask him to inform the people As to what is happening With the local movement for the Black Lives Matter As to give us support No justice, no peace As things always say that Love and peace is not the Absence of conflict Love is diving head first into The conflict For the sake of peace in the name of love So, before I do poetry Just real brief I've never Anybody that's seen me speaking to Where I never talk about my activity When it comes to activism without mentioning An individual who probably Isn't going to like what I'm about to do But a man that I've always Worked so closely with Who's become like a brother to me I grew up in the movement with him His name is Mike Lowe He's actually in the room right now Up top This man Fire is contagious And if it's not me out there It's usually him The running joke has been That's Malcolm O' Martin We balance Each other out so well I always like to mention him When I talk about any work That I do when it comes to So as far as The local chapter There isn't a local chapter of Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter does have official Members and it is an official organization They recently put a pause on opening new chapters So what we usually do Is we work and we advocate For Black Lives here in San Antonio Mike being the founder of SATX4 And myself, I just like to tell people My title is Concerned Citizen So we've done a lot of things recently Since I don't know if you guys know the name Marquis Jones You know, Anthony Scott, Norma Cooper These are people who have died here In San Antonio, Texas I know we know a lot of the national renowned names Like Eric Gardner And Trayvon Martin Who we also advocate and fight for But we can't forget that we have issues here In San Antonio, Texas Anthony Scott was killed in February 2016, that's this year People don't even know his name He was gunned down by police officers Because they thought his cell phone Was a gun At San Antonio, Texas Home of the Spurs Another great restaurant Another thing that we've done recently We pushed very hard against What was known as the Sepowa contract San Antonio Police Officers Association contract We did a lot of work against that They're just small things in the contract Where it says I'm just going to give you a super Very brief overview For example, let's say An officer who had a case of intentional violence Has five years that intentional violence Case cannot be used against him An officer that committed an act Then he was suspended for three days or less After two years That incident can only be used against him It gets changed in the records To a written reprimand We recently had an officer that sexually assaulted If he was suspended for three days According to the contract Two years from now That gets changed to a written reprimand The only person I can see is the chief of police We're not allowed to see that record So things like that That happen here in San Antonio People kind of just think that This stuff doesn't happen here That it doesn't relate here Another mayor likes to say we don't have those problems here In San Antonio, Texas Racism doesn't work like that You don't take 450 years of systemic repression And it just disappears because we have Great profitage That's not how it works So all that being said I'm also on the mayor's council for police Community relations My brother Mike is as well But we have to continue to work We constantly continue to work We do a lot more than protesting We've done community gatherings And all sorts of things Because we do believe justice is holistic We're not just anti-cop We're pro-freedom All that being said I'm going to go ahead and spit some poetry from you guys Because that's where it all started for me I say so often the activist leads the poet But the poet feeds the activist In me And it was through poetry That I developed that sensitivity for emotion That ability to absorb The grieving and the anger And spit it back out And create something beautiful Rather than be doing my words or my actions So before I go forward I always get this disclaimer The poet in me enjoys the snaps in the class But the minister in me only prays that you hear the message So I pray that you would listen With your hearts In not just your ears So this poem about the sheriff is so apt For what we're doing We're talking about the SNCC legacy project I'm just so grateful for my elders Because when I met with them first I was so in awe I had to take a selfie They're just laughing at me That's what the kids do nowadays I just love it It does my heart some good To feel energized And inspired By people from a generation before you So often People from my generation used to be criticized By what we call ageism By the older generation usually So I'm just so grateful for it And so this poem is called status update I'm going to be speaking from the context of a slave But using the language