The MoSoul Poetry Festival

When Josephus Thompson III invited me to be part of the MoSoul Poetry Festival in Greensboro this year, I didn't quite know what to expect. Having now experienced it, I am totally blown away by the talent and abilities of those involved as artists and as organizers. When I came to Greensboro in March while on tour, Josephus was my first introduction to serious spoken poetry, and I can easily say that he is not the only one with mad skills in wordplay.
At the risk of making this a long post and expanding on the excellent post by Reason2Rhyme's blog, let me detail the talent represented by this month's (the final of the year's series) poetry festival. Keep in mind that many of the things I say about a single artist are true of every other artist - what I say here are simply what strike me from our first interactions. This post is too long to embed videos, but definitely check each of these artists out on their own websites, go see them live, and check out my YouTube page for performances from the festival weekend.
Here they are in the order that we performed:
Josephus Thompson III - one of Greensboro's premier spoken word artist's, he has been in the thick of the arts scene in this city for most of the last 8 years. He has started or is involved in numerous organizations to foster the arts and most notably to encourage young people in schools to express themselves in new and constructive ways. Along with T.I.G. and a core group of volunteers, Reasons2Rhyme was formed to continue this vision and bring poetry to Greensboro and elsewhere.
Keith Rodgers - a man of many talents who hails from Tallahassee, FL, where he formed Black-on-Black Rhyme, a network of many spoken word artists that has chapters in various cities around Florida. Keith is incredibly business-savvy (he carries a point-of-sale credit card machine with him on his belt), has a way with words both on stage and in everyday conversation, and can really work a crowd.
Hiram Ring - the one writing this post. Need I say more?
Ebony - part of Keith's Black-on-Black network, she is a serious poet dealing with social issues. Ebony is also the co-founder and marketing director of Yo-Talent.com, a social network for poets allows them to sell product as well as connect with other artists.
The One Sun Lion Ra - a musician and rapper as well as a poet, Ra went to school in Greensboro but now lives in New York city. His rhymes run the gamut of rhythmic and inspiring to contemplative. He is a committed family man and speaks from a depth of experience.
Will McInerney - a Chapel Hill, NC native with a political/social bent, Will's poetry often deals with what it means to be human. He is not afraid to tackle and speak his mind on issues such as land rights and political conflict of the past, present, and future. He's a member of Sacrificial Poets and took part in the Brave New Voices poetry competition recently documented on an HBO miniseries.
Justice - Antwidamala Justice Umbiya translates directly to, “He who greets with fire” and “Just and righteous champion of the people”. It's a fitting title for one whose poetry speaks so passionately about individual struggles from a personal perspective. Justice's life is a story of determined struggle, and he recently left his high-paying job at GM to continue pursuing his passion - sharing his stories with others.
Evin Gibson - an award-winning singer, songwriter and producer, Evin is tons of fun in person and on stage. He has traveled the world with his music and resides in Greensboro. Usually backed by dancers and musicians, this guy is an excellent singer and manages to pull off his songs a-capella as well.
Isaiah 11:11 - a teacher in Newark, NJ, Isaiah also pursues his musical passion as a hip-hop and reggae artist and started getting into spoken word poetry around the same time that he first met Josephus at a rap show. Originally from Liberia, Isaiah's words deal with social inequities and racial issues, and his knowledge of history and world politics deepens his expression.
Moe - another Floridian, native of Jacksonville, Moe's rhyme is pokes fun at himself and the world around him while capturing his audience with its depth and wordplay. His phrasing and expression is smooth yet complex. A favorite in his hometown, he regularly sells out shows at Jacksonville's biggest venue.
Andrew Tyree - another killer poet from Greensboro, Andrew has won numerous awards for his work. Most recently he was the 2009 Charlotte Grand Slam Champion. He deals with personal issues, relationships and nearly everything else, making his listeners think about life in new ways.
As I said, the weekend has completely expanded my horizons and makes me want to encourage spoken word events all over the US - hopefully this festival simply continues to grow. To find out what you can do to help the cause, visit the Reasons2Rhyme blog and become friends with them on Facebook and elsewhere. Lets spread the word and encourage people to write.

Germany Final Installment - Heidelberg

After Worms, we visited Heidelberg. Known as a university town and pretty central during the protestant reformation, it was a wonderful place to visit. We strolled around the grounds of the castle's gardens (the castle is mostly a ruin), which I video-ed for you to see below. It struck me how Germany was the center of learning for the whole world for quite a while.
We then went on to Rothenburg ob der Tauber (quite a long name for a town, which actually just describes the fact that it's on the Tauber river), a town that has preserved its historical walls and remains much as it was during medieval times. We walked along the walls and toured a museum of medieval torture devices and law practices and punishments. It was interesting how much shame and public humiliation was used as a method of punishment. Very similar to village life in Africa - in the west now we would rather lock someone up than parade them on the street with a headdress and manacles that showed what they were being punished for.
Well, that's pretty much it for the Germany videos and blogs. I hope you've enjoyed following along with me!

