Podcasts about tongo eisen martin

To kick off the new season of The Windham-Campbell Prizes Podcast, host and prize director Michael Kelleher is joined by Tongo Eisen-Martin, recipient of a 2025 Windham-Campbell Prize for Poetry, to discuss Ayi Kwei Armah's 1979 novel The Healers. Tongo Eisen-Martin was San Francisco's eighth Poet Laureate (2021-2024). He is the author of three collections of poetry: Blood on the Fog (2021), selected by the New York Times as among the Best Poetry of 2021; Heaven is All Goodbyes (2017); and Someone's Dead Already (2015). He has taught creative writing in prisons and is the author of We Charge Genocide Again, a series of lessons plans to support students and teachers in grappling with the state-sanctioned killing of Black people. A recipient of several awards including the American Book Award (2018), a California Book Award (2018), and the PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award (2018), Eisen-Martin earned both his BA and MA from Columbia University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Three California poet laureates, Fresno's Joseph Rios, El Cerrito's Tess Taylor and San Francisco's former poet laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin, received $50,000 from the Academy of American Poetry to fund literary projects in their cities. Their projects include new poetry curriculums, multi-generational workshops, and creating local anthologies. In addition to finding the next generation of poets, the laureates see their mission as creating spaces for people to reflect, connect and build empathy. We talk with them about why we need poetry now and how the artform serves civic life. Guests: Tongo Eisen-Martin, former San Francisco Poet Laureate Tess Taylor, El Cerrito Poet Laureate, edited the poetry anthology, "Leaning Toward Light: Poems for Gardens and; the Hands that Tend Them" Joseph Rios, Fresno Poet Laureate, author, "Shadowboxing: poems and impersonations" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is a sequel podcast nearly five years in the making. We last talked with poet Josiah Luis Alderete back in 2020, over Zoom, in the early COVID days. In this podcast, we pick up, more or less, with where we left off that summer. Back in those days, Josiah Luis still worked at City Lights Bookstore in North Beach. He walks us through that store's process of rearranging around social-distancing protocols that were new at the time. He says that the early days of the pandemic meant hunkering down at home and reading-reading-reading. But once it was deemed safe to reopen City Lights, Josiah was really happy to be back. One of his coworkers at City Lights came up with the idea of doing poetry out the window onto Columbus Avenue. The first poet to read up there was Tongo Eisen-Martin. Josiah says that the reaction from passersby, the looks of joy on their faces, is one of his favorite memories from this time. Then we talk about Josiah's monthly Latinx reading series, Speaking Axolotl, which has been going strong for more than six years now. It started pre-pandemic in Oakland, pivoted to Zoom from early in the pandemic, and resumed in-person in the Mission once that was possible. But we're getting ahead of ourselves now. Josiah reminds us that he was evicted from his home in the Mission back during the first dotcom wave of the Nineties, and that he hadn't been able to move back until recently. Before getting the job at City Lights, he owned and ran a taco shop up in Marin for 20 years. He told himself toward the end of that long run that he never wanted to own a business again. But then he went into Alley Cat Books one day and was talking with that store's owner, Kate Razo. Josiah had been putting on events at Alley Cat for his friend for years, but now, Kate mentioned that she was considering selling the bookstore. To explain his reaction, Josiah begins to talk about how much the Mission means to him. Having given so much to him, his life and his poetry, Josiah felt he owed the neighborhood. He knew that if he didn't step up and take over the space as a book store, it would be prone to whatever trendy gentrifying business happened to move in. But he also knew that it would take a lot of work and a lot of money to do what he felt had to be done. And so he assembled a group of folks and they approached Kate Razo with an offer. That was in August. They opened Medicine for Nightmares a few months later, in November. He originally envisioned keeping his job at City Lights while helping to open the new store in the Mission. But the enormity of the task had other ideas. Some of those folks he'd gathered to do the work also fell off, which seems natural in hindsight. Nonetheless, defying odds and perhaps expectations, the new book store opened. Originally, after having gone through the Alley Cat book inventory and given much of that back to Kate, they opened “bare bones.” Around Day 2 or Day 3 of being open, Josiah realized that he couldn't be both there and City Lights. It was obvious that he needed to quit his job in North Beach, a tearful process he describes. We end Part 1 with Josiah taking listeners through the space that Medicine for Nightmares inherited from Alley Cat Books. Check back next week for Part 2 with Josiah Luis Alderete. We recorded this podcast at Medicine for Nightmares Bookstore and Gallery in February 2025. Photography by Mason J.

Humans are one species on a planet of millions of species. The literary collection Creature Needs is a project that grew out of a need to do something with grievous, anxious energy—an attempt to nourish the soul in a meaningful way, and an attempt to start somewhere specific in the face of big, earthly challenges and changes, to create a polyvocal call to arms about animal extinction and habitat loss and the ways our needs are interconnected. The book's editors, Christopher Kondrich, Lucy Spelman, and Susan Tacent, are joined here in conversation.More about the book: Creature Needs is published in collaboration with the nonprofit organization Creature Conserve. The following writers contributed new literary works inspired by scientific articles: Kazim Ali, Mary-Kim Arnold, Ramona Ausubel, David Baker, Charles Baxter, Aimee Bender, Kimberly Blaeser, Oni Buchanan, Tina Cane, Ching-In Chen, Mónica de la Torre, Tongo Eisen-Martin, Thalia Field, Ben Goldfarb, Annie Hartnett, Sean Hill, Hester Kaplan, Donika Kelly, Robin McLean, Miranda Mellis, Rajiv Mohabir, Kyoko Mori, David Naimon, Craig Santos Perez, Beth Piatote, Rena Priest, Alberto Ríos, Eléna Rivera, Sofia Samatar, Sharma Shields, Eleni Sikelianos, Maggie Smith, Juliana Spahr, Tim Sutton, Jodie Noel Vinson, Asiya Wadud, Claire Wahmanholm, Marco Wilkinson, Jane Wong.About the editors:Christopher Kondrich, poet in residence at Creature Conserve, is author of Valuing, winner of the National Poetry Series, and Contrapuntal. His writing has been published in The Believer, The Kenyon Review, and The Paris Review.Lucy Spelman is founder of Creature Conserve, a nonprofit dedicated to combining art with science to cultivate new pathways for wildlife conservation. A zoological medicine veterinarian, she teaches biology at the Rhode Island School of Design and is author of National Geographic Kids Animal Encyclopedia and coeditor of The Rhino with Glue-On Shoes.Susan Tacent, writer in residence at Creature Conserve, is a writer, scholar, and educator whose fiction has been published in Blackbird, DIAGRAM, and Tin House Online.Episode references:The Lord God Bird by Chelsea Steubayer-Scudder in Emergence MagazineThinking Like a Mountain by Jedediah Purdy in n+1Praise for the book:A thought-provoking and emotionally resonant read that stands out for its lyrical prowess and formal innovation, making it a significant contribution to contemporary literature as well as a key volume bridging the gap between the worlds of science and art.”—Library JournalCreature Needs: Writers Respond to the Science of Animal Conservation is available from University of Minnesota Press.

The sound of Memphis propels this episode into a fascinating exploration of the interplay between modern-day poets and jazz musicians, the reimagining of archival gospel grooves, Ray Charles vibes and Michel Legrand classics, and more! The playlist features Parlor Greens; Booker T. & The M.G.'s; The Harlem Gospel Travelers; Taylor Eigsti, Ben Wendel; Simon Moullier, Gerald Clayton; Alistair Payne, Tongo Eisen-Martin; Mahogany L. Browne [pictured], Sean Mason; Catherine Russell; and Michela Lombardi. Detailed playlist at https://spinitron.com/RFB/pl/19343552/Mondo-Jazz [up to "The Windmills of Your Mind"] Happy listening! Photo credit: Savannah Lauren.

Recorded by Tongo Eisen-Martin for Poem-a-Day, a series produced by the Academy of American Poets. Published on December 20, 2023. www.poets.org

In deze aflevering praat Benjamin met de in Schotland geboren trompettist Alistair Payne. Hij is een belangrijk figuur in bands als het Sun-Mi Hong Kwintet, Tijn Wybenga's AM.OK en de Guy Salamon Group. Nu is er zijn eigen debuutalbum 'Reflex, Live at the Bimhuis', een registratie van een optreden van zijn band met de Amerikaanse dichter en activist, Tongo Eisen-Martin.

Tongo Eisen-Martin is the current Poet Laureate of San Francisco, his hometown. He's also an educator and an activist. We talk about the influence of his activist mother and the role she played in his life. Tongo discusses major issues in the city, including gentrification, homelessness, and mass incarceration, all of which have impacted his writing. Tongo speaks about poet Marc Bamuthi Joseph, an important figure on the scene as he came up, and Thich Nhat Hanh, another vital influence on his life and work. Finally, we share our appreciation of John Coltrane.

Tongo Eisen-Martin @_tongogara_ 11:30a – 12:00p Topic: Tongo Eisen-Martin - the current poet laureate of San Francisco – joins Tavis to discuss the emboldened neo-confederate wave of violence and to honor the legacy of renown poet Diane di Prima.

We spend this episode with San Francisco Poet Laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin and Culture Clash Co-Founder Ric Salinas, honoring the life and legacy of poet Diane di Prima, ahead of the memorial service this Sunday, August 6th at the Castro Theater in SF. Memorial event info here: https://centerforthehumanities.org/programming/celebrating-the-life-and-legacy-of-diane-di-prima-presented-by-her-family —- Subscribe to this podcast: https://plinkhq.com/i/1637968343?to=page Get in touch: lawanddisorder@kpfa.org Follow us on socials @LawAndDis: https://twitter.com/LawAndDis; https://www.instagram.com/lawanddis/ The post Honoring Diane di Prima w/ Tongo Eisen-Martin & Ric Salinas appeared first on KPFA.

This week on Voices Radio we have 2 segments: 1) A re-cap of the KPFK Benefit hosted at Strategy and Soul. Listen to 10 min clips from Poets: Matt Sedillo and Tongo Eisen-Martin. 2) BIG NEWS ABOUT KEITH LAMAR, Reprieve granted and execution date will be moved from November 16, 2023 to January 13, 2027. Listen to a conversation between Keith Lamar and Eric Mann on the dept of the US War State within the borders of the US and internationally.

San Francisco's Eight Poet Laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin shares poetry and examines his remarkable journey of coming into his enormous artistic gifts. He also discusses his journey to harnessing art, education and political organizing to liberate society's most vulnerable and dispossessed -- as well as the minds of all under the sound of his captivating voice.

