Cortney Lamar Charleston: “With the Presidential election cycle dominating news coverage for the last few months (and for the foreseeable future), I’ve tried to have as much fun as possible with all the political bickering to stop from being legitimately fearful of the potential outcomes. South Carolina’s Democratic primaries are taking place on February 27th, and accordingly, I’ve been inundated with coverage about Clinton and Sanders courting of the sizable ‘black vote’—which has been quite annoying. Then something entertaining (and important) happened: a young, queer black woman was caught on video protesting at a private Clinton event, basically forcing Hillary to confront some rather troubling words regarding the criminality of (black) youth that helped underscore a community-harming crime bill. Clinton has been quoted as saying of ‘superpredators’ that ‘we must bring them to heel.’ I took the liberty of reimagining her words in an alternative, more positive light, and this poem is the result.” (website)
Cortney Lamar Charleston: “Forgive my language in this poem, as I typically try to steer away of cussing too much, but hopefully you can understand where I’m coming from with this one. After all, is that not what poetry is: a hopeful act no matter how blue? That being said, it deeply saddens me to witness yet another black person being killed due to use of excessive and/or negligent force on the part of law enforcement, particularly because the images of this have been projected across so many media outlets—it really is traumatic to witness as a black person, and is just one in a long list of entries of black and brown bodies killed without real (or good) reasons why. But I suppose to some people, the Scott video is as enlightening as it is shocking. It shows that not all dark-skinned ‘suspects and assailants’ were always ‘reaching for the cop’s gun’ or ‘reaching for his taser’ or ‘reaching for a weapon,’ which is the typical script that is continuously repeated in these incidents (it was here as well, until the video proved otherwise). Perhaps, as an exercise, it would benefit us all to ask ourselves if the victims feared for their lives at the hands of officers, as we hear that often in the other direction already (as in this case, before the video surfaced). We need to ask why that seems so plausible, if we truly believe in this nation, deep down, that black and brown people are all a criminal element until proven ‘decent.’ We need to ask ourselves how un-American our conceptions of certain groups of people are. We need not to run from this. We need to face it. If we agree that ‘all lives matter,’ then we consequently need to believe ‘black lives matter.’ The first statement necessitates the second, and if you don’t believe the latter to be true, or you attempt to downplay it, then you do disservice to the former, unintentionally or not.” (website)
Cortney Lamar Charleston: “This affair with poetry began after attending a spoken word showcase on my college campus. One performer by the name of Joshua Bennett drew me in, particularly. He was everything I loved about rhythm, about the black body, about the courage I had in me that I rarely showed. Before I knew it, I was putting every pound of me into verse of some type; all that paper became heavy. It became my go-to for explaining weight-gain to loved ones. Them old folks always said I was a heavy boy.” (web)
“Miley Cyrus Presides Over the Funeral for The Twerk” by Cortney Lamar CharlestonPosted by Rattle
Cortney Lamar Charleston
MILEY CYRUS PRESIDES OVER THE FUNERAL FOR THE TWERK
I’m glad you know that twerking is so yesterday … the new dance is called ‘The Nae Nae’ … I don’t really know the origin. Just my dancers, the LA Bakers, they taught it to me… so then I started doing it, which is kinda what happened with the twerking, too.
—Miley Cyrus
As we gather here today, we do so with heavy bass,
tatted up, J’s on our feet, carrying wrecking balls
to tear this church down once we leave—
because sadness in the passing of life
is for boring old white people: wack. This is
a party. This is what The Twerk would’ve wanted,
I know. I knew her so well. I remember hearing
an old saying, I think from 2-pack, maybe
Snoop D-O-Double-G, that you live by the gun,
you die by the gun. I’m not sure how it fits
the occasion quite yet, but let’s just say
The Twerk wasn’t a gangster or a gangster’s
trick—she didn’t deserve to go so soon,
but life is hard in the ghetto, I hear
from all my friends in the streets and
struggle. Folks were mad when we started
cliquing like some triggers, were so appalled
by the moving and the shaking, the rump
to bump, but you can’t hate on that. If
you got ass, then use it. The Twerk taught me
well. How do you think Robin Thicke became
THAT famous a dick? It was these hips, this
tongue. That was us—me, and her, too. She
was backstage with the Bakers, counting
all the paper pouring in, posting the good word
on Twitter. And all you tweeted back at her
was venom. That girl had a family, she had kids
to feed—Nae Nae, lil’ Shmoney—kids who
survive her. And I promise to treat them like
they’re my kids, since I loved their mother
so much. I will make sure they become the stars
they deserve to be, so that when they die, they
too can be buried in ivory caskets scrubbed clean
by a toothbrush. Mike Will, make it so. Mike Will,
Cortney Lamar Charleston: “One of the greatest benefits (to the recipient) of a privilege—race, gender, class, sexual orientation—is erasure. I had a little fun with the latest Miley Cyrus headline that “twerking” was dead. If you research, you’ll know that Miley never claimed to introduce twerking to anybody … but nonetheless, she became the world’s most famous twerker, despite it being around for so long among a certain sub-culture of folks. I think this episode speaks not only to how certain things are co-opted and appropriated from one group or person by one with more status/power/privilege, but also how the more powerful group or person doesn’t always see the harm or disrespect that the lower card will feel. We need perspective around that, but it is not always easy to find.” (website)
