 Thanks for tuning in. My name is Ashley de Leon today. We're here with Rajni Eddins a spoken word poet teacher and friend here from Vermont Rajni, thank you so so much for joining us today I gave you a very brief introduction because I want our viewers to hear from you. So who is Rajni Eddins? Thank you Ashley for hosting me. It's such an honor to be here Rajni Eddins I am poet Performance artist educator facilitator. I use my art mainly to confront white supremacy and affirm mutual humanity as well as empower youth and community to find mutual value in our stories So I've always loved poetry and self-expression from a very young age So I'm pleased to be here with you and share some of the things that we're up to as well as to be in this community and involved in positive influential ways that is showing promise here. And when did you realize that you wanted to do poetry full-time? Well, I've always loved poetry as I said from my mother encouraging me to share some of my own pieces even before then She used to regularly have me read her pieces back to her with feeling she would always say because it was very important to bring a certain musicality and energy and Take the reader or the listener there to where you were creating from when you first drew from that piece So just seeing such beauty and brilliance created and reflected in my community and also Being much loved on and supported and affirmed in my own gifts in my craft I think I saw promise early on and and wanting to Do that art full-time, but it was only maybe about three years ago Maybe just a year before the pandemic when I was able to transition full-time into self-employment as an artist and poet What was the hardest poem that you've ever written? The hardest poem that I've ever written Hard as in difficult to write or hard as in content or emotionally I Think that probably be for Trayvon Mike Brown and the Countness unnamed that's a poem that was actively shared and has been since the time of the uprisings in the year of the pandemic where black lives matter and the need to confront white supremacy became more viscerally collectively aware throughout this region in the world and I had written that poem actually in 2016 I believe during the trial of George Zimmerman who had killed Trayvon Martin in cold blood I had been in conversation with another friend and poet of mine back home in Washington Chelsea Richardson shout out to Chelsea and We were wanting to write something around all of these killings and murders of black people that were going on and continue to go on with impunity and so we wanted to bring something to Collective consciousness that could inspire encourage and empower people to have a deeper sense of mutual humanity and to really sensitize them to the Experiences of black people historically in present day that could help transform community and society so she had called me and let me know that the Verdict had been released and that Zimmerman was actually Absolved of any responsibility due to a law called standard ground which gives credence to allow for people to Claim that they were feeling fear and that when they do harm to others They're acting out of self-defense even if they weren't aggressed against so it's another way of kind of safeguarding The rights of people who aggress against black people, which is very historical in this country So when I learned that that verdict had come I tried to reassure my friend Chelsea No, this probably happened for a reason This is why exactly why it's so important that we create these pieces so we can touch people's hearts and minds in dynamic ways and shift The culture and climate at the times that we're living in especially in our own communities And I felt like I was trying to reassure myself as well as her and I got up the phone And I just wept myself and that that poem kind of came Whole cloth that night and then I became more actively sharing it whenever there was another person killed And so I would be always coming to the rally to hold space for people to say the names of the many people who were murdered But then of course over the course of the pandemic there were An aftermath of the killing of George Floyd and Brianna Taylor and Ahmad Arbery There were so many rallies and protests and uprisings that it became kind of a Spiritual theme and ritual in terms of coming to hold the greater community Accountable to say the names and to honor the people that these were human beings not just hashtags and to think more deeply about what we can Do to transform our own consciousness and to create a deeper sense of Accountability to the type of human relationship we want to have and bring children into So just to kind of shift the conversation a little bit you do a lot for the BIPOC community here in Vermont in Particular what particularly empowering youth? Why? Well, I think I've always had a great love for children being a child once myself Also, I saw in my own household Just the power of love and devotion and positive affirmation those things that can really Inspire and courage and uplift and help to sub actualize children So that's something I've always been passionate about my mother In addition to being the founder of the African-American Writers Alliance Randy Eddins There's also a foster parent over 70 children So I had a great deal of brothers and sisters growing up and I saw the power of love even in short time spans that though having that those properties to be able to heal and restore and to Allow people who have wounds and traumas You might not even know about to feel comfortable in themselves and at least have the opportunity to have the semblance of family In the time span that you have with them So I think that's why I still do it to this day having seen my mom in Action and how much of her life she devoted to that necessity for cultivating community and care for children as an ethic and As a standard in a way of being Um She definitely imbued me with that same spirit. So my love for children is the same She always says children are treasure. So I take that to mean Children are treasure and by that note all people are because we all begin as children Never if you find a dynamic or a relationship where people are not Exhibiting that type of appreciation. You have to know they're coming from a place where they don't necessarily Recognize that about others are themselves So why Vermont youth specifically? Well Vermont is where I'm based. I've been here for 12 years. I have a daughter here I have a vested interest in the community that I live in and seeing that I have The opportunity to make use of my gifts in ways that support community