poeta guerrera

I just found this myspace page for Melinda Gonzalez, a Muslim Nuyorican spoken word artist who goes by Poeta Guerrera (Warrior Poet Woman). She put recordings of several of her pieces on her page and they are worth checking out.

You also might want to look at Poet1Warrior's page on YouTube where Melinda has shares more of her thoughts on Islam. I'm not trying to set her up as some kind of scholar (in one clip she says she's only been Muslim for two months.) But I'm just glad to see more Latino Muslims confidently express themselves... and her excitement for the deen is a bit contagious.

upon the ashes of babylon

Here is an entire talk entitled Upon the Ashes of Babylon from a powerful Muslim spoken word artist, Amir Sulaiman. The event was part of Islam Awareness Week 2006 at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, AB, Canada. Amir's words manifest a quiet confidence which I find compelling. He has a way of framing issues which is really cathartic and healthy... it reminds me of how I felt when I read Malcolm's speeches for the first time.

Upon the Ashes of Babylon
Part One
Part Two
Part Three

Past Grenada posts on Amir

y tu abuela donde esta?

You Tube: Here is a performance by Evelyn Brito of Y Tu Abuela Donde Esta?, the paradigmatic poem by Fortunato Vizcarrondo on invisibility and Afro-Latino identity. We've previously discussed the general theme of invisibility on multiple occasions (see "that's wells, not ellison, in case you feel like being cute again.") and I've also referenced Vizcarrondo's work specifically in my own writing (see slave ships south) But it is nice to actually hear and see the work acted out.

9/11 poetry

The most beautiful 9/11 poem I've read or heard, by far, has got to be First Writing Since by Suheir Hammad. Another deep piece, with a good amount of historical perspective is A moment of silence before I start this poem by Emmanuel Ortiz. I've mentioned both poems on Planet Grenada before, but due to the anniversary they could bear some repeating. I also found a 9/11 poem on the LADO (Latino American Dawah Organization) website called Pharaoh is just a Leaf which is a bit rougher than the other two but still kind of interesting.