I am speechless. Our time with Tongo was inspired fire and intelligence, with creative insight and action. God bless the creatives of our world. https://tongoeisen-martin.bandcamp.com/ https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/tongo-eisen-martin https://www.instagram.com/_tongogara_/ And Tongo would like a shout of support to the documentary, “We Have Just Begun”: https://wehavejustbegun.com/trailer/ To help the family of his cousin that was murdered: https://gofund.me/43a003f2 #mopedoutlaws […]

When he was named San Francisco Poet Laureate in 2021, Tongo Eisen Martin said, “I want to push even further into places where poetry has not yet permeated.” He's taken poetry to youth in homeless shelters, group homes and psych wards. Using poetry as a means to bring power, beauty and truth to more people is a goal that unites several poets and poet laureates joining Forum to mark the beginning of National Poetry Month. Forum wants to celebrate your favorite contemporary poets and find out how poetry shows up in your life. Join us for a conversation with poets about poetry. Guests: Tongo Eisen-Martin , San Francisco Poet Laureate Dr. Ayodele Nzinga, Artistic Director, The Lower Bottom Playaz - artist, activist and Poet Laureate of Oakland Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, poet and author of the poetry collection, "Cenzontle" and the memoir, "Children of the Land" Leticia del Toro, poet and educator - recently released the collection of poems, “All We Are Told Not to Touch” Lee Herrick , Poet Laureate of California

This is the part 2 to my conversation with poet Tongo Eisen-Martin. We originally spoke for two hours. I published the first hour for all to hear and the part two on my Patreon. Since this is episode is dropping on Thanksgiving I thought it appropriate to continue the conversation of revolution. Tongo also shares his thoughts on how gentrification is violence and how he writes/rewrites his poetry. If you haven't listened to part one of this episode I suggest it. You can hear it on my website HEREOpening music, Church Bell by LOANTongo Eisen-Martin BANDCAMP Tongo's Books Someone's Dead AlreadyTongo's Books at City Lights BookstoreTongo on TwitterTongo in InstagramThemattdwyer.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last year, renowned writer and San Francisco Poet Laureate, Tongo Eisen-Martin, told us that it's not enough to simply be a poet. "The poet needs to just come on down to the trenches," he said, explaining that quality writing comes from the lived experience of participating in community activism. In direct application of his own philosophy, Tongo has been involved with the occupation of Parker Elementary School, where organizers are fighting against the latest round of school closures in Oakland Unified School District — schools that are located in communities that are largely populated by Black and brown students. Tongo has been a part of the group's Freedom Friday events, where artists of all sorts are invited to show up and perform. As the fight against the school closures continue, we're going into the archives this week to share Tongo's poem, "A Sketch of Genocide."

Full Episode 8-1-22 - In this episode, friend of the show and famous poet and musician and educator and organizer Tongo Eisen-Martin reports from the occupation / liberation of Parker Elementary School, which is being defended by community members from the authorities which have chosen to close the school down. 

Patagonia San Francisco's Poet Laureate Celebration featured six poets laureate from across the Bay Area. In this two part special feature we present a replay of the live performances. Kimi Sugioka (Poet Laureate – Alameda) Cynthia Patton (Poet Laureate – Livermore) Tongo Eisen-Martin (Poet Laureate – San Francisco) --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/viewlesswings/support

Tongo Eisen-Martin is the poet laureate of San Francisco, an educator and activist. He is a powerful poet and a brilliant mind and it was an honor to spend two hours talking with him. Tongo joined me hours after we heard that the Supreme Court had overturned Roe. Tongo enlightened me to many of his views on the world. How many of us have been lulled asleep by late stage imperialism, how a society founded on a slavocracy does not have the DNA to be a democracy, how he was a product of a family organized intentionally and how writing poetry is getting to know your paralel intelligence. This was a two part conversation. The 2nd part lives on my patreon page.Part 2 of the Conversation can be heard exclusively on Patreon HEREOpening music, Church Bell by LOANTongo Eisen-Martin BANDCAMP Tongo's Books Someone's Dead AlreadyTongo's Books at City Lights BookstoreTongo on TwitterTongo in InstagramThemattdwyer.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Join host Ned Buskirk in conversation with San Francisco's eighth poet laureate, movement worker, & educator, Tongo Eisen-Martin, while they talk about the wide-open-eyed work of revolution, the meditative practice of writing, & the murder of his cousin's son at the hands of a white supremacist.MORE IMPORTANTLY THAN ANYTHINGsupport Tongo's cousin as she seeks justice for her son's murder at the hands of a white supremacist: https://www.gofundme.com/f/please-help-a-mother-get-justice-for-her-son Follow Tongo on IG: https://www.instagram.com/_tongogara_/Tongo's We Charge Genocide Again! Curriculum for Operation Ghetto Storm: a 2012 Annual Report on the extrajudicial killing of 313 Black people by police, security guards, & vigilantes: http://www.operationghettostorm.org/curriculum.html Black Freighter Press [co-founded by Tongo]: https://www.blackfreighterpress.com/ Produced by Nick JainaSoundscaping by Nick Jaina”Four Walls” by Tongo Eisen-Martin & scored by Nick Jaina”YG2D Podcast Theme Song” Produced by Scott Ferreter & eO w/vocals by Jordan Edelheit, Morgan Bolender, Chelsea Coleman & Ned BuskirkTHIS PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY Katie Semro's Project Til It's Gone. Contribute to the Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/katiesemro/til-its-gone & THIS PODCAST IS MADE POSSIBLEWITH SUPPORT FROMLISTENERS LIKE YOU.Become a podcast patron now at https://www.patreon.com/YG2D.

This episode features a warm and lively community showcase hosted by Mills graduate student and WATV Community collaborator Alie Jones, in the culminating event for her Raise Your Voice community writing workshops. These free workshops supported the work of Black writers in the Bay Area and the dynamic power of writing. Readers include Tongo Eisen-Martin, Mimi Tempestt, Brandon Logan, Jazz Hudson, and Tai Marie

Nuestra Palabra Presents Poetry Spotlight: David Romero "My Name is Romero" & Edward Viduarre "Cry Howl" This is a Nuestra Palabra Multi-Platform Broadcast across social media. You can hear us on 90.1 FM KPFT, Houston's Community Station. You can watch us at www.Fox26Houston.com Edward Vidaurre is the author of eight collections of poetry. Vidaurre's poems have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Avalon Literary Review, The Acentos Review, Poetrybay, as well as other journals and anthologies. He is the 2018-2019 City of McAllen,TX Poet Laureate and publisher of FlowerSong Press and its sister imprint Juventud Press. He has been nominated for the pushcart prize five times and was a finalist for Poet Laureate for the state of Texas. Vidaurre has been a judge for submissions for the Houston Poetry Festival, Director of Operations for the Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival, and editor of Cutthroat, a journal of the arts. His book Jazzhouse Won the Award of Merit 2020 by The Philosophical Society of Texas for Best Book of Poetry by a Texas Author. His book Paandemia & Other Poems was a finalist for the Writers' League of Texas www.edwardvidaurre.com. David A. Romero is a Mexican-American spoken word artist from Diamond Bar, CA. Romero is the author of My Name Is Romero (FlowerSong Press), a book reviewed by Gustavo Arellano (¡Ask a Mexican!), Curtis Marez (University Babylon), and founding member of Ozomatli, Ulises Bella. Romero has appeared at over seventy-five colleges and universities in thirty different states in the USA. Romero's work has been published in literary magazines in the United States, England, and Canada. Romero has opened for Latin Grammy winning bands Ozomatli and La Santa Cecilia. Romero's work has been published in anthologies alongside poets laureate Joy Harjo, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Luis J. Rodriguez, Jack Hirschman, and Tongo Eisen-Martin. Romero has won the Uptown Slam at the historic Green Mill in Chicago; the birthplace of slam poetry. Romero offers a scholarship for high school seniors interested in spoken word and social justice: “The Romero Scholarship for Excellence in Spoken Word.” Romero's poetry deals with family, identity, social justice issues, and Latinx culture. www.davidaromero.com Thanks to Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer Radame Ortiez, SEO Director Marc-Antony Piñón, Graphics Designer Leti Lopez, Music Director Bryan Parras, co-host and producer emeritus Liana Lopez, co-host and producer emeritus Lupe Mendez, Texas Poet Laureate, co-host, and producer emeritus Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston's Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What's Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston. He is the author of the forthcoming book: The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital. www.Librotraficante.com www.NuestraPalabra.org www.TonyDiaz.net

Tongo Eisen-Martin is the current poet laureate of San Francisco. He is the author of Heaven Is All Goodbyes, published as part of City Lights' Pocket Poet series, and someone's dead already. Eisen-Martin is also an educator and organizer whose work centers on issues of mass incarceration, extrajudicial killings of Black people, and human rights. He has taught at detention centers around the country and at the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University, and is the founder of Black Freighter Press. His most recent collection, Blood on the Fog, further explores themes of love and loss, family and faith, refracted through the lens of the Black experience.  On December 15, 2021, he came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to talk with journalist and music critic Jeff Chang.

