JULY 2010 VOL 1 ISSUE 6

The Official Spoken Word Newsletter of the Lowcountry

Independent filmmaker
works words and conjures
visions at this month’s
P&P!



Savannah’s hottest
youth slam team comes
to Poetry and Pancakes!
 JULY 2010
Destroy and Rebuild
Jamie Fleming
T
his is a special issue of WORD. This issue
we seem to be focusing on the collective
efforts of individuals to create a more livable
and sustainable community. Take for
instance, our feature for this month’s P&P, S.
Pearl Sharp– aPearl
woman
Sharpwho has found balance in her life
through her works as an educator, filmmaker, author, and
poet. She has bestowed unto the global community lessons
through her art that address issues of race, femininity, and
social justice.
A buddy of mine once told me while enjoying the night air
standing around in my front yard, that to take the untraveled
yet unbeaten path required a lot of will power, resilience,
and in the vernacular of any 20 something young man who
has thrown a few back, some balls. He explained to me that
we are all victims of some form of un-relentless
conditioning which in some instances, have seem to
irrevocably shape us. This I know all too well.
There were three unrelated incidents that recently took
place that either personally involved me, or were situations
that I bore witness to, that totally embodied the sentiment of
us having been conditioned, and some of us who have made
choices to challenge society’s constraints.
First, is an incident which involves one of our LOUD
students. This particular student is a rapper in our program,
and a pretty gifted one at that. Upon meeting this student for
the first time at the begining of our Fall semester last year,
they definitely displayed a huge chip on their shoulder. The
student asked me to let them spit in the booth (perform in
the recording booth), and I did, to see what kind of skills
they had. And with all the glory of adolescent angst, they
spewed raps filled with derogative language, and
degenerative depictions of women. I waited until they were
done to ask why all the foul language. The student gave me
a response that implied this is what all the rappers do. And
the student was right.
As time went on though, Mack and I challenged the
student’s train of thought, providing them with vocab
words, different genres of music to listen to, and performing
analyses on current radio hits. This student has worked
diligently to create their own mix tape (a recording of 5
songs) this summer. I assigned all of our artists to come up
with titles for their finished recorded project. Needless to
say, this student came in to the session, proudly proclaiming
that their project will be entitled No Profanity!
The second incident took place at a facilitator training I
attended for a mentoring program to educate youth about
domestic violence and violence against women in general
(shout out to Hope Haven). The training included the
agencies under the SC Coalition Against Domestic Violence
and Sexual Assault.
VOL 1 ISSUE 6
4
There were also men from all over the state who came to
participate in and receive training. Well, one particular
man, roughly in his forties, stated within few hours of the
training having commenced, that men are the natural
leaders of women. All I could think in my mind was
“whoa…is this guy going to get it.” Here we were in a
training which dealt with understanding perceived gender
roles and confronting those (mis)conceptions, and this guy
felt the urge to make such a comment. And he was serious.
But what concerned me more is that he is a pastor, leading
his flock on the premise that women are, in his words, the
“more vulnerable species.”
The third incident involved a dinner gathering in which a
white man stated to Mack and me in the midst of
conversation that he and his wife do not have a lot of
Black friends. This comment made me feel uncomfortable
because I could feel that the ball was about to drop. He
insisted that not only does he not have many Black friends,
but Black people really do not come to his house. His lost,
I know. But then he said, “Jamie, I just have to ask you a
question,” while I was fidgeting with my napkin, already
disturbed by his forceful affronts. “What’s the deal with
malt liquor?” he pondered aloud, referencing the iconic 40
oz. blazingly blasted across rap videos in the early
nineties.
I was stunned to say the least. I felt my fist ball up
underneath the table, ready to spew some venomous words
back at my detractor and perverse stereotypes. But
something got a hold of me. Many things got a hold of me.
