"The Creation" A Poem by James Weldon Johnson

“The Creation” by James Weldon Johnson - Vincent Powell - Black Is Etern...

James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni "A Conversation". Full Broadcast Video

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        Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr.(born June 7, 1943) is an American poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. Giovanni gained initial fame in the late 1960s as one of the foremost authors of the Black Arts Movement. Influenced by the Civil Rights Movement and Black Power Movement of the period, her early work provides a strong, militant African-American perspective, leading one writer to dub her the "Poet of the Black Revolution."

James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American novelist and social critic. His essays, as collected in Notes of a Native Son (1955), explore intricacies of racial, sexual, and class distinctions in Western societies, most notably in mid-20th-century America. Some of Baldwin's essays are book-length, including The Fire Next Time (1963), No Name in the Street (1972), and The Devil Finds Work (1976). An unfinished manuscript, Remember This House, was expanded and adapted for cinema as the Academy Award–nominated documentary film I Am Not Your Negro.

Baldwin's novels and plays fictionalize fundamental personal questions and dilemmas amid complex social and psychological pressures thwarting the equitable integration of not only African Americans, but also gay and bisexual men, while depicting some internalized obstacles to such individuals' quests for acceptance. Such dynamics are prominent in Baldwin's second novel, Giovanni's Room, written in 1956, well before the gay liberation movement.

Soul! or SOUL! (1967–1971 or 1967–1973) was a pioneering performance/variety television program in the late 1960s and early 1970s produced by New York City PBS affiliate, WNET. It showcased African American music, dance and literature. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul!

Ellis Haizlip was born on September 17, 1929 (to January 25, 1991). He was a pioneering broadcaster, television host, theater and television producer, and cultural activist. Often host of Soul!

Great Pax Whitey

Poem for a Lady of Leisure Now Retired

Woman Poem

My House

Nikki Giovanni & The New York Community Choir - Ego Trippin'

Nikki Giovanni - Gemini

2008: Sonia Sanchez — Middle Passage

Nikki Giovanni Talks Jesus, Black Lives Matter, Donald Trump & More

James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni "A Conversation". Full Broadcast Video

Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr.(born June 7, 1943) is an American poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. Giovanni gained initial fame in the late 1960s as one of the foremost authors of the Black Arts Movement. Influenced by the Civil Rights Movement and Black Power Movement of the period, her early work provides a strong, militant African-American perspective, leading one writer to dub her the "Poet of the Black Revolution." James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American novelist and social critic. His essays, as collected in Notes of a Native Son (1955), explore intricacies of racial, sexual, and class distinctions in Western societies, most notably in mid-20th-century America. Some of Baldwin's essays are book-length, including The Fire Next Time (1963), No Name in the Street (1972), and The Devil Finds Work (1976). An unfinished manuscript, Remember This House, was expanded and adapted for cinema as the Academy Award–nominated documentary film I Am Not Your Negro. Baldwin's novels and plays fictionalize fundamental personal questions and dilemmas amid complex social and psychological pressures thwarting the equitable integration of not only African Americans, but also gay and bisexual men, while depicting some internalized obstacles to such individuals' quests for acceptance. Such dynamics are prominent in Baldwin's second novel, Giovanni's Room, written in 1956, well before the gay liberation movement. Soul! or SOUL! (1967–1971 or 1967–1973) was a pioneering performance/variety television program in the late 1960s and early 1970s produced by New York City PBS affiliate, WNET. It showcased African American music, dance and literature. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul! Ellis Haizlip was born on September 17, 1929 (to January 25, 1991). He was a pioneering broadcaster, television host, theater and television producer, and cultural activist. Often host of Soul!

“The Negro Mother” by Langston Hughes Children, I come back today To tell you a story of the long dark way That I had to climb, that I had to know In order that the race might live and grow. Look at my face dark as the night Yet shining like the sun with love’s true light I am the child they stole from the sand three hundred years ago in Africa’s land. I am the dark girl who crossed the wide sea Carrying in my body the seed of the free. I am the woman who worked in the field Bringing the cotton and the corn to yield. I am the one who labored as a slave, Beaten and mistreated for the work I gave Children sold away from me, husband sold, too. No safety , no love, no respect was I due.

