it's been a long time....

what it do mi gente-

my profuse apologies to anyone if they still check me out. i've been on the grind the past month, running around, teaching, rhyming, performing, inspiring, and being inspired. right now i'm in my school's computer lab, watching my freshmen do research on james baldwin and the civil right era. it is a beautiful thing indeed.

so what it been like? sheeet, i went to Puerto Rico, fams. That was amazing incredible fascinating beyond remarkable all wrapped up in one. flew into Aguadilla, drove to Mayaguez, did a roundtable with Mariposa, Sandra Garcia Rivera, Tony Medina, Maria Arroyo, and Flaco Navaja. What an all star lineup. That show in Mayaguez felt like the peak of the prime, got the chance to open up with Where are My Boricuas? The last time I read that in PR was for the tertulia reading with tears in my eyes. This was tear the house down and resurrect it on some habitat for humanity. Shoutouts to mi gente en Mayaguez, when yall in the NYC hood, holla.
Next proceeded through the mountains of la isla, seeing the lush landscape. It was beautiful, island green all around me. we ended up being late for another roundtable in Rio Piedras, but we ran right into Mayra Santos, who showed nothing but love. We stayed en Centro de Estudios Avanzados but it was like a museum with a capillo adentro. the spirits were with us because we were blessed for our performance. Shoutouts to Gallego, Alexadra Pagan, Angel Matos and every other Puerto Rican poet that showed us such love. The next night we hiked en El Yunque and reached the torre. Felt like we were on top of the world, then two seconds later, the skies poured like I've never seen. For a minute to all the city rats, we were scared but after about another hour, we started hiking down. Si quiere lluvia, te vas pa' el Yunque. Unfortunately, the same day was Sept 23rd, 2005, the day of the assasination of Filiberto Ojeda Rios (descanse en paz) The isla was tense, and it really showed and exposed how colonial we are. All in all an amazing trip i hope to post some pictures here soon. Gotta jet and monitor these kids.

i'll be back (trust me)