Kareemah El-Amin
Kareemah is an acclaimed filmmaker, playwright, director, producer, poet, and singer. She has been published internationally in the anthology "Generation X: In Our Own Words," and was invited in 2006 to represent the United States as a poet Laureate by Art for Humanity in Durban, South Africa (an international advocacy organization using the arts to promote social change). The project "Women Artists and Poets Advocate Children's Rights" continues to tour internationally exhibiting billboards, posters and a limited edition catalogue.
She was named in "Women Of the Year" in 2006 for her body of work in the arts. In January 2005, Kareemah wrote, produced, and directed the play "Lock Down Legacy," her response to the damaging effects of incarceration for black families. The South Bend Tribune Review described the play as "powerful... words succeed in evoking strong emotion." (January 15, 2005). In 2008, an expanded version of "Lockdown Legacy" including multi-media was brought to the stage and received rave reviews.
As a filmmaker Kareemah's work has received much attention and praise. Her films articulate the distinctive voices of real people, not superficial stereotypes. Kareemah's film "The Thin I'm In" looks at weight discrimination, and her film Black Barbie Beauty deals with recognizing ethnic beauty in a Eurocentric society. Her films are an in-depth look at the individual and societal effects of distorted and negative depictions of women.
The first film, "The Thin I'm In," was invited to 13 film festivals including The Hollywood Black Film Festival (considered the Black Sundance) and also won Directors' Pick at The Bare Bones International Film Festival. Kareemah went onto write and direct the provocative docudrama, "The White Girl Thang," also a four minute short film on self-image "Black Barbie Beauty," and she completed her first feature length documentary, "The Catalyst Trip: A Journey of Transformation" commissioned by St. Mary's College Center for Women's Intercultural Leadership. Kareemah has most recently finished directing the documentary film "Your Friends & Neighbors: Living with Aids in South Bend, IN" commissioned by the Indiana Arts Commission.
Kareemah's commitment to the Arts includes writing, directing, and producing two children's plays: "If King Were Alive Today, What Would He Say" and "Rhyme Tyme," which provide opportunities for urban youth to participate in the Arts.
URBAN THOUGHT ARTS ENSEMBLE was founded by Kareemah were today she works as Executive and Artistic Director. UTAE is a multi-ethnic, theatrical, literary, multi-media and music performing arts company. We create, produce, and perform works that evolve from critical thought on issues that are relevant and timely, yet marginalized in today's society. VISION A community where every artistic voice is acknowledged, developed and presented to its full potential. MISSION To discover, develop and produce artists and artistic works in under served communities where indigenous voices go unheard.
(**all visual poetry is copyright Kareemah El-Amin)
"Beautiful Mosiac" by Derrick Little (visual poet, U.S.A.) and Kareemah El-Amin (visual poet, U.S.A.)
BEAUTIFUL MOSAIC
(copyright Kareemah El-Amin)
Beautiful mosaic
Bright with the woven tapestry of story
Vivid molecules
Multiplying to a fevered dance of subtraction
One plus one
Plus one plus
One
Minus…………….one thousand
You congregate in matter
A legion of lesions
Dry cough
Persistent
Shrinking elasticity
Unable to feast on the multitude of life
Though famine was never your entreaty
So tired, so very tired
What is this day?
What is my name?
Who among you shall I blame?
Why did this happening, happen to me?
I just want to be………left alone
Though I yearn, desire, fear
Being lonely
Abstract vicissitudes
Fake platitudes
Unabashed attitude
I WANT TO BE FREE
No more H.I.V.
Though in my mind
I can clearly see
H.appiness
I.noculates
V.iral load
The headline reads
Giving humanity to an acronym of deficiency
Exposing the shame of secrecy
Now dignity, family and community
Is returned to me
Once stolen for the miserable price of my sanity
Touch me
Kiss me
Love me
Why didn’t I protect me?
What should have been, is miserable company
Undeserved guilt is killing me softly
So, here I stand
Naked with humility
Vulnerable with need
I ask these simple things
When I smile
Smile back at me
When I laugh
Laugh with me
When I cry
Shed no tears for me
When I die…..as we all will one day
Please remember who I am
Not the disease that has taken me
HE DOESN’T SMOKE
(copyright Kareemah El-Amin)
Picture us
You and me
Softly lifting my marble head
Glistening with the orgasm you had last night
I bathe in the ocean
Next to the 7 eleven on 3rd St
Pigeons are a very intelligent bird
Underneath the viaduct I relinquish my apprenticeship
As a punching bag
You tell me I’m most beautiful in color
Rainbows I meant
We reminisce about the good ole days
I have a hard time remembering which one
You smile and toss me a hook
I start to remember
“Thanks,” I say
“Much obliged,” while you tip your hat
And go get a pack of cigarettes
REVERSAL OF FORTUNE
(copyright Kareemah El-Amin)
Home of the free, land of the dead
Are you really surprised by the images I’ve placed in your head?
