Friday, April 18, 2008

FREE MUSiC

Cherine Anderson has a new FREE download available on hr website:

Cherine Anderson's FREE Mixtape!

Go check it out and if you want to know more about Cherine check her out on:

Cherine's Myspace Page!

She's from Jamaica and has worked with WyClef Jean & reggae legends Sly & Robbie. She was featured on my latest release, "The Source" on "The Source remix" that also features production by Sly & Robbie.

Go get Cherine's FREE DOWNLOAD! How can you resist!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

The Seduction & Manipulation of Young Poets

y: Desdamona
January 2008

Scenario:
A young 20-something man goes into a local high school. He has been hired to do a residency with students on performance poetry and writing. He'll be at the school for three weeks working with a group of students. He has been contracted through a local arts organization to do this work and has had minimal training, but is highly experienced in the art of spoken word.

He is an engaging performer and has a fierce magnetism on stage, as most performers do. He has learned how to pull the crowd in and leave them hanging on his every word. Of course, the students are attracted to his talent and charisma, and he easily transforms a class of students who was not interested in poetry into a group of students who are now intrigued and excited about the possibility of their own voices.

As the residency continues, he builds trust and develops a friendly relationship with the students in the class as well as the teacher. The young men in the class identify with him because he is close to their age but has some experience under his belt, and the young women in the class identify with him for the same reasons. The teacher is just happy because he has gotten the students excited about writing and performing.

Into the second week, he approaches one of the female students and asks her for her number. He doesn't hide what he's doing from the rest of the class. She gives it to him, not thinking much of it because he works with a group of poets and is always looking for new poets to add to the roster. She assumes that he is interested in her poetry.

But the truth is, he's not primarily interested in her poetry. He's interested in her. He has failed to set professional boundaries for himself and has become caught up in attraction. He begins to see her outside of the regular school day under the guise of mentoring her. She is a bit naïve and doesn't really know what his true intentions are. She is in awe of his talent and feels special because he has taken special interest in her.

When the residency is over they remain friends and he continues the manipulation. He tries to artistically mold her into a female version of himself; at the same time he tries to form a physical relationship with the 16 year old. He tells her things to keep her close and he pits her against other poets. This is the type of thing that abusers do when they are trying to keep control. It's not physical abuse, but it is clearly psychological abuse.

This is just a fictional scenario, but in reality I have had numerous students and school staff tell me about poets coming in to classes and after school programs and starting inappropriate romantic relationships with students. At one particular school this lead to the poet involved never being asked back, when in all reality it could have lead to something much worse. I have heard about this happening a lot. It doesn't seem to be as rare as you might think.

If I had children and found out about these predators coming into the schools I would go ballistic. People who are going into schools have to have a sense of ethical behavior and integrity and understand what it means to be in their positions. You can't just send a poet into schools and assume everything is going to be great. I have heard enough stories about the seduction and manipulation of young poets. Our youth are being put at risk, and I think it is necessary to speak up.

I Got Questions - Who Are We?

By: Desdamona
January 2008

"Question. Who, what, when, where and why? Who is gonna continue the battle after all the our soldiers are gone." – Tish Jones

I don't think that poetry should be about competition and I think it's unfortunate that the younger generation is being brought up in an ultra competitive realm. It seems like we're being surrounded by the idea of competition. We are inundated by "reality shows", almost every one based in some sort of competition; at the same time, poetry slams are becoming evermore present. I'm not saying that poetry slams are bad. I have myself been a slam champion. But when it becomes the primary reason for writing, or even one of the reasons for writing, I believe that the intention becomes tainted. Call me a purist. I've always thought of poets as revolutionary thinkers, not people who go with the flow and conform to the fads of the moment. So, where are the revolutionaries? Really?

Why are we as artists creating systems that are based in our current social system and still saying that we go against the grain? Why are we creating mentors and apprentices and continuing the dominant/submissive roles that have already been set up for us in society? Why do we have to see each other as superior or inferior, and why do we pit ourselves against each other as if claiming our superiority gives us some kind of upper hand in the world? Why do we claim ownership over others simply because we have "taught" them some of the tools of poetry? Why do we claim ownership of the poetry itself? Why are we more interested in the product than the process? Why are people regurgitating what they heard on CNN at open mics and adding no personal perspective on the matter? What happened to self expression - Self being the operative word? It's always noble to talk about the struggles and triumphs of the world, but what good is it if it's not coming through your own unique self perspective?

Why aren't we challenging the system by creating a community where all ideas are equally valuable or at least equally respected? Why aren't we creating learning circles instead of creating the separation of audience and performer, teacher and student? The circle is constant. The teacher is the student is the teacher. If you have come to a place in your art where you truly believe that no one has any knowledge to offer you, then you have missed the whole point of what sharing is and should maybe stop for a moment and ask yourself what your intention is when you get up to speak.

