Unchain Your Mind | What a Difference a Year Makes

Never, in a million years, could I have imagined that I would be where I am today. In less than TWO months, I will be hosting my very first Poetic Action Showcase feature four of the best Spoken Word Artists in the Nation!!

September 2012

My best friend, Lyric Kantrail, and I opened our first Poetic Action show in the Northern Province of South Korea. By January 2013, we had two locations (One in the Northern and the other in the Southern Province).  Both shows came to an end in September 2013 – six months after she and I had to leave the country. We weren’t discouraged though because we didn’t think that it was going to last for one month after we left LOL.

September 2014

I had been in Hawaii for about 1 1/2yrs and had not found an open-mic that I liked. I just needed a stage, but I didn’t have my best friend. She was my “team”. We have the same work ethic, drive, and hustle. I wanted to bring Poetic Action back but didn’t know where to start. I finally met the right person to be my partner AND my DJ {{WINNING!!}}.

January 2015

Lights! Camera! POETIC ACTION! The first Poetic Action in Oahu was a complete success! People were talking about it for days. I was on cloud nine.

July 2015

My bestie comes to visit me! We come up with this bright idea to make her a feature for the upcoming Poetic Action show. Greatest idea ever!

Every show from then on out, we had a feature artist and the audience loved it (August-Kevin Sandbloom

; September-Obbie West

; October-Masterpiece

; November-HBO Def Poet Shanelle Gabriel

& a surprise appearance by 7-time HBO Def Poet SHIHAN!)

Fast forward to January 2016…
IT’S THE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF POETIC ACTION IN OAHU!! We’ve got feature performances by:

- Grammy Listed International Spoken Word Artist QUEEN SHEBA
- World Renouned Poet and Speaker TALAAM ACEY
- Author, Activist, and National Poetry Slam Champion PAGES MATAM
- 2015 & 2015 North Texas Spoken Word Awards winner MASTERPIECE

This line up is absolutely BANANAS! Only way from here is UP! "The mind is stronger than my body. God is stronger than my mind."

Unchain Your Mind | You Don't Know My Name

It was 2004 and the night of my HS Senior Prom. My friends and I were sitting in a breakfast restaurant when I recognized a guy from my church sitting in a booth with two other guys. I we his unexpected compliment, I didn't know what to say. 

So his friend tells me, "Sing something then." 
"Right here?" I asked.
"Yes."
"I can't sing in this restaurant full of people! It'll be too loud and my friend are right over there. I'm too embarrassed." I shyly replied.
The guy looked disappointed and told me, "Remember this: You never know who you're standing in front of. When someone asks you to sing, SING. You could miss a lot of opportunities trying to avoid embarrassment."

That guy, and his friend, worked closely with Kirk Franklin...

10yrs later, I was still kicking myself and wondering, "What if...". I have known several people to go on to have extremely successful musical careers (particularly in the Gospel industry) and I am more than overjoyed for them. I recognize my gift of poetry and rejoice in others' musical success unashamed. Which brings me to main topic:

I've wanted to address this subject for a while now but was unsure of how to approach it for fear of losing people that I genuinely care deeply about. I chose to write this, because I don't think those feelings are reciprocated. This is not to hurt any feelings but hopefully it will help someone understand a little better.

Dear Celebrity Buddy (since we're clearly not friends):

You don't know my name. We used to be friends. I understand that we grow older and "life happens". You don't get to talk to people as much as you used to because you're busy trying to make your dreams come true and pay bills simultaneously. If you're lucky, your dreams are paying the bills. 

I'm proud to say that I know you, but afraid of being called a 'name dropper'. Your success does not equate to my preferential treatment and I've never expected, nor desired, that.  I just want to support you. When I sporadically text you to say, "I'm just checking on you", there is no hidden agenda. I don't want anything from you but a reply. We have always sporadically chatted, but it never changed the dynamics of our relationship until someone **ahem** changed. I don't want to 'come up' by holding on to your coattail. I don't want to talk to you every day. What I do want, is to support you without being viewed as a fan. To benevolently love you without being questioned. To communicate with you as a person and not an artist. Remember that I know YOU and not the concept of you that so many others idolize. Don't always dismiss the ones that were around before {{they}} knew your name...

I still love you, buddy...

Signed,
A loving supporter

You can't take everybody with you; but there are some that you should keep in your corner. Just because they don't always talk to you, doesn't mean that they don't talk {pray} for you.

Unchain Your Mind | National Poetry Month

NaPoMo #1 (Haiku for 1APR15)

I hear your voice, Lord. 