Episode 99 Notes and Links to Sara Borjas' Work        On Episode 99 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Sara Borjas, and the two talk about, among other topics, Sara's relationship with language, bilingualism and identity, pochismo, formative and transformative writers and teachers, and themes and ideas from Sara's standout collection, Heart Like a Window, Mouth Like a Cliff.        SARA BORJAS is a Xicanx pocha, is from the Americas before it was stolen and its people were colonized, and is a Fresno poet. George Floyd. Delaina Ashley Yaun Gonzalez. Lorenzo Perez. Xiaojie Tan. Say their names. Joyce Echaquan. Her debut collection of poetry, Heart Like a Window, Mouth Like a Cliff was published by Noemi Press in 2019 and won a 2020 American Book Award. Juanito Falcon. Breonna Taylor. Daoyou Feng. Elcias Hernandez-Ortiz. Sara was named one of Poets & Writers 2019 Debut Poets, is a 2017 CantoMundo Fellow, and the recipient of the 2014 Blue Mesa Poetry Prize. Hyun Jung Grant. Ahmaud Arbery. Suncha Kim. Her work can be found in Ploughshares, The Rumpus, Poem-a-Day by The Academy of American Poets, Alta and The Offing, amongst others. Sandra Bland. Soon Chung Park. Yong Ae Yue. She teaches innovative undergraduates at UC Riverside, believes that all Black lives matter and will resist white supremacy until Black liberation is realized, lives in Los Angeles, and stays rooted in Fresno. Say their names. Justice for George Floyd and the countless others. She digs oldiez, outer space, aromatics, and tiny prints, is about decentering whiteness in literature, creative writing, and daily life.    Buy Sara Borjas' Heart Like a Window, Mouth Like a Cliff   From The Rumpus:"A CLEANSING TORNADO: HEART LIKE A WINDOW, MOUTH LIKE A CLIFF BY SARA BORJAS" The Georgia Review Review of Heart Like a Window, Mouth Like a Cliff   “Pocha and Proud: An Interview with Sara Borjas” from Los Angeles Review of Books At about 2:30, Sara talks about her relationship with language growing up, particularly her relationship with Spanish and bilingualism    At about 6:00, Sara explains the “pocho lecture” and how speaking Spanish was punished in her parents' lives   At about 9:10, Pete asks Sara what she was reading as a kid, and if she “saw herself” in what she read   At about 11:10, Sara talks about her first exposure to writers of color, guided by Professors Alex Espinoza and Sameeta Najmee, and reading greats like Helena Maria Viramontes and Marisela Norte   At about 12:15, Pete and Sara talk about their shared admiration for Marisela Norte and Sara's work connecting to that of Moffat Takadiwa   At about 13:00, Sara talks about Tomás Rivera and his background and connections to UIC Riverside where she teaches   At about 14:00, Sara muses on the void that existed in her reading that “aligned with whiteness” and how it affected her    At about 15:50, Pete and Sara discuss “pocho” and its implications; Sara talks about reclaiming its meaning   At about 20:00, Sara describes the ways in which people of color, her parents included, have been innovative in escaping prejudice and oversimplified narratives   At about 20:45, Pete asks Sara about “pocho” in work that has come in recent years, including by innovators like Alan Chazaro, Episode 92 guest   At about 23:20, Sara shouts out writers who have and continue to have an effect on her through their chill-inducing work, including Marwa Helal, Aria Aber, Layli Long Soldier, Anthony Cody, Tongo Eisen-Martin, Roque Dalton, Bob Kaufman, Alejandra Pizarnik, and some standout students of hers   At about 26:25, Pete asks Sara how she explains to her students about “language to assert power,” including how Marwa Helal flips the script   At about 28:30, Pete wonders about Sara's thoughts on “decoding” her poetry, and poetry “having one answers”   At about 31:30, Pete asks Sara about the idea of reciting poetry from memory, and she talks about the “power” that comes from memorizing, including how she talked to Tongo Eisen-Martin about memorization   At about 33:20, Sara describes how she grew into becoming a poet, including some incredible mentorship and encouragement from Juan Luis Guzmán, and transitions into ways in which she and other women have been made to feel like they need to be quiet   At about 37:30, Sara meditates on her evolving attitude towards her missions and work over the years   At about 39:10, Pete wonders how Sara seeks out and pumps up students who are like she was when she was in school   At about 41:50, Pete and Sara have a discussion about Sara's ideas of prose and other formas, as done in Heart Like a Window, Mouth Like a Cliff; she also describes some probing and helpful questions from Carmen Gimenez Smith that led to writing ideas   At about 46:35, Sara details the inspiration she received from Anish Kapoor's installation, and how it served as a muse for Sara's poem “We are Too Big for This House”   At about 49:35, Pete asks Sara about poem titles and their connection to the poems themselves    At about 50:55, Sara gives her thoughts on translation in her poems   At about 52:20, Sara answers Pete's question regarding if Sara is the narrator/protagonist of her poems   At about 53:50, Sara talks about the importance of creative expression and the power and beauty of poems, as exemplified by Michael Torres and The Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop   At about 55:20, Pete asks Sara about her collection using powerful words from Audre Lorde and Cherie Moraga as epigraphs   At about 59:00, Sara describes identity as seen in her work, including Aztlan's significance in the collection's first poem and in society as a whole; she describes it as a “marker” and a “tool for transformation”   At about 1:02:00, Pete recounts some brilliant and profound lines about identity from poems in the collection, including ones about women's liberation     At about 1:04:45, Pete cites “Los de Abajo” and asks Sara about her ideas of rasquachismo and its importance in her work; she shouts out creative art as seen at Tío's Tacos in Riverside   At about 1:06:55, Sara and Pete discuss the “mother and daughter' relationships” as an overriding theme in her collection; Sara shouts out Rachel McKibbens as another inspiration   At about 1:10:20, Sara and Pete converse about intergenerational trauma and machismo in Sara's work   At about 1:12:45, Pete wonders about Narcissus and the multiple appearances in Sara's work; she mentions inspiration coming from a class taken with Reza Aslan   At about 1:16:10, Sara talks about conceptions of gender as seen in her work   At about 1:18:00, Sara gives background on “Mexican Bingo” and reads the poem   At about 1:22:30, Pete asks about Sara's future projects, including her penchant for writing skits and music   At about 1:24:00, Sara gives out contact info and encourages people to buy her book from Noemi Press or on Bookshop You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I'm @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I'm @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you're checking out this episode.  This is a passion project of mine, a DIY operation, and I'd love for your help in promoting what I'm convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form. The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com. You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I'm @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I'm @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you're checking out this episode.  This is a passion project of mine, a DIY operation, and I'd love for your help in promoting what I'm convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form. The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com. I'm looking forward to sharing Episode 100 (WHOA) with Susan Muaddi Darraj, teacher, writer of the groundbreaking Farrah Rocks middle-grade series, and winner of the AWP Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction. The episode airs on January 17.    

Happy New Year! 1st episode of 2022! This year will be all about: music - emotion - liberation. New music, some classics and the usual jump up business all along the way. Playlist will be at the bottom of the show notes. Think: music - emotion - liberation. Not A Poem- Damani Rhodes, Tongo Eisen-Martin & Somadhi https://damanirhodes.bandcamp.com/track/not-a-poem The Spiral - Theon Cross https://theoncross.com/the-spiral Yesterday Princess - #Yussef Dayes, #Charlie Stacey & #Rocco Palladino https://25blln.bandcamp.com/track/yussef-dayes-yesterday-princess-feat-rocco-palladino-charlie-stacey Same Love - #Ledisi https://www.ledisi.com Don't Let Me Get Away feat. Stokley - #Nate Smith & #Stokley https://waterbabymusic.bandcamp.com/album/kinfolk-2-see-the-birds Keep Up Wimmi - #Zilo https://soulection.com/tracks/RUv5pA5ax8A/ Ham Gallery - #The Poets Of Rhythm https://daptonerecords.bandcamp.com/album/discern-define Hardground (Crazy P Remix) - #Yesking https://bbemusic.bandcamp.com/track/hardground-crazy-p-remix Sentimento (Original Emotional Mix) #Walter G #Sentimento (Inc. Neapolitan Soul and Luciano Gioia Lovely Mix) https://soundcloud.com/neapolitansoulrecords/sentimento-original-emotional Track ID1 (Kerri Chandler Remix)- #Mr. ID, #Youssef Grirane, #Kerri Chandler & #Rita Mdn https://www.traxsource.com/title/1715707/language-of-jazz-ep In My Lifetime (Yoruba Soul Dub)- #Ezel http://www.beatport.com/track/in-my-lifetime/10944273 MUSIC - EMOTION - LIBERATION

In this episode, Kim picks up where she left off in Part 1, with her decision in 1985 to stay in town and go to college at SF State. She was, as she says, "deeply" into politics. She attended protests at the DNC in 1984, which took place in San Francisco. She felt pressures from the Red Power Movement, and talks about how tricky it was to be just the right amount of Indian. It was the middle of the Reagan era and Kim lived in the Castro, where AIDS was ravaging the gay community and the president infamously refused to even say the name of the disease. As far as she and anyone in her life knows, Kim has always written. After college, a friend surprised her by asking Kim to read poetry live in front of people. She's been doing that on and off since then. Kim talks about Murdered Missing, her book of poems on the large number of Indian women who disappear, even here in The City. She spent many years teaching Native American arts, both at SF State and CCA. She taught origami arts at elementary schools all over The City. She has also written curriculum for The Exploratorium. Kim shares the story of becoming San Francisco's seventh poet laureate, including how and where she was when she learned the news. She says she's incredibly honored to have been bestowed with the honor. (Tongo Eisen-Martin is the current poet laureate: Part 1 / Part 2). We end this episode with Kim talking about what it means to still be here and her outlook for her hometown: San Francisco. If you're still listening at this point, keep going to hear Kim reading a couple of poems for us. We recorded this podcast at Kim's partner's house in The Sunnyside in December 2021. Photography by Michelle Kilfeather

In today's episode of the Not Real Art Podcast, guest host and prolific Los Angeles-based muralist Erin Yoshi speaks with Ashara Ekundayo about the power of joy-informed art for resistance and healing. Ashara is a Black feminist, an independent curator, an artist, and an interdisciplinary creative arts leader committed to an intersectional framework of social transformation that expands the influence and impact of arts and culture on racial and gender equity and environmental literacy, and more specifically one that necessitates a practice of recognizing joy in the midst of struggle. Tuning in, you'll learn more about the work that Ashara does through her nonprofit, Artist as First Responder, which acknowledges that artists show up first in crisis and celebration to forge solutions, heal communities, and save lives through design, practice, invitation, and presentation. Ashara shares her mission to hold space for creative labor, to create beautiful narratives about joy and pleasure in a society so focused on the trauma-informed, and her belief in the power of art and education to create change by showing us opportunities for who we are and what we can be. You'll also discover some of the other remarkable projects, platforms, and exhibitions that Ashara has created and contributed to over the years, as well as some of her favorite artists right now, so make sure to tune in today for this insightful and powerful conversation about the intersection between love, art, joy, and rage! Key Points From This Episode: Ashara reflects on her earliest memories as a ‘gatherer' around the arts and crafts table. How her parents introduced her to art and were formative influences on her practice. Hear about Ashara's career trajectory, formal education, and early desire to be a curator. Learn more about Artist as First Responder (AAFR) and how it facilitates joy as a tool of resistance and a mechanism for healing communities. Ashara explains the six-point philanthropic and interactive arts platform of AAFR. The importance of celebrating artist's work and arts labor as first responder work. How Ashara navigates the traditional arts world as a queer, BIPOC arts leader and creative.  Learn about the former Impact Hub Oakland, founded by seven artists, including Ashara. Ashara shares her belief that we are all born creative and her ongoing mission to hold and create space for creative labor. What she looks for in the artists she works with; honesty, curiosity, and enjoyment. What Ashara calls the artist ‘flake out factor' and the importance of authentic commitment. How traveling has influenced her work and the perspective it has offered Ashara. Some of the priorities that have shifted in her personal life following the pandemic. Why she believes having grace and patience with ourselves and each other is the new norm. Discover the self-guided Black Joy StoryWindows exhibition in Downtown Oakland. Hear about BLATANT, a publication of AAFR, and Ashara's ongoing conversation partnership with the Museum of the African Diaspora. Memorable conversations Ashara has had with Black women artists and cultural workers. Ashara on the power art has to create change; witnessing opportunities for what can be. How education goes hand-in-hand with creativity and the legacy of who we are. Artists to watch, including Tongo Eisen-Martin, Tiff Massey, and Zanele Muholi. For more info, visit: https://notrealart.com/ashara-ekundayo-and-erin-yoshi

This is a black arts and culture site. We will be exploring the African Diaspora via the writing, performance, both musical and theatrical (film and stage), as well as the visual arts of Africans in the Diaspora and those influenced by these aesthetic forms of expression. I am interested in the political and social ramifications of art on society, specifically movements supported by these artists and their forebearers. It is my claim that the artists are the true revolutionaries, their work honest and filled with raw unedited passion. They are our true heroes. Ashay! 1. Margo Hall, Artistic Director, Lorraine Hansberry Theatre and Traci Tolmarie, join us to talk about SFBATCO Theatre Festival this weekend, Oct. 16-17 @ Brava Theater in SF's Mission District. Visit https://www.sfbatco.org/schedule 2. Black Fire @The Magic Theatre in San Francisco's Ft. Mason Center, 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. PT, with Tongo Eisen-Martin and Ahkeel Mestayer. Visit www.magictheatre.org or call the box office: (415) 441-8822. 

Poet Tongo Eisen-Martin reads his poem "Free Fear" from MQR's Fall 2021 issue.

