10 seconds delay in timecode. Film is 10 seconds ahead of these times.
00:00.15 dogwoof logo (Title card)
00:00.21 A Film by Alex Ramseyer-Bache
Daniel Lucchesi (Title card)
00:00.29 I come from
00:00.33 I come from blood fruit mango...
00:00.35 Cashew nuts...
00:00.38 Frozen fish fingers, dirty dishes and council gas heaters.
00:00.46 I come from concrete and coal, spaghetti Bolognese and shiny new BMXs...
00:00.52 From tea-tree oil, marijuana vapours, the damp heat of laundrettes...
00:00.58 Holey jeans and moulded Mary bottles of ‘made in china’ holy water.
00:01.07 I come from a world of miniature...
00:01.10 Of powerlessness, of over-sized furniture and scruffy trainers.
00:01:14 Three steps to mummy’s one plastic dinosaur and power rangers.
00:01.24 I come from the motorways my friend...
00:01.28 From the same journey three times a month...
00:01.30 Like some weary old heart that takes a week to beat, to beat out our old battered blood cell red Fiat...
00:01:39 Compelling it to crawl over the spinal cord of these British Isles just one more time.
00:01.53 I come from heartbreak.
00:01.56 Or, more formally viewed underneath the withering eye of the divorce courts...
00:02:00 Bisection of these bicuspid valves, the crack in my heart widens into a crevasse.
00:02.17 I come from rainbows and thunderclouds, from ladybirds and dragonflies.
00:02:23 From fighting with fireworks on streets...
00:02:26 Hop, skip, hope to miss the syringes.
00:02.33 I come from steel and sandstone...
00:02.37 Asphalt and coniferous forest.
00:02.40 I come from sweat, smell and the invisible whirl of chromosomes.
00:02.49 I come from the warm pouch with umbilical cord.
00:02.54 I come from that first prehistoric spark of enlightened consciousness on an East African plain.
00:03.06 I come from the dense nuclei flung from the wombs of stars.
00:03.15 But in the end I concede and say the least needed of me.
00:03.22 I come from
00:03.25 I come from
00:03.29 I come from
00:03.32 Leeds.
(End of poem)
00:03.39 (Radio broadcast jingle) Today’s West Yorkshire, BBC Radio Leeds.
00:03.46 (Radio announcer 1) So we’ll be joined in the studio today by a load of poets, apparently.
00:03:50 Because we’re known in this country, aren’t we Jonathon, good morning Jonny how are you?
00:03.53 (Radio announcer 2) I’m very well thank you.
00:03.54 (Radio announcer 1) We’re know in this country for poetry aren’t we?
00:03.55 (Radio announcer 2) We are, for the written verse.
00:03.56 (Radio announcer 1) We are known for great writing.
00:03.58 (Radio announcer 2) Absolutely.
00:03.58 (Radio announcer 1) It’s Shakespeare’s birthday as well today.
00:03.59 (Radio announcer 2) Happy Birthday.
00:04.00 (Radio announcer 1) Happy birthday Willy.
00:04.01 (Radio announcer 2) he’ll be listening.
00:04.02 (Radio announcer 1) And, we are known for our great verse, our great songs...
00:04.06 (Radio announcer 2) Yeah, that’s true
00:04.07 (Radio announcer 1) ... our great art?
00:04.08 (Radio announcer 2) Yes
00:04.09 (Radio announcer 1) And that’s what we’re talking about today.
00:04.11 (Radio announcer 2) The arts.
00:04.12 (Radio announcer 1) The arts, and we’re joined in the studio by a load of young people, to perform some poetry.
00:04.15 Now, when they say poems, is it like: ‘there was an old man from Bradford’?
00:04.19 (Radio announcer 2) Yes, hopefully
00:04.20 (Radio announcer 1) I would much rather them do that.
00:04.22 (Radio announcer 2) Stuff that rhymes - I think poetry should rhyme.
00:04.25 (Radio announcer 1) It should rhyme! (voices fade out slowly)
00:04.49 (Title card) Leeds Young Authors is a youth poetry and literary group for 13-19 year olds
00:05.05 (Title card) The work of the poets is performed in competitions known as ‘Poetry Slams’
00:05.10 (Radio announcer 1) You are all from Leeds Young Authors, yes?
00:05.13 That’s right
00:05.14 (Radio announcer 1) fantastic
00:05.15 (Radio announcer 1) ‘Slam’ is a poetry competition?
00:05.18 Yeah, it’s performance poetry so there’s the visual aspect, which a lot of people forget about.
00:05.22 They’ll be lots of wild gesticulating and changes in pitch and tone...
