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

Vietnam
Kemet Mawakana
26 Mar 2008
🖨️ Print Article

7_foot_poet_upright_250wideKemet 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(at)gmail.com.

To read or listen to "Vietnam", please click on the link below. 

 

Vietnam

To listen to the audio of "Vietnam< click the flash player below

Click the flash player below to listen to or the mic to download an mp3 copy of this BA Radio commentary.

At a young and impressionable age

sealed was his fate.

Taught the enemy was an animal

sub-human

now he’s brainwashed

so that he can start boomin’:

 

“Boom boom boom yeah I was gunnin’

And then you look and all you see is . . . .”

 

The enemy’s tiny foothold from within

would not submit or bend;

thus and so the war begins.

 

“Homies all standin around just hangin
Some dope-dealin some gang-bangin
We decide to roll and we deep . . .”

 

The American went on a mission called search and destroy

killing men

raping women and girls

and crippling boys.

Napalm strikes by air support

reinforced thoughts

that the enemy was either a criminal

or should be shot for sport.

 

Because of the undeniable conflict

between his training

and the independent conclusions

reached by his maturing brain

the American turned to narcotics

to put his mind at ease.

 

“Since I was a youth, I smoked weed out . . .”

 

But the war won’t end

it can never end for him

until he looks in the mirror and sees

-- he’s Vietnamese.

 

By Kemit Mawakana (aka The Seven-Foot Poet)

Peace (when appropriate) War (when necessary)

Copyright 2008.

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


More Stories


  • Adele Robichez , José Eduardo Bernardes , Larissa Bohrer
    Brazilian Lawmaker From the Landless Rural Workers’ Movement Demands Investigation of “Planned Massacre” That Left 121 Dead
    05 Nov 2025
    The lawmaker states that Governor Cláudio Castro’s operation was “a massacre carried out in secret” and calls for an independent forensic investigation.
  • Roger McKenzie
    The Devastation in Melissa’s Wake and the ‘new normal’
    05 Nov 2025
    Hurricanes might have natural causes, but the tragedy that follows is entirely human-made and a consequence of capitalist greed, asserts Roger McKenzie.
  • Michael F. Brown
    Trump Ambassador Pick Vows to Pressure South Africa Over Gaza Genocide Case
    05 Nov 2025
    The nomination of an ambassador to South Africa who vows to "pressure" the country over its Gaza case confirms that the U.S. considers the practice of following international law to be a punishable…
  • book
    Dylan Evans
    Book Review: The Sword and the Neck – Reading the al-Aqsa Flood by Yanis Iqbal
    05 Nov 2025
    Operation Al Aqsa Flood was immediately cast as unprovoked terrorism. This review examines a work that dares to reframe it as the inevitable act of a people pushed to the brink.
  • x
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    Z!0nIsm and Race in the White Empire | w/ Gerald Horne & Ajamu Baraka
    05 Nov 2025
    BAR Editor and Columnist, Ajamu Baraka, joined BettBeat Media alongside Gerald Horne to discuss zionism and white supremacy.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us