Tongo Eisen-Martin was born in San Francisco, California, and received an MA from Columbia University. He is the author of Someone's Dead Already (Bootstrap Press, 2015), which was nominated for a California Book Award, and Heaven Is All Goodbyes (City Lights Publishers, 2017), which received the California Book Award and an American Book Award. His newest book Blood On the Fog (City Lights Publishers, 2021) is now available. A poet, movement worker, and educator, his latest curriculum on extrajudicial killing of Black people, We Charge Genocide Again, has been used as an educational and organizing tool throughout the country. Listening to Tongo recite his poetry is stepping into a whirlwind of conscious altering transformation. Pour yourself a cup of coffee or tea, and be ready to go on a journey like no other into the heart of our troubled, wondrous waters. (Music: Blue Bossa, Joe Henderson)

Welcome to Sojourner Truth. Thank you for staying with us. This is your host, Margaret Prescod. Today: Poetry for Haiti, the worlds first Black republic, which is struggling to overcome neo-colonialism, imposed poverty, state violence, and natural disasters produced by climate change. In the early morning hours of August 14, 2021, a powerful magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck southern Haiti, killing at least 2,200 people and injuring over 12,000 others, according to France 24. These figures, however, are expected to be much higher and many people remain unaccounted for. The Associated Press reported that at least 136,800 buildings were damaged or destroyed. The August 2021 earthquake that struck Haiti was the deadliest natural disaster of 2021; and it was the worst natural disaster to strike Haiti since the 2010 earthquake. Just two days later, on August 16, 2021, Haiti experienced a direct hit from Hurricane Grace, which poured over 10 inches of rain on the nation. There was further damage from flash flooding and landslides that led to more casualties, especially among those hundreds of thousands of Haitians left homeless by the earthquake. According to the United Nations, at least 1.2 million people, including 540,000 children, had been impacted by the twin devastations of the earthquake and the hurricane. Meanwhile, all of this took place within the context of COVID-19, state violence, political instability, and attacks on the poor. In the Summer of 2021, a benefit for the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund (known as HERF) was organized by longtime Haiti solidarity campaigners. HERF provides concrete material aid directly to the people of Haiti, such as water, food, shelter, medicine, housing, and more. The benefit, dubbed Poetry for Haiti, was an afternoon of soul-nourishing poetry and an opportunity to support Haitis movement for democracy. The event featured Devorah Major, San Franciscos Third Poet Laureate, Tongo Eisen-Martin, San Franciscos current Poet Laureate, and Shanga Labossiere. It also featured a heart-warming tribute by longtime Haiti human rights activist Pierre Labossiere, to beloved elders of the Haiti solidarity movement. They include: Mrs. Solange Aristide, mother of President Jean Bertrand Aristide; Terry Collins, a community leader and co-founder of KPOO-FM; and Jacques Antoine Gwo Lobo, a Haitian DJ, community leader, and activist with the Lavalas movement. The Sojourner Truth Team, myself and Assistant Producer Ramiro Funez, had the honor of meeting Gwo Lobo in 2019, when we traveled to Haiti to cover the grassroots uprising. We bid farewell to these beloved and highly revered elders. Today on Sojourner Truth, we bring you exclusive audio from this historic event, Poetry for Haiti. The event was co-sponsored by the Haiti Action Committee, the Ecumenical Peace Institute, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, and St. Johns Presbyterian Church Mission and Justice Commission.

Welcome to Sojourner Truth. Thank you for staying with us. This is your host, Margaret Prescod. Today: Poetry for Haiti, the worlds first Black republic, which is struggling to overcome neo-colonialism, imposed poverty, state violence, and natural disasters produced by climate change. In the early morning hours of August 14, 2021, a powerful magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck southern Haiti, killing at least 2,200 people and injuring over 12,000 others, according to France 24. These figures, however, are expected to be much higher and many people remain unaccounted for. The Associated Press reported that at least 136,800 buildings were damaged or destroyed. The August 2021 earthquake that struck Haiti was the deadliest natural disaster of 2021; and it was the worst natural disaster to strike Haiti since the 2010 earthquake. Just two days later, on August 16, 2021, Haiti experienced a direct hit from Hurricane Grace, which poured over 10 inches of rain on the nation. There was further damage from flash flooding and landslides that led to more casualties, especially among those hundreds of thousands of Haitians left homeless by the earthquake. According to the United Nations, at least 1.2 million people, including 540,000 children, had been impacted by the twin devastations of the earthquake and the hurricane. Meanwhile, all of this took place within the context of COVID-19, state violence, political instability, and attacks on the poor. In the Summer of 2021, a benefit for the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund (known as HERF) was organized by longtime Haiti solidarity campaigners. HERF provides concrete material aid directly to the people of Haiti, such as water, food, shelter, medicine, housing, and more. The benefit, dubbed Poetry for Haiti, was an afternoon of soul-nourishing poetry and an opportunity to support Haitis movement for democracy. The event featured Devorah Major, San Franciscos Third Poet Laureate, Tongo Eisen-Martin, San Franciscos current Poet Laureate, and Shanga Labossiere. It also featured a heart-warming tribute by longtime Haiti human rights activist Pierre Labossiere, to beloved elders of the Haiti solidarity movement. They include: Mrs. Solange Aristide, mother of President Jean Bertrand Aristide; Terry Collins, a community leader and co-founder of KPOO-FM; and Jacques Antoine Gwo Lobo, a Haitian DJ, community leader, and activist with the Lavalas movement. The Sojourner Truth Team, myself and Assistant Producer Ramiro Funez, had the honor of meeting Gwo Lobo in 2019, when we traveled to Haiti to cover the grassroots uprising. We bid farewell to these beloved and highly revered elders. Today on Sojourner Truth, we bring you exclusive audio from this historic event, Poetry for Haiti. The event was co-sponsored by the Haiti Action Committee, the Ecumenical Peace Institute, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, and St. Johns Presbyterian Church Mission and Justice Commission.

Welcome to Sojourner Truth. Thank you for staying with us. This is your host, Margaret Prescod. Today: Poetry for Haiti, the worlds first Black republic, which is struggling to overcome neo-colonialism, imposed poverty, state violence, and natural disasters produced by climate change. In the early morning hours of August 14, 2021, a powerful magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck southern Haiti, killing at least 2,200 people and injuring over 12,000 others, according to France 24. These figures, however, are expected to be much higher and many people remain unaccounted for. The Associated Press reported that at least 136,800 buildings were damaged or destroyed. The August 2021 earthquake that struck Haiti was the deadliest natural disaster of 2021; and it was the worst natural disaster to strike Haiti since the 2010 earthquake. Just two days later, on August 16, 2021, Haiti experienced a direct hit from Hurricane Grace, which poured over 10 inches of rain on the nation. There was further damage from flash flooding and landslides that led to more casualties, especially among those hundreds of thousands of Haitians left homeless by the earthquake. According to the United Nations, at least 1.2 million people, including 540,000 children, had been impacted by the twin devastations of the earthquake and the hurricane. Meanwhile, all of this took place within the context of COVID-19, state violence, political instability, and attacks on the poor. In the Summer of 2021, a benefit for the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund (known as HERF) was organized by longtime Haiti solidarity campaigners. HERF provides concrete material aid directly to the people of Haiti, such as water, food, shelter, medicine, housing, and more. The benefit, dubbed Poetry for Haiti, was an afternoon of soul-nourishing poetry and an opportunity to support Haitis movement for democracy. The event featured Devorah Major, San Franciscos Third Poet Laureate, Tongo Eisen-Martin, San Franciscos current Poet Laureate, and Shanga Labossiere. It also featured a heart-warming tribute by longtime Haiti human rights activist Pierre Labossiere, to beloved elders of the Haiti solidarity movement. They include: Mrs. Solange Aristide, mother of President Jean Bertrand Aristide; Terry Collins, a community leader and co-founder of KPOO-FM; and Jacques Antoine Gwo Lobo, a Haitian DJ, community leader, and activist with the Lavalas movement. The Sojourner Truth Team, myself and Assistant Producer Ramiro Funez, had the honor of meeting Gwo Lobo in 2019, when we traveled to Haiti to cover the grassroots uprising. We bid farewell to these beloved and highly revered elders. Today on Sojourner Truth, we bring you exclusive audio from this historic event, Poetry for Haiti. The event was co-sponsored by the Haiti Action Committee, the Ecumenical Peace Institute, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, and St. Johns Presbyterian Church Mission and Justice Commission.

Welcome to Sojourner Truth. Thank you for staying with us. This is your host, Margaret Prescod. Today: Poetry for Haiti, the worlds first Black republic, which is struggling to overcome neo-colonialism, imposed poverty, state violence, and natural disasters produced by climate change. In the early morning hours of August 14, 2021, a powerful magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck southern Haiti, killing at least 2,200 people and injuring over 12,000 others, according to France 24. These figures, however, are expected to be much higher and many people remain unaccounted for. The Associated Press reported that at least 136,800 buildings were damaged or destroyed. The August 2021 earthquake that struck Haiti was the deadliest natural disaster of 2021; and it was the worst natural disaster to strike Haiti since the 2010 earthquake. Just two days later, on August 16, 2021, Haiti experienced a direct hit from Hurricane Grace, which poured over 10 inches of rain on the nation. There was further damage from flash flooding and landslides that led to more casualties, especially among those hundreds of thousands of Haitians left homeless by the earthquake. According to the United Nations, at least 1.2 million people, including 540,000 children, had been impacted by the twin devastations of the earthquake and the hurricane. Meanwhile, all of this took place within the context of COVID-19, state violence, political instability, and attacks on the poor. In the Summer of 2021, a benefit for the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund (known as HERF) was organized by longtime Haiti solidarity campaigners. HERF provides concrete material aid directly to the people of Haiti, such as water, food, shelter, medicine, housing, and more. The benefit, dubbed Poetry for Haiti, was an afternoon of soul-nourishing poetry and an opportunity to support Haitis movement for democracy. The event featured Devorah Major, San Franciscos Third Poet Laureate, Tongo Eisen-Martin, San Franciscos current Poet Laureate, and Shanga Labossiere. It also featured a heart-warming tribute by longtime Haiti human rights activist Pierre Labossiere, to beloved elders of the Haiti solidarity movement. They include: Mrs. Solange Aristide, mother of President Jean Bertrand Aristide; Terry Collins, a community leader and co-founder of KPOO-FM; and Jacques Antoine Gwo Lobo, a Haitian DJ, community leader, and activist with the Lavalas movement. The Sojourner Truth Team, myself and Assistant Producer Ramiro Funez, had the honor of meeting Gwo Lobo in 2019, when we traveled to Haiti to cover the grassroots uprising. We bid farewell to these beloved and highly revered elders. Today on Sojourner Truth, we bring you exclusive audio from this historic event, Poetry for Haiti. The event was co-sponsored by the Haiti Action Committee, the Ecumenical Peace Institute, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, and St. Johns Presbyterian Church Mission and Justice Commission.

Copeland Cane V, the child who fell outta Colored People Time and into America, is a fugitive... He is also just a regular teenager coming up in a terrifying world. A slightly eccentric, flip-phone loving kid with analog tendencies and a sideline hustling sneakers, the boundaries of Copeland's life are demarcated from the jump by urban toxicity, an educational apparatus with confounding intentions, and a police state that has merged with media conglomerates--the highly-rated Insurgency Alert Desk that surveils and harasses his neighborhood in the name of anti-terrorism.   Recruited by the nearby private school even as he and his folks face eviction, Copeland is doing his damnedest to do right by himself, for himself. And yet the forces at play entrap him in a reality that chews up his past and obscures his future. Copeland's wry awareness of the absurd keeps life passable, as do his friends and their surprising array of survival skills. And yet in the aftermath of a protest rally against police violence, everything changes, and Copeland finds himself caught in the flood of history.   Set in East Oakland, California in a very near future, The Confession of Copeland Cane introduces us to a prescient and contemporary voice, one whose take on coming of age in America becomes a startling reflection of our present moment.   Author Keenan Norris is in conversation with Tongo Eisen-Martin. _______________________________________________   Produced by Maddie Gobbo, Lance Morgan, & Michael Kowaleski. Theme: "I Love All My Friends," an unreleased demo by Fragile Gang. Visit https://www.skylightbooks.com/event for future offerings from the Skylight Books Events team.

