Black Lives Matter, Still

Tags

art is activism, black lives matter, black youth, emmett till, mamie till, peaceful protest

We’d like to take a moment to pay homage to the life of Emmett Till…

Sixty-three years later we’re chanting Black Lives Matter still?!

Peace to the mothers that had to bury a son.

Peace to the photographer that captured the harrowing image of a stoic Mamie Till peering at her son.

When will the impunity enjoyed by Make America Great Again extremists come to an end?

Why do tough on crime conservatives fail to prosecute when the plaintiff has pale skin?

It’s been sixty-three years to date and America continues to fail the Black Youth.

Peace to the Emmett Till Generation and organizations that empower the Black Youth.

Let us never forget brother Emmett nor the brothers and sisters slain neath the blind eye of society.

Question: How can one afford a peaceful protest, while our brothers and sisters are dying violently?

–@StevieStreets #artisactivism #poem | Black Lives Matter, Still

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The Pizzeria

Tags

new york pizza, pizzeria, slices of pizza

Let me get a slice!
Make that two; not too hot though.
The Pizzeria

–@StevieStreets #haiku | The Pizzeria

Cultivating Minds

Tags

container gardening, food deserts, food for thought, hierloom seeds, seed library, urban garden, wholefoods

They say all you need is a garden and a library.

How cool would it be to start an urban garden at the library?
Did you know you could get hierloom seeds from the library?

THINK BEYOND THE BOOKS,
ask a librarian if they have a seed library.

If you’re swamped by food deserts,
All you need is a library.

I want you to tap into the wellspring of resources made available to you through the the library.

My poems are not poems,
This is me planting the seed:
GO TO THE LIBRARY!

EXPLORE THE STACKS,
Peruse the 630’s,
Learn about container gardening at the library.

They say money doesn’t grow on trees,
Well food deserts don’t bear no fruit.

Who taught us to devalue nutritional value?
It’s like printing your own money when you grow your own vegetables and fruits.

All you need is a garden and a library,
Leave no room for reproof.

There’s a huge difference between wholefoods and Whole Foods,
The library is a place to grow
And your mind in bloom is like a tomato garden on a roof.

May you come to maturity at the library;
The secrets of societies are hidden in plain sight at the library.

But don’t mind me,
I just pen poetics, prophecies, and philosophies at the library.

–@StevieStreets #takewhatyouneed #poem | Cultivating Minds

Where’s Book Bae At?

Tags

#blackgirlsread, #bookbae, #prettygirlsread, #readingisthenewsexy, #readmore, #turnupabook, uncle L taught me, well read black girl

Where’s Book Bae at?

I’m looking for the girl whose face is blocked by a book.

When I really want to get to know a woman,
I listen to her playlists and read her favorite books.

I need a well-read black girl that tweets “geek the library” and “booksarebae.”

If you know the book was better and exclaim “don’t touch my hair,”
We got a lot of private jokes to share.

So Lisa, Angela, Pamela, Renee,
If you see Book Bae, send her around my way.

I like ‘em afro bloomin’ with the melanin poppin’,
#turnupabook tee, #readmore button rockin’;
I still believe in three ninety eight point two,
what more could I say. ️

If you enjoy long romantic walks through the bookstore,
We could go out and read somewhere. 😉

–@StevieStreets #blackgirlsread slash #prettygirlsread #poem | Where’s Book Bae At

3:00 a.m. Rendezvouses

Tags

anxiety, depression, insomnia, keep the story going, mental health, semicolon symbolism, the elephant in the room

So 3:00 a.m. and I rendezvous again.

Like clockwork, we keep meeting in these quaint little corners of my mind.

This time she brought Anxiety and Depression along so we could rendezvous with them.

 

Since we’re speaking amongst friends, these little early morning rendezvous have been on the hush for quite some time.

 

Didn’t know we were ready to go public with this affair, yet here we are

 

Discoursing emotional scars with my lady friend, 3:00 a.m., and I’m still flirting with death, not sure if I’m ready to commit…

 

Can’t believe 3:00 a.m. got me sitting here with these crazy chicks; first time I met Anxiety she took my breath away and crashed the party with a Xanax boxcar.

 

And we ain’t even gon’ talk ‘bout Depression, ah man – Depression… Depression and I nearly had a fling last spring; first time we met she tried to cripple me, I can’t stand this chick.

