Hey, everyone, I'm Myra Flynn, creator of Homegoings, the Vermont Public Podcast, featuring candid conversations about race with artists of color.

The artists I've interviewed are so prolific and so talented.

We put two and two together and ask ourselves, why dont we stage a live performance so folks can see some of this art?

We did just that.

And of course, we filmed it.

See this radiance is brighter still Then every sun that lights a hill It calls from something deep within and pours from Vocal cords and pen Say beautiful sun kissed people Beautiful sun kissed people In the spirit of togetherness and storytelling.

We ended the evening with an open discussion centered around the pillars of homegoings: Grief, joy, healing and rage.

Rage, R.A.G.E.

These are also the initials of Rajnii Alexander Gibson Eddins, the poet and emcee we're about to watch.

And I'll say now that though Rajniis work channels a diverse variety of feelings like hope and unity and love, his poetry does elicit some feelings of rage, and the language he uses to heighten those feelings may be difficult for some to hear.

But we decided intentionally that we will not be censoring his art here because sometimes what is most uncomfortable to hear is also most necessary.

Rajnii is a spoken word artist, an author, an emcee, a father, a Black man in Vermont, and he uses courageous vulnerability to navigate the darkness.

Let's go ahead and give it up for Rajnii.

(applause) Peace.

How you all feeling?

(cheers) All right.

All right.

I'm going to start it with a piece by my mother.

This one is called “I'd Like There to Be a War Where Nobody Came ”.

So I think it's just as fitting as when she first wrote it shortly after 9/11, a message that I hope we all carry with us lifelong.

I like there to be a war I'd like there to be a war where nobody came I'd like there to be a war where nobody came Where the gunners didn't show and the flyers didnt flow Like a river carrying death to those below Where artillery moved too slow, missed the boat and the whole dang show and we all refused to go I said we all refuse to go I'd like there to be a war where nobody came I'd like there to be a war where nobody came Where the infantry said no in clipped tones that taste of snow And the bombers stated clear they won't go in any year And sharpshooters close their eyes, much to the brass Great surprise And there was peace with no reprise We chose the peace with no reprise I'd like there to be a war where nobody came I'd like there to be a war where nobody came Where we first would check ourselves See what our causes do foretell Tweak where Tweaking would do well then maybe check ourselves again Remembering some crazy macho end does not signify A win, cannot signify a win So I'll say it once again I'd like there to be a war where nobody came I'd like there to be a war where nobody came We'd like there to be a war where nobody came Wouldn't you?

Yeah.

(cheers) (applause) I want to share this next piece with you.

Cup of Joe America Sweet land of liberty Supersedes the natural rights of my people to be free America Home of the brave Land where my people branded, labled to be slaves America, can you spare some change Or can you even spare the truth To help us on our way America (channel change noise) These people come from low income housing Underprivileged and uneducated In dysfunctional surroundings Such as these Many times their hygiene suffers (channel changing noise) These n * * * * *s is dirty Downright vile and mean And stupid as a block of wood (channel changing noise) Would?

I wish a peckerwood Would come down my block Id pop ‘em with a glock For stomping where he should not have been And cut off his oxygen (channel changing noise) Now, now Mrs. Brown Please calm down Lets not become irrational Look at me when I'm talking to you Let's not turn this into a race issue (channel changing noise) White people having grown up in white families Have experienced all forms of racial bias Prejudice and inequality Qualifying them to address oppressed peoples With the utmost sensitivity (channel change noise) Besides they aint fit to raise their own kids Black people are whiners Everybody knows Jews are the most persecuted people in history (channel changing noise) All I need to do is apply cocoa butter To the young Negros scalp For about 3-500yrs or so Or until naps lay straight And the culture abates And the ass-whippin takes (channel change noise) Her hair is so fun Can I touch your hair?