And I replied, “ I wouldn’t know, since I don’t drink. Not
all Black people do.”
After leaving the dinner, I beat myself up, wishing that I
had said more, and firmly put that so-and-so in his place. It
was my buddy, after he threw a few back, who made me
realize that sometimes doing the unexpected, or taking the
chance to think something all the way through, is more
courageous than doing what we have been conditioned to
expect from ourselves and others.
The student challenged themselves to do something
different from what they hear. The pastor’s comment was
a bold reminder that no matter how old we are, we still fall
victim to what the world says. And that dinner
conversation challenged me to be more thoughtful in my
actions, and to be more ready to combat with my mind
when negativity raises its ugly head. Lesson learned.
Jamie Fleming
 JULY 2010
spit that Question.
‘ish poet
Poetry and pancakes
Our next Poetry and Pancakes is July 30th 2010 at
the Boys and Girls Club Teen Center located at 1211
Harrington St in Beaufort (right across from the
Cricket Telephone Store) at 8:30pm! We will feature
S. Pearl Sharp, an established writer, filmmaker,
actress, and broadcast journalist from L.A.! We will
also feature the Savannah Youth Slam Team!
Our last P&P, which was our 2 Year Anniversary, was
filled with so much excitement from so many talented
folks. Thank you to all who came out! Thanks to all of
our regular patrons and to the folks who came out for
the first time!
Our feature, educator and poet KP Brown was
mesmerizing!
Huge shout out to Bountiful Words Ministry for
opening the show! Their choir provided a glorious
original selection to get the show started. Also, thanks
to Amanda Diaz, Shannon Reno from Atlanta, GA,
and indie rock band, Halfway to Infinity.
If anyone is interested in participating in our next P&P
as an artist, or wish to make reservations, please call
Jamie at (843) 476-9738 or Mackenzie at (843) 521-
7354.
If any person or group is interested in volunteering at
P&P, call Jamie or Mackenzie or email Mackenzie at
mmgrew@tcl.edu. SPIT THAT ISH POET!
Christopher KP Brown
VOL 1 ISSUE 6
4
Mackenzie McGrew
Jamie and I try to
support all manner of
written material in an
effort to keep the body
of knowledge flowing
in our home. Several
weeks ago, we were
perusing a recent
edition of the Gullah
Sentinel, a local news
paper geared towards
reporting victories,
losses and sen-
sational stories for
local African American and Gullah communities.
As we read page after page of reports on summer
camps, South Carolina politics, and updates on the
annual Gullah Festival, we came across a piece that
we both had to read several times to be sure what we
were seeing had actually been printed and distributed
to our community members young and old. We were
both saddened to learn that in fact what we were
seeing was real. I felt the best response was to share
my opinion with the readers of WORD in hopes that my
words might reach school teachers, parents, preachers
and anyone else that has the opportunity to impact our
young people and remind them to question authority
and NOT believe everything they read.
What was written and thus added to our body of
knowledge was a detailed list of why people should
NOT get tested for HIV/AIDS alongside paragraphs that
claimed HIV/AIDS does NOT actually exist. I thought
immediately about the oldest and youngest in our
population and wondered just how many of them took
these statements at face value. I thought about the fact
that our small town is home to a center aimed at the
care of persons infected with this disease and that
surely none of these individuals had read this article or
they would have bombarded the paper with letters to
the editor detailing the pain they have and will suffer
because of this disease. What I hope to gain from this
opinion column is awareness. Awareness that such
material exists and that we all must do our best to
provide and accept the tools to make our community
body of knowledge one that reflects a healthy, happy,
and educated life as we move forward together. It is
important that this material exists so that someone
might challenge it, just as is it important that I write this
column so that someone might challenge me.
Accepting a life where there is no opportunity for
learning is not a life at all and so I thank the writers and
those who whole heartedly believe in the article
presented by the Gullah Sentinel but I say to the
readers….always question.
 JULY 2010 VOL 1 ISSUE 6
S. Pearl also worked with esteemed actress Beah
4