that's pertinent to our generation So if you're very active on social media You'll catch a lot of the references But I believe it's so apt I've performed this poem before But I believe it's so apt As we're talking about things like San Cofa Looking back to move forward Reaching back To see our future So Let me go ahead and let the poem tell you So I would like to introduce myself But I haven't developed any ads yet so Take what you can about what And where I am from my web address www.blackhistory-freedom www.blackhistory-freedom www.blackhistory-freedom www.blackhistory-freedom www.blackhistory-freedom www.blackhistory-freedom www.blackhistory-freedom www.blackhistory-freedom www.blackhistory-freedom www.blackhistory-freedom www.blackhistory-freedom www.blackhistory-freedom www.blackhistory-freedom www.blackhistory-freedom www.blackhistory-freedom www.blackhistory-freedom www.blackhistory-freedom www.blackhistory-freedom www.blackhistory-freedom www.blackhistory-freedom www.blackhistory-freedom Because I made my mark in history, and I had to catch up with videos since sending a private message couldn't get anyone to listen to me. But you'll always be able to find me amongst the chains. From following link after link, as my ancestors fight for war meant for the divides, writing down their pains, passions and fears, time after time just to have it all reduced down to within hits from a mind. See, I was forced to watch children work that weren't even mine. Now here's a tough thought to swallow. Imagine me, hashed and tagged beneath the scorching sun and then praying that my wife and children could follow. Because it was less about segregation and more about separation. Because I couldn't do this if I just had my people. But as my friends this unwillingly started to dwindle, I got away from pure evil. And just as slowly as these long days, my family became nothing more than a page. You see, the very next time I saw my wife was on a posted picture. The caption read, sold, slaved. And as time progressed, oppressive turned aggressive. And war approached fast and you could search for names on the loan we're concerned about if our profiles would change. See, it was strange. It wasn't until I got my face in that book that I was finally able to leave my post. So not until I got my deceased face in that book was I finally able to leave my post to sea. I was forced to fight a war from a country that had yet to recognize me as a man. A human. All because of my hue. Man. That's crazy. But have you checked the status of me? Tagged in comments, daily degraded by distant daunting demons with pale faces. Never know what to say or think. Not even know where I was dislocated. So you see, we never had dyslexia. It was displacement. But unlike now, no one's ever able to look at a page about me. All the while, everything about me can only be seen by looking at my racial profile. And I couldn't afford to leave you any notes to read. So all I could afford to do was leave you with Instagram pictures and desperate hopes that you follow me. But just know that in order for us to stay on track, I have to forewarn you that I'll never be able to follow you back. Because for progression is key. And I once realized the thought of a day when my people were looking nothing like me. But my eyes began to swell as I scroll down my page and see that our statuses hasn't changed. The majority still reads slaves. Now imagine me. I'm amazed as I saw my brother stand on the stage and preach about change. But that's where it gets strange because the most of us agree we still act the exact same. Yellow, right? You only live once. But that much, I agree. But knowing that you know that is exactly what I'm ashamed of. What I see is just truly what you've decided to do with your life. Never once was I given the pleasure to be concerned about the report of my status being liked. All I care about is that the report of our status will be right. So instead of following the rules of world stars, hip hop didn't want you to purpose. We were forced to live a life of slavery but now I see people doing so on purpose. I've been following your videos closely. The constant reposting of excuses are getting old. Are you not aware that the average life expectancy of blacks at my time was 22 years old? We had already spent our lives in the same amount of time that it takes you to waste it. Constant laughing and knockout games and sharkishness all promoting the very one thing that we sought to abolish. Hatred. So stop searching for your problems in your book and just face it. Many of you are confused about what to do but the answer is so basic. Bring the love and stop the hatred. Don't just believe in change, help us make it. Someone needs to draw the line and then trace it. This is your story now. Your future and your life. Many of you are watching your own people do wrong to pacify your own sins. You're