Three hundred years in the deepest South: But God put a song and a prayer in my mouth . God put a dream like steel in my soul. Now, through my children, I’m reaching the goal. Now, through my children, young and free, I realize the blessings deed to me. I couldn’t read then. I couldn’t write. I had nothing, back there in the night. Sometimes, the valley was filled with tears, But I kept trudging on through the lonely years. Sometimes, the road was hot with the sun, But I had to keep on till my work was done: I had to keep on! No stopping for me I was the seed of the coming Free. I nourished the dream that nothing could smother Deep in my breast, the Negro mother. I had only hope then, but now through you, Dark ones of today, my dreams must come true: All you dark children in the world out there, Remember my sweat, my pain, my despair. Remember my years, heavy with sorrow. And make of those years a torch for tomorrow. Make of my pass a road to the light Out of the darkness, the ignorance, the night. Lift high my banner out of the dust. Stand like free men supporting my trust. Believe in the right, let none push you back. Remember the whip and the slaver’s track. Remember how the strong in struggle and strife Still bar you the way, and deny you life. But march ever forward, breaking down bars. Look ever upward at the sun and the stars. Oh, my dark children, may my dreams and my prayers Impel you forever up the great stairs — For I will be with you till no white brother Dares keep down the children of the Negro Mother.

I Am Ready

                                                                                             By  RGBW46

  I am ready for battle, I am ready

       I won't rattle, I am ready, I am ready

  I am ready for my life

       I am ready for life's battles, I am ready

  I know my God will battle for me

       He created this world, I know He will handle anything that be

  Are you ready? are you ready? are you ready?  

       School is a battle, love is a battle, life is a battle

  Only with God can you win the battles

       Family is a battle, friendship is a battle, education is a battle

  I am ready for battle, I am ready

       I won't rattle, I am ready, I am ready 

  Ready or not the battles of life are coming

       This whole life is full of struggling

  Being a good person is a good thing

       Yet life will still make you battle, be ready, be ready

  Every day is a battle of one kind or another

       Are you ready? Are you ready? Are you ready

  I am ready for battle, I am ready

       I won't rattle, I am ready, I am ready

Dear God | a poem by Joanah Madzime

Spoken word poetry Palestine Gaza - you cannot silence the sea

Shades of Anger - Poem about Palestine

My Homeland

Ibrahim Tuqan – My Homeland

My homeland
My homeland
Glory and beauty
Sublimity and prettiness
Are in your hills
Life and deliverance
Pleasure and hope
Are in your atmosphere
Will I see you?
Safe and comfortable

Sound and honored
Will I see you?
In your eminence
Reaching the stars
My homeland
My homeland
*

The youth will not get tired
Their goal is your independence

Or they die
We will drink from death
But we will not be slaves to our enemies
We do not want
An eternal humiliation
Nor a miserable life
We do not want
But we will return
Our great glory
My homeland
My homeland

*
The sword and the pen
Are our symbols
Not talking nor quarreling
Our glory and covenant
And a duty to fulfill it
Shake us
Our honor
Is an honorable cause
A raised flag
O, your beauty
In your eminence
Victorious over your enemies
My homeland
My homeland

As mentioned above, Ibrahim is Fadwa’s brother who initially introduced her to poetry and literature. Born and raised to a prominent governing family in Nablus in 1905, his works are believed to have influenced generations and echoed the very silenced Palestinian voices at the turn of the 20th century. 

My Homeland seems to serve as both a tribute and reminder of how resilient Palestinians are,  bearing and carrying “the sword and the pen (as) (their) symbols” at all times – proof that the Palestinian cause will only die out once each and every single pen runs out of ink.

Enough for Me

 Fadwa Tuqan – Enough for Me

Enough for Me

Enough for me to die on her earth

be buried in her

to melt and vanish into her soil

then sprout forth as a flower

played with by a child from my country.

Enough for me to remain

in my country’s embrace

to be in her close as a handful of dust

a sprig of grass

a flower.

Considered one of the most distinguished contemporary Arab poets, Fadwa Tuqan’s works have been met with great international success and awards. Born in 1917, she has witnessed her homeland sweep from British rule to leave room for the creation of an Israeli state and a Palestinian authority within decades – an experience

that she made sure to pen down. Her introduction to poetry was made through her brother who is no other than the illustrious Ibrahim Tuqan, another Palestinian nationalist poet whose work is believed to have rallied Arabs during their revolt against the British mandate.

