Sekou sundiata biography of donald
•
Sekou Sundiata, 58; poet and spoken-word artist explored life’s adversities
The bridge that connects the Black Arts Movement of the s with spoken word artists of today was crafted bygd poets like Sekou Sundiata.
In the s Sundiata was a ung boy living in Harlem, coming of age during a time when the movement’s giants -- Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez and Nikki Giovanni -- were transforming poetry. As an adult he carried the work forward as they had, wrestling with identity, history and the lives of black people in America.
But poetry from Sundiata was more often backed by music, melded with theater and combined with dance. That approach resonated with a new generation of poets that would make poetry slams and open slang för mikrofon performances a phenomenon, so much so that Greg Tate of the by Voice once wrote of Sundiata: “He is to contemporary African American poetry what Marvin Gaye was to modern soul If Homer were a black man born in the projects, he would be this tall, fearsome-looking p
•
Kim D. Hunter
SEKOU SUNDIATA’s MULTIMEDIA performance “51st Dream State” opens in darkness with singers performing the song, The House that I live in, That’s America to Me. The lyrics paint a Norman Rockwell portrait of overly wholesome people going about their overly wholesome task, little old ladies and kindly clerks who make up the America of someone’s dream. As the song ends, white letters on a black background slowly appear on a screen high above the stage, the word “empire.”
Sekou would then launch, not into a screed but an inquiry on the meaning of empire and why and how the United States is one. It is the sort of examination with which a thoughtful person on the right might disagree but could still engage. The work is full of such moments.
Sekou Sundiata was a master of “non-rhetorical” political confrontation, letting the situation, the facts, the true stories of regular people, speak for themselves. Sekou was also po
•
During these trying days of social distancing, self-isolating and quarantines, days rife with fear and anxiety, my colleagues and I thought you might like some company. So each day we will be introducing you to poets we have met over the years. The only contagion they will expose you to is a measure of joy, reflection and meditation brought on by “the best words in the best order.”
Enjoy.
— Bill Moyers
In this clip from the Dodge Poetry Festival, poet Sekou Sundiata, who “oralizes” in polyrhythmic, jazz-influenced performances, performs &#;I Want to Talk About You,&#; a poem about his home, Harlem.
&#;I Want to Talk About You&#;
By Sekou Sundiata
“It hurts me to my heart to see you like this, under world and under weight, impossible to be with, impossible to leave. I must approach you the way I approach music sometimes … late at night and by myself. When people who can’t understand are long gone, like the famous who want your infamy without your tragedy, like the rich who wan