00:05.27 That you wouldn’t normally find with what most ‘performance poets’ would call a ‘page poem’
00:05.31 (Title card) They have been selected to represent the UK at ‘Brave New Voices’, the most prestigious Poetry Slam competition in the USA
00:05.38 The whole thing of ‘Slam’ is really about performance.
00:05.42 Where they’re coming from, in this community, there are so many negative elements around them...
00:05.47 There’s so many negative things to pull them down.
00:05:50 This is about young people speaking for themselves.
00:05.58 (Title card) They will join 400 young poets in Washington DC, all hoping to be crowned ‘Slam Champions’...
00:06.03 (Title Card)... first, they must choose a team
00:06.06 (MC) Yes it is a bit chilly outside...
00:06:08 But you have made your way to the fifth Annual Individual Youth Poetry Slam. Give yourselves a round of applause.
00:06.17 When we’re selecting the team, we actually run a poetry slam first.
00:06:20 And that individual poetry slam will determine who is the top scorer; the winner of that evening...
00:06:26 And they’re guaranteed their place.
00:06.24 (Title card over interview) Khadijah Ibrahim Director – Leeds Young Authors
00:06.29 We take six young people and then the other five, it’s based on merits, so their attendance, their attitude and also style.
00:06:38 Each and every one of them have a quality that they bring and it’s that quality that I look for when I’m trying to build a team.
00:06.46 (poem) Why is it that I always get crushed, the one picking up the pieces to get pushed and shoved.
00:06.51 The girl that thinks she’s found the man she’s loved, and in a relationship always gets pre-judged.
00:06.49 (Title card over poem) Azalia Anisko, 17 years old
00:06.57(poem continued) ... I’m not the chocolate digestive that he thought he could bite into.
00:07:01 Yes he chatted his min-cheesy-cheddar vibes and yes he managed to break my biscuit.
00:07:07 Yes he dipped his chocolate finger into another girl and filled the custard with his cream.
00:07:13 Because me, the chocolate bourbon, didn’t have enough sugar sprinkles to keep him sweet. (Poem end)
00:07.20 Okay, now the first place, this is the only place that is secured that you will go to America...
00:07.27 because we only take the first winner and we select the rest.
00:07.31 So...
00:07.35 First place, this person will be going to Washington DC in July...
00:07.44 for the International Youth Festival - and this person is Azalia!
00:07.54 You’re going to Washington DC, Washington DC!
00:08.18 I’ve always had a passion to write. I could express it, but there was no one to express it to.
00:08:27 And, once I started Leeds Young Authors, I think there was a lot of people like myself.
00:08.39 I don’t know how she can think of all these things. She might be her bedroom a few hours and she’s just writing.
00:08:44 (Title Card) Genya Anisko, Azalia’s Mum
00:08:45 Then, when she tells me, I think God, how can she think of it?
00:08.48 Some people are like, ‘Oh, poetry’, I’m like, ‘It’s not what you think.’
00:08.52 I was trying to explain to my mum’s side of the family.
00:08.55 My mum was like ‘It’s not that kind of poetry,’ and then they hear it they’re like ‘Oh, I didn’t realise’ Cause they just think ‘Roses are red, violets are blue’
00:09.07 It gives them something to do as well, something to achieve, instead of roaming the streets.
00:09.12 You know what I mean, they put everything into it. A lot of hard work goes into it.
00:09.18 That was the first thing my dad ever came and supported me in.
00:09.22 And then he was like, ‘you weren’t even that good.’
00:09.25 It’s the first thing he’s ever supported me in, like come to watch me.
00:09.33 It feels the best thing because so many things have just not gone right for me.
00:09.37 And it’s like God’s blessed me yeah, and he’s seen me putting in the effort, going to LYA every week yeah, writing down what I’ve got to write...
00:09.43 Because I believe in myself and I believe in everybody else around me.
00:09.47 I’d just like to say thank you to Khadijah, Paulette, Saju, my cousin Jodie, my best friend Tyresha, everyone in LYA. Because, you made my dream come true.
09.55 So, what are you expecting from Washington D.C?
09.58 Just a good time and to ‘kill it’. I want to go on stage and I want to rip it up and represent my country, represent my city.
00:10.06 L double E D S what what!
00:10:43 (title card) Rheima Ibrahiim, 16 years old
00:10:49 This half symbolises woman, y’know the ovaries and whatever...
00:10:52 and that’s the men – you can guess, can you guess? The balls and the thing....
00:10.58 Yeah, it basically means man and woman must be together- make life…
00:11.03 life.
00:11:04 I was little. I was about eleven or ten. And, like anyone, I thought ‘Poetry’ urgh poetry, God, I don’t want to write that.
00:11.12 When I was forced to sit in the class, after a couple weeks, I realised it’s not what I thought it was.