Spotlight…
Richards on There's A Brown Girl In The Ring, a
collection of the actress' essays, later adapting them to
stage. Sharp was Senior Editor for Juneteenth Audio
Books/ Time-Warner, the first commercial Black audio-
books company, founded by CEO Steve Williams, where
she co-directed the recordings of books by Bebe Moore
Campbell, Susan L. Taylor and Ernest J. Gaines.
As an independent
filmmaker, Sharp
created the semi-
animated film short
Picking Tribes, by
Carlos Spivey; Life Is A
Saxophone, on poet
Kamau Daa'ood; a
women's health video,
It's O.K. To Peek,
produced with Arabella
S. Pearl Sharp Chavers-Julien; and Back Inside Herself, a poetic short.
She wrote and directed numerous arts documentaries for
the City of Los Angeles' CH 35, with Exec. Producer
. Rosie Lee Hooks, including Central Avenue Live!, L.A. to
L.A (Louisiana to Los Angeles), Spirits of the Ancestors
Having established an accomplished career as a writer, and Fertile Ground: Stories From the Watts Towers Arts
poet, actress and filmmaker, S. Pearl Sharp may very well Center.
be described as the quintessential Renaissance woman. Using her art to address community issues, Sharp was
Focusing on cultural arts, health and Black history. one of the co-founders of the Black Anti-Defamation
S. Pearl's commentaries and essays are heard on NPR Coalition which directly challenged the entertainment
radio and other broadcast outlets. Her published literary industry on the Black image in the media, and edited the
works include the non-fiction Black Women For Beginners, group’s newsletter, Media Matters. With the help of Alex
the plays Dearly Beloved and The Sistuhs, four volumes of Haley and other industry leaders, she published the first-
poetry, including Typing In The Dark, and two poetry w/jazz of-its-kind1980 Directory of Black Film/TVTechnicians,
CDs, On The Sharp Side and Higher Ground. She was the West Coast to highlight the employability of skilled Black
2006-2007 Poet Laureate of Los Angeles' Watts Towers talent working behind the camera in the film industry. This
Arts Center. was followed by publication of the resource guide, The
Saundra Pearl Sharp was born on December 21, 1942 in Black History Film List.
Cleveland, Ohio to Clarence and Faythe Bell McIntyre Sharp’s documentary, The
Sharp. Her mother was a member of the Gilpin Players and Healing Passage/Voices
Karamu House Theater. Attending Bolton Elementary From The Water (2004),
School and Robert Fulton Elementary School, as a youth addresses healing from
member of the NAACP, she sponsored a public appearance the present-day residuals
by the Little Rock Nine, the nine black pupils who in 1957, of the Trans-Atlantic slave
entered Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas trade through the work of
cultural artists. Ten years
Graduating from John Adams High School in 1960, Sharp in the making, it has
attended Bowling Green State University where she garnered seven festival
cultivated her voice and hosted a classical music program. awards.
Earning her B.S. degree in media production in 1964, Sharp
headed for New York City where she was a copywriter for
T.V. Guide and singing guest on TV's Captain Kangaroo. You can see S. Pearl Sharp at the next Poetry and
th
Sharp studied acting with Karamu alumni Al Fann and Pancakes July 30 2010, 8:30pm! You can also check
her out on her website www.asharpshow.com.
Minnie Gentry and joined Poets and Performers. Playing
Nettie in J.E. Franklin's Black Girl, She won a part in the “S. Pearl Sharp Biography.” The History Makers.
Pearl Bailey production of Hello Dolly in 1967. Sharp 27 April 2005 .
http://www.thehistorymakers.com
appeared in Up the Down Staircase in 1969 and was cast as
Prissy in Gordon Parks' film, The Learning Tree. Appearing “S. Pearl Sharp.” S. Pearl Sharp Works Words, Conjures Visions.
Copyright 2010
in the TV movies Minstrel Man (1976) and Hollow Image http://www.asharpshow.com
(1980), Sharp also had recurring roles on Wonder Woman
Photos:
(1978), St. Elsewhere (1984/87), and Knots Landing (1985). S. Pearl Sharp / photo by Calvin R. Hicks
 JULY 2010
Untitled
Stop!
What’s that sound?
Sound of our leader, strutting around,
Thinking he’s good, thinking he’s great, thinking that
we’re just underrated
Cause we ain’t got no third leg hanging around in our
pants.
But does a third leg give you power
Or trip you up?
Got to stuff it or scratch it or tuck it in,
But a woman ain’t gonna be hamstrung by no third leg.
She can fly free or
Soar without any wind resistance
Like a swan in the summer sun.
She can love without limits and cry without caring.
She is the invisible wind,
Always there but not always felt,
Blowing away the hurt and the pain.
A man might mean to make marvelous
Lands of life, liberty, and even love,
But a woman will waken, wonder, and then work
Quietly, quickly, and perhaps even quaintly
Dancing his dreams to life.
So what’s that sound?
Sound of our leader strutting around,
Cause we let him.
- Gina Molter
Hope you all enjoyed this piece submitted by Gina
Molter. Molter is a P&P patron and fan, and she is
the Children’s Librarian at the Beaufort County
Library – Lobeco Branch. WE EXTEND AN INVITE
TO ANY POET WHO WISHES TO HAVE A PIECE
FEATURED IN WORD TO SUBMIT THEIR WORK
TO JAMIE FLEMING OR CONTACT HIM VIA
EMAIL AT jamieramie@yahoo.com .
VOL 1 ISSUE 6
Finding Fay
Fayanne Fortes
When I was asked by Jamie to write a column for WORD, I
felt very honored since this is the first time that my writing
has been published. For someone like me, who always
doubted my writing abilities, this is something that I took
very seriously. With English being my second language, I
quite often find it difficult to express my ideas on paper.
Yet, while thinking about what to write, many ideas came to
mind. Should I share with everyone about my life? Or why I
think I was asked to write this? Or should I give my opinion
of the 2 year Anniversary of P&P? All those thoughts plus
many more were running through my mind when I realized
that I should discuss my expectations of my LOUD
internship with Jamie and Mackenzie.
As a USCB student, becoming an intern for LOUD has
broadened my perspective of our community’s problems.
LOUD is an acronym which means Living Out Ur Dreams,
a name that fits so perfectly with what is being done with
our youth in Beaufort County.
When reading LOUD’s mission, it sounds mighty and
perfect, but attending one of their sessions is when you
discover that it can be very challenging to accomplish that
mission, especially when working with teenagers.
We have all been there before: peer pressure, violence,
positive experiences coupled with negative ones. But what
I enjoy about the LOUD program is that is that staff and
students are diverse. We don’t all come from a structured
family or a certain race. We are all part of this program
because we are passionate about what LOUD has to offer.
Some find their passion in poetry or music, but some just
enjoy doing something good for the community, such as my
case.
Doing an internship doesn’t consist of earning an easy “A.”
It goes far beyond that. This is the time when you not only
gain experience, but you can also explore what it is that
you truly enjoy doing.
For the few LOUD sessions I
have attended thus far, I have
come to the conclusion that
THIS is what I want to do. I
enjoy talking with and
mentoring youth. Their ideas
captivate me. Plus most
teenagers eventually end up
accepting changes because
they are still maturing. I would
like to thank Mackenzie and
Jamie for allowing me to be a
part of this superb program,
and I hope together with this
community, we all keep living
out our dreams!
Fortes is a current student at
USCB majoring in Human
Services. She is also a member
of the Navy, soon to be
relocating in October.
JULY 2010 VOL 1 ISSUE 6

