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


  • Isabelle Papillon
    Haiti PM Garry Conille is Reporting to the Metropolis
    10 Jul 2024
    The unelected Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille recently traveled to the U.S. to make his rounds, giving reports to various political leaders and members of the Biden administration.
  • Black Alliance For Peace
    Responsibility for the Kenya Crisis Lies At the Feet of US Neo-Colonialism
    10 Jul 2024
    The current uprising in Kenya is a result of the imperialist economic policy enabled and maintained by its comprador leader, William Ruto.
  • Maryam Qarehgozlou
    Al-Shifa Hospital Head and Other Freed Prisoners Speak of Horror Inside Israeli Jails
    10 Jul 2024
    Dr. Muhammad Abu Salmiya, director of Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital, who was freed from an Israeli prison after being held without charge for months, has recounted harrowing and horrifying experience.
  • Internationalist 360
    AES 1st Summit: Burkina Faso President Captain Ibrahim Traoré Delivers Historic Speech
    10 Jul 2024
    The consolidation of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger into a confederation marks the next steps toward sovereignty and self-determination for the people of those nations. This achievement has become a…
  • Black Alliance For Peace
    What is INDOPACOM?
    10 Jul 2024
    The Indo-Pacific Command recently began its Rim of the Pacific exercises - a reminder of the continuing US militarization of the world and its flagrant violation of national sovereignty.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us