00:11.17 But when I write a poem I don’t intend it to be a poem, I just write...
00:11.21 Just because I want to write and it comes out how it comes out.
00:11.24 But, I just found it easier just to write rather than go out and have a strop in school or something.
00:11.34 I just found it easier and alot safer and you don’t get in trouble for it, you get praise for it don’t you.
00:11:42 Chapeltown to alot of people is where the heart is.
00:11.45 Even if I ever moved away I have to come back to Leeds right here to Chapeltown.
00:11:53 It has influenced me in every single way possible.
00:11.58 Everything I write about is real; I’ve seen it or I’ve lived through it myself.
00:12:05 (poem) Ignoring mothers cries we die a little inside, grasp on to false hope roped around our minds.
00:12.14 Why do we all believe we’re soldiers, we can’t all believe we’re soldiers...
00:12.19 still believing but, not knowing, it’s alright to cry.
00:12:24 Everyone thinks they’re invincible.
00:12.27 As easy as it is for you to go stab someone or shoot someone, it’s just easy for them to do the same to you.
00:12:35 And, once you’re dead you’re dead – you know what I mean.
00:12:37 The audience is more frightened of you than you are of them, it’s hard to believe that isn’t it?
00:12.42 If you look at them they know you’re engaging them, so look straight into their eyes.
00:12:48 (poem continued) Feeling constrained because they’re trained to be robots.
00:12.51 They are not programmed to let loose tears, only anger on innocent people. I ask, when will it stop?
00:13:00 I’ve been to too many funerals and nah.
00:13.05 It’s not a nice feeling having to sit at someone’s funeral...
00:13.08 Especially when it’s not their fault aswell.
00:13:21 (poem) Not understanding being ghetto is demanding. This is not me imagining these things are really happening...
00:13.26 I ask, when will it stop? And that’s it.
00:13:31 That’s good isn’t it, that’s a good solo. Let me put that on my list – what’s it called?
00:13:36 (Title card) Kadish Morris, 16 years old
00:13:39 (singing) My name is Kadish... and I come from Leeds.
00:13:45 Take a picture.
00:13:49 I want to be ten things. I want to be a policewoman so, if anyone tries to start with me, I can say ‘you’re touching a police officer – you hear’.
00:13.57 It’s about serving the law and the law is right. I’m a lawful person, I’ve never broke the law in my life.
00:14:08 I want to be a primary school art teacher because I love art and I love kids.
00:14.13 I want to own my own ice parlour because I love ice cream, Erm, a professional poet...
00:14.18 A bikini-wear model because I like bikinis. But, I’m glad that I did do poetry because...
00:14.23 Obviously it’s given me a direction.
00:14:26 do the first three lines soft....
00:14:30 Poetry is something that I got into when I was about thirteen.
00:14.33 It’s given me so many opportunities, like I’m going to Washington this year.
00:14.36 So, you can express yourself and the teachers will look at you in a different way. There was alot of teachers who used to look at me and think I was a bit of a ‘problem child’.
00:14.44 But, once they knew I did the poetry and they saw me perform, they really knew that I had erm....what’s the word? I had....
00:14.51 Talent.
00:14:52 ...Potential. Yeah potential, that’s it!
00:14:55 Kadish is just so into the team and into every little aspect of it and into the poetry...
00:14.57 (Title card over continued dialogue) Paulette Morris, Co-director Leeds Young Authors
00:15.00 ...that we have big major discussions about the team and about the slamming...
00:15.05 And, I think she’s ready but she’s ready to win.
00:15:09 (singing) we’re round the corner.
00:15:18 (collecting exam results) Oh that’s good, I got A C C and…
00:15.24 A B C C! Oh that’s good, I’m happy I’m happy.
00:15:29 (poem) And everytime her mother tells tales of melanin she hides her skin as if it were a burden, with the hand she held the bleach with...
00:15.36 saying ‘mother, I love you, teach me.....’
00:15:41 (poem cont) to love myself. Like a fist with a gun her eyes clenched at the sight of her own reflection,
00:15.46 because it is physically painful to see the nigger staring back.
00:15:50 Don’t be frightened of being still and coming up to us and looking at us square on...
00:15.55 And telling us about this girl and show she hates herself.
00:16:00 Alright.
00:16:03 (singing) Lost of seventeen, continually chasing her dreams.
00:16.08 Shattered diamond in the rough and scattered onto the streets and she’s a victim to the system....(fade out)
00:16:22 This one’s untitled, I just wrote it a couple of days ago – ‘you will never see me cry’
00:16:29 (title card) Saju Ahmed, 19 years old
00:16:29 A poet is a person that speaks for the generation. If I don’t represent it, who will?
