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


  • Jody Roumain
    Africa is Burning! DRC in Environmental Crisis
    26 Jul 2023
    Quiet as it’s kept, the African continent is the most susceptible to the impacts of climate change. And it has a history of colonialism, capitalist extraction, and labor exploitation to blame for…
  • Nick Corbishley
    Latin America Again Refuses to Fall In Line With the Collective West on Ukraine, This Time from Brussels
    26 Jul 2023
    The European Union failed to bully the members of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) into renouncing its neutral stance on the Ukraine conflict.
  • Black Agenda Radio July 21, 2023
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio July 21, 2023
    21 Jul 2023
    Opposing the latest call for the invasion of Haiti, ending legacy admissions in New York, felony murder sentencing in Pennsylvania.
  • Opposing Occupation and Intervention in Haiti
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Opposing Occupation and Intervention in Haiti
    21 Jul 2023
    Dr. Jemima Pierre is a professor in the African American Studies and Anthropology Departments at UCLA.
  • Ending Legacy Admissions in New York
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Ending Legacy Admissions in New York
    21 Jul 2023
    Johanna Miller is Director of Education Policy at the New York Civil Liberties Union.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us