I have actually had a conversation with Mark Smith, the founder of the first poetry slams and he told me that when they started the slams, the intention was not to create competition between the poets, but instead to encourage the audience to become actively engaged with the poets and their words. I'm not blaming the mediocre cliché "yelling poetry" on slams, but I'm not convinced that coaching people to write poetry or mentoring them in the art of slam is nurturing their natural talents. I do believe in giving people the necessary tools so they can empower themselves to write and find their own unique expression of their thoughts, feelings and experiences.

I know this isn't cut and dry. But I feel we all need to think about our role in the creation process, and ask ourselves what are we doing to perpetuate the things that keep us stagnant? And what are we doing to relieve ourselves from the restraints of our current state?

Now the question has been asked maybe we should use some of our "revolutionary" thoughts to come up with some answers.

Cookie Cutter Poets

By: Desdamona
January 2008

I have been frequenting the Twin Cities open mic scene since 1997 and I have had the opportunity to hear some great work by both local and national poets, theater artists and musicians over the years. Some of it, in my opinion, could even be labeled as ground breaking. I think it was around 2000 when I started to hear a more formulaic poetry form at open mics and slams. I would hear this familiar formula when I traveled out of town to other states and here at home, in Minneapolis and St. Paul. At first, I dismissed it as a trend among new poets but then saw the formula spread to the work of more seasoned poets.

It wasn’t necessarily that the poetry was bad, but it seemed to be more cliché, and the themes in the work seemed to have less dimension than I had remembered from years past. I couldn’t put my finger on what was happening.

To be more specific, I started to hear the singular theme of ‘anger’ as the dominant topic in many poets’ work. I admit it even became a theme of my work for a moment. Of course, there is nothing wrong with angry poetry. That’s not the issue. The problem is - why is everyone writing angry poetry? Is it because that’s what’s hip? Is it because there is passion in anger and it’s easier to express than the delirious bliss of happiness? Perhaps…or perhaps it’s something else.

I have worked with thousands of students over the years and in all this time I have never had a student deliver poetry or writing that resembled my personal work. I have always been amazed at each student’s ability to create their own form of written expression. And young students tend to be the most creative because they have not yet been introduced to the influence of other poets.

I walk into classrooms with a bag full of ideas and no firm direction as to where we might go. It is always determined by the climate in the classroom and students to lead the work in the direction that suits them. I give a guide and starting point but I cannot force them to go down the path. I cannot make them write the way I want them to write. As a teacher, I encourage them to find their own genuine voice and that voice may change from day to day. The themes may vary from moment to moment; the mood may change at every line. This is where I found freedom as a young person. I was not good with rules and regulations. Poetry was a place where I could do whatever I wanted and I could actually make my own rules if I chose to. It’s only natural that this is how I work with my students.

Last year I got the chance to sit with some students outside of their regular class and I thought I’d ask them about the people who have helped them with their poetry. I was disappointed to find out that these particular students were actually told that their poetry wasn’t angry enough…and that they needed to make people mad or make people cry.

I talked to some of my peers about this and I was furious. Why would a poet who is teaching young people tell them anything like this? And then I jumped to many conclusions:
1. they don’t know what they’re doing,
2. they shouldn’t be teaching poetry if they are not allowing the student’s voice to come through,
3. they want to “create” poets who sound just like them because we poets come to narcissism naturally,
4. they’re preparing them for slams so they are giving them the formula to base their work around.

But these are all assumptions. Maybe none of them are correct. I’m still trying to decipher what is going on, but I can’t help but to think that there is some kind of corruption behind the whole thing. Yes, I’m being dramatic.

Maybe this seems unimportant and you’re wondering why I even care. Poets have mimicked each other for centuries. It’s nothing new. But the truth is, with the commercial viability that spoken word has right now it creates more poets (just like hip hop) which in turn creates more cookie cutter artists, more of the ‘same old same old poetry’, a lack or variation in the poetry, and more people jumping on the bandwagon because it’s the “in” thing to do. And I personally, need some inspiration.

I don’t want to hear the same poem coming out of three different poets’ mouths. I don’t want to only hear angry poetry.
I don’t want to hear people who sound like they had the same teacher (to the point where I can actually tell you who their teacher was). I want the genuine voice of the poet to come through, and while some people might think that you can’t determine whether someone’s voice is genuine or not, I firmly disagree. It’s all in the poetry. Listen carefully.

So Long

So, I haven't been here...Obviously. I post a lot of blogs on my myspace page and have neglected this blog for quite some time. I occassionally come by and leave some show information or some other promo for my music. What I should do is just copy my blogs from my other page and post them here for those of you who don't use myspace.

Maybe I'll try to do that. Maybe.

When I logged in tonight I couldn't remember my password at first. eh.

Anyway, the latest release is doing well on iTunes and I'm preparing to go into about 5 schools in the next few months. Very busy and over whelmed but it's all good. I'm also preparing to do an Iowa school tour in the fall and also hope to get another tour planned for late 2008-2009.

Working on a new solo project and a collaboration with my partner Carnage. Don't have any release dates yet.

This is what we do together: www.myspace.com/illchemists

until the next time.
desdamona

www.myspace.com/desdamona

I'm also on facebook if you want to look me up.