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2B: WTC Inspired, “What’s the Cause, Work to Change, Wish to Connect…”

January 30, 2009 By Leave a Comment

It’s Friday night, at least Eastern Time in my zone, sit back and enjoy some videos of Spoken Word. I was really inspired by Her Story, and the first poem really blew me away.

WTC, La Bruja – “What’s the Cause, work to change, wish to connect, want to cry, watch them climb, watch towers crash, wishes turn cloudy, wish time could wash this clean, whipser to christ, watch the children…..” – La Bruja.

The person behind the artist…

“For the people who think there is a gulf between two nations, Black and Latino” …Bien Fuerte. Este poema se llama, Jibaro – mi negro lindo. Este poema viene de la corazón.

Jibaro, My Pretty N****r” Felipe Luciano


Oscar Brown Jr, Then: 1970

Oscar Brow Jr, Now: Def Jam Poetry

Ani Difranco…known for her music, but reads like a song…

This was aired in 2005 – but all these issues are more real NOW then EVER – Spoken Word Poets are indeed the bears of truth. “Employed Poor” Claudia Alick.

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2B a Romantic in the 18th century Germany

January 29, 2009 By Leave a Comment

I am going to come out and ask something I promised myself (at the age of 12) that I would never ask because it leads to a downward spiral in conversation: what is poetry?

Does all great poetry not come from speech? Is speech not poetry? If poetry is speech then do you not want to write in manner that the people can understand? Is it not artistic to write in a language that the people can understand about things that they can relate to? I guess the real question to ask is: what is the purpose of spoken word poetry?

I have always believed that it is to tell a story. If this is true then every poet has the right to tell a story in whatever way they want, surely?

If spoken word poetry is so boring and so cliche why is the world seeing a revival of it? Since 1996 Germany has been experiencing a spoken word poetry renaissance. For a while this form of poetry had remained underground but it is reviving. I am wondering why it is becoming popular again? Folk poetry in Germany was very popular a long time ago. Johann Gottfried Herder in the 18Th century announced that Germany’s folk poetry (essentially spoken word) contained the essence of Germany’s creative heritage. Such theories were common during the romantic movement, which took place in the late 18Th century.

The romantic movement was a direct result of many Germans abandoning their culture and gravitating towards French culture. In order to instill pride in the people and ensure the survival of the German culture (I am sure I am phrasing this in an extreme manner) the German romantics started to rely more and more on folk poetry. Herder’s philosophy inspired poets and writers alike to start compiling the stories and experiences of German people. They used the poetry as a protest tool and a way to change people’s attitudes and unify them.

But why use folklore poetry to change attitudes? Well the answer is simple: because it contained the values of the German people and it was written for the German people. Folklore contains the legends of the people and their heroic deeds whereas their proverbs contain their morals. This suggests that the cliches that spoken word poets use reflect something about our society.

I have to point out though that the romantics have many critics who state that they took people’s stories and compiled only what they wanted to hear – what served their purpose. I do not doubt this was the case. If you want your story to be written in truthfully, you must do so yourself…

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2B: Body Expressive in Boston M.A.

January 29, 2009 By Leave a Comment

1 Week from Today…

Speak 2B Free will launch their first event, 2B: Body Expressive.

Kick off the night and start Speaking 2B Free with Poets, B-Boys and B-Girl of Losst Unnown and Body-Painters.

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2B: An Agency of Change through the Spoken Word

January 28, 2009 By Leave a Comment

In the midst of a New England wintery mix of snow, sleet, and rain, I spent most of the day on the computer, which is only a few feet away from my Mother’s kitchen. Around noon time, from the corner of my eye, I could see my five year old brother rummaging through the kitchen grabbing two spatulas. ‘What was he up to this time?’, I thought as I let him frolock about and continued to type away at the keyboard. Of all the work that I did today in seeking answers to questions that often led to more questions about the creative process and vast applications of the spoken word, the most profound revelation came from a moment that I had with my five year old brother.

As he left my mother’s kitchen running at full speed with two spatulas in his hands, he started singing what he has dubbed as, ‘The Pancake Song’. Between putting the mix, flipping the pancake, and a stick of butter in between, I took a moment to look away from the monitor, look into the depths of his brown eyes and congradulate him and on singing such a great song. This was totally improvised on the spot, from a child that has little focus in the classroom and disdain for routine. At this point, I was astonished that he could be so articulate in song and not in the classroom. When I said to him, “Great job, that’s an awesome song,” he paused in the middle of his sweet melody and said in a very serious voice, “It’s not a song, it’s an idea…”

My jaw dropped, and I immediately picked up a pen to record this historical moment. I thought to myself,if a five year old can understand and articulate the power of performance in relaying an idea, what is stopping all of us? I am aching to hear the voices of the people talking about the things that matter, even if it’s the ‘Pancake Song’. As Van said, “It’s time to speak of many things.” Relaying an idea through performance is powerful.