telling them that it's all right but we we believe to be ostracized before we compromise so you can spare me your life. But I'd appreciate if you'd share. I came in search of a generation that cares you've compromised your dreams so much that I think you'd have something to spare. I started from the bottom that we're here. I started from the bottom that got us here when we need to be out there. You see there goes once in time. I like the sweetest birds that sing. I heard freedom ring. I wonder if I can get a retweet weed who'll heartily appreciate your monuments and celebrations. But people already know what we did. That's no mystery. Don't become so concerned with our past when you forget about the future status of black history. Thank you. Black liberation continuum continue our man. We need men. Black men, bold men, bodacious cold men. No dirt men, hope men, hope against the man men. Water men, spirit men, soul men, they men to save. For the next round my call Okay. It's a pleasure to be here with you all and some of you probably know me for one of the things that you know me for. God I can't do this with a strength. And I'm surprised at how I don't feel heavy because there's so much love in this room. We have a bright future ahead of us because we understand where we've been and we're getting it. Let me just do this piece. I've been at saxophone. I've been at trombone. I've been at jazz song. My voice is a microphone I am piano keys. My walk is a symphony. My heels stick like a tambourine. Yeah, music is my give me jazz, jazz is an adaptation. I think my flesh was waiting its creation through cold trains, things saxophone notes, change of clay and Adam's missing rib. And as dizzy the less me can rest me moment and shape me to the sound of supple trumpet tubes. The revival of my heart began to shoot the roof of my mouth and a jab. I let the pitch of its shelter over kitty clock drum taps have a musical spat with the rainbow in my smile. And for a while I drowned my mind in the lines of an old Louis Armstrong song is the breath from his cheeks pushed me along. And from then on, I knew my spirit along with Dexter Gordon, great soul, bowed me among the ranks with Charlie Parker and Johnny Hodges as the instrumental music massage my temples, changing the tempo of my thoughts completely. I've been dwelling on Duke Ellington keystrokes, mental images both of his elegance and with relevance for my thought patterns slinger and limbo in the summer's resonance of a high forward jazzy dream team. So stream me and not Perry's piano pounding, clean me the montage of cool and big band swing worldly on the surface of a monolid color scheme. Harla Mahavidy's and Dutch DC chocolate browns catch me this movement of symphonic sound and I would never come down from the very high found my blood, the loneliest munk kind of funk or truth. Lena Horne Tuna, croon from Sarah Vaughn to Spana, mid-morning press for my bunch of blues, doesn't want to be as jazz, as jazz, a renovated soul and innovative from old and inundated with cold drops of rain just as inflamed as they are nervously drunk with this neoclassical, loneliest, munk kind of funk. So give it to me, live it through, say it to me, play it through me, I am a vessel, an instrument, a significant infant, adolescent, an imminent woman projecting, expressing this air-inspired art form. My body performs in every minute of every passing day for decades. You can hear me jazz, woodwind percussion string with discussion brass like ears. Baby, I am containing, becoming and being possessing. I have as much as with such class of a loneliest, munk kind of funk. To everyone, but I want to give a shout out to the non-African Americans that were brave enough to say, I stand and alive with you and your cause, because we have to make our brothers and sisters' causes our only embrace them, and we move forward together, amen. So I want to thank this gentleman who is woke, as we like to say. He's brand new to being a grandfather. He just had his first grandbaby. He's a writer and a journalist. Put your hands together for the next poet to this mic. Don Mathis. And forty, forty-seven years ago, I thought, because that's how the world's going. Well, about a year ago, a woman, this time, and I'm a tailor once everybody in the city to read it. He goes to the library, there's ten copies right there about to check out this. When I was a teenager, I read Black Lives Matter, I wanted to read more. I read Autobiography of Margaret Maddox. These books are still in print. I go back to the source and read the stuff. There's an excellent book, there's an audio book of it, and I call it the Reverend Martin Luther King's Greatest Hits. It's called The Locket Midnight, and it's his most popular sermon that he gave throughout his life. So somebody has Martin Luther King. He says, what is your favorite book? She says, Matthew, Mark Luther King's