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


  • ICE Protest
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Chicago Mobilizes Against Trump
    10 Oct 2025
    Frank Chapman is Executive Director of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. He joins us from Chicago, which Donald Trump has targeted with an onslaught of federal law…
  • Ben Passmore
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Arms to Hold You Up: A History of Black Resistance
    10 Oct 2025
    Ben Passmore is the author of the graphic novel: “Black Arms to Hold You Up: A History of Black Resistance,” published by Pantheon Books. Ben Passmore is an award-winning political cartoonist who has…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    "Left" Except for Haiti
    08 Oct 2025
    The latest interference from the United Nations ensures that Haiti’s “gang” problem will continue and that its cause, an illegitimate governing structure brought about by the UN, U.S. and their…
  • We Charge Genocide
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: Genocide Stalks the U.S.A., Paul Robeson, 1952
    08 Oct 2025
    “We, the people, charge genocide.”
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor , Dan Kovalik
    Is the UN Charter Worth the Paper It’s Written On?
    08 Oct 2025
    In practice, the UN Charter ensures that the world’s most powerful nations are free to wage war at will without UN intervention or even censure, as the US has time and again.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us