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Volume CXXXIII, Number 15 |
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Af-Am Coffeehouse Caffeinates
ÉIDER A. D. GORDILLO
STAFF WRITER
Thursday night's Black History Month Coffeehouse did not involve any coffee whatsoever, though its events probably left many people there, well, caffeinated. Sponsored by the African-American Society as part of Black History Month, the memorable show at Jack McGee's pub featured student and guest performances of song, poetry, and stand-up comedy.
What made Thursday night's performances peculiar is that the audience, made up of members of the Brunswick community as well as Bowdoin's, was, to say the least, interactive. For instance, Raiff Tsapatsaris '07's reading of "Lies," which grabbed the crowd by surprise, had them hollering in response to "lies that society tells us."
Excerpts from both American classics, "Lift Every Voice and Sing" and "We Shall Overcome" launched the event. Next was Miscellania's "Case of the Ex," "Mouth," and "Giving Him Something He Can Feel" which were all in tune and groovy.
The two original hip-hop performances were also captivating. The first featured Lakia Crawford '06 and Cheri Nelson '07's "Peace 'n Love" with Crawford on the track. Her beat featured high-pitched, bell-like patterns changing in volume and bass, with drum/bass accents carefully synthesized. The song had attitude, with both lyricists exchanging verses. At one point Crawford switched into complex rhythm (sub-divisions of three), completely altering the effectiveness of both of their lyrical deliveries.
Poeting's own Alkhaaliq Bashir '05 (a.k.a. "Young Ahk") and Mario Lopez '06 (a.k.a. "Da Lyricist") featured their remix version of their original "Live from Brooklin/For Da Fam" with Kim Johnson '06 on vocals. Needless to say, their act was dope. Featuring original tracks by Young Ahk and Jerry Edwards '04 (a.k.a. "Genius"), they were able to engage the audience to sing "In This Life" while Johnson replied with full control of her voice: "In this life today feeling and stressed / But I am pressing my ways struggles may come / But I am blessed with family, love, and happiness / Nothing less."
It was clear from both performances that they have taken hip-hop seriously (both lyrically and musically), and they ought to be opening for Lady Saw and Kanye West, respectively.
One of the highlights of the night was stand-up comedian Hari Kondabolu '04, who noted memorably that "there is no crack at 'Crackhouse.'" He said more, but some of his comments are not proper here. Kondabolu has come a long way from his shier, yellow-pad based wit to a more centralized voice that is not only politically sharp, but seemingly relevant. Students dug him. He said, for instance, that Bowdoin College's practice of "busing us students of color up here" and giving us a "Bowdoin Experience" had confused him. Between smirks, Hari insisted that he felt like a picture in National Geographic while walking around Bowdoin College, and had the audience cracking up. In honor of the light airs of a Valentine weekend, Hari concluded that women only like European accents and that his Indian-accented English might not take him as far along the flirtation process.
Guest poet Iyaba Ibo Mandingo also performed at the coffeehouse. He is a political refugee originally from Antigua, though he has been living in Connecticut for over 20 years. His first poem, challenging patriotic views inspired by September 11, alarmed the audience and there was certainly some contempt among some white members of the audience including shrugs and muffled voices.
The coffeehouse, which at this point was kindly adorned with the scents of Newcastle, Guinness stout and the like, only took off from there, and for the rest of the evening, the tone set by Mandingo's poem took over the room. His poem "41 Times" in honor of Amadou Diallo began with "It takes 41 bullets to quiet your fears" and continued with "41 times..." each time receiving a larger response from part of the audience. His reading was powerful and his delivery was loud and passionate. His performance deserves a review of its own.
Following Mandingo was the evening's next featured poet Hashim Allah (a.k.a. H'allah Black) who recited numerous poems and was equally striking. Of noteworthy mention was his "Black Queen," which he introduced by saying, "This is for all of my homegirls" and embellished his delivery with thoughtful pauses throughout the piece. A memorable characteristic of the evening was the audacious and precise delivery; heightened by an audience that was not only listening, but responding in ways that still have the campus confused. By the end, Allah declared that after "this night's bash on capitalism, we have some t-shirts and products outside, so buy, buy, buy."
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