I Am Nobody's Nigger E-Book

Dean Atta

• Herausgeber: The Westbourne Press
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

Revolutionary, reflective and romantic, I Am Nobody's Nigger is the powerful debut collection by one of the UK's finest emerging poets. Exploring race, identity and sexuality, Dean Atta shares his perspective on family, friendship, relationships and London life, from riots to one-night stands. Longlisted for the Polari First Book Prize 2014'Go Dean Atta. Speak the truth. Tweet the truth. Upload it. Let it ring out over the digital domain and strike at the heart of the offline wireless and disconnected.' Lemn Sissay 'Dean Atta's poetry is as honest as truth itself. He follows no trend; he seeks no favours … Beyond black, beyond white, beyond straight, beyond gay, so I say. Love your eyes over these words of truth. You will be uplifted.' Benjamin Zephaniah 'Righteous and forceful' Peter Tatchell'I can do nothing but take my hat off to Dean Atta for speaking out, saying what he believed, and doing it so effectively and powerfully that countless people heard it who would never normally have done so. Poetry is a powerful tool, and I Am Nobody's Nigger is a perfect example of when that tool shows its full strength.' Huffington Post' Huffington Post 'Raconteur Dean Atta doing what he does best; articulating London's dark, deep-rooted social cancers through a beautiful and intricately personal narrative.' Clash

Leseprobe

DEAN ATTA

I Am Nobody’s Nigger

Dean Atta is a writer and performance poet. He has been commissioned to write poems for the Damilola Taylor Trust, Keats House Museum, National Portrait Gallery, Tate Britain and Tate Modern. Dean won the 2012 London Poetry Award and was named as one of the most influential LGBT people by the Independent on Sunday Pink List 2012. He is an ambassador for the Spirit of London Awards for Achievement through the Arts. He lives in London.

www.deanatta.co.uk@DeanAtta

Contents

Forty Things I Never Said

I Am Nobody’s Nigger

Young, Black and Gay

Revolution

Fatherless Nation

Therapy

Paper Cuts

I Am Red

New Year

Ascension

Freedom of Love

Mother Tongue

The Flamingo

Smash and Grab

Mr Invincible

Key to the City

Without You

Shadow Boxer

Ego Extensions

More Than This

Off the Wall

My Love

Rome is Eternal

How Did We

Matters of the Heart

Fragmented

Quit Me

Tunnel Vision

Enough

Ghostwriter

Missing Persons

Severance

Second Hand

Lost in Time

Poems

Forty Things I Never Said

Well done

I believe in you

I’m proud of you

You don’t know me as well as you think you do

Every missed opportunity burns me

I never loved you

You are wrong

I haven’t forgiven you

It was only sex

No strings attached

I think you should go now

When I left you that night, I cried

I care more about the things I have lost

When I told you I loved you, I lied

I think you’re stupid

I think we should use a condom

I think you should respect yourself more

I cheated on you, twice

Delete my number

Your broken heart is my greatest achievement

I pity you

Thank you

Goodbye

Don’t go

No

Come back

I’m sorry

Good luck

I’m afraid

I miss you

I need you

I didn’t mean it

I did it on purpose

When we got beaten up in Camden, I’ve never felt more alive

I always wished I grew up on an estate

I wish I were straight

I don’t like to read

I wish I was white

I think most poetry is shit

I always wanted to be an emcee.

I Am Nobody’s Nigger

Rappers, when you use the word ‘nigger’, remember

That’s one of the last words Stephen Lawrence heard

So don’t tell me it’s a reclaimed word

I am nobody’s nigger

So please, let my ancestors rest in peace

Not turn in their graves in Jamaican plantations

Or the watery graves of the slave trade

Thrown overboard into middle passage

Just for insurance claims

They were chained up on a boat

As many as they could manage and stay afloat

Stripped of dignity and all hope

Awaiting their masters and European names

But the sick and the injured were dead weight to toss

And Lloyd’s of London would cover that cost

I am nobody’s nigger

So you can tell Weezy and Drake

That they made a mistake

I am nobody’s nigger now

So you can tell Kanye and Jigga

I am not a nigger . . . in Paris

I’m not a nigger in London

I’m not a nigger in New York

I’m not a nigger in Kingston

I’m not a nigger in Accra

Or a nigger with attitude in Compton

Cos ‘I don’t wanna be called yo nigga’

How were you raised on Public Enemy

And still became your own worst enemy?

You killed hip-hop and resurrected headless zombies

That can’t think for themselves or see where they’re going