The Poetic Assassins need your support! Any donation helps (every dollar counts) and please pass this along http://kck.st/dAOFOJ
The Poetic Assassins are a spoken word collective based in the midwest. We are also the founders of a literary organization by the name of Sai Werd Ink. The mission of Sai Werd Ink is to promote equality through increasing literacy. We believe that the most powerful tool a human possesses is their voice and ability to be heard. To this end Sai Werd Ink uses the art of spoken word to run workshops, residencies and of course perform. The Poetic Assassins are award winning performers (VERVE grant awarded by Bay Area poet Paul Flores, Urban Griot award best spoken word collective and best production). We have performed at events including Peace Jam with Desmond Tutu, Standing on the Shoulders of Giants (40th anniversary of Morril Hall takeover for civil rights at the University of Minnesota), Hip Hop Against Homophobia, Lectured and Performed at From Vices to Verses: facilitated discussions and workshops with The Loft, and the national organization Freedom School. We have run workshops and/or performed at institutions like: University of Minnesota, Colorado College, University of Iowa, Mckendree University, and Slippery Rock University among many others.
To this extent, we are trying to raise funds to go on tour. We have planned to do a 5-10 university spoken word tour. These funds will help with airfare, lodging, and food for the two artists. We recently debuted our album Red D.O.T.T. (Death of the Truth) and want a chance for others to hear our messages. Colleges are in the following main states: California, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Florida, & Hawaii!!!!!
What Others Have Said About Poetic Assassins:
"It was a really great experience. You made us all feel like we were a
part of something powerful"
"...your performance was unlike anything I've ever experienced. It was amazingly beautiful, energizing, and inspirational."
"The performance was AH-MAZING!!! I've never seen or heard anything like
it. It was very powerful and moving."
"The spoken word of Poetic Assassins is not only powerful, it is
educational. But it is not the sort of education that you can get in
school-it is better, and they are clearly passionate about their messages!"
Poetic Assassins Links
Who are The Poetic Assassins- http://www.youtube.com/watch...
Truth Serum Video- http://www.youtube.com/watch...
CD Release Party and Interview- http://www.youtube.com/watch... l
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Sai Werd Ink Presents Poetic Assassins Red D.O.T.T. Tour
The Poetic Assassins need your support! Any donation helps (every dollar counts) and please pass this along http://kck.st/aeIUZE
The Poetic Assassins are a spoken word collective based in the midwest. We are also the founders of a literary organization by the name of Sai Werd Ink. The mission of Sai Werd Ink is to promote equality through increasing literacy. We believe that the most powerful tool a human possesses is their voice and ability to be heard. To this end Sai Werd Ink uses the art of spoken word to run workshops, residencies and of course perform. The Poetic Assassins are award winning performers (VERVE grant awarded by Bay Area poet Paul Flores, Urban Griot award best spoken word collective and best production). We have performed at events including Peace Jam with Desmond Tutu, Standing on the Shoulders of Giants (40th anniversary of Morril Hall takeover for civil rights at the University of Minnesota), Hip Hop Against Homophobia, Lectured and Performed at From Vices to Verses: facilitated discussions and workshops with The Loft, and the national organization Freedom School. We have run workshops and/or performed at institutions like: University of Minnesota, Colorado College, University of Iowa, Mckendree University, and Slippery Rock University among many others.
To this extent, we are trying to raise funds to go on tour. We have planned to do a 5-10 university spoken word tour. These funds will help with airfare, lodging, and food for the two artists. We recently debuted our album Red D.O.T.T. (Death of the Truth) and want a chance for others to hear our messages. Colleges are in the following main states: California, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Florida, & Hawaii!!!!!
What Others Have Said About Poetic Assassins:
"It was a really great experience. You made us all feel like we were a
part of something powerful"
"...your performance was unlike anything I've ever experienced. It was amazingly beautiful, energizing, and inspirational."
"The performance was AH-MAZING!!! I've never seen or heard anything like
it. It was very powerful and moving."