I raise my right hand to pledge the constitution
With your left hand you disguise all reference to my ancestral contribution
To your so-called American revolution
A pretty sad existence to lead
Denying all factual events, occurrences, and circumstances
With unrestrained eagerness to believe
That your lily birthright made you the most logical to receive
Every and all abundance this life can conceive
You planted the seed of discourse
Tilled the soil of deception
But you can’t stop the resurrection
Still I rise
with heavy burdens to carry
Still I rise
from poverty, HIV and thirteen year old swollen bellies
Oh quite the contrary
My existence extinguishes your favorite position
That the genocide of my culture is an inherent condition
Disallowing your verve to bask in false admonition
Where lies and hatreds the only rendition
Though you’ve won a few battles the war is far from over
Your misguided truth no longer goes unrecognized
With renewed vigor we’ve changed the direction
And you can’t stop the resurrection.
Speak to Me
(copyright Kareemah El-Amin)
I have come to the invariable conclusion
That we live in an illusion
Of false pride and superior inclinations
Casting down verdicts without the slightest hesitation
In the name of God……….hallelujah, thank you Jesus, amen
With our tongue we cast aside our friends and enemies
By any means
But is it necessary?
To condemn our fellow man
Becoming judge, jury and handing out the sentence
Without understanding, empathy or belief in redemption
Our world is strife with hypes,
Hypocrites, unrepentant miscreants
Liars, thieves, and un-belief
Yet, is that all we see?
Am I my brother’s keeper?
Or his hangman’s grim reaper
We cast a net of shame and recrimination
Breast feeding propaganda of our genocidal indoctrination
With the food of negativity, innuendo and vernacular limitation
Who are we to judge?
Who am I to speak
Are we part of the solution?
Or just another parrot of the ills of the less holier than thou of which we speak
We only see that which we are
We only believe that which we can conceive
We have given birth to abnormality
The incubation and gestation of no humanity
Has taken form as the high priest of society
A conspiracy of the deadliest kind
But I digress
As I speak these words I too have formed an oratory attack
So even in my belief of shedding light I will cause pain
Am I to blame if I cut my fellow man?
My passion drives me to take a stand…….but how do you stand on a foundation made of sand?
The content of this verse leaves me perplexed
I am vexed that me
One who holds myself righteously
Is unable to truly articulate my pain
Do we live in vain?
Unable to confront the transgressors that bring us shame
I ponder these questions and I am charged with an epiphanous thought
Is it not for me to speak?
Should my life reflect my vision of utopia
So my words not grow weak
For those without sin, were the only coveted the basket of stones
Not those of selective transgressions covering faults that remain untold
If I point a finger at you, who will shield me from the arrow of judgment?
Will the construct of my life deflect, or will the arrow pierce the flesh of my monument ….of hypocrisy?
My heart grows heavy with grief
Though un-belief weakens me
It is the tongue of my fellow man that has destroyed me
Family Tree
(copyright Kareemah El-Amin)
Hush little baby what you crying for?
Yo’ mamma didn’t want to leave you on that bathroom floor
She 16 and I think you number foe
After the garbage man leave, we ain’t seen them no moe
Yo’ daddy, granddaddy, they all the same
Since everyone a girl child, sooner or later there be pain
Don’t blame her none, she know what best
Her daddy, her granddaddy
She just cleanin up the mess
Epidemic Invisible
(copyright Kareemah El-Amin)
Scream
They can’t hear you
How can they, when their ears are closed?
Show yourself
They can’t see you
How can they, when their eyes are open?
Speak your mind
They won’t listen
How can they, when they know what you’re saying?
Die
They won’t mourn you
How can they, when you don’t exist
Plenty of Horn
(copyright Kareemah El-Amin)
You planted your seed like a sharecropper
Who doesn’t like harvest time
Grunting
I feel so full
Belly impregnated with regret
Feet swollen with shame
Back aching
A little bit of man, better than no man at all
Hmmp, who want to live without a man?
Not me
I’m most beautiful with child
Never mind, he daddy to me
Besides
It’s harvest time
My garden needs a little towing
Free Will Offering
(copyright Kareemah El-Amin)
Manifestations of nothingness
The grand ballroom of anarchy
Ego swollen guru’s offering sustenance
to the idle fortunate
thinly veiled hypocrites
re-educating the mass minimums
Are you really that blind?
