About the ProcessOn January 20th 2009, Barack Obama, the first African-American president in U.S. history was inaugurated. I wanted to write a poem to capture the hopes, fears, contradictions and confusion I was feeling in this moment. When I sat down to write, I thought it would take 100 poems to begin expressing the complexity and nuances. As the media focused their coverage on “the first 100 days of Barack Obama’s presidency,” I set out to write a poem a day for the first 100 days.
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T-shirt by rebelution. Photos by photobysol.
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It was my first year of marriage in an interracial marriage. My wife Julia and I were married on August 28, 2008, the same day Obama was nominated as the Democratic candidate. We were living in our first apartment in Brooklyn. I asked myself, how would this son of interracial parents, now elected as president, impact our relationship?
As a young, Black man, this moment was profoundly inspiring. I held close the legacy of confinement and violence Black men have faced in this country. What would this historic moment mean for me as a Black man?
As a young radical poet, this moment was equally confusing. Barack Obama had inspired a generation with his vision for the country. I realized that my political identity was an oppositional identity. I had spent so much time focusing on what I was against. What was it that I stood for?
As a young, Black man, this moment was profoundly inspiring. I held close the legacy of confinement and violence Black men have faced in this country. What would this historic moment mean for me as a Black man?
As a young radical poet, this moment was equally confusing. Barack Obama had inspired a generation with his vision for the country. I realized that my political identity was an oppositional identity. I had spent so much time focusing on what I was against. What was it that I stood for?
Next, I wanted to make sure to invite my community into my artistic process. I asked family and friends to host a Living Room Reading in their home or community space, to engage people in critical dialogue. In addition to sharing poems from my series, I also had participants create ““Barack Obama Inauguration Speech Remix Poems,” taking the text from the president’s inaugural address to craft poems. As we shared poetry we discussed the complexities of our changing world.
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Remix poems created during Living Room Readings.
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