Wavy curly nappy Straight Wavy curly nappy Straight Straight up now tell me Do you really want to love me forever Oh, oh, oh Paula Abdul is fine as hell, man You just like her cause shes light-skinneded (channel change noise) Well they skinned that n * * * *r alive That'll teach him to look at a white girl (channel change noise) The suspect is black In his mid-life to early living If you see this man please do not hesitate To avoid or avert eye-contact At all cost Clutch your purse And or pocketbook And cross the street We repeat This man is armed With consciousness Warning He may appear as a Poet (laughter) If alerted to the said existence of racism i.e.

white privilege One may experience discomfort insidiously interwoven with the Said topic of discussion Do not panic however Breathe, breathe You may very well want to yell or cry or scream out I say do it Yell out as loud as you can Im a good white person (laughter) It doesn't exist I don't see colors I see shapes and triangles and parallelograms I watch BET I'm not a racist Then When this vile culprit tries to put you up on game That due to the nature of racism in and of itself Being a system of racial subjugation Against non-whites in every area human relation, entertainment, Education, labor, politics, law, religion, sex, war, war, War and economics culminated in the mass dispossession And genocide of the indigenous natives who founded this nation Using this definition as a basis If you got white skin and whatnot Then you profit from the psycho- social construct Struck Struck (channel changing noise) I struck a match in the dark Walked the block and the Door was locked I aint got no key I aint got no key I can't consciously jangle the Lock open to feel myself freely Free myself to feel Every time I get close to a lock broke I get whitewash flooded with guilt And I stop janglin the lock Then the whispers come BE SILENT QUIET RARELY SEEN NEVER HEARD YOU DONT WANT TO HURT NOBODYS FEELINGS Refrain abstain from sayin them words Words like white like black except when followed by In harmony Like race, racism Legacy, history, genocide, holocaust Unless referring to the horrific tragedy of the Jewish Therefore remain acceptable In appearance and character In manner and demeanor Everybody knows a well-mannered Black man as named by white people is a negro But I said before I can't find the space To breathe comfortably in my soul lately I got too many people in my head Ive got Black and white m * *f * *s in head to contend with And every time I sing my pain I feel like I'm dancing Like the rushing currents and streams running blood and tears Got white folks shoes tapping Like some snappy-schnazzy Elevator music Hip tunes to cruise to Hip-hop tunes to cruise to Music to live by music to die by music to drive by I see them bobbing their heads off beat Exchanging PC convo on the cosmos And indigenous peoples at large over lattes Damn shame what happened to them colored folks It's a damn fine cup of Joe (applause) America has this periodic amnesia, when we go back to sleep and we think periodically we solved the problem of racism and things just go back to normal.

So I see some aspects of that still, but I think that what gives me hope is witnessing the youth share their truths and thats why those of you who are youth in the audience, please continue to share your gifts and shine your light because you have so much to bring to this world.

For Trayvon, Mike Brown and the countless unnamed... Lynching is not dead It's done in broad daylight Under the hot lights of media frenzy For Black blood White guilt White fear And white acquittal Where brown boys are still expendable Michael Vick should have had Zimmerman's lawyer Brown boys are worth less Than black dogs Trayvon should have been a brown lab Maybe then we see more of a humane society's Presence Huh If poems could march in the streets Overturn verdicts Bring corrupt police to justice If they could bring a boy back his life And a mother back her son A father back as boy Return bullets to a gun Unloose the lynch rope And unravel the knots from choked throats We would not be choking on tears When do our lives become valuable in the eyes of the law When does hate cease to be exonerated behind a badge and lighter skin And God forbid you wear a hoodie in the rain While having Black skin With skittles in your pocket You can taste the rainbow - But you can't taste freedom You can taste your own blood - But you can't taste the rainbow Diversity is white people's code word for n * * * *s You can taste the rainbow But not if you're too dark The rainbow may come during the storm If you're too dark on a block In a hoodie and the Skittles Fall from your pocket You never taste the rainbow Your killer has the right to stand his ground He may shoot you in the heart And America may Relive it In sordid detail She is only reliving her nightmares She dreams nightmares often open caskets, ashes, weighted limbs No coffins 2 His name is Trayvon Martin Say it Trayvon Martin Renee Davis Kalief Browder Corey Jones Keenan Anderson I remember when we first started this event we do monthly called the Black Artist Showcase that coincided with the occupation of Battery Park, where people were marching daily from the police department down to the bottom of Church Street.

And we would share that same poem for Trayvon, Mike Brown and the countless unnamed as a ritual where people were saying the names were it was youth led, Black youth led.

And the people pushing the community to see the people not as hashtags, but as full human beings.

That was my daughter's first experience, seeing her dad share and say all these names.

I remember her saying, it's just so sad, dad.

I'm like, Yeah, baby, but that's why we have to name these things, so people can feel it.

So they can know we're all responsible.

