Synnika Alek-Chizoba Lofton

Blue_in_Green

Listening to Blue in Green and Miles Davis offers a glimpse of daylight. Coltrane blows lightning. She says, “What are you listening to?” I say, “Prelude to a Revolution.” Subtle like God peeking through off-white blinds, watching the aftermath of Creation. I flip American channels: ICE Shoots a Woman Fleeing the Scene. Venezuela Agrees toContinue reading “Blue_in_Green”

Mr._Monroe’s_Ski_Mask

Mr. Monroe got a ski mask. Nothing but a smokescreen for plunder, for pillage, for rape, for robbery, for exploitation, for OIL, for global theft in the WEST. Indigenous lands don’t stand a chance (don’t stand a chance). US imperialism is the boogeyman, the boogeyman, the boogeyman, is the language of beasts in a threeContinue reading “Mr._Monroe’s_Ski_Mask”

I_Too_Sing_of_Decay

I, too, sing of decay and rot, swinging for the noses of State Repression and Control. Imperialism hides his hand; he tucks a ski mask in his back pocket. He talks about promises of wealth and status. Elephants and donkeys surf airwaves, passing blame. Normal stuff. I scowl at the puppet master, walking along cobblestoneContinue reading “I_Too_Sing_of_Decay”

Sum_of_Man

Ease into morning. Stealth-like. A Robert Glasper melody establishing a new beginning. The day yawns, stretches, and turns the key. Ignite the motivation to live freely. This day-to-day thing takes a certain mastery, a skill, a relentless step along shifting concrete to navigate empire. The cracks are deadly. Politicians flash sinister smiles. I carefully examineContinue reading “Sum_of_Man”

Black_Joy_is_a_Breakbeat

Shaking dice or pistachios during a pulsing breakbeat–a 1980’s thing. Boom-boom, bap, bap, bap, bap Boom-boom, bap, bap, bap, bap Militant intro to a New World blues. BLUES. Preacher offers a sermon. Our Father who art in federal prison still dreams of homecooked meals, laughing children, and sunsets–more than tangible objects or physical feelings. RealContinue reading “Black_Joy_is_a_Breakbeat”

Sunflower_Seeds_and_the_Work_of_Tomorrow

No filters up here. Alone on a tightrope above the noise, the metal, the grit, the social pollution; miles away from a soiled Constitution, I sharpenthe edge of a brain fixated on survival. Laced up boots are normal conditions. Tupac hollers from a street corner. I focus on the margins, making a homenear outlaws, rebelsContinue reading “Sunflower_Seeds_and_the_Work_of_Tomorrow”

Tethered_to_the_Master’s_Feet

High-stepping over snake-like structuresseems to be easy when avoiding them filthy cherry pies. I keep moving, like grit is a small bird perched on my shoulders. Trump hollers about immigrants with darker hues. New identity groups echo his hot-tempered rhetoric, like they forgot liberation is already in our DNA, like we forgot that they grovelContinue reading “Tethered_to_the_Master’s_Feet”

Dopamine_Drip_From_Cracked_ Pipes

Don’t chase the temporary high of click bait and sophisticated ways to steal attention. We have been reduced to mindlessly scrolling for our enslavement–prisoners trapped behind walls, claiming we are free because the Constitution says so. Silly rationales have value. The paradigm remains. Instead, I lift fingers to rebel, to soothe, to heal, and toContinue reading “Dopamine_Drip_From_Cracked_ Pipes”

Delineation_for_Dummies

Delineation without nationhood is cosplay. Delineation without nationhood is COSPLAY, is cosplay, is cosplay, IS COSPLAY. They love them red, white, and blue apples, falling from Empire’s ripped garments. They pray to colonial fathers to design modern ships, to craft oppression, to place bodies in the bottom of ideology, to construct platforms of decay, to wageContinue reading “Delineation_for_Dummies”

No_Mercy_in_the_American_ Jungle

Mercy can’t live in a jungle. This experiment is deadly, a creature that tries to fill its belly on the flesh of humans. A game of click-clack starts as soon as boots touch the ground. Throwing dice is like breathing, dreaming. Empire functions as it was designed. I move along a black marble square, aContinue reading “No_Mercy_in_the_American_ Jungle”