"The spoken word of Poetic Assassins is not only powerful, it is
educational. But it is not the sort of education that you can get in
school-it is better, and they are clearly passionate about their messages!"
Poetic Assassins Links
Who are The Poetic Assassins- http://www.youtube.com/watch...
Truth Serum Video- http://www.youtube.com/watch...
CD Release Party and Interview- http://www.youtube.com/watch... l
The Poetic Assassins are a spoken word collective based in the midwest. We are also the founders of a literary organization by the name of Sai Werd Ink. The mission of Sai Werd Ink is to promote equality through increasing literacy. We believe that the most powerful tool a human possesses is their voice and ability to be heard. To this end Sai Werd Ink uses the art of spoken word to run workshops, residencies and of course perform. The Poetic Assassins are award winning performers (VERVE grant awarded by Bay Area poet Paul Flores, Urban Griot award best spoken word collective and best production). We have performed at events including Peace Jam with Desmond Tutu, Standing on the Shoulders of Giants (40th anniversary of Morril Hall takeover for civil rights at the University of Minnesota), Hip Hop Against Homophobia, Lectured and Performed at From Vices to Verses: facilitated discussions and workshops with The Loft, and the national organization Freedom School. We have run workshops and/or performed at institutions like: University of Minnesota, Colorado College, University of Iowa, Mckendree University, and Slippery Rock University among many others.
To this extent, we are trying to raise funds to go on tour. We have planned to do a 5-10 university spoken word tour. These funds will help with airfare, lodging, and food for the two artists. We recently debuted our album Red D.O.T.T. (Death of the Truth) and want a chance for others to hear our messages. Colleges are in the following main states: California, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Florida, & Hawaii!!!!!
What Others Have Said About Poetic Assassins:
"It was a really great experience. You made us all feel like we were a
part of something powerful"
"...your performance was unlike anything I've ever experienced. It was amazingly beautiful, energizing, and inspirational."
"The performance was AH-MAZING!!! I've never seen or heard anything like
it. It was very powerful and moving."
"The spoken word of Poetic Assassins is not only powerful, it is
educational. But it is not the sort of education that you can get in
school-it is better, and they are clearly passionate about their messages!"
Poetic Assassins Links
Who are The Poetic Assassins- http://www.youtube.com/watch...
Truth Serum Video- http://www.youtube.com/watch...
CD Release Party and Interview- http://www.youtube.com/watch... l
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Tom Emmer Town Hall
This afternoon hundreds of people crammed into Ol’ Mexico to hear how Tom Emmer the Republican candidate for governor would explain his comments regarding implementing a tax credit in Minnesota. A move that would lower the minimum wage of the thousands of servers in the state, the vast majority of whom can barely make ends met as is let alone survive any cuts to their income. When confronted with these realities this afternoon Mr. Emmer repeatedly offered shallow, unsatisfying rhetoric. His argument and rationalization breaks down to this:
If the business owner can save money on wages the cost of food will go down and there will therefore be more customers. Implying that the cut in wages could be made up with increased tips.
This argument is absurd on many levels first it assumes that because owners save money on wages they would lower the cost of food, something that we all know is far from a for gone conclusion. It doesn’t take much to imagine 6 months into a Tom Emmer lead Minnesota him arguing that business owners have the right to set their prices as they will and the market will regulate them. Forgetting his “promise” to all the servers in those restaurants that would now be making 3$ an hour. This is the fundamental issue with Emmer, his supporters, and his party. The reality of poor and working class people is not something they are capable of or willing to consider. They speak as if people are not struggling to provide life’s necessities for their families and themselves. One of the participants hit the nail on the head when she stated that it seems Emmer is only concerned with those that own property. There was no mistaking the energy tonight; people are feed up with the arrogance, and selfishness that underlies Emmer and his party. Perhaps this is why the town hall ended a full 30 minutes prior to its scheduled time. Emmer consistently stressed he was there for a discussion. Well Mr. Emmer one half of a discussion requires listening and you continue to fail miserably at this crucial point. Sadly, I don’t anticipate this changing. My hopes are that those who voiced their concern this afternoon will continue to do so and claim the power that is rightfully theirs.
