Jalylah Burrell

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Seattle-bred, Brooklyn-based cultural critic Jalylah Burrell riffs on anything and everything.

Transitions

Posted 07/20/2007 at 1:09 PM | Comment?

On poet, activist and educator Sekou Sundiata's passing.

season_sundiata1

I've seen/heard Sekou Sundiata twice: in 2003 when he opened for Blackalicious in Brooklyn's Prospect Park and again, in the fall of 2006 at the Gatehouse in Harlem. The first time around I paid no attention but sat in semi-silent respect occasionally conducting whispered chit chat with my fam' Moya. Along with a small minority of crowd members, I even ventured to shush the loud disaffected white teens that surrounded me into quiet reverie. For some reason, although I had never heard or read his work, I felt that we all owed him that much. I only stumbled upon him a second time because he curated and headlined the WeDaPeoples cabaret at Aaron Davis Hall's new facility, the Gatehouse, and had included Universes, a theater ensemble I was covering for the New York Press, in the line up. Sundiata was an unassuming and gracious emcee and spot on performer, sharing a funky and feathery bit from a piece of his called "the 51st (dream) state." I had not been much of one for performance poetry but after seeing him in an intimate space and enjoying him I realized it was because a lot of performance poets are hackish and wack but not Sundiata. He really had a great thing going and I'm sad that I didn't catch on until not but a year from his passing.

Memoirist and New School Professor Ferentz Lafargue offers a thoughtful remembrance on his blog and below is a brief except from the 51st (dream) state by Sekou Sundiata (swiped from Being and Writing.)

What if we were Life
Or Liberty
Or the Pursuit of something new?
Between the rocks below
and the stars above
What if we were composed by Love?
And what if we could show
that what we dream
is deeper than what we know?
Suppose if something does not live
in the world
that we long to see
then we make it ourselves
as we want it to be
What if we are Life
Or Liberty
and the Pursuit of something new?
And suppose the beautiful answer
asks the more beautiful question,
Why don't we get our hopes up too high?
What don't we get our hopes up to high?
High!