Greatest Hits. So I stole this, I stole this from Matthew. I am the landlord who lives upstairs. You are the greatest. Your apartment is fantastic. Your lease agreement is okay for us as it is for you. Today we ask you for a break, just like we give a guy down the hall break. Don't make it too easy for us to cheat others keep our cars in power running smoothly because you are the best CEO of the most birth friendly corporation that we ever saw. Say it out. This is my Gospel. You've heard of the Gospel of Matthew, Mark Luther King John. This is the Gospel for everyone. I believe in the life, laughter, love, and all that. A person you can count on, a person who wants you back. I'm a believer, a singer, a pacifist, a humane humanist. I think everyone should seek their own way and no one is at the right to force you to pray. You're free to praise your deity of choice to worship and silence or to raise your voice. It's fine if you want to do a Buddhist dance or if you want to do an Indian chant. If your belief is a disbelief in God, that's okay with me and my sanctified dog. I support your freedom to do as you please just as long as you don't hurt me or the trees for everything is precious on planet earth and I confirm and respect everyone's worth. I see the dignity in every person and I see equity in human relations. An aspect of our association is our motivation for social action. Truth and meaning and a right of one's conscience are keystones of our community's essence. What is important for social interaction, liberty, justice, and human compassion? We are liberal but we're also religious and we are diverse but we hold a main purpose. Spiritual growth is a goal to espouse the earth is similar to a mighty house. We all strive for the democratic process and we respect the web of existence. For we know that we are all interconnected and we're happier when we're all accepted. Love is the spirit and services to call. This is my information to want it all. I'm glad we have different. I'm glad we can share it's effort is to be gentle when you care. I'll take action to improve and become good and I'll start right here in my own neighborhood. Our minds may reject it but it is a key to stay open to new possibilities. The point I'm making should be clear here. Feel I own self and to your brothers always be true. Thank you for all, Mathis. I'm always messing with them because I think it's the greatest joy ever to see. I would imagine I have no children but my mother keeps bugging me for them so it must be the greatest joy ever to know that you can be a grandparent because you don't have to chastise, you can just, you know, spoil. Next to the mic, the poets that I don't know, I will be coming up with interesting introductions for them. Word on the street that the next poet, she is a double-dunch champion, double-dunch champion on the Chippen Circuit. Don't give her a warm round of applause, pause, I can't talk. I'm going to do some mouth exercises while I'm sitting down. I'll give her a round of applause. Ms. Britney Ward. That was interesting. Hello, my name's Britney Ward. I'm originally from Determ, Michigan. Like when I walked in, I appreciated the energy because it didn't remind me of home so that's good. So from my job here, I mentor our tutor students, so what we're going to do today is go back to the classroom. So today's word, black privilege. I repeat, black privilege, definition, having mental physical ability as a millenating being, origin. Prejudice dates all the way back to working in the village, working in conditions where they caught us nothing but field niggers. Freedom Massa never thought of, had us wading in the water, swinging low, sweet chariot, thanks Harriet, I'm trapped no longer. Strange fruit on trees, water brought us down to our knees, Martin King had a dream, Shabbat spoke by any means. But necessarily we woke up, put our fists up, and they choked up. In all black we post up, black power we vote up. You don't have to be as dark as me, slower as Sandra couldn't stand your dream I wanted, skittles and tea, it's inappropriate and I'm not your personal commodity. The history when you paint your face is darkest than me. Go into your spiritual, you wish it could be so lyrical, and versatile, our dance moves is a miracle. The darker the youth, the darker the cute, the darker the skin, the darker the cool. When you see a queen you know what to do, an excelling school where they fool you, low numbers represent you, your history month concerns you. Professors don't look like you, always create the impossible, Madam CJ with the hot comb. Latima gave us life, and Boikey gave us heart control, shoes take home the soul and gold, black privilege cannot be sold. 2016 and we still out here, poison our city cause, lesion there. We'll make the signs, provide the camera, replace the instructions, everywhere, black privilege. Thank you, Klex.