After Reading "The Prisoner's Wife" by asha bandele

i wanna make 1,000 copies
by hand
cut it up in pieces
with a razor blade
run around
sprinkling handfuls of this story
dropping it softly on the top of babies heads
give a handful to an old lady
with grocery bags slowly crossing the street
whispering to her as i pass
This is a love story
i wanna mix the cut up pieces
with white wine
serve it a dinner parties
trade this mixture for the Hennessey
in my brothers brown bag
Here, drink this
this story kicks down brick walls with bare feet
its real
enough for you to grab
wrap it around you
kiss it
oil your skin
a magnifying glass held to close to the sun
i'll make confetti
stand on corners screaming
Here take this!!
See, you were wrong
We can love
We are revolutionaries
this book is a lover
it is a story that heals
heals
healed

Tricia Hersey 2003

Marucs Garvey inspires me! The original soapbox preacher!

Resistance

I see my art spectacles as protest. On some levels its art and also direct political action, aimed at mobilizing public opinion against a particular policy. The specific policy for me is poverty and all the injustice it brings to a community. I am more enraged and motivated to protest and rant when the policies have been done on purpose.

"I'm trying to offend you. I'm putting you on blast. Get mad. Its a great starting point for change." -excerpted from the poem "Soapbox Snapping."

Soapbox Snapping

I’m climbing up
Out thru the basement
Like a cockroach
I stay
Extermination is futile
I goes on
Survivor of genocide
Warrior lady
Blood soaked hands
I’m mad
Pissed actually
Menace on a mission
Creating a scene

I complicate things
For diversity
Question what others ignore
Go against the flow
Irritate the entitled
Done being cordial
No longer politically correct
I like being a mad, angry black bitch
Nappy headed is my goal
Used to be nice
Until you flipped the switch
Until you brought up oppression and poverty
You wanna see my ignorance?
Test me

Don’t understand your stereotypes
I define myself
We can’t get along
Social entrepreneur
Building community
Organizing
Providing soap boxes
So others can go off
I support the madness
Putting you under the microscope
Asking the police to pull over
Can I see your ID?
A neighborhood watching
Unapologetically me
Fuck you type lady
I got dreams
My community got goals
Still hearing racism whispered daily
People don’t even know they being offensive
I’m putting you on blast
I’m actually trying to offend you
Get mad
It’s a great starting point for change
I’m pissed
Why are you so calm?

I’m not sorry
Past being rational
This ain’t no game
Serious soap box snapping
Ranting and raving for a reason
Social justice
I’ll give my life for this
My daddy already gave his
A guinea pig
For how much stress a black man can take in America
How many times was he called nigga at his railroad job?
Twenty five years
Before it’s internalized
Terrorizing our hoods with poverty

My daddy dead
And we still debating a Universal Health Care plan in this country?
Shame on you!
Still building fried food shacks instead of grocery stores in the hood?
Shame on us!
Shame on you Whole Foods
For claiming to be a progressive company
But only building stores in upper class areas
I guess poor people don’t wanna eat organic?
Outrage!
Shame on you
You elitist assholes
For judging us
For judging me
Shame on us
For thinking they can solve our problems
We can solve our own shit
Lady Terror in the building
Menace on a mission
Terrorizing for a cause
I’m pissed
Why are you so calm?

Lady Terror
2009

Why Install art in the community?

Inner city communities are always healing. Surviving in an environment of high crime, lack of resources and high unemployment causes stress. Art is healing. We need more art on the South Side. For every shooting we have there should be a theatre performance to balance the scales. We can create our own art. We can produce and present our own stories. My community needs healing. More poetry shows in front of liquor stores. More poetry marathons in hallways and on street corners. The street is our soapbox. We must rant.

Inspiration

I am so inspired to continue the mission of Lady Terror whenever I share my work with others. Last night, I spoke to a "Reviewing the Arts" class at Columbia College Chicago. The students asked great questions about the implications of the work on a global level, volunteered to help do a huge yoga stunt and seemed interested in the mission. With my move to Atlanta coming soon I am energized to explore a new region of the country and spread the ranting and education for others to feel empowered for change.