In the heart of the Bronx, where legends are born, streets hum with stories from dusk until dawn.

Echoes of greatness in every corner and block.

Welcome to the Bronx, where legends unlock.

Join us on a poetic odyssey.

A celebration of voices, cultures and the power of words.

I'm Amanda Eke.

Welcome to The Poet Speaks, where every syllable ignites inspiration.

Bronx family, assemble from Yankee Stadium to Street Corners, today we are honoring two poetic pioneers.

From graffiti art to street mural to hip hop beats, nothing but raw energy.

Bronx, this is your anthem.

The South Bronx is getting a facelift.

Same face, only tighter.

Garrison Avenue is still the point.

Still gritty.

Still bad.

This thunder cannot be stolen.

Centro de Cultura.

Look around, it's everywhere.

Take a deep breath.

It's in the air.

The pain turned into art.

Transformation and change.

Wastelands and now parks.

A woman pulls a child in a supermarket cart.

Gentrification rolls in, but we still have heart and soul.

Impossible to suppress.

Taste across pollination.

Arroz y habichuelas con Southern Fried Chicken.

Mambo.

Doo Wop.

Down low.

Hip hop.

Souths of rhythms on black tops.

Dancing on fire escapes and rooftops.

Tour buses are for and up in these parts.

We up in here, they stop and stare.

We out like that, out like that, out like that.

This is Rob Vassilarakis, also known as Simply Rob.

Rob's poetry beautifully weaves personal stories with universal themes.

His words paint vivid pictures of life, capturing both the struggle and the triumph.

Rob's work reflects the diverse experiences of his community, bringing heartfelt stories to life with every verse.

Now, so it's like the idea of like kind of the Bronx.

I know it's such a heavy place I know everyone from the Bronx.

I know they're from the Bronx because they tell me they're from the Bronx But tell me about this specific area that we're in of the Bronx at Hunts Point What's it mean to you personally?

So what it means, it was my introduction to Hunts Point.

I think prior to coming here what I knew about the hunks what, what I knew about the Hunts Point area was really what a lot of people know outside of here like prostitution, right?

Yeah.

Becaus.. in the 80s into the 90s, probably even before that, so when the industrial, the food industry the packing, the food packing You know once it would die down then it became alive with you know transactional sex and drugs and stuff.

Yeah.

However .. to this block in particular I feel like this is, this is a cornerstone of my beginnings as a spoken word artist.

Yeah.

I was working when I started, when I first put pens of paper, I was working here in the Bronx.

I was doing HIV AIDS education with with Bronx high school students We would do you know HIV education, prevention education and then we would do writing and create skits to them tour at the different high schools in the Bronx and as a way to you know promote the HIV education and prevention and so it was around that time that I made a poet from the Bronx named "La Bruja", who inspired me to put pen to paper for the first time and so if you don't like my poetry blame her.

Okay.

Becaus.. So She knows So it was shortly thereafter that I started to meet other Bronx artists including Charles Rice González got Charles Rice-González and Arthur Aviléz who were founders of Bronx Academy of arts and dance BAAD!, which was located right up the street here It's no longer there, but that was one of the first places that I actually performed and also the point And so and I also have a documentary short called simply Rob.

Yeah that you can see it was .. right here on this block, and so this is full circle for me in terms of.

Yeah, in everything.

Yeah, and so, so yeah, what it would it really like succinctly this is to me it's a cultural center like this is it really it inspires so much, I feel like as much as it changes It still stays the same, I fell it has an integrity.

Yeah.

As much as it has a gr.. Yes, yes.

Yeah.

You Know.

I think you feel the genuine passion when you come to a place like this, especially with these, you know, on the wall, like, we see like these murals.

I mean, like we said, the vibrant colors, the barbed wire, you just look at the messages that you see.

You can tell this is the community speaking.

Yeah.

These wa.. How was these kind of murals for you, you know, walking through Hunt's Point?

What do the murals kind of mean?

They're meaning for you?

Well, so for me, I feel like this is living art.

Because you come back in a month and this will be completely different.

Yeah.

Like, it's forever changing.

And I feel like it really is a reflection of... like, when you look at this piece right here, I really feel like it is a reflection of what the community is thinking and feeling and living.

Yeah.

Right.

I mean, like, this is .. right here, fresh pollution.

You know, when... I forget the name of the actual company is Fresh.

I don't know why I'm going blank on the actual words, but I'm not going to plug them anyway.

Yeah.

I know that wh.. when they were setting up shop here, that the community had a reaction.

Yeah.

A visceral reaction.

Yes, they did not want them here.

Wow.

So there was a lot of protests and they ended up... They ended up here.

But so this is clearly still, you know, the community has a resentment.

Yeah.

Yeah.

The community has a resentment.

And it's very clear, right?

And so, yeah, this is so dope, you know?

Absolutely.

And again, like I said, you come back in a month or two and this will be completely different.

Like, it'll be another expression, another reflection.

But... What's h.. Yeah.

Yeah.

Most definitely.

You know, I would say, like, I go to a different .. and I would say if these walls could talk, if these streets could talk, right, what would they say?

And I think it's poets.

That's something that's a.. What are the stories that are unheard of?

So if these streets could talk at Hunts Point, what do you think they'd say?

Oh, I think you need a whole other series for that.

Yeah.

No, you really do.

I mean, you know, the Hunts Point area, so it's so, you know, the other thing that it's known for is Sparford, right?

And so, like, just thinking of the stories that will come out of there, even though it doesn't exist anymore.