I would hope not!
Hope is for the next to nothings cluttering your existence
Backstabbing your employment
Permeating your air
Do you smell something foul?
Only if you walking downwind
Don’t Kill The Messenger
(copyright Kareemah El-Amin)
Am I a hypocrite in words and deeds?
When I accept you, am I rejecting him……his laws as they were written?
Or is the interpretation the answer that I seek?
And who allows credence to the interpreter?
In my heart I feel your plight of need
In the depths of my soul, I feel a connection
Thought without desire to manifest
Is that not too human nature?
I am ashamed
Ashamed of that double man love,
Why…….
Because I am supposed to be
I am ashamed
Ashamed of that double woman love
Why……..
Because my environment dictates it to be
And because it was written
Depending on who’s the interpreter
"Black, Beauty, Barbie" by Kareemah El-Amin (visual poet, U.S.A.)
IT IS NOT MINE
(copyright Kareemah El-Amin)
It is not mine
I have taken for granted that which is not mine
For too long,
I believed that somehow the gift was eternally embedded
What has always been, will always be
How could I have been so wrong?
I pick up pen and paper and the vibrations do not flow
I conjure images of motivation
But the light that once shined so effortlessly does not glow
How can this be, am I cursed for my superior belief
Rendered immobile in my lofty elevation
Of self grandization and poignant epiphanies
I have stolen the heart of brilliance
Darkness envelopes the light
The prism of my creative color is no longer incandescent
The hue of my voice no longer takes flight
I will not forgo my riches
I will not look the gift horse in the mouth and spit
Venom
Anarchy
Disbelief
Fear
Apathy
Arrogance
I will cherish that which has been bestowed on me
Forever
I will honor the you in me
Eternal
I will forgive the sins in me
Through gratitude
I will amend the error of my ways
I will create………………..again
"LOCKDOWN LEGACY" by Kareemah El-Amin
(**Kareemah is seeking assistance to take this play on a national tour in the U.S.A.)
LOCKDOWN LEGACY
(copyright Kareemah El-Amin)
**Part of the script for the play...
(Inmate)
I feel sick
My stomach clenches
Man child, tried as a man
The plan is evident
My existence is irrelevant
Toxic waste
Easily erased
Hidden between the annals of bureaucratic red tape
My fate
Determined by those unwilling to acknowledge I exist
Except for a carefully calculated list
30 year old black male
No health risk
Can lift 50lbs
3 children, 2 males
Both with criminal records
Rest assured the carnivores of capitalism have an ultimate strategy
Just lock them all up and throw away the key
Market share analyzed prison slavery
Passing down the profitable
Lockdown legacy
I’m doin time
Locked way way down
How do you get up?”
When your life’s been put down
Death to your existence
Death to your freedom
Death to your soul laid down and beaten
(Son)
I feel sick
My stomach clenches with fear, heartache, loneliness, misery, anger, resentment, shame
Pity, love, hate, despair, hope
I read every line of the letter you wrote
Savoring every word as if it was a gift from GOD
I know you love me daddy
I know you gonna make it up to me
I don’t believe what they say about you
I don’t see what they see
I’m proud of you daddy
I’m proud to be your son
I know the world let you down
It let me down too
I dreamt that we’d play catch together
Go sailing on a boat
You took me rollin with the homies
While I pretended not to notice you sold dope
Everybody bangin
It’s the only way to survive
Gotta keep my head up
Your reputation is what keeps me alive
Out on these streets
I’m startin to get my own rep
“Chip off the old block they say”
Gonna me better that the best
Daddy I play by your rules
Gonna stack my money
Ain’t got time for school
Hell, what has school ever done for anybody I know?