I will let you sail this ship. 

You see what I don't. 

~UnhurdChyld

Have you ever wondered if you were "doing life" right? Like if you ever really figured out how it works and what you're supposed to be doing with it?  

So many people have told me that I should really go into doing Poetry full time. Or they'll ask why haven't I done it yet. Well that answer is simple (maybe not correct, but it's simple)...

I'M AFRAID!!

I'm afraid of my poems not being as good as the poets that inspire me. I'm afraid that my words won't really be heard and understood. I'm afraid that my desire to make a change will get lost in translation. Most of all, I'm afraid that I'm ordinary and everything that I write, anybody else can too. 

A year ago I started back writing and was inspired to start an open mic in 2015. When I began writing last year, I started to get a lot of exposure. People started asked me come and do poems at luncheons and various other events. CD sales were increasing and everything! But I still felt ordinary. Until less than a week ago...

While on the phone with my best friend, we were talking about upcoming engagements that we were scheduled to perform. I told her, "You know what? I think I've performed  for practically every Greek Organization on this island. Except for the Deltas." The very next day I had an email in my inbox asking me to perform at the Delta Sigma Theta Annual step show  with a sold out audience of 630 people. 

I never thought that this is where I would be right now. I'm humbled. Am I still a bit hesitant? Yes. But I'm not in control. "The mind is stronger than my body. God is stronger than my mind."

Unchain Your Mind | Entrepreneurship Novice

Almost an entire week after the anxiety and excitement has died down, I am able to gather some of my thoughts on the Honolulu Premiere of Poetic Action. 

In a nutshell....IT WAS AWESOME!!! The turnout was great, the audience was awesome, and the poets were absolutely phenomenal! And to think, I did all of this advertising telling people, "You won't find another open mic NEARLY as good as this one is going to be on this island."  It sold well...to them. I still had my doubts. I didn't want to be the only poet for the night. I started to think about everything: What if I put too many chairs out and it's gonna look empty in here because nobody comes? What if we can't start on time? What's the plan if nobody decides to sign up and do any poetry? 

Well, people had to add chairs! The doors opened at 7pm and there were some people outside at 6:45pm. I started 15mins after the planned time because I kept trying to give people a chance to get inside, but more people just kept coming through the door! To top it off, we had JUST enough poets to be able to end the show at 10pm on the dot, as planned!!

Everyone had so many positive things to say and expressed how glad they were that I did such an event like that. They can't wait until next month and they said that they're definitely going to be spreading the word and bringing more friends out.

And to those that said they were coming out to support but couldn't make it, you missed a fantastic show! Catch us next month.

My first event as a small business owner, and it was a success! Poetic Action is here!!

LIGHTS! CAMERA! POETIC ACTION!!

Like our FB Page: http://www.facebook.com/PoeticActionLLC 

Instagram & Twitter: PoeticActionLLC

Look for some clips from the show posted there as well!

Unchain Your Mind | New Year, New Poems

Procrastination always gets the best of me. I wrote this blog 30 DEC 2014:


2015 is right around the corner and I am ending this year with a bang! Everything has fallen into place and God has put some amazing people in my path to help me on this journey. But first….I STILL haven’t written any new poetry yet! I’ve had a poem brewing for five months and have yet to let those words meet paper. School, motherhood, and work has been keeping me busy quite a bit, but that’s no excuse.  I need to release and just let it flow.

But on to the good news:

Army – I GOT PROMOTED!! 1 October, 2014 I officially became a Staff Sergeant in the United States Army. So many folks thought that I would never be here. Hell, for a minute, I even questioned if I would ever make it. But I did it for my son. I needed to provide more for him and nobody else was going to do it but me. Thank you JESUS!

Personally – I loved and lost…what’s new. No need to give the whole, “Men ain’t $h!t” schpeel. It happens. But God sure does work in mysterious way. Let’s just say I’m pretty happy with the one He has brought into my life now J

And now the big news…Poetically:

IT’S SUPER OFFICIAL!!

It’s been a lot of hard work and the time is finally drawing near. I am Sole Proprietor of UnhurdChyld. That’s right! I’m a small business owner honey. Working on securing an LLC for another company as well. I’m so anxious for Poetic Action to happen. It’s just so many people out here that have said that they have been looking for something like it. 

So if you’re reading this and you’re in Hawaii, Poetic Action is where you should be on January 15^th!

Now all I need to do is write some new material… :-/. New Year, New Pieces 

“The mind is stronger than the body. God is stronger than my mind.”