If the business owner can save money on wages the cost of food will go down and there will therefore be more customers. Implying that the cut in wages could be made up with increased tips.
This argument is absurd on many levels first it assumes that because owners save money on wages they would lower the cost of food, something that we all know is far from a for gone conclusion. It doesn’t take much to imagine 6 months into a Tom Emmer lead Minnesota him arguing that business owners have the right to set their prices as they will and the market will regulate them. Forgetting his “promise” to all the servers in those restaurants that would now be making 3$ an hour. This is the fundamental issue with Emmer, his supporters, and his party. The reality of poor and working class people is not something they are capable of or willing to consider. They speak as if people are not struggling to provide life’s necessities for their families and themselves. One of the participants hit the nail on the head when she stated that it seems Emmer is only concerned with those that own property. There was no mistaking the energy tonight; people are feed up with the arrogance, and selfishness that underlies Emmer and his party. Perhaps this is why the town hall ended a full 30 minutes prior to its scheduled time. Emmer consistently stressed he was there for a discussion. Well Mr. Emmer one half of a discussion requires listening and you continue to fail miserably at this crucial point. Sadly, I don’t anticipate this changing. My hopes are that those who voiced their concern this afternoon will continue to do so and claim the power that is rightfully theirs.
Tom Emmer Town Hall
This afternoon hundreds of people crammed into Ol’ Mexico to hear how Tom Emmer the Republican candidate for governor would explain his comments regarding implementing a tax credit in Minnesota. A move that would lower the minimum wage of the thousands of servers in the state, the vast majority of whom can barely make ends met as is let alone survive any cuts to their income. When confronted with these realities this afternoon Mr. Emmer repeatedly offered shallow, unsatisfying rhetoric. His argument and rationalization breaks down to this:
If the business owner can save money on wages the cost of food will go down and there will therefore be more customers. Implying that the cut in wages could be made up with increased tips.
This argument is absurd on many levels first it assumes that because owners save money on wages they would lower the cost of food, something that we all know is far from a for gone conclusion. It doesn’t take much to imagine 6 months into a Tom Emmer lead Minnesota him arguing that business owners have the right to set their prices as they will and the market will regulate them. Forgetting his “promise” to all the servers in those restaurants that would now be making 3$ an hour. This is the fundamental issue with Emmer, his supporters, and his party. The reality of poor and working class people is not something they are capable of or willing to consider. They speak as if people are not struggling to provide life’s necessities for their families and themselves. One of the participants hit the nail on the head when she stated that it seems Emmer is only concerned with those that own property. There was no mistaking the energy tonight; people are feed up with the arrogance, and selfishness that underlies Emmer and his party. Perhaps this is why the town hall ended a full 30 minutes prior to its scheduled time. Emmer consistently stressed he was there for a discussion. Well Mr. Emmer one half of a discussion requires listening and you continue to fail miserably at this crucial point. Sadly, I don’t anticipate this changing. My hopes are that those who voiced their concern this afternoon will continue to do so and claim the power that is rightfully theirs.
If the business owner can save money on wages the cost of food will go down and there will therefore be more customers. Implying that the cut in wages could be made up with increased tips.