We all are responsible.

Chavis Carter Maria Godinez Louis Rodriguez Matthew Pollow Amadou Diallo His name He has a name His name is I can't breathe His name is Emmett Till His name, his name, his name You must remember his name James Bird Jr. You may whisper it in the wind You may hear it in your skin His name is guilty In his innocence Freedomfighter, Martyr, Trouble maker, his name Malcolm X Martin Luther King He has a name His name is Black Boy, Blacklisted, Blackballed His name is Black Power Black babies in a black market for green cash Stolen life Tied to a tree Burned at the stake - His name Probable cause, The Negro Problem, Chalk outline White man's fear His name, Ear for souvenir His name Black n * * * *r boy Fred Hampton, Huey P Newton, Medgar Evers His name saves lives Mobilizes movements His name is watch for a Black Messiah Bullet to the heart Boy in jaws of wolf White girl called rape Whistle too free Head too high His name looked me in my eye His name must die Gangster Thug Menace Stereotype His name is wretch like demon His name is take him to the iron bridge on Main Street His name His names legs are pulled Until his neck cracks Stabbed, Hung, Shot, Burned Ravaged by relic hunters His name is mistaken identity Scotsboro boys Tuskegee Experiments David Walker Living, breathing Black manhood Heathen, Pagan, No salvation His name is You free n * * * *r now get over it Kunta Kinte Stolen African Strange Fruit Stranger in a strange land In danger of deranged hands Enemy of the state Genetic Dissenter, Asphalt Art Bloody memory, Collateral damage White man's burden That happened so long ago Chain gang, Wage slave Chattel, On the rack In the irons, On the run WANTED His name is arthritic hands that felt more thistles than cotton His name is Put your hands up Spread em Stop or I'll shoot His name is BANG 41 shots Assata Shakur Angela Davis Breakfast Program Black Panther Party for Self-defense His name is, His name is He has a name His name is beaten severely Urinated on Chained by the ankles His name is dragged for 3 miles And decapitated 81 places have the remains His name is missing an the arm His name is crackhead War on drugs War on poverty Scapegoat Sacrificial Lamb His name is kicked carcass Convict, Criminal, Thief Drug dealer, Victim Still a child his name will Never breathe again His name has a mother His name is expendable Sundown laws Jim Crow cars Jim Crow bars His name is racial profiling in court Just call him profiling Because this is not about race His name is Marcus Garvey, Frederick Douglas, Ida B Wells No rights a white man is bound to respect His name has a title When he dies His name is Mr. Martin Wearer of the black hoodie Walker of the home path Wrong place wrong time Wrong skin wrong crime His name is holder of the skittles His name His mother knows his name Her tears spell it in big bold letters down her cheeks His name is gone too soon His name is Darkie Spook, Jigaboo, Sambo His name is different too difficult to be pronounced by thin lips with forked tongues (hissing) His name dies without justice Missing Lost Bottom of the ocean Shark food Triangle trade of littered bones His name is Sun-child Starfruit Young gifted and black But you can call him n * * * *r His name He has a name His name is the sun is rising His name is wake uuuuuuuuuuuuup I know his name because his name is mine (applause) We need to continue to offer greater possibilities limitless and boundless imagination and creativity and love and peace and healing and stories and understanding and recognition of our shared humanity and acknowledgment of our frailty and more love in holding space for growth and learning and building and recognizing that we're here, that we're a family of human beings, that we have more to offer than just limitations and biases and trauma and the same patterns over and over again, that we can have forgiveness for ourselves as a foundation to be able to extend it to others that we can see clearly, more clearly than we did before, that there might be things that we've missed and our visions that we are the bridges to eachothers visions that there's so much beauty in the music that we make and just being ourselves that we don't have to be afraid to be ourselves.

For my beautiful sun kissed people.

This is for Amina Adesina Frances Rhoads Eddins in the building, alright.

Say beautiful sun kissed people Beautiful sun kissed people Okay, let's try it one more time.

Say beautiful sun kissed people Beautiful sun kissed people Better.