 

Is it me or does anyone else notice the elephant in the room?

 

Yeah, I fell deep for Depression and I still got feelings for Anxiety but my girl 3:00 a.m. got me sitting here facing my demons.

 

Who hears the silent cries? Do we notice the tears on eyes that are dry? Are cries for help worth screaming? Where are the outcries for mental health? Suicide is real, point blank period end of story; yet we need to keep the story going… I think it’s time to address the elephant in the room.

 

Did you know your wireless cell phone line doubles as a lifeline? Call or text somebody today. When is the last time you’ve checked on the mental well-being of a friend? A simple “How are you doing?” may be the reason they’re still breathing.

 

Have you ever stopped to think “What does mental health look like?” The ugly truth is: “EVERYONE IS SUFFERING” with something, it could be me or it could be you.

 

Why do we wear the mask, to hide the ugly parts in life? The ugly truth is: “YOU’RE NOT ALONE,” millions are wearing the mask, just like you. And it’s sad ‘cause the stigma of seeking mental health help has permanently scarred the beautiful.

 

–@StevieStreets #mentalhealthawareness #poem | 3:00 a.m. Rendezvouses

How Do You Shelve Books?

Tags

#datlibrarylife, haiku, interpolations, LIBRARY DIARIES, straight outta zoo passes, the circ department, the stacks

How do you shelve books?
Do you push them to the back
Or even the front?

Edge the books! Or else…
You may not know how to shelve,
If you’re not edging. 🤓

–@StevieStreets #librarydiares #haiku | How Do You Shelve Books? & Edge The Books! Or Else…

・・・
#datlibrarylife:
Books misshelved everywhere
Pages in the stacks reading books, placing books anywhere
I can’t walk through the stacks ’cause the books are pushed to the back
I don’t need Google, my Librarian knows everything
And I’m STRAIGHT OUTTA ZOO PASSES, Neon King Kong standing on my back
Can’t even read Unshelved or LibraryComic, mid-range migraine is back

Don’t push me
‘Cause I’m close to the edge
I’m trying not to lose my head
Uh-huh-huh, huh, huh
When the books don’t align
It makes me wonder how I keep from going under
When the books don’t align
It makes me wonder how I keep from going under

–@StevieStreets | Close To The Edge (An Interpolation of The Message by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five)

Mercury Retrograde

Tags

amazonite, black onyx, blue kyanite, citrine, crown chakra, energy cleansers, mercury retrograde, skywatchers, smoky quartz, the crystal bible

Peace to the skywatchers,
Energy cleansers,
And signs of a balanced crown chakra.

My poems are not poems,
This that blue kyanite crystal clear communication.

When Mercury is in retrograde,
Black onyx shields the mind and body from negative situations.

But don’t mind me,
I just wanna drop gems and speak to your soul.

When Mercury is in retrograde,
I’m on vibe patrol;
You could find me amid the earth to earth hemisphere
Exchanging body language with a beautiful soul.

This virgo gallivants around Mercury,
Retrograde or not.

Peace to the ibis with papyrus,
It was written, in case y’all forgot.

In the name of the moon, stars, and sun, I took an oath;
They got Zeus from Amun
And Mercury from Thoth.

When Mercury is in retrograde,
I time travel through Kemet and Kush.

The miseducation got these youngins tryna find a connect on the kush;
I jus’ wanna open the lines of communication
And discourse the Kingdom of Kush.

Double-consciousness got my second-sight praying for survival;
Knowledge of self got me practicing African Holistic Health,
Acquiring gems from the crystal bible.

I don’t want no pie in the sky,
I’m full of life.

When Mercury is in retrograde,
Smoky quartz heals the soul and wards off all strife.

When Mercury is in retrograde,
Be sure to add citrine and amazonite to your cipher;
When communication derails, you will prevail if you stay grounded and move in love and light.

–@StevieStreets #poem | Mercury Retrograde

Emotional Labor (To The Women Who Have Worked Wonders In My Life)

Tags

a woman's worth, emotional labor, emotional weight, emotional wisdom, the strength of a woman

To the women who have worked wonders in my life:

For what it’s worth,
I appreciate a woman’s worth.
Although your emotional labor is sometimes overworked and under-compensated,
I wanted to take a moment to let you know YOU ARE APPRECIATED.