in ways that support the youth I don't think of other people's children as other people's children I think of all children as our children. So there are shared responsibility It takes a village is more than just a pithy statement To me, it's something that's to be personally practiced and the more we give credence to that in sincere ways The better off all of our children will be That's great. So what does your day-to-day life look like now? Ah, well my day-to-day life now since I've transitioned to full-time employment as an artist Living that dream. It's possible guys it looks like upkeep of business opportunities as far as engagements to to share and community in different capacity whether it's performance-oriented or a speaking engagement that speaks to the link between artistry and activism or Writing workshops for youth and students or DEIJ work diversity equity inclusion and justice work for Educators and people of different institutions organizations I've been able to find kind of a niche for myself and seeing a multiplicity of practical utilities for my art form and since it primarily has to do with a spiritual component of shared human story as so many ways to Offer human beings something valuable That's wonderful DC yourself doing this ten years from now Yeah, ten years from now. I see myself doing this on a much grander scale and also my daughter is another youth In my tutelage and in my circle being emissaries of their own artistic and creative practices that can inform and inspire The world in ways. We're not even privy to now. I just want to be an effective vessel and Descended of the ancestors we come from My daughter has a poem called your blooming tree where she speaks about the ancestors in this tree and then talks about The people to come who are part of the same brilliant blackness of who will come So I see us I see myself and I see us as part of a continuum That is perpetual We're drawing from the strength and Experiences and the trials and triumphs of our ancestors in order to be good ancestors for those who are here and next to come How does she inspire your writing? Just by being her brilliant naturally unique self, you know, she's got such a powerfully potent imagination and creativity and a hilarious sense of humor and Very thought-provoking ideas about the world and her place in it So I think just by witnessing her and her own organic unfolding It's constantly inspired me and untold ways of my writing and just in my life and By learning to be a better human being Do you remember the first time you've ever helped her write a poem? Oh My goodness we've written so much poetry But I think most recently we wrote a poem actually for her grandmother and that was that was beautiful She was one actually who? Initiated that she said we should write a poem for for Nadi's birthday So we were able to create a piece together every time we create to gather such a glorious undertaking I can remember when she was a Toddler and I would always ask her so what's the story about and she says it's it's about a bear and a Unicorn and a monkey and I just have a litany of creatures in the story and I'd say Okay, once upon it's like no, let me tell the story. I'm like, all right you go it's like once upon a time and then she'd share her piece and then We would begin that and then what happened in process and I think that's very important for children You know just to hold space for Playfulness with imagination So I have yeah, I have so many different fond memories of us creating together That's wonderful. And you mentioned earlier in one of our conversations that your daughter often performs the front of hers So how do you think that relationship? How do you think that relationship really impacts the storytelling and the empowerment between the two of them well, I think young people have a lot more on the ball and a lot more in terms of Their opinions and ideas and perceptions Then we perhaps give them credit for I Think that particularly with Amina and her friend Andrea. They have found a Bit of an oasis and being able to bounce ideas off of each other as peers and as they discover different Histories and stories in the world that they are trying to make sense of and use their art and their expression to grapple with It's giving them so much freedom, you know and and positive affirmation and and realization of their power and the The force of nature that their voices are and and can be as they grow So I think that that's something that I'm definitely witnessing and proud to see and Quite frankly awestruck by and I think that The more youth have those opportunities to express themselves in profound ways the more adults take an Opportunity to give their eagles a backseat and actually hold space to listen to youth and hold space for their critical thinking and What ideas they're bringing forth? So much beauty and brilliance and So many valuable lessons can come from that It's wonderful. So shifting back to you as a poet. You have a new book. I do I do tell us all about it Well, this is my new text. It's actually called in the coded language of this mortal tongue This is the follow-up to my work that came out in 2019. Their names are mine And as you can see it has pictures of my mother My little brother DJ my aunt and Nancy and uncle Chuck and cousin Karen My mother again, my mother's all over this. This is a much more personal text per se than their names are mine. It speaks a lot to the Microaggressions and just racial aggressions in general. I've experienced living here in Vermont and I think people will find in the text perhaps some mirrored reflection of their own experiences and also some teachable moments to have a deeper understanding and compassion of what people of African descent and people of the global majority go through in Homogenous areas like Vermont. So I really want it to be an extension of their names are mine and to be utilized as a teaching tool and also just a humble offering of my own Personal experience some of the trials I've gone through and also speak to the testimony of how we've persevered through them And now use that art to kind of alchemize The challenges of those experiences into teaching tools and then the ways we can access self-hailing That's wonderful. Would you be able to read a passage from your book? I would love to maybe I can read a passage from Would you like a whole poem or just a selection? Whatever you prefer Surprises us. All right. Well, maybe I'll do one of the Opening pieces that's become quite fondly appreciated by a local community. We actually shared this piece on the The grand stage to over at the Flynn theater because