Spoken Word: The Male Ego accompanied by soul music -

From the same group, Urbintel, from the female perspective: Her Story

From the Ego of Man to Her Story…it’s back to the youth and an organization that created a movement in the midst of the police brutality in California during the 90′s through today. These two videos celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, with a short film that was made in 2007. They are doing some profoundly brilliant work that also utilizes spoken word.

The Ella Baker Center creates a movement letting the officers know that there was a community they had to respond to. In the midst of change, the Third Eye Movement, a culmination of puffy jackets, baggy pants, and spoken word poets become the most effective advocates against Prop 21.

Mixing poetry with politics in 2001, to prevent the construction of a Super Jail for minors, the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights organizes for the reform of California’s Youth Prison System/CYA. They take the rejected, the addicated, the imprisoned and wrap their arms around them, because they too, are human. The video was touching and shows the effect of youth performace and spoken word in conveying an idea for change.

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Germany: Was giving up stroytelling a price of progress?

January 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment


As a continuation from yesterday’s blog post I decided to find out more about storytelling in Germany. I was shocked to discover that Germany does not have a well developed storytelling industry or history of one because of the way that some parts of the society viewed storytelling in the past. Indeed trying to find anything relating to oral tradition in Germany is very difficult. How is it possible that a country can ignore the development of its oral traditions? It may seem trivial now but how do most us learn our beliefs – through stories that we are told in school or at home. From the story of the tortoise and the hare I learned that slow and steady wins the race.

If you Google spoken word poetry in Germany you find tons of information on people that are involved in that in the country right now but somehow this is more of a revival of something instead of a continuation of a tradition. Storytelling as a medium of communication between adults in Germany almost disappeared in the first half of the 20th century. Interestingly enough, storytelling survived within families; where most parents would tell stories to children.

In an attempt to revive the art of storytelling in mainstream society a group ofMärchenerzähler (“fairy tale tellers”) joined Europäische Märchengesellschaft, an organization which was founded in West Germany in the 1950s. This was not really a storytelling organization because its main interest was to conduct an academic study of Märchen (fairy tales). These fairy tale tellers did not invent their own stories but rather insisted on reciting the stories of the Brothers Grimm in their original context. This failed dismally. I wonder if they failed because the stories they were attempting to tell had been so changed by various authors, radio stars, theater shows etc that people did not understand how the original fairy tales related to their lives? Or maybe it was because there was nothing new in the stories? Also these fairy tale tellers, as they called themselves, only ever recited stories but never made up their own which may have made it harder to own the story.

Anyway in the 1970s social structures began to change and shift all over the western world, including West Germany. According to Martin Ellrodt (www.erzaehlen.de) at this time folktales and fairy tales as a bearer of traditional values came under intense criticism from alternative theaters – the freie Theater. As a result, very few artists were brave enough to continue telling stories, and those who did rarely took up traditional subjects or integrated traditional stories in their performances; preferring to develop their own “progressive” stories that they improvised together with the audience.

Martin Ellrodt explains that this attitude caused a rift within German storytelling circles. Alternative artists could not respect the Märchenerzähler;seeing them as boring conservatives stuck in the past because of their refusal to tell stories unrelated to the brothers Grimm. On the other hand theMärchenerzähler saw everything the alternative storytellers did as evil because of their refusal to use stories as they were intended – as a medium to perpetuate traditional values.

I have to ask if this is the price of progress? Does being progressive mean that we forget our past and do not pay homage to those that came before us? But at the same time should we cling to traditional fairy tales and recite them in the same old manner even when the messages they preach (or the way that the message is preached) are at odds with the society in which we live?

After all this questioning I am glad to report that Germany’s storytelling industry has been undergoing a metamorphosis since 2000, somehow storytellers have not been oblivious to the renewed interest in storytelling globally and have tried to unify the industry and make it more professional. In January 2008, the first general meeting of German speaking storytellers not only from Germany but also from Austria and Switzerland took place in Aachen, the next meeting is scheduled for June 2009 (for more information please see: www.erzaehlen.de). I can’t resist but ask one question: is this change a result of globalization? Did German storytellers realize that in order to compete in a global world they would have to unite and form an industry and tell stories to a global people?

Below is a video of a story teller at a pavillion in Germany during the Christmas season:

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