Thank you for being emotionally available to me.
Although thou friendship is priceless to me,
I shall always be indebted to thee.

One Love,
Stevie

#codeofthestreets:

“Sure an ant can carry fifty times its own body-weight. But a human woman can carry one hundred times her own emotional weight.”

-Drawings of Dogs

For as long as I could remember, women have been the cornerstone of my emotional state.

As odd as it seems, I have often overlooked the emotional pillars (women) that build me up; I know you may not hear this enough, but THANK YOU for making me a better human being.

To the women I love: When I come to you with pieces of a man, thank you for making me whole. Thank you for speaking life into me. Thank you for gracing me with your smile. Thank you for the foresight and fortitude to invest in my emotional well-being.

For what it’s worth, I appreciate a woman’s worth. I love you even more, now that I know you made me smile on the days when I was emotionally unavailable and your propensity to extend your emotional energy drained your energy and it was hard for you to smile. Although the strength of a woman is seldom seen and emotional work is damn near invisible, I wanted to take a moment to say the strength of woman builds nations and there’s not a man alive that could shoulder the burden of a woman’s emotional weight. Woman, I adore you. THANK YOU for tirelessly carrying someone else’s emotional weight.

-Stevie

THE LIBRARY

Tags

#ilovelibraries, #librariesmatter, #librariestransform, amazon, forbes magazine, public libraries, the economy

THE LIBRARY is the most important civic institution, to me.

Hashtag I LOVE LIBRARIES;
They have served as an university, for me.

My professors, Librarians;
My degree, a PhD.

And the tuition;
Ahhh, the tuition has been Ab-So-Lute-Ly FREE!

Hashtag LIBRARIES MATTER;
A good library is essential to a thriving community.

Where there is accessible education,
Civic engagement,
And positive recreation,
You will find a strong economy.

Hashtag LIBRARIES TRANSFORM;
They help the uneducated become educated,
They give hope to the hopeless,
They saved a wretch like me.

Hashtag LIBRARIES serve as safe spaces;
They provide human interaction to those who have been cast out of society,
They offer a positive means of escape for those who struggle with sobriety,
They give the unwanted a place where they long to be.

Dear Forbes and Economists:
How could you fathom Amazon replacing Public Libraries?

Don’t you know,
Economies are built around Public Libraries?

I don’t think you understand what Public Libraries do for the economy!
Public Libraries help develop the workforce via FREE career resources that allow citizens to obtain employment or launch a business, in which it generates tax revenues into the economy.

Long story short,
Without the Public Library, there will be no economy.

 

–@StevieStreets #librarydiares #poem | THE LIBRARY

The Book Was Better

Tags

black arts movement, harlem renaissance, imagination, knowledge is king, reading, shakespeare, the book was better

book vibes and other book-ish:

KNOWLEDGE IS KING!
Nah, knowledge is THE BOOK IS BETTER.

Is it me, or do the characters formed in your mind make the storyline better?

I mean, Hollywood is good but all my readers know, “in the book,” that scene didn’t happen like that.

Then again, imagination is better than knowledge
And I’m convinced ROMEO and JULIET is Black
Or Latino, cause white people don’t usually yell at the window like that.

In my mind, the balcony scene took place on a fire escape in Harlem
Or Chicago;
And the garden wall was the hallowed halls of the bustling Negro Quarters.

The Masquerade was J’Ouvert in celebration of the Great Migration
And the globalization of Congo Square.
Romeo was a struggling playwright and Juliet was a bourgeoisie’s daughter.

Picture it:
Juliet leans against the edge of the fire escape balcony, placing her hand neath her chin…

And Romeo O Romeo he’s smooth talking Juliet while brushing his 360 waves.
The brownstones dissipate in retrograde,
As the sun rises and he nears the highrise where the sidewalk ends.

O there’s a million things I could tell thee about the beauty of a book.

YOUR LIBRARY CARD IS A PASSPORT of sorts;
I merely went from Shakespeare to the Harlem Renaissance to the Black Arts Movement,
Just thinking about the beauty of a book.

My poems are not poems,
And I say that to say:
@scribesandvibes #BookSubscriptionBoxClubs are COMING SOON!
Until then GO TO THE LIBRARY
And TURN UP A BOOK. 🤓📚🤘

–@StevieStreets #bookish #poem | The Book Was Better