* Tongo Eisen-Martin is San Francisco's eighth poet laureate. * His curriculum on extrajudicial killing of Black people, We Charge Genocide Again, has been used as an educational and organizing tool throughout the country. His book "Someone's Dead Already" was nominated for a California Book Award. His "Heaven Is All Goodbyes" was published by the City Lights Pocket Poets series, shortlisted for the Griffins Poetry Prize, and won a California Book Award and an American Book Award. * Matthew and Tongo revisited his inauguration as poet laureate - a powerful, inspiring event that has been viewed on YouTube 1500 times - and discussed how Tongo intends to use his new platform. * Tongo discussed his relationship with San Francisco, as well as his upbringing in an environment where he was instilled with a duty to help raise consciousness. * Tongo shared how and why he began writing poetry, what about poetry called to him, and how he gradually embraced his identity as a poet. * Tongo's new poetry collection, Blood on the Fog, is published by City Lights. Tongo shared how this latest book is different from his previous ones, how meditation has affected his process, and what it is like to collaborate with such an esteemed institution as City Lights. * Tongo explained why fixing the system won't work to create lasting social change; instead, he asserts that revolution is essential for humanity to survive. He also underscored the need for prioritizing the collective over the individual as essential to that. * Tongo shared his thoughts on the relationship between the written word and the spoken one, as it applies to poetry. * With Alie Jones, Tongo recently launched Black Frieghter Press. He shared their mission, as well as their recent publications and projects. * Blood on the Fog is out September 21 .   Listen here or on: iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | TuneIn | Amazon | Player FM | Deezer Watch on YouTube   Links https://www.blackfreighterpress.com/ https://www.instagram.com/_tongogara_/ https://www.facebook.com/tongo.eisenmartin

Teachers live each day stretched in tension and suspended in contention: being and becoming, here and elsewhere; one foot planted firmly in the mud and muck of the world as it is, the other foot striding toward a world that could be or should be, but is not yet. Students arrive with questions: Who am I in the world? What are my choices and my chances? What does it mean to be human in the 21st Century? Good teachers dive into the contradictions, and make their classrooms generative sites of authentic engagement. Our guest today is the brilliant teaching artist and San Francisco's Poet Laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin.

On Episode 62 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete has the pleasure to speak with Donté Clark. Donté and Pete discuss Donte's growing up in North Richmond, CA, his childhood memories-both beautiful and traumatic, his work in the movie Romeo is Bleeding, his poetry, his teaching, and his poetry collection, Close Caskets.   Donté Clark is a poet, actor, and community activist from unincorporated North Richmond, California who works with youth organizations throughout the Richmond area. As a student in high school, Clark was recruited by his English teacher Molly Raynor who was founding a youth arts program, RAW Talent. Clark became the artistic lead of the program's first play, Té's Harmony, which examined local issues through the structure of Romeo and Juliet. The performance was introduced by poet Luis J. Rodriguez. The 2015 documentary Romeo Is Bleeding follows Clark in the process of writing and performing Té's Harmony. In July 2014, Donté Clark and two others, Lincoln Bergman and Brenda Quintanilla, were made poets laureate of Richmond for a two year period. They were preceded as poet laureate by Dwayne Parish, and succeeded by Daniel Ari, Ciera-Jevai Gordon and Rob Lipton. Clark's mentoring of the community's youth has led to some becoming mentors and teachers themselves, including poet and actor DeAndre Evans who appeared with Clark and Will Hartfield reciting poetry for a PBS story about housing in Richmond. Clark has a supporting role in the 2016 film Kicks, the 2018 film Code Switch, and stars in the web series The North Pole.        Show Notes and Links to Donté Clark's Work   Buy Donté 's Close Caskets Here   Donté Clark's Wikipedia   The Creative Independent Interview with Donté by Ambrose Mary Gallagher   Close Caskets Interview with Richmond Pulse   Edutopia Article about Romeo is Bleeding   Donté Clark Discusses Romeo is Bleeding   Romeo is Bleeding Trailer   Watch Romeo is Bleeding through YouTube   Donté performs his work, “Let Me Breathe” in 2014   Donté in Season 1, Episode 1 of Series The North Pole Talking Points/Authors/Books Mentioned and Allusions Referenced During the Episode:   At about 2:50, Donté talks about Richmond, CA, and his background there, and how he sees it as a “small city” and its interconnectedness and history of families   At about 5:30, Donté talks about one of his poems “600 Banks Drive” and its connection to the innocent days of his childhood   At about 10:40, Donté talks about shifts in his life, where innocence was lessened through his middle school days and looking back at possible traumas, and how he felt forced to make adult/serious decisions at a young ages   At about 14:35, Donté talks about the idea of “growing up too fast” and “growing up backwards”   At about 17:30, Donté talks about the dynamics between certain parts of Richmond   At about 23:40, Donté talks about his poem “Bus Stop” and how “exhausting” life can often be when you have to be vigilant so much of the time and how this hypervigilance has impacted Donté in his later life   At about 28:20, Donté talks about how he got into the Renaissance Man life-being an actor, poet, performer, etc., when he had at one time, according to Romeo is Bleeding, wanted to “be the best dope dealer.”   At about 35:20, Pete asks Donté about chill-inducing writers, and Donté references several, including Amir Sulaiman, Tongo Eisen-Martin, Jesmyn Ward, Chinaka Hodge, Lauren Whitehead, and Molly Raynor    At about 39:45, Donté talks about Molly Raynor and how she gained his respect when he was 17 and how the two began working together    At about 47:50, Donté describes reactions from him and others when he did his first poetry performances and his thoughts on the subject matter and how when he's teaching, checking in with students comes first   At about 54:25, Pete and Donté discuss some powerful lines from the documentary Romeo is Bleeding and Donte and “being in tune” with the words he reads and with the audience   At about 57:20, Donté discusses the Romeo and Juliet links to Romeo is Bleeding and the incredible feelings after presenting the work to an audience; he also talks about early casting    At about 1:06:40, Donté talks about Luis Rodriguez's help and support for Romeo is Bleeding and Donté's work as Poet Laureate of Richmond   At about 1:14:25, Donté talks about some of his acting work, including The North Pole YouTube series   At about 1:16:55, Donté explains the meanings and background of the title of his poetry collection, Close Caskets, as well as how Karla Brundage and Pacific Raven Press became the publishers   At about 1:20:00, Pete reads an excerpt of the poetry collection's foreword from Dr. Khalid White   At about 1:24:00, Pete and Donté discuss themes from the poetry collection, including loss, poverty, hunger, as seen in “33 Reasons,” “Gimme,” “Today, I…”   At about 1:26:25. Donté talks about the poem “Orgy” and its inspiration from the history of white America's obsession with and violation of black bodies, as well as from the murder of George Floyd and the slow and public way in which he was killed   At about 1:32:40, Donté connects “Orgy” to some of his other work and discusses the deep-seat racism that exists    At about 1:35:05, Donté discusses the rationale behind the form, style, and structure in some of his poetry, including in “Before Becoming,” “Hell is All I Know,” and “The Math”   At about 1:38:50, Donté reads his poem from Close Caskets-“Studying Don't Solve Sorrows”   At about 1:41:00, Donté reads his poem from Close Caskets-“Today, I”   At about 1:43:30, Donté reads “Blessed Be”-his poem from Close Caskets   At about 1:44:20, Donté talks about his future ideas and projects

Paul Corman Roberts Talks Bone Moon Palace, and Poetics with Dr. Fran Lock and an @emotionalorphan. "Paul Corman-Roberts 2nd full-length collection of Bone Moon Palace will be released by Nomadic Press July 3rd of 2021. Previous collections include The Abomunauts Are Coming To Piss On Your Lawn (Howling Dog Press, 2006), Neocom(muter)(Tainted Coffee Press, 2009), 19th Street Station (Full of Crow Chap Series, 2011) and We Shoot Typewriters (Nomadic Press, 2015.) His short story “The Deathbed Confession of Christopher Walken” shortlisted for subTerrain Magazine's 2010 fiction contest. A three-time Pushcart and Best of Web nominee, he currently teaches workshops for the Older Writer's Lab in conjunction with the San Francisco Public Library as well as the San Francisco Creative Writing Institute. He sometimes fills in as drummer for the U.S. Ghostal Service." Bone Moon Palace, like the ghost ship that its title poem commemorates, offers escape "not from everyone else but from everywhere else, a hiding place to be alone in sometimes." In these poems, you'll find community and solitude, candor and empathy, history and etymology. You'll find our oligarchy decoded; our mammalian nature disrobed. You'll find cold full moonlit nights and Darth Vader unsheathing his box cutters and so many beautifully-turned phrases: words tilled like soil to harvest a fresh poetic perspective. Enter the palace and behold, then, Corman-Roberts veering nimbly between jester and sage—dispensing "truth like smoke / disguised as tomfoolery." Soma Mei-Sheng Frazier, 2017 San Francisco Library Laureate, author of Salve and Collateral Damage: A Triptych Paul Corman-Roberts' imagination is a responsible spirit leading people to their sharpened teeth. His imagination is my friend. Riffs to live by wreathe poem after poem. Stowaway poems in this time of epochal shifts in the direction and velocity of social freight. You can find Corman-Roberts underneath cracking thousands of wishbones with all phantoms and phenomena that hegemony would have you ignore. Here is a tally for lovers of poems to enjoy. Tongo Eisen-Martin, 8th San Francisco Poet Laureate, author of Heaven Is All Goodbyes and somebody is dead already Paul Corman-Roberts' words create a lush, lyrical roadmap to navigate a world where one can feel lost in a sideways sanity. With heart, hope, and humor as his magnetic north, Corman-Roberts leads us along roads teeming with ghosts, shape-shifters, poisonous CEOs, and investment bankers. Rather than imposing upon us a “one-way ticket to the abyss,” replete with Eden-less days where memes are the new media and democracy is pummeled by “thugocracy,” Corman-Roberts offers us a proverbial light at the end of our journey—that poetry can offer sanctuary, and that even amidst a crumbling empire, we “still need to be held / need to be cuddled / even in the squalor of our own dust. Rich Ferguson, L.A. spoken-word performer, Beat Poet Laureate of California (2020–2022) and author of Everything is Radiant Between the Hates (Moon Tide Press, 2021) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/socialyetdistanced/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/socialyetdistanced/support

Well, we had our most incredible episode to date. But we can't prove it. No but really.

With students back in school, an East Bay high school radio station is returning to the airwaves. Today, we catch up with some of their on-air personalities. Then, San Francisco Poet Laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin talks about becoming a publisher. And, Valerie Miner’s short stories take us across oceans.