00:16:50 Basically that was the national anthem for Bangladesh, but just being spoken, and he totally messed it up.
00:17:02 I met Saju in high school and he was about to be kicked out of high school.
00:17.06 And, I couldn’t believe this was someone who was having problems in school because he’s very polite, he’s very respectful...
00:17.14 And Leeds Young Authors shows us that, actually, what happens in school for the young people is not what happens in Leeds Young Authors for them.
00:17.21 We felt that he would make a very good team captain; the young people respect him, they listen to him.
00:17: 27 (title card) Saju travels to Sheffield for a university open day
00:17:31 They offered me to do poetry as a way of distracting me from all my...
00:17.39 ...‘criminal activities’ that I did in school.
00:17.42 And then, I did the ‘Slam’ and I loved the Slam.
00:17:46 (poem) Music making love with the struggle. What a beautiful thing, what a beautiful sound.
00:17:52 That was the first time I seen Slam Poetry and I’ve never seen so much energy in my life before, I’m telling you.
00:18.02 Make some more noise...for Saju!
00:18:08 They were all reading out their GCSE exam results - like ‘I got and A, I got a B’, and that made me think...
00:18.16 If they can do it why can’t I? And, Khadijah used to tell us how good it is to stay in school ...
00:18.21 ...and concentrate and, if you don’t do it for yourself, no-one else will do it for you.
00:18:26 Being in charge of a group of young people, that just changed the way I thought about...
00:18.32 Messing around, not paying attention, not giving a fuck.
00:18:36 Now I’m in this taxi to go get a criminal record check at Sheffield Hallam. I get that check done and I’m in University in September.
00:18.43 I never knew I’d get this far you know, never knew I’d get this far.
00:18:57 (POEM) So tell me, how does it feel to cry at night?
00:18.59 Tell me, how does it feel to cry at night, to feel an angel dribble down your cheek. Tell me, how does it feel to cry?
00:19.07 I hide behind eyes. As the Iris dries leaving an outline of ‘I’, this is casket of my emotions.
00:19.15 That’s why I find it so easy to bury them six feet deep, concealed behind my optic nerves – you will never see me cry.
00:19:33 (POEM) What kind of world is this that segregates me with its cold hand.
00:19.38 What kind of world is this that separates its people from their homeland...
00:19: 41 (title card) Maryam Alam, 16 years old
00:19:44 (POEM cont)...What kind of world is this to suppress, depress and oppress you till you can no longer stand.
00:19.51 What kind of world is this?
00:19:53 I think that most people, in this day and age, think that Muslim girls, especially, are oppressed
00:20.01 sort of, bound to the house and domesticated. Whereas, Muslim boys it’s ok for them and that’s people assume but it’s not actually like that.
00:20.10 Muslim girls, rarely I seem them standing up and talking about it.
00:20.15 That’s what inspired me mostly because I wanted to represent their voice and want it to be heard.
00:20:21 (POEM) Just to clear up any confusion...
00:20.24 I am not a terrorist.
00:20.27 You see, the first thing you see when you look at me is that I am a Muslim.
00:20.34 But, does that mean if you left me alone with hydrogen peroxide and nitro glycerine I couldn’t be trusted?
00:20:40 If I’m at college or we have a class discussion or something...
00:20.44 We talk about Islam, they suddenly think Jihad – Islam, oh terrorist...
00:20.51 And the media has a really big influence. Someone even said to me ‘oh yeah, in your religion it says killing people is good...
00:21.00 …It’s part of your religion’ and I was like – ‘In what religion would it say that?’
00:21:05 She was selected because, the way she reads, she has great command of her words.
00:21.10 She has great command of her body language on the stage.
00:21:14 (POEM) And due to the fact that I wear a veil you presume I’m in some sort of exterior jail...
00:21.19 but you fail to understand that I’m like Oprah, a liberated female.
00:21.23 And I’m sorry I don’t walk around half naked, you see I believe my body is scared.
00:21:28 I would like to see with this poem lots of changes in levels. So, all the time with this you should
00:21.35 ...be taking people on a bit of a rollercoaster, rather than reading it on a level.
00:21:57 A tour of the bedroom…
00:22:00 (Title Card over dialogue) Joseph Buckley, 16 years old
00:21:59 …and I’ll try to find my favourite favourite book....
00:22.02 Do I own it? Yeah
00:22:04 I mean, I had an idea of God yeah but this cemented the idea I had already.
00:22.11 So, I had a notion of it and then I read this and it makes sense man
00:22:15 I think I like science fiction because purely and simply escapism.
00:22.19 It gives you a chance to think outside the box, you know what I mean.
00:22.23 Like, how often to walk down the street and look up at the sky...
00:22.27 You know, actually look at the sky?