we just had the first-ever black unity summit in the history of Vermont our new England and we brought dr. Angela Davis and so we opened with this poem to kind of honor the coming together of black people across the diaspora and The valuable import that that represents for us and for all people. So this is called beautiful sun-kissed people beautiful sun-kissed people walking miracles Unfolding parables Ancient scrolls and oceans throws Love be arose adorning your ears. This morning will not bring morning nor thorn in tears This forever moment is sure enough fears beautiful sun-kissed people We are on the cusp of overthrowing overseers light years beyond heckles and jeers No more tanning our hides were dr. Jekyll steers. This love is sheer transparent and near as dear as your closest relative here beautiful sun-kissed people no conversation on us being equal Just entertaining the thought is evil. We weave full Fully woven lost and found traded and stolen but look what the eye be holding beautiful sun-kissed people golden Black and free and ebony Mahogany and mocha be chocolate hagan dies can't see Rivers running melanin Shallow men be monitoring but most high got it all intense and purposes and sovereign skin Watch as this herpalma sends journey in and frolican Summer breeze is talking with the autumn wind how winter just won't break our stride too much springing step for us to hide Our victory is justified beautiful sun-kissed people Solar rise with older ties our currency ain't tokenized We close to those focused and wise whose feet arise on open skies. We white supremacy eulogizing Blessed ministry new horizon and desperate attempts at euphemizing our brilliance and feudal lives still will never neutralize Too many youth been euthanized fed sweetest prey to tooth decay But truthfully our root for way has truth to say adorns the night salutes the day in beauty that the stars obey Beautiful sun-kissed people I relate to you so musically and oh the joy it brings like Lift every voice and sing Tell earth and heaven ring Ring with the harmonies Of liberty Let our rejoicing rise high as the listening skies Let it resound loud as the rolling sea Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us Facing the rising sun of our new day begun Let us march on till victory is won Let earth and heaven ring in sacred oath Because after all we are betrothed To wondrous wonders of untold Great grand good fortune that broke the mold Can't buy us off of moldy bread We've more than crumbs inside our heads And crust just will not satisfy When banquets alone are ours divine We walk and go and make grandma maid Deliciousness in every shade Sun-kissed people Beautiful blessed bountiful sun-kissed people I praise the path that plants off flag Squarely in earth a self-made baskin A glorious newfound approach That predators cannot encroach That parasites and wayward folks out of mere glimpse will cough and choke See this radiance is brighter still Than every sun that lights a hill It calls from something deep within And pours from vocal cords and pen Beautiful sun-kissed people I'm nourished just to see you You furnish my living room With life abundant killing gloom You water every plant I have And flourish my garden's green and vast Sing lullabies to my inner child And soothe all fears of foul defile You spray me with your sense of grace And lovingly embrace my face Say I am you and we are race That founded every human trace Sun-kissed people I wake with your palms on my tongue In my chest I hear your drum From my lips I hear your hum It gets me high and drunk as rum On you I am forever spun Your melanin are never shun With you I am forever one Has there been better never won Sun-kissed people I bequeath these owes to you Your next of kin and children to And their children's children's children's view Will yet still match your vibrant hue You supernatural sorcery To walk in temples gorgeously Shaming cathedrals far and near Make a white Christ pale in the mirror Sun-kissed children you are it Don't let nobody tell you shh Unless they further lies in soil To grow a rose regal and royal To don a rose upon a rose Of red and black and green and gold So poetically bestowed It dignifies your inner throne Sun-kissed children marvelous Miraculous magnificence Outlandishly so unabashed Unapologetic sass Ultra-magnetic blackness To write goddess on your epitaph That's blasphemy surely right Because we know true gods never die Sun-kissed children you kiss my eyes With all that sunshine you apply in I say I am in love for true Because you are me and I am you From head to toe and all between I love these princes, kings and queens I even find you in my dreams And when I wake I vow to breathe And breathe the vow With every vow and continent I can pronounce The cosmos all your feats Build castles for your sweet retreats Goose-feathered pillows Black satin sheets A sacred lounge to rest your crown From all them wounds been crying out Sun-kissed people have no doubt You're all I am what I'm about Can't tell my story without your page Every chapter be erased You sew my line so seamlessly We vibe on higher frequency So let's not love in secrecy My sun-kissed people, we be as the key Thank you so much, Rajdi, that was wonderful Oh, thank you, my honor to share Is there anything else that you'd like to share with us today? Well, yes, I'd like to make known to the community that we're actually launching the Patreon for the Black Artist Showcase that we do monthly. Ordinarily, we have it on first Fridays and final Fridays at Soda Plant and at Crew Coffee. But we're going to be launching a Patreon in order to be able to travel more widely as a collective throughout the Burlington School District and throughout the Greater State of Vermont and New England. Using our art as a way of positive affirmation, of expansion, of horizon and narrative in spaces that can be very Eurocentricly focused and allowing for a deeper insight to shared human story. So we will actually be launching the Patreon officially and having several events surrounding it at the art hop at Soda Plant on the 10th through the 12th. So definitely look for more information for that in the coming month or so at www.RajneeEdens.com. That's R-A-J-N-I-I-E-D-D-I-N-S.com as well as feel free to reach out to me at their names are mine at gmail.com if you want more information. All right, thank you again so much Rajni for joining us and thank you for tuning in. Like Rajni said, if you're looking to learn more about Black Artist Showcases or to learn more about his work, visit RajniEdens.com or email their names are mine at gmail.com. Thank you. Thank you so much.