Naki Akrobettoe Set To Release Her EP - A Timeless Miracle

Naki Akrobettoe Set To Release Her EP - A Timeless Miracle

"Protect Our Brown" ***NEW POEM***

It's been all of two weeks since I have been in my new position. and I absolutely LOVE IT! For a while, as in some years, I have battled with this yearning to find a position that would allow me to do the following: 1. operate in and utilize my creativity, gifts, and talents 2. to help serve others 3. to teach in a non-traditional sense 4. be able to spend more time with my children 5. to be able to perform and travel more with my spoken word poetry. Well after much labor and dreadful days working in a dead-end unhealthy corporate America job, I decided to take a risk and venture out and completely pursue a totally different path for a career. This decision involved much sacrifice, one being my income, and two: my sleep. Now the truth of the matter is that, I was not worried about either. They say sleep is the cousin of death and well, for years now I have not been able to sleep a consistent 8 hours at night. I am always up 2 or 3 times throughout the night and that is when I honestly feel my most creative. And then regarding the income, I simply heard God clear as day say "The resources are there, the money will come" and that is where my faith lies. Even in my most uncertain moments, I have never experienced a moment where my every need was not taken care of some way or some form. I have PLENTY of stories that would drop your jaw, but with that being sad: here I am on this late night on November 16, 2013. I felt a poem brewing a while ago to speak on the recent killings of African-American youth in our country that has simply gotten out of control. My reaction as of late has been simply disbelief. I had heard the story briefly of Renisha McBride but I could not convince myself to research it any further than the few facebook post that I had seen from my fellow Detroit family. But for some reason tonight...I dug a little deeper, and I was left speechless- empty rather, and with very little to say or feel. So I did what I only know how to do best. I wrote a poem entitled "Protect our Brown" #protectourbrown. May this spread like wildfire and light up the darkness, because there HAS TO BE CHANGE brewing upon the horizon.

Protect our Brown-

The skin I am in
Has a warrant out for my arrest
Colored coded
Fill me in with hopes
Of death- a life sentence by stray
Intentional bullets
My thick lips, full breast
And brilliant brains...
On target-
My demise at the grip
Of the most bluest eyes

My melanin sprinkled DNA
Melts away, tears that
Make the cone of my sweet
Shell soggy and dilapidated
One day I will be remembered
By the Media as the Negro woman
Lost at trembling fingers locked
On triggers of their own insecurities
A white not so clean slate

We, human beings, live in a
Lawful land of no laws
In God we do not trust
In gun powder flesh turns to dust
Hush, silence….for Renisha McBride
Yes silence for Jonathan Ferrell
More silence for Trayvon Martin
We need silence for Oscar Grant
Please silence for Darius Simmons
No longer will I be silent about the
Moans of waves that belly the songs
Of my ancestors.

Today, I left to go run an errand, and
I was five minutes late from being at the
House to greet my children from the school
Bus. I prayed silently that they would
Stay in place on the patio
That they would not panic by no answer
Or sign of me.

History has proven that little brown boys
And girls are the most endangered species
To every walk this planet. When I pulled
Up to our home, tears betrayed my eyes
And rolled down tense cheeks. They came
Running fast and simply asked,
Mommy, why are you crying?
I simply replied- mommy, just
Wanted to protect your brown…
I just wanted to protect
Our
Brown.

11/16/2013

The Poet Killed in Kenya- Kofi Awoonor

This morning was the first time in the past four days where I forced myself to sit down and read up on the recent terrorist attacks in Kenya. Forgive me but my heart tends to stray away from heavy news and most often our media is flooded with negativity.  In all things a balance and for me that too means listening to the news, reading the newspaper, listening to podcast. If one isn't careful it is quick to be bombarded with fear at the rate that the human race is headed. Anyways as I was reading towards the end of the article on CNN about the individuals identified so far, I came across the name Kofi Awoonor, a Ghanian poet, playwright, professor,  and activist who was one of the innocent murdered. Humbly, I admit that I was not familiar with him as an artist or as a poet but instantly a flood of emotions came swirling through my mind-simply put-that could have been me or any of us at that matter.  I took a moment to search for any of his poems and was able to find one online and I found a poem entitled "Song of Sorrow"...

An excerpt: "....My people, I have been somewhere/ If I turn here, the rain beats me/ If I turn there the sun burns me/The firewood of this world/ Is for only those who can take heart/ That is why not all can gather it./ The world is not good for anybody"...