Walking miracles Unfolding parables Ancient scrolls In ocean's throes LOVE be a rose Adorning your ears This morning will not bring mourning nor a thorn in tears This forever moment is shorn of fears Say beautiful sun kissed people Beautiful sun kissed people We are on the cusp of overthrowing overseers Light years beyond Heckles and jeers No more tanning our hides While Dr. Jekyll steers this love is sheer transparent and near As dear as your closest relative here Say beautiful sun kissed people Beautiful sun kissed people No conversation on us being equal Just entertaining the thought is evil We weave full Fully woven Lost and found traded and stolen But look what the eye beholding Say beautiful sun kissed people Beautiful sun kissed people Golden Black and Free and Ebony Mahogany and mocha be Chocolate H äagen-Dazs cain't see Rivers running melanin Shallow men be monitoring But most High got it all intents and purposes and sovereign skin Watch as this here poem ascends Journeying and frolicking Summer breeze is talking with the Autumn wind How Winter just won't break our stride Too much spring in step for us to hide Our victory is justified Say beautiful sun kissed people Beautiful sun kissed people Solarized with older ties Our currency ain't tokenized We close to those focused and wise Whose feet arise on open skies We white supremacy eulogizing Blessed ministry new horizon And desperate attempts at Euphemizing our brilliance with futile lies Still will never neutralize Too many youth been euthanized Fed sweet as prey to tooth decay but truthfully Our rootful way has truth to say Adorns the night salutes the day And beauty that the stars obey Say beautiful sun kissed people Beautiful sun kissed people I relate to you so musically And oh the joy it brings Like...

Lift evry voice and sing, till earth and heaven ring ring with the harmonies of liberty Let our rejoicing rise high as the listning skies let it resound loud as the rolling sea Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us Facing the rising sun of our new day begun Let us march on till victory is won Let earth and heaven ring In sacred oath Cause after all we are betrothed To wondrous wonders of untold Great grand good fortune that broke the mold Can't buy us off with moldy bread We have more than crumbs inside our heads And crust just will not satisfy When banquets alone Are ours divine We walking gourmet grandma made Deliciousness in every shade Say sun kissed people Sun kissed people Say Beautiful Blessed Bountiful Sun kissed People Beautiful Blessed Bountiful Sun kissed People Oh, okay, okay.

I praise the path that plants our flag Squarely in earth of self made basking A glorious new found approach that predators can not encroach that parasites and wayward folks At a mere glimpse will cough and choke See this radiance is brighter still Then every sun that lights a hill It calls from something deep within and pours from Vocal cords and pen Say beautiful sun kissed people Beautiful sun kissed people Im nourished just to see you You furnish my living room With life abundant killing gloom You water every plant I have And flourish my gardens green and vast Sing lullabies to my inner child And soothe all fears of foul defile You spray me with your scents of grace And lovingly embrace my face Say I am you and we are race That founded every human trace Say sun kissed people Sun kissed people I wake with your poems on my tongue In my chest I hear your drum From my lips I hear your hum It gets me high and drunk as rum On you I am forever spun Your melanin I'll never shun With you I am forever one Has there been better never one Say sun kissed people Sun kissed people I bequeath these odes to you Your next of kin and children too And their children's children's childrens view Will yet still match your vibrant hue You supernatural sorcery To walk in temples gorgeously Shaming cathedrals far and near Make a white christ pale in the mirror Sun kissed children you are it Don't let nobody tell you shhhh Unless they fertilizing soil to grow a rose regal and royal To don a rose upon a rose Of red and black and green and gold, So poetically bestowed It dignifies your inner throne Sun Kissed Children marvelous Miraculous magnificence Outlandishly so unabashed Unapologetic sass Ultramagnetic Blackness They'll write God(dess) on your epitaph That's blasphemy surely right Because we know true gods never die Sun kissed children you kiss my eyes with all that sunshine you applying I say I am in love for true Cause you are me and I am you From head to toe and all between I love these Princes Kings and Queens I even find you in my dreams.

And when I wake I vow to breathe And breathe the vow With every vowel and consonant I can pronounce Announce the cosmos all your feats Build castles for your sweet retreats Goose feather pillows Black satin sheets A sacred lounge to rest your crown From all the wounds been crying out Sun kissed people have no doubt You're all I am What I'm about Can't tell my story without your page Hell, every chapterd be erased You sew my lines so seamlessly We vibe on higher frequency So let's not love in secrecy My Sun Kissed People we bes the Key Thanks so much for joining us.

If you want to continue to be a part of the Homegoings family, stay in touch at homegoings.co and subscribe to the Homegoings podcast wherever you listen.

Take good care.