This last Saturday I had a change to sit down with Poet Danny Queen for an hour-long sharing of poems and thoughts about poetry on his Facebook Live broadcast Color Me Poetry. Manythanks to Poet Danny Queen and Diane Parks for the hook up!
It was my first time on the “other side of the glass” although, Caryl and I have been to the Everlasting Life Vegan Restaurant many times. A fixture in the African-American community of Prince George’s County, it’s a great place to grab a healthy bite to eat and get some delicious sorrel!
The video conversation speaks for itself but I have a few observations (as usual, Ahem):
I was early for my talk and had a chance to hear an enlightening interview with Dr. William “Flip” Clay, author of The Emotionally Constipated Man the To Those Who Know me well. Dr. Clay laid out a very compelling argument for the support of Black boys and men that made me think about all the material I was reading years ago. He reminded me of books I used to read back in the day like Iron John by Robert Bly and Black men: Obsolete, Single, Dangerous by Haki R Madhubuti. I plan to pick up a copy of Dr. Clay’s book.
The use of Facebook as a broadcast tool is a concern because of the company’s well documented rapacious behavior with regards to privacy and the use of the platform to manipulate the Black community. We must continue to fight Facebook, Google, and other companies for the right to have both our privacy and access of their tools, as well as defend ourselves from attacks from groups that are interested in manipulating us. We must also develop our own tools.