Danger
Amir Sulaiman is one of those people who make me feel ashamed and embarrassed for any time I put down words and called it a poem, wrote a sentence and called it lyrics, put my thoughts to a page and said it was anything but worthless. It's the Amir Sulaimans and the Gihad Alis out there who show the rest of us what pretenders we are, what a poser, what a fool I am.
Here's a link to a myspace profile. Pause the audio and scroll down a bit and play the video. There are two poems recited on there. The first one sent chills up my spine and the second one nearly made me cry.
If that doesn't work, you can download an MP3 of "Danger" (the first poem on the video) here.
I typed up some of the words from "Danger" for anyone who wants a quick read. I hope I got them all right.
"Justice
is somewhere between reading sad poems
and 40 ounces of gasoline crashing through windows,
Justice
is somewhere between plans and action,
between writing letters to congress
and clocking the captain.
Between raising legal defense funds
and putting a gun on the bailiff
and taking the judge captive.
It is between prayer and fasting,
between burning and blasting.
Freedom
is between the mind and the soul,
it is between the lock and the load,
between the zeal of the young
and the patience of the old.
Freedom
is between the finger and the trigger,
in between the page and the pen,
between the grenade and the pin,
between righteous anger
and keeping one in the chamber.
So what are they gonna do with a man with
a heart like Turner,
a mind like Douglas,
a mouth like Malcolm,
and a voice like Chris?"
Edit: I read in the comments of another blog that within days of this poem being shown on HBO's Def Poetry, the FBI showed up at Amir's mother in law's house where they questioned his brother, then went to the school he teaches at, questioned the principle and got a list of all the students taking his class. He was then placed on the No-Fly list. God bless America.
Here's a link to a myspace profile. Pause the audio and scroll down a bit and play the video. There are two poems recited on there. The first one sent chills up my spine and the second one nearly made me cry.
If that doesn't work, you can download an MP3 of "Danger" (the first poem on the video) here.
I typed up some of the words from "Danger" for anyone who wants a quick read. I hope I got them all right.
"Justice
is somewhere between reading sad poems
and 40 ounces of gasoline crashing through windows,
Justice
is somewhere between plans and action,
between writing letters to congress
and clocking the captain.
Between raising legal defense funds
and putting a gun on the bailiff
and taking the judge captive.
It is between prayer and fasting,
between burning and blasting.
Freedom
is between the mind and the soul,
it is between the lock and the load,
between the zeal of the young
and the patience of the old.
Freedom
is between the finger and the trigger,
in between the page and the pen,
between the grenade and the pin,
between righteous anger
and keeping one in the chamber.
So what are they gonna do with a man with
a heart like Turner,
a mind like Douglas,
a mouth like Malcolm,
and a voice like Chris?"
Edit: I read in the comments of another blog that within days of this poem being shown on HBO's Def Poetry, the FBI showed up at Amir's mother in law's house where they questioned his brother, then went to the school he teaches at, questioned the principle and got a list of all the students taking his class. He was then placed on the No-Fly list. God bless America.