Germany Installment #4 - Eltz Castle, Worms

The weekend after the second English camp, we traveled around Germany for a couple days, visiting some beautiful cities and other places. The very first place we went was Eltz Castle, a pretty little castle in a valley that served as the home of three noble families who shared ownership. One of the families has since taken over the whole castle and still lives in part of the castle. The other part is a tourist attraction very well-worth seeing. In this video you can see the castle as we walked down the hill toward it, and also some of the inside - the treasure chamber and the courtyard. It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.
After visiting Eltz castle, we went to Worms, where Martin Luther defended his 95 Theses. Our friend Marius lives there and we walked around the town with him and a friend who gave us a tour. We visited the cathedral of St. Peter where the Diet of Worms was held (rebuilt since being bombed out in WWII), wandered through a Jewish cemetery, and had some Italian ice. Back at the church where we were staying, Joella and James raced little karts around the halls. I got to race too, but Joella won. She must be built for this kind of thing! =) Joella, you missed your true calling...

Germany Installment #3 - Cologne

The weekend after the first English camp, we had a free afternoon, so the folks at Neues Leben took us on a day trip to Cologne (on German maps it is Köln). It was lots of fun. We toured the cathedral, which is one of the oldest in Europe, climbed to the top and had time to wander around on our own. Bex wandered around with me and we managed to fit in part of a mass at St. Mary's which was really beautiful. Other highlights were hanging out in the plaza listening to musicians (one guy brought a piano and was playing it for tips) and being accosted by bachelor/bachelorette parties selling trinkets for money so they could go and get drunk.
After dinner of Duerner (Turkish kebab, known as a schwarma in Spain), which was very tasty, we wandered to a store in the Turkish part of town, through a gate and generally around the city. It was fun relaxing and fooling around - here we have Bex and James enjoying themselves in a grocery store, and Dave imagining himself as Samson. Then back by the train station and cathedral we watched the guy with the maracas going to town. Here he gesticulates to a Beatle's tune - can you guess which one?
All in all, a good day.  

Germany Installment #2

I arrived in Germany in the morning on Tuesday after a long flight and a short connection from Paris. Olly, one of the counselors from Neues Leben, picked me up from the airport (she recognized me from the picture in the jacket of the CD I had sent with Tobias) and we had a good conversation on the way to the camp about Germany and culture and education. My goal was to stay awake until 8pm or so to combat jet lag.
The rest of the team was already there and had been since the previous Friday, so they kind of knew their way around and could show me the ropes. Camp had started on Sunday afternoon, so my job was simply to fit in wherever I could. English classes started every morning at 10:45am, and since I got there after they started, my job on arriving to camp was simply to settle in and wait until lunch. I figured I could do that pretty well. =)
Tuesday afternoon we had a bunch of activities for the kids where they were organized into teams and the leaders were given stations where two of the people in each team were required to do something. It was kind of like a scavenger/relay game. They told us to hide somewhere, but I think the translation from German was a bit off, because Bex (the other person at the station) and I hid, but then kids complained because they couldn't find us. We had the bobbing for apples station.
A bit later someone came and took our spot so we could go observe some of the other activities. I got some video of Dave McCulloch administering the 'Egg War' activity. He broke a raw egg into a rubber tube, and two of the group had to blow into it at each other - the one with the weakest lungs (or least unaware) would get egg in their mouth or all over them. =) What fun!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5wZdLxYR1E

Germany Installment #1

I just got back from Germany a couple days ago, and so here I'm going to update (with video) what happened on the trip. Below is the video of the flight over, with more of a complete description and information below that: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65XYvwAR4EI
I had never had Five Guys burgers and fries before I stopped at this shop in Dulles. Apparently they started in DC, but now have locations in Philly and NYC to name a few places. They have really good burgers and fries, and it was a great last meal to head off to Germany with. On the flight over to Paris the airplane food was actually pretty decent (go AirFrance!), and I had 3 seats on the side of the plane all to myself. I thought that would mean I'd get lots of sleep, but unfortunately the baby two rows up and the baby two rows back decided not to sleep at all, and to periodically let out piercing screams because (apparently) their parents weren't letting them have their way. Yay for undisciplined children. It makes me wonder how my parents managed to ferry all 10 of us (varying ages) from Ghana to the US and back - that's 2 8-hour flights in one stretch rather than just one.
So lacking sleep and stuffy from the flight, we landed in Paris where I had to hoof it to my connecting flight - through customs, out of security, to the other end of the airport and back in through security to catch my flight to Dusseldorf. Fortunately I made it with room to spare, but since I also didn't have a watch I wasn't sure until I got there that I would make it. Fortunately, the rest of the flight was uneventful.