This argument is absurd on many levels first it assumes that because owners save money on wages they would lower the cost of food, something that we all know is far from a for gone conclusion. It doesn’t take much to imagine 6 months into a Tom Emmer lead Minnesota him arguing that business owners have the right to set their prices as they will and the market will regulate them. Forgetting his “promise” to all the servers in those restaurants that would now be making 3$ an hour. This is the fundamental issue with Emmer, his supporters, and his party. The reality of poor and working class people is not something they are capable of or willing to consider. They speak as if people are not struggling to provide life’s necessities for their families and themselves. One of the participants hit the nail on the head when she stated that it seems Emmer is only concerned with those that own property. There was no mistaking the energy tonight; people are feed up with the arrogance, and selfishness that underlies Emmer and his party. Perhaps this is why the town hall ended a full 30 minutes prior to its scheduled time. Emmer consistently stressed he was there for a discussion. Well Mr. Emmer one half of a discussion requires listening and you continue to fail miserably at this crucial point. Sadly, I don’t anticipate this changing. My hopes are that those who voiced their concern this afternoon will continue to do so and claim the power that is rightfully theirs.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Why Oscar Grant Matters to Us All
This is my fourth attempt at writing this. I can't seem to find the words. Like many of you I am outraged at the verdict in the Oscar Grant trial. However, I am not surprised. Some will say that a conviction of any sort is a victory. I can't buy that. I mean this execution was caught on tape, an acquittal would have been too blatant, but this is not far from it, too blatant that is. Can you imagine any of us shooting another human being, claiming we thought our gun was a taser and this being acceptable to the point we only have to serve a max of four years. I personally know people who have served more time for selling weed. Maybe it's me but I think the taking of a life is more severe than selling marijuana, a drug that is proven to be less dangerous than tobacco or alcohol, not to mention all the prescription drugs that are legal because white people own the production. I don't want to get into all the ways this outcome is unjust and racist. I think those are fairly clear. What I do want to focus on is why this matters. This entire tragedy is just one of the many that happens across this country every single day. How many Oscar Grants happen that don't get video tapped? How many have to deal with police harassing their community? If we do not confront these issues right here right now we will continue to see more and more Oscar Grants. The time has come to rethink how we police our communities. It is time to start sacrificing our own comforts and put ourselves on the line for a greater cause, because the truth is it will only be a matter of time before your city is Oakland, and your brother, friend, sister, father, cousin, maybe even you are Oscar Grant. No Justice No Peace
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Class Reflections
bell hooks wrote a book “Class Matters” in it she discusses the idea of class, and how she has struggled with her climbing of the “social ladder”. I have read my fair share of books, and I can truthfully say not many have spoke to me in such a personal way before. I grew up the eldest son of a waitress and a cook, neither with any real education to speak of other then real life. I grew up knowing what it meant to work and earn what you have, few things in our house were valued over work ethic. My parents worked their asses off to make sure my brothers and I got the best education, so we could go to college and didn’t have to “go through this shit”. I will never forget those days or lessons, and I am proud of my class background. Perhaps that it why it was/is so difficult, and I struggle now with admitting that I have it better. I am a college graduate of a private institution and a teacher, I am not rich by any means and still live paycheck to paycheck, but I have a TRA, I have enough left with every check to go on a date with my wife or to go visit her family in California and Arizona, if we save a couple pay periods. I am not waiting tables for minimum wage and being treated as if I am disposable, a feeling that far too many know far too well. However, with all of this being true I still identify with the working class, and I always will. I will never use my degree for social capital or to play savior to those that sacrificed for me to be here. I understand that people and relationships not money are what make this life worth living. I went to college with the idea that I would get my parents out of their circumstance, I would buy their house, send them on vacations (my mom is dying to see California), and they wouldn’t have to struggle anymore; while I still have those goals it is so much more. I want to use my degree in order to dismantle the system that caused this struggle. I want all my people, all those I grew up with who are now either drunk at the palace, killing other poor people in the Middle East, or have “made it” and never come back to NE to know that they are valuable and honored not because of their bank account, degrees, skin color, gender, or how many "terrorists" they kill in the name of the flag, but because they are human and have god in them. I want them to know that it is off of their backs that wealth is made, and maintained in this country. I want them to know that when they can’t fall asleep at night because they are stressed over money they are not alone, and it is not right. I want them to know the Power of You is more than a two year ride to MCTC, but something that can truly change our world. I want them to know the police will never protect my interests, and that the schools don’t talk about my heroes either. I want them to know when I say us I mean exactly that- us, and above all I want all those people who have taken advantage of us, and continue to do so to know that we are here and we will not take it anymore. I understand completely now, class is a mind state, experience, and value system as much as it is a paycheck, so this is my promise to my wife, my brothers, my parents, my grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, old friends and new ones, our daughters and sons that will inherit our legacies, all those that feel me deep in their stomaches- I will always keep my mind right. There is no war but the class war!