In this poem, Fadwa attempts to shed light, through a handful of verses, on her roots and how home will always be home no matter what. Titled Enough for Me, it seems as if the author wants us to know that no matter what could happen to her homeland it will always be hers and no one will be able to take that away from her. 

Ta-Nehisi Coates Speaks Out Against Israel's "Segregationist Apartheid R...

Ta-Nehisi Coates speaks the truth about Israel and the United States of America and what they are doing to the Palestinian people.

Isn't It a Pity

There are plenty of places to start exploring Nina Simone’s music, from the songs that have worked their way into our cultural fabric through soundtracks and TV commercials to the more challenging music she made as she evolved musically, personally, and politically. One thing we’d beg you to check out on the way is her epic expansion of George Harrison’s “Isn’t It A Pity.”                                                                                                            Isn't it a pity  

                                                          Isn't it a pity 

You don't know what I'm talking about yet

 But I will tell you soon

 It's a pity

 Isn't it a pity

 Isn't it a shame

 Yes, how we break each other's hearts And cause each other pain

 How we take each other's love

 Without thinking anymore

 Forgetting to give back

 Forgetting to remember

 Just forgetting and no thank you

 

Isn't it a pity

 Some things take so long

 But how do I explain

 Why not too many people can see

 That we are all just the same

 We're all guilty

 Because of all the tears

 Our eyes just can't hope to see

 But I don't think it's applicable to me

 The beauty that surrounds them

 Child isn't it a pity

 How we break each other's hearts

 And cause each other pain

 How we take each other's love The most precious thing

 Without thinking anymore

 Forgetting to give back 

Forgetting to keep open our door

 Isn't it a pity Isn't it a pity

 Some things take so long 

But how do I explain

 Isn't it a pity 

Why not too many people

 Can see we're all the same

 Because we cry so much

 Our eyes can't, can't hope to see 

That's not quite true 

The beauty that surrounds them

 Maybe that's why we cry God, isn't it a pity

 Lord knows it's a pity

 Mankind has been so programmed

 That they don't care about nothin'

 That has to do with care C-a-r-e

 How we take each other's love The most precious thing

 Without thinking anymore

 Forgetting to give back

 Forgetting to keep open the door

 But I understand some things take so long

 But how do I explain

 Why not too many people Can see we're just the same

 And because of all their tears

 Their eyes can't hope to see 

The beauty that surrounds them

 God, isn't it a pity 

The beauty that surrounds them

 It's a pity We take each other's love

 Just take it for granted Without thinking anymore

 We give each other pain And we shut every door

 We take each other's minds 

And we're capable of taking each other's souls

 We do it every day Just to reach some financial goal

 Lord, isn't it a pity, my God

 Isn't it a pity, my God

 And so unnecessary

 Just a little time, a little care A little note was written in the air

 

Just the little thank you,

 We just forget to give back 

Cause we're moving too fast Moving too fast

 Forgetting to give back But some things take so long

 And I cannot explain 

The beauty that surrounds us

 And we don't see it We think things are just the same

 We've been programmed that way

 Isn't it a pity

 If you want to feel sorry Isn't it a pity

 Isn't it a pity

 The beauty sets the beauty that surrounds us 

Because of all our tears

 Our eyes can't hope to see

 Maybe one day at least

 I'll see me And just concentrate on givin',

 givin', givin', givin' 

And till that day

 Mankind doesn't stand a chance 

Don't know nothin' about romance

 Everything is plastic Isn't it a pity My God.

 Harrison wrote the song about the breakup of the Beatles, but Simone moves it somewhere more personal in terms of her own struggles and more global in terms of the civil rights movement and the disillusionment that followed. She makes critical changes to the lyrics — sometimes as simple as changing a pronoun, sometimes profound as adding entire lines that call the motives, morality, and future of all mankind into question — and with little more than her voice and piano, turns a rock song into an expansive mix of all the music she knows, from Bach to the blues to gospel to jazz. She sings she cries, she preaches. And she plays her ass off. It’s a performance as complex and beautiful and challenging as Miss Simone herself.

 

YOUTH SUNDAY SERMON ONLY

I Love You Black Man Poem

Neiel Israel - "When a Black Man Walks"