CELEBRATING NATIONAL POETRY MONTH! Produced by DuEwa World - Consulting + Bookings http://www.duewaworld.com Ep. 24 DuEwa interviews San Francisco Poet Laureate and award-winning poet, Tongo Eisen-Martin. Tongo discussed his journey as a poet who hails from San Francisco. Tongo discussed his forthcoming book, BLOOD ON THE FOG (Fall 2021, City Lights Books). Visit www.citylights.com to PRE-ORDER Tongo's new book. Follow Tongo on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Listen to this interview at Anchor @applepodcasts , @spotifypodcasts, @iHeartRadioPodcasts, Google podcasts & other platforms. FOLLOW on IG @nerdacitypodcast. Follow on Twitter @nerdacitypod1. Subscribe to the channel featuring this podcast @YouTube.com/duewaworld. SUPPORT future episodes of this podcast with a donation to anchor.fm/duewafrazier/support or PayPal.me/duewaworld. BIO Tongo Eisen-Martin, originally from San Francisco, is a poet, movement worker, and educator. His book titled, "Someone's Dead Already" was nominated for a California Book Award. His latest book "Heaven Is All Goodbyes" was published by the City Lights Pocket Poets series, was shortlisted for the Griffins Poetry Prize and won a California Book Award and an American Book Award. His forthcoming book “Blood On The Fog” is being released this fall in the City Lights Pocket Poets series. He is San Francisco's eighth poet laureate. Disclaimer: Views expressed by podcast guests are not necessarily those of any organization or employer DuEwa may work with.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/duewafrazier/support

We're talking, laughing, and learning this week with poet, educator, and movement worker Tongo Eisen-Martin. At the Dap Project, we believe the personal is political and the personal influences the political. This conversation with Tongo beautifully exemplifies these dynamics. Born into a community steeped in the work of Black liberation, he's always known dap, which is to say, he's always known the struggle for, and celebration of “dignity and pride.” Rhonda crossed paths with Tongo for a minute when they were both undergrads at Columbia University. Tongo's published books of poetry include SOMEONE'S DEAD ALREADY, and Heaven is all Goodbyes, which won the American Book Award in 2018. He is currently the poet laureate of San Francisco. This episode of the Dap Project is made possible by our friend, fellow Columbia Lion, Antonio Garcia. Thanks, Tone, for putting us in touch. BlackFreighterPress.com "Where the collective determines cultural reality" OperationGhettoStorm.org 2012 Annual Report on the extrajudicial killing of 313 Black people by police, security guards and vigilantes Poetry by Tongo Eisen-Martin: Four Walls https://youtu.be/h8l1zVxqPA4 Blood On The Fog https://www.instagram.com/tv/CMSovxtB_dP/?igshid=nm9tez1fq88c

Sights and Sounds is your weekly guide to the Bay Area arts scene through the eyes and ears of local artists. During the pandemic, we're offering suggestions for ways to experience art and culture at home or through social distancing. On this episode, host Jenee Darden speaks with San Francisco Poet Laureate and Black Freighter Press publisher Tongo Eisen-Martin.

Tongo Eisen-Martin, San Francisco's eighth poet laureate, says it's not enough to simply be a poet. "The poet needs to just come on down to the trenches," he says. His suggestion for writers out there is to get involved in your community, whether that's passing out flyers or organizing a mutual aid program. "That experience is what you synthesize good revolutionary poetry from." This week on Righnowish, Eisen-Martin joins us for a brief but powerful interview that includes a performance of his poem, "A Sketch of Genocide." 

Joshua Bennett is joined in conversation with Tongo Eisen Martin, Jesse McCarthy, and Simone White to discuss his new book "Being Property Once Myself: Blackness and the End of Man" published by Belknap Press/Harvard University Press. The prize-winning poet Joshua Bennett argues that blackness acts as the caesura between human and nonhuman, man and animal. This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom and hosted by Josiah Luis Alderete. Joshua Bennett is the author of The Sobbing School, winner of the National Poetry Series and a finalist for the NAACP Image Award. He has received grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ford Foundation, and MIT and was a Junior Fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows. He is the Mellon Assistant Professor of English and Creative Writing at Dartmouth College. Tongo Eisen-Martin is the author of Heaven Is All Goodbyes (City Lights Books, 2017) and someone's dead already (Boostrap Press, 2015) and his poetry has been featured in Harper's Magazine and New York Times Magazine. Heaven Is All Goobyes was shortlisted for the Griffin International Poetry Prize and awarded the California Book Award for Poetry, an American Book Award, and a PEN Oakland Book Award. He is also a movement worker and educator whose work in Rikers Island was featured in the New York Times. He has been a faculty member at the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University, and his curriculum on extrajudicial killing of Black people, "We Charge Genocide Again!" has been used as an educational and organizing tool throughout the country. He's from San Francisco. Jesse McCarthy is assistant professor jointly appointed in the Department of English and the Department of African and African American Studies at Harvard University. His research is concerned with the intersection between politics and aesthetics in African American literature, postwar or post-45 literary history, and Black Studies. His dissertation The Blue Period: Black Writing in the Early Cold War, 1945 – 1965 argues for a reinterpretation of black literary aesthetics in the early Cold War and for the value of a discrete periodization of that era. He is also interested in modernism, film, poetics and translation. While a graduate student at Princeton he founded a Digital Humanities project based on the Sylvia Beach archives held at Princeton's Firestone Library called Mapping Expatriate Paris. His writing on culture, politics, and literature has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, The Nation, Dissent, The New Republic and n+1. He also serves as an editor at The Point. Simone White is the author of Dear Angel of Death, Of Being Dispersed, and House Envy of All the World and of the poetry chapbooks Unrest and, with Kim Thomas, Dolly. Her writing has appeared in publications including Arttforum, BOMB, e-flux journal, the Chicago Review, and the New York Times Book Review. She teaches at the University of Pennsylvania.

We’re kicking off the first week in February with an extra What the Folk Wednesday drop! We sat with the newest poet laureate of San Francisco, Tongo Eisen-Martin, to talk about poetry as a tool for radicalization, the gentrification of American cities, how the current political moment we’re in is a rerun and how to reclaim our consciousness from the inherent violence of the colonial project. Afterwards, Emily and Sarah ruminate on what the folk they learned from this incredibly thought-provoking interview. All featured poetry by Tongo Eisen-Martin, courtesy of the artist. Follow Tongo on Twitter and Instagram: @ _Tongogara_

San Francisco has a new poet laureate, city native and child of local organizers Tongo Eisen-Martin. He reflects on national politics in the wake of the summer uprisings against police brutality and racism, the Jan. 6 capitol riot, and the presidential inauguration and talks about the role of poetry in political organizing.

Show Notes and Links to F. Douglas Brown's Work: Douglas Brown at Poets.org Douglas Brown's Website Reading at Writer's Resist 2020 Video-"Poetry and Discernment: An Ignatian Conversation with F. Douglas Brown"   Writers/Texts Mentioned and Allusions Referenced During the Episode:   Doug talks about growing up in San Francisco and being inspired the Bay Area literary and artistic scene, including the great Diane DiPrima, Bob Haas, and his own mother, an artist herself -at about 4:30   Doug talks about his father's outsized influence on him, through his father's charm, gregarious nature, and steadfastness-at about 8:00   Doug reads a poem, “Hard Uncles,” about his father, published in the Virginia Quarterly Review-at about 11:00   Doug describes reciting the above poem in his father's home state of Mississippi at a couple of readings and how special the events were, as well as how “connection” is so crucial in poetry, as demonstrated by poet great Sterling Brown-at about 15:40   Doug talks about his mother's big influence on him, including her artistic and creative nature-at about 17:40   Doug talks about the significance of his full name, passed down from his father, and of course, the iconic abolitionist, Frederick Douglass-at about 21:35   Doug talks about the genesis of his work based on Jacob Lawrence's panels of Frederick Douglass, as well as the role of ekphrasis and the “muse” in Doug's own work and study-at about 24:40   Doug shows some artistic renderings of Frederick Douglass and talks about how he views Douglass and how Douglass has influenced his own work-at about 29:00-33:00 (AROUND THIS TIME, THE AUDIO WOULD BE GREATLY ENHANCED BY BEING ABLE TO SEE THE VISUALS DOUG PUTS UP AND REFERENCES-THEY CAN BE FOUND AT ABOUT 32:50 ON THE YOUTUBE RECORDING HERE) Doug talks about Natasha Trethewey and his admiration for her work-at about 32:00   Doug reads his poem based on Jacob Lawrence's rendering of Frederick Douglass and his overseer: “Mr. Covey, Shall We Dance?”-at about 39:10   Doug talks about chill-inducing writers for him, including the dynamic and uber-talented Tongo Eisen-Martin, recently named San Francisco Poet Laureate, Ross Gay, Natasha Trethewey, Tracy K. Smith, Mahogany Browne, Doug's frequent collaborator, Geffrey Davis, Terrence Hayes, and Kimiko Hahn -at about 43:30   Doug talks about the powerhouse writing collective Cave Canem and its history, mission and accomplishments, including its inception in 1996, founded by Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady-at about 47:00   Doug and Pete talk about the brilliant poets Jericho Brown and Amanda Gorman, who recently read at the Biden/Harris Inauguration, as well as Michael Cirelli's help in advancing youth poetry-at about 50:45   Doug talks about Zero to Three, his award-winning poetry collection-at about 53:20   Doug reads “Epistemology of Laundry” and discusses its themes, particularly of the father-son bond-at about 58:20   Doug talks about the Sandra Bland Reading Series, including its ethic of downplaying the artist and lifting up the art, as seen with Amanda Johnston, Jonterri Gadson, Jericho Brown, and Mahogany Browne and their organization, Black Poets Speak Out-at about 1:03:45   Doug talks about his job and vocation as a high school educator and how he is able to integrate his art into the classroom-at about 1:10:30   Doug talks about some favorite texts to teach in his classroom, including the contemporary "To the Notebook Kid" by Eve L. Ewing, and Ocean Vuong's “Someday I'll Love Ocean Vuong”-at about 1:13:45   Doug talks about upcoming projects, including two essays coming out this spring, in the anthology Teaching Black and through the Langston Hughes Center-at about 1:18:00   Doug talks about his DJing and his music influences-at about 1:23:00   Doug talks about mixtapes and their importance in his current DJ crew, with their shared need for mourning lost loved ones, particularly by dedicating poems/music to parents-at about 1:24:30   Pete and Doug resist the “in my day” hip-hop attitude-at about 1:27:45   Pete shouts out the Dissect Podcast, an incredible analysis of one hip-hop album per season, through a “close read”-at about 1:29:35   Doug reads four sonnets that have been written recently, full of allusions and inspired by his DJ crew (sonnet is entitled “A DJ Spins the Blues”); he talks about the significance of the poem and how we honor our parents and their legends-at about 1:31:00

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On today’s show, Tongo Eisen-Martin talks with activist, icon, legend, Sonia Sanchez. Listen to these brilliant poets pass fire, life, and love between them. Eisen-Martin is a poet, movement worker, and educator. His poem “Pennies for the Opera” is featured in the December 2020 issue of Poetry as part of a portfolio of work from the book Carving Out Rights from Inside the Prison Industrial Complex. Both Eisen-Martin and Sanchez appear in the book, alongside artists incarcerated at Stateville Prison in Crest Hill, Illinois. Sonia Sanchez is a poet, playwright, professor, and activist. You can read “Haiku and Tanka for Harriet Tubman”—which you’ll hear in this episode—in the April 2018 issue of Poetry.

The Rumpus proudly presents our San Francisco Lit Crawl 2020 event, An Evening with The Rumpus! With readings from Tongo Eisen-Martin, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, and Monica Sok, and featuring comedy by Nato Green! Hosted by Christine Hyung-Oak Lee.

