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

They
Bill Quigley
20 Aug 2008
🖨️ Print Article

7_foot_poet_upright_250wideby Kemet Mawakana, a.k.a. the Seven Foot Poet

How many times have we heard that "they" control your hood, your head and sometimes your heart, to hear some tell it.  You know "how they do us", right?"  The Seven Foot Poet wants you to ask the next question. 

Just who are "They"?  

“THEY”

The audio for this poem is temporarily unavailable.

 

“Aberrant behavior is shaped by its consequences”

 

The mysterious “they” are everywhere

“they” did that to me

“they” did this to them

“they” did that too

“they” hurt my family and friends

 

“they” are going to get theirs

“they” better get back

“they” allowed it to happen

“they” strategically set up that

 

“they” thrive and continue to hide

When you refer to them as “they”

“they” lose effectiveness and get more resistance

When “they” is stripped away

 

Name the names

Tell me the addresses

Show me their pictures

I want their parents’ and their children’s identities too

I want “they” to consider immediate retribution upon them and their loved ones

Before “they” do what “they” do

Then “they” will reconsider

Sick the paparazzi on the board members

Publish the policy makers

Advertise the advisors

Broadcast the manipulators

Don’t show me reality shows that could hardly be any faker

Because it is consequences that shape behavior.

 

By Kemit Mawakana (aka The Seven-Foot Poet)

 

Peace (when appropriate) War (when necessary)

 
 

Copyright 2008.

 

Kemet 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


  •  Police, Prisons and Prosecutors just Create More Victims
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Police, Prisons and Prosecutors just Create More Victims
    23 Feb 2021
    “We believe that all forms of law enforcement” in the US “are rooted in systems of violence,” said Samah Sisay, an organizer with the abolitionist group “Survived and Punished” and
  • Haiti: Black Despots and White Rulers
    Jemima Pierre
    Haiti: Black Despots and White Rulers
    17 Feb 2021
    The horror story in Haiti since 2004 is not really about despotic Black government, but is the consequence and crime of global white rule.
  • Freedom Rider: Impeachment Theater
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: Impeachment Theater
    17 Feb 2021
    Democracy is hanging on by a thread -- not due to marauding Trumpsters – but because of bipartisan support for neoliberal policies.
  • What isn’t in Judas and The Black Messiah is Just as Important as What is
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    What isn’t in Judas and The Black Messiah is Just as Important as What is
    17 Feb 2021
    Hollywood is big, mostly white, capitalist business, so it’s no surprise that its new film on Fred Hampton provides little information on Black Panther politics and history.
  • MANIFESTO: Ten Commandments of Democracy in Haiti, September 25, 1991
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    MANIFESTO: Ten Commandments of Democracy in Haiti, September 25, 1991
    17 Feb 2021
    Almost 20 years ago, the president elected by Haiti’s poor majority gave the United Nations a lesson in the meaning of democracy for historically oppressed peoples.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us