00:22:30 It’s the trophy from 2007, you know when I won the Slam.
00:22:36 First place…
00:22:38 (Title Card) Joseph’s debut Slam
00:22:38 …with 93.8 percent
00:22:44 It’s Joseph Buckley.
00:22:49 I was a validation of everything I’d fought for.
00:22.54 For the longest time in fact, I was not confident with regards to any aspect of my life.
00:23.01 I had the lowest self esteem, lowest lowest lowest self esteem.
00:23:07 I think this is first award I’ve ever won, ever.
00:23:11 I still look at it every now and then and I still can’t believe I won.
00:23.15 But, this was the key that opened up the whole confidence thing.
00:23:19 (POEM) Did you ever hear of the mixed race kid who joined the BNP (British National Party)?
00:23.22 I am a broken bridge between two worlds , broken by other people’s perceptions and broken by myself.
00:23.28 Taught to act smart is a white thing, yet fifteen minute’s walk away gets me beaten up for the colour of my skin.
00:23:35 The first couple years of my life, I grew up in Elsmere Port...
00:23.38 And I try and style it out and say ‘I’m from Chester’ because it’s the closest and it’s where my Dad lives now, but I grew up in Elsmere Port.
00:23.43 When British people are racist, normally they’ll go out of the way to hide it.
00:23.49 I mean, even the BNP – ‘oh, we’re a political party’, you know what I mean.
00:23.54 But, there they will tell you, straight up. So, for the longest time I thought my fucking name was nigger.
00:24.00 For the longest time that’s all I was known as, I was on the outside literally.
00:24.05 Then, moving to Leeds, properly full time, and then suddenly...
00:24.09 You get people going up to you and saying ‘you’re a fucking white-boy’...
00:24.13 Which fucked up my head.
00:24:16 Like, just how you get white people that don’t like black people and mixed race people...
00:24.20 You get black people that don’t like mixed race people aswell.
00:24:24 (POEM) Another staccato burst of melato insecurity. How do you act? How do you do? How do you fit in? Thank you.
00:24:35 I’ve never told anyone this before. I’d like...erm...
00:24.39 To start a ‘mixed race’ race, you know what I mean?(laughs)
00:24:45 That’s crazy man, that’s crazy. I honestly think that, when we all look the same...
00:24.50 They’ll be a lot less problems.
00:24:53 That’s why you need to get out there, otherwise you’re going to stay in your bedroom all the time and…
00:24:59 …always wonder.
00:25:27 (Title card) In preparation for the USA, some of the team have the opportunity to meet with acclaimed Poet, Saul Williams, whilst on his UK tour.
00:25:34 What do you guys call it, Slam Poetry, what do you guys tell people you do?
00:25:37 Performance poetry...
00:25:38 Performance poetry, spoken word?
00:25:41 For me…
00:25:44 (Title card) Saul Williams, Poet/Musician
00:25:44 Most people I know call it Slam Poetry, Performance Poetry, Spoken Word.
00:25:50 For the sake of, like, the masses and for the sake of the professors...
00:25.57 And for the sake of the people who look at this and want to label it ‘street’ and want to label it something less than Shakespeare...
00:26.04 I just call it Poetry.
00:26:06 I think it’s important for all of us to remember that the oral history of poetry is much longer than the written history of poetry .
00:26.14 The West, Europe, the European canon, would make you not think that.
00:26.19 But, the fact is that the person of highest rank in that canon would probably be Homer, you know the Greek poet.
00:26:26 People didn’t read Homer in his time.
00:26.29 People gathered to hear him speak. Most of Greece was illiterate at that time.
00:26.33 So, Homer today would be characterised as a ‘Performance Poet’.
00:26:37 The ‘Slam’ aspect of it, the competitive aspect of it, may be brand new.
00:26.42 But, really what excites me about this movement of poetry, with young people across the world...
00:26.49 Is not that it’s brand new. It’s that in the face of myspace and facebook and all this stuff...
00:25.56 That we’re actually turning to something ancient.
00:27:03 (title card) The team must write and memorise at least 16 poems, ready for competition in the USA
00:27: 06 (POEM) I am the seed of justice rooted deep inside the mind of a rebel.
00:27:11 (POEM) I am the pain that caused street riots and massacres of bigotry.
00:27:15 (POEM) I am the road...(voices trails out)
00:27:17 Sorry
00:27:18 I am the …something?
00:27:20 Need
00:27:21 I am the need for rhetorical… Sorry (voice trails off)
00:27:25 You’re professionals as far as I’m concerned, you should be rehearsing pretty much everyday.
00:27:31 Something is telling me that perhaps you need to push yourselves a bit more because you’re not ‘off book’...
00:27.38 And that tells me that you’re not rehearsing in the way that I think you have rehearsed in the past...