Show Notes and Links to Karla Brundage's Work On Episode 27, Pete is honored to speak with Karla Brundage, who he has been lucky enough to meet through Nervous Ghost Press and the virtual open mics that have coincided with the release of Writing for Life, an anthology in which Karla is featured. Karla Brundage is a Bay Area based poet, activist, and educator with a passion for social justice. Born in Berkeley, California, Karla spent most of her childhood in Hawaii where she developed a deep love of nature. She is the founder of West Oakland to West Africa Poetry Exchange (WO2WA), which has facilitated cross-cultural exchange between Oakland and West African poets. Karla is a board member of the Before Columbus Foundation, which provides recognition and a wider audience for the wealth of cultural and ethnic diversity that constitutes American writing. Her editorial experience includes a pan-Africanist WO2WA poetry collection, Our Spirits Carry Our Voices, published by Pacific Raven Press in 2020; Oakland Out Loud (2007); and Words Upon the Waters (2006) both by Jukebox Press. Her poetry book, Swallowing Watermelons, was published by Ishmael Reed Publishing Company in 2006. Her poetry, short stories and essays have been widely anthologized and can be found in Hip Mama, Literary Kitchen, Lotus Press, Bamboo Ridge Press, Vibe and Konch Literary Magazine. She holds an MA in Education from San Francisco State University and an MFA from Mills College. About her collection of poetry, Swallowing Watermelons, Ariel Gore, Editor Hip Mama Magazine, wrote, “Karla Brundage's poetic voice is just what the world needs now. She writes truths too often silenced—truths familiar and truths unheard.  Lucky you if you are holding this volume. Open it and read on! It may be just what you need now.”       West Oakland to West Africa: Connecting the African diaspora with creative writing Karla Brundage's Website 826 Valencia Website Karla Reads Five Poems at October 2nd, 2020 Event: “Voices of California” Through Tia Chucha's Bookstore and Centro Cultural  Swallowing Watermelons, Karla's book of poetry-buy it here! Authors/Books Mentioned and Allusions Referenced During the Episode: Kwame Ture/Stokely Carmichael-at around 3:30 The Anderson Valley Advertiser, a place where Karla's father often published-at around 5:45 Sammy Younge Jr., first cousin of Karla's mother, and a tragic victim of Jim Crow racism-at around 9:14 Sammy Younge was first murder victim from SNCC-at around 9:30 Book about Sammy Younge, Jr., written by James Forman-at around 12:00 The Black Panthers and their Ten Point Program-at around 15:00 Danzy Senna, a writer who has inspired Karla-at around 16:00  Toni, Morrison, particularly her The Bluest Eye, as an inspiration for Karla: a writer who gave her “chills at will”-at around 18:50 Christopher Okigbo, a source of learning for Karla, particularly with his exploration of what it means to write in a colonial language-at around 20:30 Lawrence Mamiya, formative teacher in Karla's life-at around 20:30 The Autobiography of Malcolm X, a book that has “changed [Karla's] life”-at around 21:10 Ishmael Reed, “family friend and mentor” and publisher of Karla's Swallowing Watermelons-discussed at about 22:00 Karla's rec for an Ishmael Reed piece to read: Japanese by Spring-at about 23:00 Chinua Achebe and his contribution to the dialogue around writing in English about Africa-at around 23:45 Half of a Yellow Sun by Adichie -at around 25:30 Maya Angelou and her influence on Karla-at around 27:15 2019 Citizenship Order-Ghana orders citizenship to all Black Americans-at about 39:20 The Cool Origin Story and Incredible Growth of Nervous Ghost Press-at around 43:00 Shouts out to progressive and activist poetry greats, Kim Shuck and Tongo Eisen-Martin-at about 50:55 Karla reads “Underneath”-at about 58:00 Karla reads “Why do Black people Protest”-at about 1:03:10 “I am a man” allusion explained-at about 1:04:50 Karla explains the Buffalo Soldiers connection to her family-at about 1:05:15

Tongo Eisen-Martin is the author of Someone's Dead Already (Bootstrap Press, 2015), which was nominated for a California Book Award, and Heaven Is All Goodbyes (City Lights Publishers, 2017), which received the California Book Award and an American Book Award. A poet, movement worker, and educator, his latest curriculum on extrajudicial killing of Black people, We Charge Genocide Again, has been used as an educational and organizing tool throughout the country. He has organized against mass incarceration and extra-judicial killing of Black people throughout the United States, and he has taught in detention centers from New York's Rikers Island to California county jails. He lives in San Francisco.

Tongo was born in San Francisco and earned his MA at Columbia University. He is the author of Someone’s Dead Already (Bootstrap Press, 2015), nominated for a California Book Award; and Heaven Is All Goodbyes (City Lights, 2017), which received a 2018 American Book Award, a 2018 California Book Award, was named a 2018 National California Booksellers Association Poetry Book of the Year, and was shortlisted for the 2018 Griffin International Poetry Prize.Tongo is a movement worker and educator who has organized against mass incarceration and extra-judicial killing of Black people throughout the United States. He has taught in detention centers from New York’s Rikers Island to California county jails.#RealCityAmbassadors #RCA #Frisco #SanFrancisco #YayArea #BayArea 

A conversation with Tongo Eisen-Martin about the 2020 Democratic National Convention and racism in the United States. Tongo is a movement worker, educator and poet who has organized against mass incarceration and extra-judicial killing of Black people for years.

In this episode, Tongo picks up where he left off in Part 1, describing the changes he saw in his hometown of San Francisco after spending a few years in New York. It was obvious that money had done its part to stifle, displace, and erase art and the working class. He started teaching with SF YMCA's CARE program, which works with imprisoned youth in The City, but some shady goings on in the program spurred him to leave. He went to Jackson, Mississippi, to do some movement work for a couple years before returning once again to San Francisco in 2015. He began writing poetry while in Mississippi, and when he got back to the Bay Area, it took off after Chinaka Hodge asked him to read before her at City Lights. To end the podcast, we asked Tongo to read one of his poems for us. He recited (not read) "The Course of Meal." For the words to the poem, please see our website. ​We recorded this podcast in San Francisco during quarantine on Zoom in July 2020. Photography by Michelle Kilfeather

Afrofuturism: Risen From a Poet’s Sun explores the intersection of technology, science, and the arts, as well as culture, of the African Diaspora. Featuring Bay Area poets James Cagney, Tongo-Eisen Martin, Thea Matthews, and Tureeda Mikell.          

Recorded by Tongo Eisen-Martin for Poem-a-Day, a series produced by the Academy of American Poets. Published on July 31, 2020. www.poets.org

Tongo Eisen-Martin is a poet, writer, educator, and movement worker. His work centers on issues of mass incarceration, extrajudicial killings of Black people, and human rights. He is the author of Someone’s Dead Already, nominated for a California Book Award; and Heaven Is All Goodbyes, which received a 2018 American Book Award, a 2018 California Book Award, and was named a 2018 National California Booksellers Association Poetry Book of the Year. In our conversation, we talk about the purpose and mission of a poet, the intricacies of organizing revolutionary movements, how to make a living as a poet, and the process of writing and performance. You can follow Tongo’s work on Instagram at @_tongogara_.::::Discover Tongo Eisen-Martin: Instagram: @_tongogara_Twitter: @tongoblackfireBook: Someone's Dead Already :: Heaven Is All Goodbyes::::If you're getting value from these conversations, please share an episode with someone you think would benefit from it. Learn something new? Share your thoughts with us in our review and rating section here. (Your review helps creatives like you find us.)Help us cover the costs of producing resourceful content for you. Support the podcast with a donation at artisansandtrade.com/donate.Follow: @artisansandtrade

Documents from the time of Covid-19 and beyond. Readings, discussions, field recordings and music from hosts Jason P. Grisell and William G. Lockwood reporting from New York City and San Francisco Bay Area. Episode 003 At The End Of Daybreak focuses on the civil unrest, outrage, and protests in New York City and Oakland, California following the brutal death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis. Readings this episode of Aimé Césaire, Tomas Transtromer, and Tongo Eisen-Martin.

Originally from San Francisco, Tongo Eisen-Martin is a poet, movement worker, and educator. His latest curriculum on extrajudicial killing of Black people, We Charge Genocide Again, has been used as an educational and organizing tool throughout the country. His book titled, "Someone's Dead Already" was nominated for a California Book Award. His latest book "Heaven Is All Goodbyes" was published by the City Lights Pocket Poets series, was shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize and won a California Book Award and an American Book Award.  

In this episode of Chitchat with Aliecat, I share my thoughts on our current emotional climate. With so much being canceled and postponed, Its hard to stay motivated. I’m learning that this time is a great time to surrender to our bodies and hold space for our minds to grow. Like mama Toni said “If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.” (Intro/Outro music by Tongo Eisen-Martin)

