Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

It Is Better To Give Than To Receive
Bill Quigley
10 Sep 2008
🖨️ Print Article

It
Is Better To Give Than To Receive

by Kemet Mawakana

To hear this original work performed by the Seven Foot Poet, click the flash player below

{mp3}poetry/1007ft_better_2_give{/mp3}

You
gave me your name

     And
I took it.

You
gave me your number

     And
I took it.

You
gave me your friendship

     And
I took it.

You
gave me your trust

     And
I took it.

You
gave me your love

     And
I took it.

You
gave me your self

     And
I took it.

You
gave me the world

     And
I took it.

I
finally am ready to give – and you can’t take it anymore.

By
Kemit Mawakana (aka The Seven-Foot Poet)

Peace
(when appropriate) War (when necessary)

Copyright
1996.

Kemit
Mawakana (aka “The Seven-Foot Poet”) is a highly acclaimed
spoken-word artist, and has published two books
A
. . . Z . . . Infinity

and
Crucifixion
of My Soul
.
The collective body of his works presented weekly in BAR are in
tribute to Listervelt Middleton, Dr. John Henrik Clarke, and “For
The People”. Currently, he is a facilitator at AYA Educational
Institute (
www.ayaed.com)
and can be reached at
sevenfootpoet@gmail.com.

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


More Stories


  • Clau O'Brien Moscoso
    Peru's Executive in Crisis: The Anti-Democratic Legacy of Fujimori's '93 Constitution
    29 Oct 2025
    Peru's congress has perfected the art of the constitutional coup, disposing of presidents the moment their usefulness expires. The removal of Dina Boluarte continues a decades-long strategy to…
  • x
    International League of Peoples' Struggle , International Peoples' Front , People's Coalition on Food Sovereignty
    The Right to Resist is the Right of the People! International Organizations Launch the International People’s Tribunal for Palestine
    29 Oct 2025
    When established institutions refuse to respond in the face of genocide, the mandate for justice falls to the people. This tribunal is a global grassroots movement taking the international law into…
  • Black Alliance For Peace , Black Alliance for Peace Haiti/Americas Team
    Black Alliance for Peace Stands Firmly with Venezuela and the Bolivarian Revolution
    29 Oct 2025
    We condemn U.S. lawlessness in Our Americas and call for multinational intervention to guarantee a ‘Zone of Peace’.
  • Arturo Dominguez
    The US Plan To Pillage Latin America Is Becoming Clearer
    29 Oct 2025
    Trump Administration officials have frequently invoked the Monroe Doctrine, explaining the aggression toward Latin America.
  • Steve Salaita
    Palestine and the Making of a New New World
    29 Oct 2025
    The liberation of Palestine is, above all, a world-building project.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us