00:27.44 Because you would be off book by now, you wouldn’t need to have the words in front of you.
00:27:49 You know, I’ll set you deadlines and then we’ll come back in and the deadlines aren’t met.
00:27.54 So, I’ve said probably more than once, right, next week I want you to be ‘off book’. We get in and you’re not off book.
00:27:59 you don’t know you’re lines so you have to burn the midnight oil to push yourself to make sure you know those lines.
00:28:06 So, are you guys willing to do 10 till 8 everyday?
00:28:10 Yeah, Sunday too, you’re not going to do Sunday.
00:28:13 I’ll say to work don’t take me on.
00:28.17 I’ll do 10 till 8 everyday, I’ve been saying this for weeks, let’s do 10 till 8 everyday.
00:28:23 Well, I’m the poet coach for Leeds Young Authors...
00:28.27 And, I’ve been working with them to mentally prepare, physically prepare, erm....
00:28:31 (Title Card) Rommi Smith, Poet Coach
00:28:33 Write new work in preparation for going to America. And, that’s really important here.
00:28.39 This process has been, through drama excersises, through vocal techniques, through breathing excersises...
00:28.45 Essentially getting them to become actors with their poems.
00:28:49 I think they’re not ready and I’ll be very honest about that and I’m very honest with them.
00:28.54 I don’t think they’re ready at all yet.
00:28.56 I also would say that, whilst saying they’re not ready...
00:28.59 That’s a good place to be in. I think, if they were ready now I’d be worried.
00:28.04 I think it’s a good thing they’re not ready because I think the adrenaline’s going to kick in, when suddenly it hits them...
00:29.09 We’ve got to get this together.
00:29:22 I don’t know. This piece, I’m lost with this piece.
00:29:26 Well ok, shall we just start with how we’re going to begin it?
00:29.30 You say your line, remember we did yesterday, I think that’s good as a beginning.
00:29.34 OK
00:29:34 Well, at the moment we’re working on the ‘America’ piece because at first we were going to cut it.
00:29:39 (POEM) I want to be in you babe.
00:29.42 I want to live inside you for one hundred years, take your treasures so I can own a piece of you forever.
00:29.49 Don’t be so missile defensive
00:29:52 (POEM) you want a piece of me, a piece of this mysterious Middle Eastern bliss.
00:29.57 Could it be because of your thirst for oil can be only quenched by my Arabian nights.
00:30:03 Joe is a personification of America and I’m representing the Middle East as a female.
00:30.09 And, he’s really aggressive and dominating through his poetry.
00:30:14 (POEM) Honestly, you don’t really have a choice in this.
00:30:17 and I’m just, kind of, taking on tshe role where I’m intimidated but also sticking up for, y’know, talking about the injustices of the situation.
00:30:26 (POEM) You desire to enter me, with full force to occupy me.
00:30:31 (POEM cont) I import the smack, I invented crack, I decided beauty was the opposite of black.
00:30.37 Supine bitch Britain being dragged on a lead. Say my name! Say my name! Say my name!
00:30.44 Bad Boy, America.
00:30:46 Only one piece I’m worried about is ‘America’...
00:30.49 Because it’s unsure how they’re going to perform it. That’s the only poem I’m unsure about.
00:30:55 I’ve got question marks about it.
00:30.57 You remember the judges that are going to be listening to you are going to American.
00:31.00 And, whether we like it or not, there’s this big thing...
00:31.04 That I certainly experienced in America of people, regardless of culture of heritage, seeing themselves as American.
00:31.12 So, you could accidentally insult alot of people with not the sharpest poem in the box.
00:31:21 I’ve got hesitations about it and I think...I think don’t for this year.
00:31.27 Ok, does that help?
00:31:29 Rommi said that the audience might find it offensive but I don’t think they will.
00:31.35 I think the audience that we’re talking to...
00:31.38 I think they will agree with exactly what we’re saying.
00:31:40 (Title Card) 2 weeks before the USA
00:31:42 (POEM) I say I come from blood-fruit mango,
00:31.44 Cashew nuts, frozen fish-fingers, dirty dishes and council gas heaters.
00:31.49 I come from Zion and Mecca, broken boundaries...(voice trails off)
00:31:53 When you Slam you work within a time frame, which is usually about three minutes.
00:31:58 (POEM continued) From the rich history of my African ancestors right down to Grandad Trevor.
00:32.03 I come from steel and sandstone, asphalt and carniferous forests.
00:32:08 Sorry guys you would have lost points there.
00:32:10 How long?
00:32:11 It’s 4 minutes, 10 seconds.
00:32:13 I knew that was so long.
00:32:22 The team that’s going this year, they’ve really got to stage where they ‘re believing in their words and they know what theyre writing about.
