In my last blog, I talked about coming to terms with my selfishness. That was step one. The next step is to be able to discern GOOD selfishness from BAD selfishness. There is a good thing as good selfishness, because if YOU don’t look out for YOU, then who will? You know what, lemme stop stalling and get to the point. I’m pissed. I am upset. In fact, I’m downright ANGRY.
Why am I angry? I’m angry because I have to sit by and watch the EXACT same shit go on at the Java Monkey that went on at just about every other open mic that I went to that caused me to stop going to those same open mics.
It all started last year when Tommy Bottoms was the feature. Don’t get me wrong, Tommy is a straight up cat. Amongst all those self centered “I’m the hot shit” niggas on the spoken word scene in Atlanta, Tommy is the realest. I remember back in 2003 when I invited a lot of people to perform on the stage I was running at the Great Atlanta Music festival. Tommy was the ONLY one I invited to come who actually came. But with that said, he never comes to Java Monkey. But since I like Tommy, I let that pass. But then Abyss got to feature, then came Georgia Me, and then came Spinxx. Now, it’s Hiya. And THAT is what pisses me off.
Its not that these people got to feature: Its not even that they never come to Java Monkey. It’s the reason WHY they don’t come to Java. They have no respect for the venue nor for the poets who frequent. This is not something that I think, this is something I know. Java Monkey is regarded as a “white” venue. The Java Monkey poets are regarded as second rate. Neither Abyss nor Spinxx would let Collin, Jan, Lady, Rupert, Theresa, Cherryl, Brian, Prodo, or yours truly feature at their open mics. They have an “image” to uphold, and none of us fit into that mold.
I remember a story that Lady told me about her dealing with N’tellect, the Grand Poobah of The Eboni Poet’s Society. She was the first one at the venue every Saturday. She helped him rearrange furniture to get the place ready. She passed out fliers, she advertised, promoted, did everything except for sell popcorn in the bleachers. Her reward was to be passed over on the list until damn near 1AM almost every night. When she asked what she needed to do in order to feature, he told her that if she could rock the crowd three weeks in a row, then she could get to feature. Well, she did just that, getting passed over each night, waiting till 1 in the morning, getting on the mic and rockin the house. The fourth week, she goes to the spot only to have a Tweet clone on stage with her low-rising hip-hugging jeans with the belly chain reading (in Lady’s words):”Six of the lamest ‘straddle you in a chair’ poems I’ve ever heard in my life.” But such is life as a poet in Atlanta, at least on THAT particular scene. But the Java circuit was supposed to be different.
There’s this kid named “The Mysterious Poet” who REALLY gets Kodac’s goat. He commits the cardinal sin of reading his poem, then leaving. Kodac HATES that. His philosophy is “If you only want to hear yourself read, then stay at home and read to yourself in the mirror.” Yet, week after week, the Mysterious Poet does the exact same thing, and it still pisses Kodac off. But, whenever he reads the list and sees the name, he calls him and lets him read. That’s only fair. At any other open mic, he would get passed over on the list.
Java has always been fair, but it seems like that’s getting left behind. Jon Goode gets to funnel his clique buddies over to Java Monkey so they can reap the benefits of getting to feature there (Java pays its features). It may sound like I’m crying sour grapes, but I’m just concerned. I left that poetry scene because I felt like they had no respect for the art or, jut as importantly, no respect for ME. I came to Java monkey because I thought I would be able to start fresh and new with a whole new crowd of artists and get some respect, but it seems like the same dark cloud that hovered over that scene is rapidly approaching this one as well. Cliques are nothing new. The people on the Java circuit are just as, if not more so, guilty of the same thing; but at least Kodac’s been fair. However, I’ve been coming to Java FAITHFULLY for over a year, and I’ve never featured. Yet, these other “artists” who have never been to Java, and not by circumstance but by design because of total and blatant disregard, get funneled in and featured left and right. Now, how fair is that?