I dabbed tears in my eyes because I overstand completey the message in this poem. Often I am remind as a poet myself how prophetic our words are. Our pens are a lens to capture the delicacy of life and so today I choose to sprinkle a bit of light in this world during such dark times...may one find the healing in these words.

A Poet Who Died in the Kenyan Mall Massacre- for Kofi Awoonor

Legendary blood is spilled on marble floors
Reflecting back a sign of humility. Hyperboles of his history left as remnants of sacrifice,  he wrote just to save a life.
Master teacher prodigy of the God-spell spreading the gospel he took stanzas and turned them into scriptures, spoke life into the lifeless died in the midst of a crisis and today a poet mourns another poet. In my dreams I will call him forth break bread and poor palmwine on the golden sidewalk in his honor.  He left the world much porridge, trickled triumph and well...on a sweet sunny Saturday in September another's man intention to take his life, ruptured a ripple in time because if the world didn't know then they know now the power in the name Kofi. His pulpit was poetry and his message was love. Black stars rising in the hemispehere...Awoonor now it is safe for you to be free.

#SHUTANDCREATE my introspective perspective on The Creative Control Fest

It's 10:54 pm and I'm exhausted stiff boned, achy back and flat out tired. I just ended my 12-9 pm work shift at the modern day plantation, picked my children up from their caregiver, got them home and showered all under an hour.  And the Super Mom Shero Award of the Year goes to (drumroll please.....) ME!  As my house stills and the quiet settles in, I begin to go over the mental checklist of things that I NEED TO DO...and quite honestly none of them will get done-at least not tonight.  However there is this one important thing that I must do and that is take a moment to express my deep elation and gratitude for this upcoming event that is about to take place in the cap city this weekend (Columbus, Ohio).

Tears started to well up in my eyes as I was gathering the pictures and content that I would post along with this blog about this amazing movement: The Creative Control Fest.  As an artist myself and virgin entrepreneur there are certain things that I naturally crave and of those things, #1 is hands down a safe space to creatively be myself, be in my element, and simply CREATE and be around like minded individuals who get why I'm on this path.  Well folks last year I had the privilege to be introduced to this amazing venture that started out simply as an idea that manifested into what it is today: a snowball powerhouse movement. Marshall Shorts, who is a dear friend and brother from another mother alongside several of his friends (my best friend doppelganger twin, Tyiesha Radford) and artisans sat down together networking and creatively putting their resources together to start this festival that consist of a two day conference with speakers, demonstrations, performances, and soooo much more.

I know that my write-up is not at all doing this conference justice, but what I hope that you take away from this post is this: That there are amazing young people in this world that are striving to make a difference. They act as a catalyst for folks like you and I to walk in our God given destiny and to display our gifts and talents in the world.  Each year I am amazed at the growth that Marshall and his team exudes.  They truly represent a culture of people, human beings that understand the purpose and divinity about support, love, respect and generosity.

I have found myself lately in awe at how life works and inner-standing my own personal journey especially when it pertains to my writing and poetry and I realized that no matter what I endure or go through there is only one thing that I can control and that is my CREATIVITY. With that being said, it's not too late to register www.creativecontrolfest.com . Will you come join me and a slew of other passionate crazy unique love-fill creatives? (I purposely did not use commons on purpose just because! #EglishMajorRebel). Never say you didn't have help! Just simply #SHUTUPANDCREATE

Peace and poetry,

Naki
www.nakispeaks.com

#TBT- "Black Is" by NAKI

Hello World!

It has been a few weeks since I last posted. My most sincere apologies but life has truly gotten the best of me. Between finishing up my summer residency in my MFA Poetry program, preparing for the fall semester, transitioning into a new position on my job, AND my little children starting a brand new school, I have had to truly learn balance in my life. Overall the adjusting has gone smoothly but I have betrayed my blog! I must admit however that I have had very interesting ideas to write about pop into my mind. So a list is brewing of things that I intend to write about. In the mean time, I wanted to honor "TBT" (Throwback Thursday)with an old video of a poem that truly means alot to the woman I am today. As I begin to approach this new journey into writing and recording for my upcoming album I wanted to remind myself of my humbled beginnings. There is one thing that I will never be able to forget or sweep under the rug-and that is being an African-American (truely in all sense of the word...father being from Ghana, West Africa and my mother being from West Virginia). I suppose this could be a poem I could elaborate on from my perspective on where I am today but I wanted to share with you all this old piece! So without further adieu- I present to you..."Black Is".