00:32.28 So, they’re not just writing for the sake of writing, they’re actually writing from their hearts.
00:32:33 (POEM) I am the thing that, when you wake and stretch, you subconsciously reach for.
00:32.38 I am freedom!
00:32:43 The pressure of seeing a team get up before you and have the crowd ‘whooping’...
00:32.48 and then you’ve got to go on after them, can do strange things to you so it’s about mentally preparing for that.
00:32:56 America is known for so much and just going to Washington of all the places in the world.
00:33:03 The White House, I wonder if we’re actually going to be near it?
00:33.06 I want to see all the white buildings, because I’ve heard that everywhere’s white...
00:33.10 and I can’t imagine just being somewhere where everything’s white and not red.
00:33:26 (POEM) But I be the one chose to script this catalyst. I am the poet
00:33:33 Take your time. I am the poet.
00:33:39 This is cutting down the ‘I come from’...
00:33.43 So that’s done – brilliant!
00:33:50 Ok, I just want to have quick chat with you, because you know this is last time I’m going to see you before you go...
00:33.57 And we haven’t got any more rehearsal time. So, what I want to say is, I want you to keep focussed.
00:34.03 You know you can do it. I just want you to enjoy, that’s what you’re going there for...
00:34.09 You’re going there to enjoy.
00:34:11 Thank you
00:34:12 Thank you very much and just may you go from strength to strength.
00:34:32 I don’t know, I just want to go there because I don’t think I’ll ever get a chance to go there otherwise. Oh my Jesus Christ
00:34:39 Here, one’s yours.
00:34:40 And one’s who’s?
00:34:41 And one’s your mum’s
00:32:43 Who got that?
00:34:44 Your mum.
00:35:07 (Title card) 6:00am, Leeds
00:35.10 You sing the original, you know what I’m saying. So, go on...
00:35:14 (singing) Leeds Young Authors, Leeds Young Authors, young authors....
00:35.19 Oh yeah, I get you, I get you.
00:35:24 Got up at 4:30am. Tired, can you tell, stressful.
00:35:31 (singing) We come from Leeds UK, West Yorkshire...West Yorkshire, not London!
00:35:39 Bye mum. Love you, I’ll miss you dearly.
00:35.46 I’ll see you when I get back.
00:35:51 I just hope that everything goes alright.
00:35.54 Hope we don’t mess up on stage or nothing goes wrong.
00:36:04 I think Leeds Young Authors is ready and I think, when we get out there, we’re just going to do our thing...
00:36.08 I think we’re ready to just show what we’ve got this year.
00:36:15 What they’ve being doing everyday, for fifteen, twenty, twenty-five minutes, an hour, they’ve been rehearsing to themselves in front of the bathroom mirror.
00:36.22 They’ve been reading poems in front of mates, getting people to test them on their lines.
00:36.26 They’ve been pushing themselves but in small, bite-size chunks, for months and months in advance.
00:36:33 This is really the first time I’ve seen them push themselves to a stage where I think – they’re really serious about this.
00:36:43 I’m not really worried...
00:36.45 I should be.
00:36:48 I’m not worried, I’m ready to go man, I can’t wait.
00:37:20 You are in Washington DC, make your voices heard all week that’s what it’s about, yes!
00:37:45 Brave New Voices is a competition of spoken word poets, 13-19 year old...
00:37.50 Where people gather from the across the country and the world, and it’s just about fostering young people’s voices.
00:27.55 It’s a festival of literary arts, which culminates in a spoken word competition.
00:38:00 Forty five teams, it’s the biggest one that we’ve ever had. It’s in the political centre of the United States.
00:38:06 Each city has gathered their best and brightest young voices and they’re just really driven to say the things that the world needs to hear.
00:38:13 There’s nothing like B.N.V, where you get people from Trinidad, from the UK, from Cali, from Florida...
00:38.18 All coming to spit on the same microphone. There’s nothing like that.
00:38:21 The calibre of poets that are here. Everybody is so talented but they’re so minus the egos.
00:38:27 Hearing everybody basically pour their soul and present themselves to you and give themselves to you.
00:38.32 You don’t get that, not at this level, from anything else.
00:38:35 This is beautiful, this is huge, this is people my age...
00:38.40 I didn’t even know this type of thing existed.
00:38:43 Simply the most inspiring poetry that I’ve ever heard.
00:38.47 It’s where it’s at. It’s the only poetry reading, for me, that is worthwhile to go to...
00:38.53 You know, it’s the only thing want to hear, really.
00:38:59 Is the Mid-West in the house?
00:39:04 Is the South in the house?
00:39:08 Is the west coast in the house?
00:39:11 Is the North-East in the house?
