The Thoughts Of Just Another Brother: Being Black...

Wednesday 19 October 2011

Being Black...

Descended from slaves but I still find myself a slave within modern society,

The term working for your wage gets thrown about a lot

But really are there opportunities of change for a black youth from south London,

The media seem to think there’s none, picturing me as a statistic

Not as an individual with grand ideas, goals and morals

Label me as I even begin to speak

Probably have a heart attack if I even tried articulating my ideas

I could never be ashamed of my colour,

I take pride in it my black birthday suit is probably the best item in my wardrobe

Others have altered their design to fit in with the expectations of society

Only God can judge so what’s the chance of me being a critic

But to be honest I wouldn’t change a single thing

From the sole of my feet to the top of my head

I stand proud to say I’m Black and embrace the hardships that entail with it

As a Minority would you say are we not getting heard?

Or are we just afraid to speak?

But as a collective we should never feel to be silenced

I would love to see a Black pm one day maybe

Erm on second thoughts I take it back would he/she have the freedom of expression

Would he/she be self-conscious of his or her actions within an English Britain?

Well good luck barack I guess

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About Alph

Alph Arley

Performance Poet and Spoken Word Artist/ R.A.P Workshop Facilitator. It's deeper than R.A.P!

Twitter: @Alph_Arley
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Paragraph about me:

Hi my name is Alph Arley and I know that your certainly pleased to meat me, because I know that I am certainly pleased to you. I am a 90’s US Hip-Hop, 90’s U.K Garage and U.K Grime head, with a sneaker addiction which I had battled for 20 years.

I am a performance poet, as well as a spoken word artist who was born and raised in Stockwell, South London. I started writing poetry back in 2011, and started performing my poetry in 2012, whilst I was studying at university. When I am not playing Pokémon on my Nintendo DS, listening to Rap, watching Rap battles, watching cartoons, watching footie, watching anime or reading manga, I am thinking and writing. In my spare time I also facilitate and deliver poetry, spoken word and rap workshops which are called ‘The R.A.P Programme’ to young people. This is in order to help them to gain a greater, awareness as well as understanding about the importance their individual voices, as well as to help them to gain awareness, as well as help them to articulate their thoughts and emotions.

How I get started with poetry?

How it did I get started with poetry? I would say my poetic journey subconsciously started in 94. This was when I was about 3 years old. I grew up in a two bedroom flat, in a four flat building in Stockwell with Tupac, Biggie Smalls, Bone Thugs and Harmony, Puff Daddy, Mase, Dre Dre, LL Cool J, DJ Rob Base, Run DMC, Eve, Missy Elliot, Busta Rhymes, Wycleff Jean, Lauren Hill, Fugees, Eryka Badu CD’s being played on my Mum’s black Kenwood Hi-Fi, with two standing speakers.

I remember by the age of about 9 I had my own portable stereo in my bedroom and started to build my own Rap CD collection which included Eminem, Dre Dre, Ludacris, D12, 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg. Like, I remember getting printed Eminem lyrics on A4 paper, as a present from one of my Mum’s friends, after that there was no looking back. I actually started writing both grime and rap lyrics in secondary school, but those lyrics remained in the drafts of my 6230 phone. I admit, I struggled to spit in time with a beat and the lyrics did not make sense in the slightest. In 2011, whilst studying at university, I remember scrolling through my Blackberry, writing my thoughts in my note pad. I would say that my life experiences made it difficult for me to express my thoughts and emotions, which led me to become frustrated adolescent. I started writing my thoughts down and I found it helped me to come to terms with my experiences.

What does poetry mean to me?

That’s a dope question. I would say that poetry means everything to me, as it has not only helped me to come to terms with my life experiences, but it has also helped me to use my experiences to help others. I have read so many books from different poets, like Pablo Neruda, John Keats, Allen Ginsberg, Phillip Larkin, Sylvia Plath, Gertrude Stein, William Shakespeare, Benjamin Zephaniah, Linton Kwesi Johnson. Poems such as ‘Stackolee’ and ‘The Signifying Monkey’ , which are two of my favourites. I would say that it is important that everyone feels that they have a voice to express themselves as well as share with others, as growing up I noticed many around me felt that they did not have a voice. I feel that poetry is an art form which can give all the young homies on the block, that lady serving at the tills in Sainbury’s, Bossman in the local corner shop, a chance for them to express themselves, as well as voice.