We take a look back at 2019, a contentious and challenging year, where we brought a mix of local, national and international news plus discussions from the thinkers and leaders at the frontlines of social movements. From climate change, to impeachment, to white nationalist violence, we took risks with big, ambitious broadcasts and reporting projects with the goal to inform our listeners, ignite deeper discussions, and elevate those most impacted. This is a list compiled from the most shared on social media, emails to us, and favorite amongst our team. Let us know what your favorite segments or shows have been in 2019, leave a comment or email upfront@kpfa.org. Over 300 inmates protesting conditions at Alameda County's Santa Rita Jail end hunger strike due to health concerns November 4, 2019 Santa Rita Jail strike update: An estimated 300 inmates protesting inhumane treatment have ended the strike on Friday due to health concerns. We speak with Sergeant Ray Kelly is a spokesman with the Alameda County Sheriff's Department. Yolanda Huang is a long time civil rights attorney and has represented many clients in fighting for justice for abuses committed by the Alameda County Sheriff's Department, and joins us with an update. This coverage was part of special coverage of the jail, Santa Rita Stories, hosted by Cat Brooks. Listen here. Billie Winner, Mother: Whistleblower Reality Winner is still jailed, while Mueller report verifies Russians hacked the election April 24, 2019 Billie Winner Davis (@bjwinnerdavis) is the mother of Reality Winner, a 28 year old former intelligence specialist who was charged and convicted for leaking intelligence reports showing Russian interference in the 2016 elections. She's currently serving 5 years and 3 months in Lincoln County Jail in Lincolnton, Georgia. Hosted by Cat Brooks. Listen here. Live from the Climate Strike and UN General Assembly with Brian Edwards-Tiekert September 23, 2019 Our host, Brian Edwards-Tiekert spent a week this summer in New York City reporting on the UN Climate Action Summit and climate action events, in what many saw as a sea change for climate action in 2019. Here Brian gives a live update from the United Nations in NY, where the UN Climate Summit is set to begin, starting with climate leader Greta Thunberg. He also covered Global Climate Strike, Friday Sep 20 and we hear voices from around the world at the strike in NYC.   Celebrating the life and legacy of Toni Morrison August 7, 2019 On August 6, 2019 we lost an international treasure, Tony Morrison, the first African-American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize in Literature and author of more than eleven books. We host a roundtable to discuss her life and legacy, featuring Nikki Giovanni one of America's foremost poets, Ayodele Nzinga (@wordslanger) a playwright, poet, and founding director of Lower Bottom Playaz in Oakland, Tyson Amir (@tysonamir) educator and author of Black Boy Poems, and the Black Boy Poems Curriculum, and Tongo Eisen-Martin (@tongoblackfire) a movement worker, educator and poet. His latest book is Heaven Is All Goodbyes. The Community of Grace: Day to day life in a curbside community in Oakland May 3, 2019 Homelessness is rising dramatically in the Bay Area, but usually communities are covered by the news only when there's a crisis – only when there's a fire, or an eviction – some kind of crisis that throws the people who live there into conflict with city officials. But there are a lot of people living their day to day lives in those tents and RVs. There are a lot of people trying to figure out how to get their needs met, under very trying circumstances. Our long-form reporter, Lucy Kang, spent more than two months visiting, recording interviews, and learning the rhythms of daily life at one place called the Community of Grace: the rules they live by, how it enforces them, how people wound up there, and where they hope to get to in the future. In November 2019, Kang won 2019 Excellence in Journalism Award for Explanatory Journalism from the Society of Professional Journalists Northern CA Chapter. Listen or read her report here.  Labor Day Special: Updates from Oakland city workers, Kaiser healthcare workers, Kentucky coal miners and women on birth strike; plus Cesar Chavez from the Pacifica Radio Archives September 2, 2019 This Labor Day, we feature several ongoing labor struggles across the Bay Area and the United States, including Oakland City workers, Kaiser healthcare workers, Kentucky coal miners, birth strikers, speeches from Cesar Chavez from the Pacifica Radio Archives, plus music on labor struggles from throughout the decades. Hosted by Cat Brooks. Listen here.   Kincade Fire: Voices from CA's largest evacuation in history October 30, 2019 The Kincade Fire displaced roughly 200,000 people from across Sonoma County since evacuation orders began last Thursday. There are over a dozen shelter locations, serving a total of over 2,000 people, and more in cars and RVs in parking lots. KPFA producers Corinne Smith (@Cocoluces) and Ariel Boone (@arielboone) went to the shelter at the Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial to bring you their stories. These are some of their voices. Listen and read here.   Impeachment Watch: Mitch Jeserich reports live from Congress as Democrats launch historic impeachment of President Trump October 2019 Our own Mitch Jeserich, host of Letters & Politics and contributer to UpFront with Monday's with Mitch, traveled to Washington DC to report on the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. Listen here.   Special UpFront Series: Political Prisoners You Should Know August 2019 For the month of August we'll be highlighting specific political prisoners, featuring Leonard Peltier, one of the most infamous Native American civil rights leaders;  Dr. Mutulu Shakur, organizer, activist, acupuncturist and stepfather of the late HipHop icon Tupac Shakur; Imam Jamil Al-Amin, formerly known as H. Rap Brown, a worship leader, public speaker, activist and author; and a look at several women political prisoners from Rev. Joy Powell to honorable mention of freedom fighter Assata Shakur. We speak with Larry Hildes, Civil Rights Lawyer with the National Guild and Lead Counsel for Leonard Peltier. We speak with Watani Tyhemba, Criminal Investigator and member of Mutulu Shakur's Legal Team; Imam Jamil Al-Amin's attorney and son, Kairi Al-Amin; and Efyia Nwangaza (won Gaza), human rights and prisoners advocate, founder and director of the Malcolm X Center for self determination on women political prisoners. Hosted by Jeannine Etter.   Second jury rules against Monsanto, liable for Roundup causing cancer March 21, 2019 The second jury has come down in another landmark case against Monsanto, finding Roundup liable for a second man's cancer. Now, there are thousands of cases to follow. We speak with Carey Gillam (@careygillam), investigative journalist and research Director for the non-profit, US Right to Know. She's written extensively on chemical pollution, corruption, and Monsanto. Her latest book is Whitewash: The Story of Weed Killer, Cancer, and the Corruption of Science. Hosted by Brian Edwards-Tiekert. Listen here. ‘We've Been Too Patient:' Empowering alternative mental health solutions and challenging the biomedical model September 3, 2019 Kelechi Ubozoh is a Nigerian-American writer and mental health advocate; and L.D. Green (@lizdemigreen) is an artivist: a genderqueer writer, performer, college educator, and mental health advocate. Together they are editors of a new book, We've Been Too Patient: Voices of Radical Mental Health – Stories and Research Challenging the Biomedical Model. Hosted by Cat Brooks. Listen here.    Our work is made possible by our listeners. We only take listener donations – no advertising or corporate underwriting – in order to maintain truly independent coverage and live up to our mission of being a community powered radio. If you'd like what we do, and want to support our work in 2020, please donate to KPFA today at https://secure.kpfa.org/support/  The post Best of UpFront 2019 appeared first on KPFA.

In this episode, Tongo Eisen-Martin gets on the mic to wax poetic about what it really means to be a creative change agent.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Tongo Eisen-Martin gets on the mic to wax poetic about what it really means to be a creative change agent.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tongo Eisen-Martin examines the institutions artists and artworks occupy and uses writing as a challenge to power. Produced by Katie Klocksin.

Hosted by Cassandra Dallet, The Badass Bookworm and poet Alexandra Naughton in conversation with Tongo Eisen-Martin about his California Book Award winning book, "Heaven Is All Goodbyes".

This is a black arts and culture site. We will be exploring the African Diaspora via the writing, performance, both musical and theatrical (film and stage), as well as the visual arts of Africans in the Diaspora and those influenced by these aesthetic forms of expression. I am interested in the political and social ramifications of art on society, specifically movements supported by these artists and their forebearers. It is my claim that the artists are the true revolutionaries, their work honest and filled with raw unedited passion. They are our true heroes. Ashay! 1. The Drum and the Word: An evening of percussion and poetry with Dame Drummer and Tongo Eisen-Martin, Aug. 22, 2018, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM at The Lab, 2948 16th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 (415) 864-8855, thelabsf@thelab.org. $8 entry (no one turned away for lack of funds), free for members A virtuosic combination of two liberation artists push the bounds of expression and resistance. Tongo Eisen Martin and Dame Drummer bring all facets of the diaspora to bare in a night of haunting and relentless percussion and poetry at The Lab. 2. Alita Henderson, Say I Love You To Yourself (SILYTY) workshop trainings. Contact: silytysinst@gmail.com and (510) 551-8987 and Facebook.com 3.  Mama Efia Nwangaza, Maverick Revolutionary Organizer in the Prison Human Rights Movement, Director, Malcolm X Center for Self-Determination, reflects on Marcus Mosiah Garvey and the Prison Movement (bio:"Invisible Giants" https://wmxp955.webs.com/staffandfriends.htm, MXGR blog and Facebook) Music: Mama C: Voices of My Ancestors; Billy Harper's Knowledge of Self featuring Amiri Baraka; UpSurge: Ancestors http://tobtr.com/10934417

The first reading at Tongo Eisen-Martin's Institute of Advanced Uncertainty featuring Mimi Gonzalez, Tongo Eisen-Martin, QR Hand, Lewis Jordan and Brian Auerbach. Originally recorded on May 8, 2018 in downtown San Francisco. Music featured: La Dame Blanche: Romantica, No Da Para Na y Cuba.

This is a black arts and culture site. We will be exploring the African Diaspora via the writing, performance, both musical and theatrical (film and stage), as well as the visual arts of Africans in the Diaspora and those influenced by these aesthetic forms of expression. I am interested in the political and social ramifications of art on society, specifically movements supported by these artists and their forebearers. It is my claim that the artists are the true revolutionaries, their work honest and filled with raw unedited passion. They are our true heroes. Ashay! 1. Tongo Eisen Martin, Donte Clark, Xiomara Hooker join us to talk about a benefit for WO2WA film screening and author talk at Mills College next week, April 28, 4-7 p.m. Danforth Lecture Hall. 2. We close with a rebroadcast of an interview with Kiara Boone, Deputy Director, Equal Justice Institute's National Memorial for Peace and Justice and The Legacy Museum: From enslavement to Mass Incarceration April 26-29, 2018 in Montgomery, AL.

Powerline - Today the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun; Theory - The Plot Thickens; Promises - K-Gizzle, Lovely Days - Silver Machine, Muddy - Stoni Taylor; Geeknotes: 12/04 - Shut Down LaSalle Street to protest GOP tax scam, Chicago, 12/05 - Deport ICE: The Resolution To End Cooperation With ICE, Oakland City Hall, 12/07 - Flash Fiction Collective Flashathon @ Alley Cat Books, SF, 12/07 - Save Net Neutrality Protest, The Market St. Verizon Store, SF, 12/08 - Tongo Eisen-Martin, Tony Robles, A'aron Herd @ 34 Trinity Arts & News, SF; Practice - SStone Anode Glitch, 12 Volts For Testing, Not Being Tested; Soda City - Analog Moon

This is a black arts and culture site. We will be exploring the African Diaspora via the writing, performance, both musical and theatrical (film and stage), as well as the visual arts of Africans in the Diaspora and those influenced by these aesthetic forms of expression. I am interested in the political and social ramifications of art on society, specifically movements supported by these artists and their forebearers. It is my claim that the artists are the true revolutionaries, their work honest and filled with raw unedited passion. They are our true heroes. Ashay!   1. Dr. Gail Myers & Anna Marie Carter joins us to talk about Circling: Honoring Dr. George Washington Carver, Friday, Oct. 13 at AAMLO   2. Lewis Jordan, composer, musician, joins us to talk about, this is where i came in. . . .his new work which is creatively autobiographical. He is joined by poet, artivist and SFSU Mazza Writer-in-Residence, Tongo Eisen-Martin, whose latest work is Heaven Is All Goodbyes Pocket Books (2017). Tongo is collaborating with Jordan on his EastSide Arts CD Release event, Oct. 20. Visit lewisjordan.com   3. Sonia Sanchez and Michael Warr join us to talk about "Of Poetry & Protest -- From Emmett Till to Trayvon Martin"  (Norton, 2016) and a reading this evening at the Museum of the African Disapora in San Francisco (MoAD 7-9 p.m.) celebrating its release. 

1. Dr. Gail Myers, dir., Farms to Grow, Inc., and Missionary, Anna Marie Carter, "the Seed Lady of Watts," join us to talk about: Circling Back: Honoring Dr. George Washington Carver, Friday, October 13, 6-8 at AAMLO.  2. Donald Lacy, dir., "Hidden Treasure." debuts tonight at Grand Lake Theatre (10.4, 7 p.m.) 3. Actors Tara Pacheco (Sally Hemings), William Hodgson (James Hemings) in Thomas and Sally by Thomas Bradshaw at Marin Theatre Company, marintheatre.org 4. Lewis Jordan, composer, musician, joins us to talk about, this is where i came in. . . .his new work which is creatively autobiographical. He is joined by poet, artivist and SFSU Mazza Writer-in-Residence, Tongo Eisen-Martin, whose latest work is Heaven Is All Goodbyes Pocket Books (2017). Tongo is collaborating with Jordan on his EastSide Arts CD Release event, Oct. 20. Visit lewisjordan.com    

This is a black arts and culture site. We will be exploring the African Diaspora via the writing, performance, both musical and theatrical (film and stage), as well as the visual arts of Africans in the Diaspora and those influenced by these aesthetic forms of expression. I am interested in the political and social ramifications of art on society, specifically movements supported by these artists and their forebearers. It is my claim that the artists are the true revolutionaries, their work honest and filled with raw unedited passion. They are our true heroes. Ashay! 1.Tongo Eisen-Martin, San Francisco poet, speaks to us about Public Square: Can We Design Freedom, at YBCA Sat., Feb.18, 3 p.m.  2. Viera Whye, Producing Artistic Director, Tabia African American Theatre Ensemble, and Cheryl Scales, actress, "Nella," joins us to talk about Gee's Bend, the company's current production