00:39:14 What about the pacific islands?
00:39:17 What about the UK?
00:39:20 I see you.
00:39:21 Got a good reaction so far from the teams. They’re really positive and they love Leeds, like mad.
00:39:28 It’s pretty, man, it’s pretty. I could see myself living here.
00:39:31 It’s nice, the weather’s nice. Just hope for the best for Thursday really.
00:39:40 (Title Card) Over 400 young poets, representing 45 teams have arrived in Washington D.C for Brave New Voices
00:39:56 (title card) The festival takes place over four days. On the third day, the Slam begins.
00:40:08 (Title Card) 1:00am, halls of residence
00:40:11 (POEM) If an angel clips their own wings to be excused from their mistakes...
00:40.16 Are those angels still to be considered devine or human or neither?
00:40.22 My response, non of the above, it’s something else entirely.
00:40:28 (POEM) Got to learn how to survive, got to learn how to stay alive, got to make the choice of picking up the pencils or the knives.
00:40.33 Either write or you stab, either think or you jab, either make money the right away or just grab the lady’s bag.
00:40:48This is so cool, I love B.N.V.
00:40:55 (POEM, first few lines in Italian)
00:41:11 (POEM Cont in English) But I don’t see how we could be roomies for nine whole months and you don’t bother to call me.
00:41.18 We were the queen and princess of despondency. Like mama, like little blond daughter.
00:41.24 I’m still running around in the valley of your inner being and I...
00:41.29 Could have sworn the umbilical chord was snipped long before you tripped over the thresh hold of your dreams.
00:41:37 (POEM cont) Everytime I trip, fall, slip, scrape my knees and bleed I always hope the blood comes from the half that you donated.
00:41.45 Lovingly, I wouldn’t call this a poem about a girl’s distaste for her mother. I’d call it a puzzle...
00:41.51 Pieced together by all the generations of mother’s who have chosen to forget their daughters.
00:41.58 With that leggy frame of yours, that blond hair.
00:42.01 I used to be blond too but that’s faded over the years like the musical talon...
00:42.09 That’s embedded into my DNA.
00:42.13 I’m glad it’s been shot to hell because words never fell from your lips, they’re from mine...
00:42.18 And my lips are the only thing on my fucking face that doesn’t reflect you.
00:42.23 So when I grow and grow and grow I can tower over you and your never ending flow...
00:42.34 Of back luck...
00:42:35 (POEM cont singing in Italian)
00:42:45 (POEM cont in English) ...And I never will be, and I never will be.
00:43:04 I’m feeling tired but not ‘knackered ‘ tired.
00:43.07 I think it’ll kick in after a few days though....
00:43.11 Yeah, after a few late nights then I think it’ll just catch up on me.
00:43.14 And the Slam hasn’t even started yet.
00:43.17 So, tomorrow we’ve got a full day of worskshops, which should also be good.
00:43:26 How y’all doing?
00:43:29 Y’all alright?
00:43:31 Y’all don’t sound like brave new voices though.
00:43:39 I said, y’all don’t sound like brave new voices though.
00:43:51 The whole focus of this week is freedom of speech.
00:43.54 Not just freedom to speak and entertain, but freedom to speak and enlighten, educate, empower, inspire...
00:44.02 Do you hear me?
00:44:06 And the most important thing for me is that you represent where you’re from. You speak for those voices who are not here, you understand?
00:44.13 You speak for the communities of people that you represent who got you here.
00:44.17 And, if all of you contribute from your community what a beautiful and diverse conversation we can have.
00:44:24 (title card) During the festival teams are encouraged to take part in workshops and lectures. These classes feature international poets, professors and activists.
00:44:34 Hip hop is beautiful, it’s amazing, but it’s taking a microphone and rapping over a beat, or it’s putting paint on a wall, or it’s moving your body.
00:44.43 If your baby is starving and you look at your baby and you...
00:44:48 ...That baby’s going to die. You understand?
00:44:51 I think we’re at an interesting time right now where Hip hop has been around for over 30 years...
00:44.56 and it’s looking to break into the next thing. It broke out of the Jazz and the Disco and the Funk, you know.
00:45.02 And, so I now think that same form is trying to break into something new. And, who knows what it’ll become.
00:45:08 (POEM performed very fast) Black and white re runs turning to colour re-done. Same five songs on the radio re-spun. So, we numb, we go dumb too. Re-done, re-done. See...
00:45.16 Ikea got five hundred lamp shades, you know they got one for me - I’m on facebook making money.
00:45:22 (POEM cont) Glad my mother hid the truth from me.
00:45.24 Ignorance is bliss, burger king got a menu, everything is 99 cents, once you pop the fun don’t stop – I’m loving it. Think about it...