Various Artists / Poems not Fit for the
Album: Poems not Fit for the   Collection:Spoken Word
Artist:Various Artists   Added:May 2003
Label:Not in Our Name  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2003-07-07 Pull Date: 2003-09-08
Week Ending: Aug 24 Aug 17 Jul 27 Jul 13
Airplays: 2 1 3 1

Recent Airplay
1. Nov 13, 2021: Music Casserole
Willie Perdomo, Odetta, Andre Gregory
4. Jul 26, 2003: the rust belt
Willie Perdomo
2. Aug 18, 2003: Radio Red Well
Sapphire, Lee Ann Brown
5. Jul 23, 2003: Your Imaginary Friend Disappears
Anne Waldman, Galway Kinnell
3. Aug 14, 2003: Civil Society
Galway Kinnell
6. Jul 12, 2003: the rust belt
Arther Miller

Album Review
pat blue ribbon
Reviewed 2003-07-07
Poems Not Fit for the White House – presented by Not In Our Name

Anti-war poems from Not in Our Name. From a reading in New York organized after Laura Bush cancelled a poetry conference at the White House - in a typical move by the Bushies, she cancelled/censored it because poet Sam Hamill had requested people to send him anti-war poems. An eloquent set of anti-war statements from current poets and a few from the past (Whitman, Dickinson, Langston Hughes). Some are specific to Iraq 2003, but some are more general --- and the styles range from traditional to poetry slam. Although it was only a few months ago, some of the anti-war momentum has faded, but the failure to find weapons, the rebuilding of Iraq by Republican-linked corporations, etc, make these still very relevant. All are good!

PS. There was a huge snowstorm in NYC the night of the reading so some poets are reading or people who couldn’t make it

FCC: Disc 1-Track 6 (bullshit)

Disc1:
1/2. introduction/welcome 3. Sam Hamill -- the poet who started the "poet’s revolt" -- 1:00 intro/banter, amazing poem about Palestinians, Afghans, Tibetans 4. Saul Williams – brilliant. powerful 5. Marie Howe-six line poem by 4th grader from Michigan 6. Mos Def- about the power of fear. 7. Ann Lauterbach-an elegy 8. Arthur Miller -de-coding GWB’s slogans 9. Sapphire – reading Palestinian poet Fadwa Tuquan 10. Anne Waldman – reading Dickinson, Whitman, Hughes and one of her own 11. Ellen McLaughlin- reading Tom Sleigh 12. Martin Espada- Spanish refrain 13. Sharon Olds-reading 8th century Iraqi mystic and one of her own 14. Kathleen Chalfant- reading C.K. Williams - 15. Stanley Kunitz- reading his poem written during WWII

Disc 2
1. Suheir Hammad – if war was not an option, good GWB joke at beginning 2. Ammiel Alcalay – reading message from Iraqi poet Saadi Youssef, and two other Iraqi poems, one in Arabic 3. Lee Ann Brown -- transforming war metaphors in church hymns to peaceful ones 4. Willie Perdomo – reading Miguel Pinero – ghetto/slum version of Genesis 5. Eli Wallach – reading Robert Creeley, Tyler Wallach (his 12-yr old son) and a prophetic paragraph by Eisenhower at end of Korean War – "humanity hanging from an iron cross" 6. Steve Colman – poetry slam style – anti-GWB, globalization – great! 7. Tracy Morris – sound poem, version of Sam Cooke’s "Chain Gang" 8. Ellen McLaughlin – reading Wilfred Owen 9. Rose Styron-reading Mary Oliver 10. Galway Kinnell – three pieces by Whitman and one of his own 11. Wallace Shawn-reading Jacques Prevert- great! 12 . Odetta – poetry/gospel hymn 13. Andre Gregory – reading W.S. Merwin – powerful statement 14/15—farewell and copyright

Track Listing
 ArtistTrack Name
1. Introduction Andre Gregory
2. Welcome Andre Gregory
3. Sheepherder Cofee Sam Hamill
4. Bloodletting Saul Williams
5. A Poem By Cameron Penny Marie Howe
6. Shiny Noe Nightmare Mos Def
7. Hum Ann Lauterbach
8. These Are Some Sentances not Arther Miller
9. Face Lost in the Wilderness Sapphire
10. War Crime Anne Waldman
11. Lamentation on Ur (2000 Bc) Ellen Mclaughlin
12. En La Calle San Sebastian Martin Espada
13. Poem Sharon Olds
14. Hearth, the Kathleen Chalfant
15. Night Letter Stanley Kunitz
16. If War Was not An Option Suheir Hammad
17. Peacock, New Year, the Ammiel Alcalay
18. Transformational Hymn Lee Ann Brown
19. Book of Genesis Willie Perdomo
20. John's Song Eli Wallach
21. Terrorist Threat Steve Colman
22. Chain Gang Tracie Morris
23. Strange Meeting Ellen Mclaughlin
24. Winter 2003 Rose Styron
25. Olive Tree Fire, the Galway Kinnell
26. Familial Wallave Shawn
27. This Little Light of Mine Odetta
28. Orges Andre Gregory
29. Outro Outro