The Exchange
Hot Venues and Community Events in and around the Lowcountry
 Every Tuesday – Plums Restaurant (Beaufort)
Open mic beginning at 10pm
 Every Wednesday – Kathleen’s Bar and Grille
(Beaufort) Karaoke with Steve 8:30pm-12am
(843)524-2500
th th th
 July 16 - July 25 – Beaufort 55 Annual Water
Festival (Beaufort)
th
 July 17 – Theatre “The Mousetrap” (Savannah,
GA) AASU's Masquers present Agatha Christie's
classic whodunit. When house guests are strange...
Full Description July 17 7:30 PM $10/general
admission Jenkins Hall Theater, 11935 Abercorn
St. GA 912-344-2801
 July 18th – The Sentient Bean (Savannah, GA)
AWOL Open Mic Poetry Night Presented by All
Walks of Life, Inc. FREE. 7pm.
st
 July 21 – McIntosh County Shouters
(Savannah, GA) The modern day descendant of
African slaves' field calls, the performance blends
circling dance movements, call-and-response

GET
singing and percussive handclaps. Presented by
the Georgia Historical Society. FREE. 6pm. 123
Houston St.
rd th
 July 23 and July 30 – Beaufort’s Best Hidden

YOUR
Talent at the Arts Council of Beaufort County
(Beaufort) www.beaufortcountyarts.com/ to register
th
 July 24 – Beaufortpalooza! (Beaufort) Huge rock

SHIRT
show featuring indie rock band Halfway to Infinity,
The Apprehended, Jump Castle, Consider it Done,
and more! 325 Broad River Blvd. 4pm-8pm. FREE

NOW
th
 July 26 – The Sentient Bean (Savannah, GA)
The Damsels and Dirty Fist Dirty Fist! is an all girl
two-piece banjo/accordion/fiddle band from
Gainesville Florida touring through Savannah with
a lady bluegrass duet called The Damsels from You can purchase a “Spit that
Olympia, Washington. FREE. 8PM.
th
‘ish poet!™” tshirt now!
 July 30 – Poetry and Pancakes (Beaufort)
Featuring filmmaker, author, and poet S. Pearl
$10.00! Email Mackenzie at
Sharp at 1211 Harrington St $12.00 at door, $10.00 mackmcgrew@hotmail.com All
in advance! Wear SPIT THAT ISH SHIRT and orders of 3 or more shirts
receive $2.00 off of admission! Doors open at 8pm.
Show starts at 8:30pm. (843)476-9738 for more receive one for free!
info.
st
 Aug 1 – Theatre “The Odd Couple” (Savannah,
GA) Neil Simon's classic comedy about two poker
buddies who reluctantly move in together to save
money. $15/adults, $10/students, seniors. Aug.
12+13, 8pm; Aug. 14, 3pm & 7pm; Aug. 15, 3pm.
Muse Arts Warehouse (formerly Indigo Arts
Center). 703 D Louisville Rd. Call 713-1137 for
info.
th
 Aug 6 – Andre Minor and Friends Jam Session
at the Burton Wells Recreational Facility, FREE!
6pm

PROUD SPONSOR OF LOUD, INC.

JULY 2010 VOL 1 ISSUE 6

The Savannah Youth Slam Team, “It Doesn’t

Matter,” will feature in this month’s slam at
Poetry and Pancakes as part of their yearlong
mission to raise money to attend Brave New
Voices, the largest ongoing spoken word event
in the world! Come out and support them!

The team is sponsored by The Spitfire Poetry

Group and is coached by Clinton D. Powell and
Rushelle Frazier.