Inspired: Botlhale Boikanyo

The past two weeks of my life can be summed up in one simple word: INTENSE. As I navigated my way through my first summer residency for my Master of Fine Arts Poetry program at Ashland University, I also launched my new website in addition to the myriad of other tasks and responsibilities that I juggle on a day to day basis. Sunday evening I returned back to campus for my final week of the residency and in preparation for the week I tackled a few e-mails and while in the midst of doing so, a facebook notification came through that my best friend of 15 plus years (Shout out to Tyiesha- a true catalyst for why I even write to this day!)had posted a video for me to view. Intrigued by what she had posted I opened the video for viewing and this is what I saw:

After watching the video of Bothale Boikanyo, the 11 year old brilliant and captivating spoken word poet from South Africa, I was instantly in awe. Her presentation and poise took me to a place all too familiar. Her commentary and confidence spoke to a place that I had been questioning within my own spirit for a while and that is "Do dreams come true?". All the way in the heart of South Africa this young girl has risen to the top becoming the winner of South Africa's Got Talent 2012. Vicariously observing her success, I shifted to my own life and dreams that have been brewing of my own and I can honestly say that everything that my mind could fathom is starting to come to fruition.

It is my hope to share with you this inspiring performance from this bold and brave young girl who is passionate about her gifts. No matter what your talents or crafts may be, please be encouraged. be inspired...and know that "It is better to fail in originality, than to succeed in imitation."- Matik

Simply be comfortable BEing your best self.


Love,

Naki

Who is Naki?

I was in the 11th grade when I visited Cleveland, Ohio with my high school's orchestra. We stopped to visit Tower City and as my friend's and I journeyed throughout the mall, I somehow ended up in a music store (insert name that I no longer remember here) flipping through Cd's. A few flips in, I stumbled across a cd with an album cover that caught my eye.

Type writer print laced across the page with an image of a flawless brown skinned woman whose eyes are covered by a hat with only the image of her lips that stood out. Instantly I wanted to know "Who is Jill Scott?". After 4 studio albums and a live album that has become the soundtrack of my own life I have come to admire Ms. Jill Scott in so many ways. Her creativity and musical gifting are simply classic at best. But most of all I can relate to these words that Jill Scott live by, "I was born a poet...and I'll die a poet-and that is real!". If anyone ever wondered who I am, that line is the epitome of my essence. So in this introductory ramble of sweet nothingness I won't divulge all the fantabulous things that make me- ME...through this journey I hope to unveil the vulnerability of my creativity and everything D.O.P.E., so with that being said, let me officially introduce myself! My name is NAKI, which means: FIRST BORN GIRL- which indeed I am. I was born in May, the best month of the year and I often call myself Bob Marley re-incarnated because he died on May 11, 1981 and I was born on May 11, 1984. And yes I am very much aware that those dates span a 3 year difference, none the less they do share something in common. Not one day passes where I'm not writing or doodling on anything that resembles paper- toilet paper, a sticky note, a receipt, my Writer app, a mushy text message-you name it, I've probably wrote on it. Whatever the catalyst to release, I don't discriminate. This is the verbal vomit of a poet. An introspective look into my creative process and everything quirky that sums up my life. There will be no dull moments: TRUST. I can't recall exactly when writing became more than just an assignment but for the most part my memory recalls it as my favorite pass time. Books over boys (not quite!) were the words that my father used to say to me. The library has always been a safe space for me. Euphoric and healing. I am a sappiosexaul. My favorite fruit is strawberries and I have a sock fetish! These are just a few of the things that make me whole. My imperfections make me perfect. I am half warrior- half goddess and most days I feel like an alien. My poetry keeps me sane and what not a better way than to share a part of me to the world.  I once heard that the best way to leave a legacy in this world is to leave your words. Mark my words- one day this world will know my name. They will know that my poetry was orgasmic and purely genuine. So the next time around you won't have to question who I am...you will confidently say, "I know Naki...she is the princess of poetry!"

So if you love me already (which I'm sure you do *smile* please subscribe and INjoy everything D.O.P.E...because I NEVER STOP DREAMING!

#dropsmic

Naki