In solidarity
Ryan “BUGS” Williams-Virden
In solidarity
Ryan “BUGS” Williams-Virden
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Human Rights and Israel
In the aftermath of the Israeli attack on humanitarian aid ships destined for Gaza I thought I would share some thoughts regarding the entire Israel- Palestine conflict.
For quite some time now a point of contention between myself and those that either are, were, or could potentially be my friends is Israel; specifically Israel's occupation of Gaza and the West Bank. As expected they attempt to write off my critiques and analysis as being radical, and without any real merit. Some have even gone as far as suggesting anti-semitism is the basis for my analysis. They fail to differentiate between anti-semitism and anti-zionism. They believe what the media tells them that any and all critiques of Israel are based in a deep hatred of the Jewish people. This is of course not simply a paranoid stance, but rather one based in a history of oppression and racism against Jews. However, what needs to be made clear is that Israel is a political state, and a repressive one at that. When I speak of Israel I am speaking of that political state and its policies, not the Jewish people as a whole. There are facts that can not be disputed here and are worthy of being discussed widely, something that does not happen due to, in my opinion, the relationship between the US and Israel. All one needs to do is have a basic understanding of human rights to see that Israel is in violation. Have there been acts by Palestinians that have resulted in violence, yes, but for the great majority of those acts they are in response to an occupation and a history of dehumanization. What would you do if you were a victim of apartheid? For most a pro-active response (which can mean being an aggressor in certain isolated instances) is understandable- especially when it means going up against tanks with a pocket full of stones.
What I am getting at is this- if we truly want to see an end to the violence then the solution is clear- hold Israel responsible for its policies by cutting off aid, observe and respect the UN declarations that have been passed down regarding this issue, recognize Hamas as a legit political party that was voted to power democratically, and above all stop looking for solutions that serve America and our allies economic interests.
In solidarity
Ryan "BUGS" Williams-Virden
For quite some time now a point of contention between myself and those that either are, were, or could potentially be my friends is Israel; specifically Israel's occupation of Gaza and the West Bank. As expected they attempt to write off my critiques and analysis as being radical, and without any real merit. Some have even gone as far as suggesting anti-semitism is the basis for my analysis. They fail to differentiate between anti-semitism and anti-zionism. They believe what the media tells them that any and all critiques of Israel are based in a deep hatred of the Jewish people. This is of course not simply a paranoid stance, but rather one based in a history of oppression and racism against Jews. However, what needs to be made clear is that Israel is a political state, and a repressive one at that. When I speak of Israel I am speaking of that political state and its policies, not the Jewish people as a whole. There are facts that can not be disputed here and are worthy of being discussed widely, something that does not happen due to, in my opinion, the relationship between the US and Israel. All one needs to do is have a basic understanding of human rights to see that Israel is in violation. Have there been acts by Palestinians that have resulted in violence, yes, but for the great majority of those acts they are in response to an occupation and a history of dehumanization. What would you do if you were a victim of apartheid? For most a pro-active response (which can mean being an aggressor in certain isolated instances) is understandable- especially when it means going up against tanks with a pocket full of stones.
What I am getting at is this- if we truly want to see an end to the violence then the solution is clear- hold Israel responsible for its policies by cutting off aid, observe and respect the UN declarations that have been passed down regarding this issue, recognize Hamas as a legit political party that was voted to power democratically, and above all stop looking for solutions that serve America and our allies economic interests.
In solidarity
Ryan "BUGS" Williams-Virden
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