I Wonder If Elijah McClain Had A Future (Video)

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civilrights, creativewriting, Elijahmcclain, poem, poetrycommunity, poetryvideo, policeshooting, socialjustice, video, videocontent, writingpoetry, youtubevideo

Elijah Jovan McClain (February 25, 1996 – August 30, 2019) was a 23-year-old black massage therapist from Aurora, Colorado, who died after being placed in a chokehold by police and being sedated by paramedics. On August 24, 2019, an Aurora citizen reported to police that McClain was wearing a ski mask and looked “sketchy”, although the caller also indicated that he did not believe anyone was in danger, and that he believed McClain was unarmed. The three police officers who were involved in the incident, Nathan Woodyard, Jason Rosenblatt and Randy Roedema, said that their body cameras were knocked off during a struggle with McClain. McClain was forcibly held to the ground with his hands cuffed behind his back, after which an officer applied a chokehold and paramedics administered ketamine to McClain to sedate him. While being transported to the hospital McClain went into cardiac arrest. Three days after arriving at the hospital, he was declared brain dead, and was removed from life support on August 30. McClain’s autopsy was inconclusive.

@sircharlesthepoet

Black Hole Beauty (Video)

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artvideo, performance, performanceart, poem, poetry, poetryvideo, video, visualart, writing

Hello everyone!!!

I hope you’ve enjoyed my poem, “Black Hole Beauty” that I’ve been posting this week! I’ve also made a video for it, which you can find right above! Please don’t be afraid to let me know what you think about it, and share with some people who might connect to it–or just have a reaction to it! Additionally, I will put the link to the poem below, in case you would like to read it. Thank you!

https://sircharlesthepoet.wordpress.com/2020/08/03/black-hole-beauty/

@sircharlesthepoet

Black Boy Smile (Video)

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art, black, blackboysmile, peformance, poem, poetry, smile, spoken word, video

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Hey everyone!

I recently posted another video on my YouTube page! Please give it a listen and let me know what you think! Thank you!

@Sircharlesthepoet

Shoes (Video)

Tags

art, cultural appropriation, culture, performance, poem, poetry, race, race war, video

 

Hello everyone!

I hope you are all well and safe. I wanted to let you all know about a video that I’ve just uploaded on my YouTube Channel. In that video (above), I am performing one of my poems titled, “Shoes”. This poem is a poem that I wrote about cultural appropriation.

I was browsing the internet, and I came across a video where they showed a series of white people bashing black people who chose to keep their hair in dreadlocks. They were saying that it is ugly, dirty, etc. After proceeding to keep scrolling down my feed, I came across another video. That video showed white female models walking down a runway with their hair in dreadlocks as the audience praised their look. The video also showed the audience members giving high compliments to the models for their hair, when they were interviewed after the show.

After seeing these two videos back-to-back, I was furious. I was enraged at the fact that when black do what we want, we get criticized. Yet, when white people copy the same thing, it’s “beautiful” and “inventive”. I hate that. So I wrote this poem in response to it. Thank you for watching!

@Sircharlesthepoet

City Full Of Dreams (Poetry Reading)

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art, cityfullofdreams, creativewriting, dreams, fashion, performance, poem, poetry, poetryreading, poetryvideo, professionalism, ubs, video

 

Throughout my 4 years in college, I was a part of a 4-year program called UBS-Next Gen Leaders. The program was created from the partnership of UBS (United Bank of Switzerland) and a nonprofit called SEO (Sponsors for Educational Opportunity). As a part of the program, I received personal assistance from college mentors and career advisers, I participated in workshops for college readiness and success, and workshops to help build my professional network. and get jobs and internships. Basically, everything you may need to not only get through college sanely, but also get through it successfully, and be in good hands after graduating.

Last month, I graduated from that program. As a part of the graduation celebration that we had, I was approached and asked to write a poem to basically summarize my experience in the program.

That is where the poem, “City Full of Dreams”, came from. I was able to get a video of me reading the poem at the event, and I’ve uploaded it to my YouTube channel. The link to the video is above this body of text, and below it. Thank you for watching, and please pay special attention to my fly outfit and my amazingly holed shoes. Enjoy!

 

“Somewhere Else” — YouTube Video!

Tags

creative writing, mental health, new York city, performance, poem, poetry, spoken word, video, write, writing, youtube

 

Hey everyone!!!

I’ve recently uploaded a new video on my YouTube channel!!! Earlier this summer, I got the chance to perform my piece, “Somewhere Else” at the Bowery Poetry Club, in New York, NY. I was lucky to get somebody to record me while performing. So here I am, sharing the video with you all!

Context on the Poem: I wrote this poem on the reality of drugs and alcohol in the lives of young adults and teenagers. This poem also talks about the idea of feeling “lost”–not having your heart in something or somewhere specific. Feeling like you don’t belong and aren’t accepted–sometimes, not even in your own home. That, of course, is a journey that I’ve walked through, myself. It was a moment in my life that I thought I could never get out of to the point where I accepted it, and made it my lifestyle. They do say, “if you can’t beat em, you might as well join em”. So that was the quote that drove my life for that time period. The older generation could never understand, but living in today’s world is tough. Well, it’s all I know, so I can’t really tell you how tough it is as compared to previous generations, but what I do know is that people have turned to drugs, liquor and other unhealthy stuff, and sex, to cope with their mental health. So I’m trying to do something about it.

Please watch the video and comment what you think! It would seriously help me with my work. Additionally, please share this video with people. I am sure you know somebody who would benefit from hearing me speak on that topic! Besides that, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL. By subscribing to my channel, you are helping me grow as an artist and put out great content for you. Thank you immensely for your support!!!

I CREATED A YOUTUBE CHANNEL!!!

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adventure, advice, excited, new step, new things, performance, poem, poetry, recording, video, youtube

Hey everyone!

I don’t have much to say, but I just wanted to stop by to say: I HAVE A YOUTUBE CHANNEL!!!

So one of the many goals that I had this summer was to perform more at poetry events. Not only that, but I also wanted to record my performances and upload them somewhere: YOUTUBE! So I created a Youtube Channel for my work!

Okay, let me give some fair warning. When it comes to media, the only thing worst than my knowledge on recording equipment is how to edit my videos. Haha. Therefore, I am recording with my phone and just posting it up on Youtube with no editing or anything. But things have been going well so far! If you have any advice on good recording equipments (cheap ones too because, you know…college student here) or ways to become a better Youtuber, let me know!!

That is all that I have to say today. The link to my most recent Youtube video is below. Besides that, check out my page for my other videos here, and LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!!! Subscribe, like, comment, share with your friends and family (and enemies too).

Comment your thoughts on this post, please. Thank you! (I’m so excited!!!!!) 😀