That shit’s for them punks who believe they can get out of the ghetto
This is my home, the only place I want to be
Learn the game, play the lames and count my money
I get tired of hearing how education is the key
I know at least 50 educated niggas and all of them are in the cemetery or the penitentiary
Before my daddy got locked down he made sure everything was tight
Now he’s gone, the rent’s due and momma don’t even come home most nights
I ain’t down on momma though she got to do what she got to do
I got 5 little brothers and sisters and they all need new shoes
But my hustle is getting better and I’m expanding the territory
They all know my daddy so they giving me my propers, they remember pops glory
But I ain’t one to live off no other niggas fame
Yeah he my daddy, but he taught me to earned my stripes and make the rules for my own game
He only went to the 6th grade but he was a genius in his own way
I know you thinking where he at now and where has that left me
I ain’t ashamed to tell the world this is my life, and it’ my reality
Daddy’s doing to 20 to life in the state penitentiary
He never went to school past elementary
But he my daddy and I love him anyway
I’m doin time
Locked way way down
How do you get up”
When your life’s been put down
Death to your existence
Death to your freedom
Death to your soul laid down and beaten
(Father)
I feel sick
My stomach clenches with the weight of the world, 400 years of oppression, guilt, shame, resentment, living in a white man’s world, non-repentant, hatred, fear, love deep down, anger full up, disillusionment, weakness, anger, disappointment, guilt, no commitment, anger, hater, anger, shame, anger, guilt, anger
I can’t get a job
Life’s been hard….. on me too
Ain’t nobody ever gave me shit
How can I teach him?
What I don’t know myself
How can I help him?
When I can’t help myself
I done better than my father
He did the best he could
There were many times I wanted to be there for him
But shame kept me away
I would watch him from across the street as he played
There are demons in me he can never understand
The long hard road I’ve walked
Searching for the answer on how to become a real man
I can’t take his guilt
I have enough to fight
Hell, I got other kids and they turned out alright
They momma’s handled it
Why the hell he so uptight
Coming up to me like he got a right
He got a chip on his shoulder anyway
Pant’s saggin
Braggin
About the money he’s made
Hell of a lot of good it’s done him
Where his ass at now
He done made his bed, and in it he must lay
Comin around telling me about the shit I ain’t done
His momma filling his head with that bullshit
But I ain’t hearing none
Yeah, he my son
Ain’t never denied the fact
I tried the best I could
I can’t stand to see him locked up
Don’t know a father that would
Sad eyes accusing me
Like I’m the reason he’s in there
Always looking to blame me for not being around
I know I could have
Should have
Done better
But, I’m as lost as he is and I still ain’t been found
Yeah, I’m as lost as he is and I still ain’t been found
I’m doin time
Locked way way down
How do you get up?”
When your life’s been put down
Death to your existence
Death to your freedom
Death to your soul laid down and beaten
(Inmate)
I feel sick
My stomach clenches with anger, hatred, anger, failure, anger, resentment, anger, I want my daddy, anger denial, anger, pity, anger, depression, anger, suicidal thoughts, anger, pride, anger, love, anger, loss, anger, misery, anger, grief, anger, hatred, anger, frustration, anger, hatred, anger, guilt anger, shame, anger
I can’t believe I got caught up
I was just gonna make one last lick
Stack my money and get out quick
Walk away from the game
Turn my card into the baller’s hall of fame
Had a good woman
She had my back
I was going to settle down
Stop hoein and runnin around
Them punk as jealous niggas , set me up
Should have known it was too good to be true
Now I’m in here eating dirt
Diming it for the blue
Shit
I’m fucked
Stuck
Facing mandatory minimums for a few grams of stuff
I’m locked down
Chained up
Fucked up
And I feel low down
I gotta keep a frown
Cause a smile can get your cherry as popped into the ground
Wake up, eat, sleep
Wake up, eat, sleep
Wake up, eat, sleep
After a few months your ass been institutionalized
Your fucking brains been fried
And you start believing it’s easier on the inside
Free meals
Clean laundry
No rent
Cable
Phone calls
Only thing missing is sex
And for some of these punk-ass niggas that ain’t even no problem
But I ain’t goin out like that
Gotta keep my head up
Stay strong
Take it one day at a time so the days don’t seem so long
I know I’ve done wrong so all I can do is pray
Father GOD
Please forgive me for the wrong I’ve done
The times I disrespected my momma
Called my woman out of her name
Neglected my kids
And sold death to my friends
I make no excuses heavenly father for you already know the sins I’ve done
The hearts I’ve broken
The wasted life just for fun
Lord I’ve really messed up big
They got me chained like a dog
Bowed down in front of my woman
Please tell me Lord
How am I supposed to be a man?
Father GOD please give me another chance
I’ve hurt so many people
And they’re all doing time with me
Each moment I’m away and they get on their knees and pray
Begging for my mercy and forgiveness
As if they were the ones that were led astray
Lord I know I can change, I just need a little help
Take away my false and vain desires
My greed to obtain empty wealth
My momma is sad
My woman is mad
And the white man’s glad
Because of the pain that I’ve caused
Lord it isn’t fair
They’re all doin time with me Lord
Each day
Each hour
Each second
They’re all doing time with me Lord
Please release us
Amen