Yeah, it's not existing, yeah.

But those echoes.

Yeah, they still my friends.

The ghost is still there.

Like, you want to talk about if these walls could talk, right?

Facts, yeah.

And just, you know, everything from, you know, because it has improved.

It has gotten better.

Yeah.

You know.. the people that are still here, that are true to, like, true, not just true Bronx sites, but true, you know, they're from Hunts Point, you know, that have stayed to, you know, create small businesses, mom-and-pop shops, and, you know, and that they're still invested.

Yeah.

You know, they.. It's still there.

Yes.

Still there, s.. breathing, still alive.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

As we see, kind of, th.. this mural right here, we have so many... It's, like you said, breathing, living art, and you really do feel the community.

You feel the community, their spirit, and what they're trying to say, what they can't say, expressed through art.

So, I want to ask, what is the... How important it is, is it to preserve these oral traditions through the word, through the murals, through the streets like this?

How important is that to a community like Hunts Point and the Bronx?

It's everything.

Yeah, I think it's everything.

It's just another way to communicate.

It's another way to... It's an outlet.

Yeah, yeah, an outlet.

It's an outlet, you know?

And especially, I feel like, especiallyin an age of social media and misinformation, you know, I think so much... You know, the beauty of art, I think, is perspectives.

Yes, yeah, yeah.

Right.

You and I can be s.. and look at a piece of art and walk away with something completely different.

Yes.

And it's the vantage point.

You know, it's the way that we interpret it.

Yes, yes.

You know, and that's the beauty of art, but it's also... When you think of hip-hop too, like before it became commercialized, like it was really... It was the same thing.

I feel like the hip-hop, the messenger was so conscious.

It was so conscious and it was so about what we were going through, what the Bronx was going through, right?

Yeah, yeah, yes.

You know, the Bronx was burning.

The... Crack was a tsunami.

Yes, all up into the neighborhood.

Yes.

So it was really the young people who gave sort of expression to that... Yeah.

In a way that wasn't.. That they gave it words, they gave it passion, they gave it a creative outlet where there was none.

Yeah, yeah.

And so... Pain turned into art.

Absolutely.

It's changed, there's a lot of new buildings coming, going up.

The police, they're a little more laid back from what they used to be.

I remember a couple years back they used to do the stop and frisk, and everyone was going to jail.

Now it's like more laid back, and you know, I guess that's with the politics and stuff.

But yeah, yeah, on Hunts Point it's changed, but it's going the right direction.

That's the most part.

I just feel like they need to keep... Yeah, just like that.

I'm not trying to harass the youth, and let people be happy and play basketball and things of that nature, you know?

I think that's what's going on now.

Right now it's not that bad, but I think that's what they need to preserve, just people's happiness.

Meet Cido Blanco, a true creative force from the Bronx.

This guy does it all, poet, artist, writer, and podcast host.

His anthology, 98 Cents, dives deep into the raw emotions and experiences of urban life.

His performances are so engaging, you might just forget you're at a poetry reading and think you're at a Broadway show.

Cido's work is a vibrant tapestry of the Bronx filled with passion and authenticity.

Everything my father was and wasn't at the same time.

Can I hold back the pain from the world when I hug my little girl when she cries?

So you know what, it's interesting being in New York, being in the Bronx, but it's so many buildings, I think, that cover up a lot of the natural, a lot of businesses.

But what, how has gentrification changed the neighborhood, you think, in the Bronx?

I feel like sometimes gentrification is such like a word that we see as just a one-time thing.

It happens in like, but it happens over a period of time.

Yeah.

I think as I start to look, as ju.. as the Bronx is a beautiful place, like the trees used to have the sunlight to actually shine on it.

Yeah.

And some.. out the way we see the sun.

Yeah.

Like the sky.. and it's interesting because I feel like it also changed how I feel about my neighborhood.

and gentrification is a word, but it's different when you have to live it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You have this dual conscio.. see like some of these buildings, I know the owners.

Yeah.

Or I know wh.. in front of there and it's like, that story doesn't always get told.

Yeah.

But capitalism is capitalism.

People gotta make their money.

Yeah.

And rent prices,.. Facts, yeah.

Still a love of Bronx, no matter what.

Now, it's an interesting place not being from here.

I can just see, I saw what you're talking about, just that kind of, it blocks even the horizon.

Like, didn't you say you used to see what bridges you used to see from... Like, honestly, when I was here, I used to be able to see the whole Harlem.

From this spot, see the whole Harlem.

For you to build a skyline to block out the sun is wild.

And it's like, it changes so many suns in the Bronx every single day.

Because now I have to go to the city to see it.

Before, like, kids, you could see it from their window seal, from the fire escape.

Now, in a lot of ways, it's a shame, but I'm curious about this idea of the Bronx.

Now, boogie down Bronx, that's what people say, right?

Because this is the originator of hip-hop, yeah?

It's the originator of hip-hop.

The boogie down Bronx is the term we use.

I'm not going to hold you, I feel like that's like a catchphrase now.

Like, it looks good.

Like, on the surface, it looks good.

But, and I respect the boogie down Bronx for what it is.

I feel like there's so many different eras of the Bronx, probably every decade, and they have their own era.

I feel like I grew up in a wavy era.

Like, the Bronx was more like, even like the Max Bs of the world.

Like, when Dip Set was Dip Set in, like, when we had like, we was in a dancing era.

Yes.

In Parkchester.. Like, we had J. Mack Easy, like, it was just a different space.

I feel like the Bronx get light, that boogie of it, or we call it the get light era.

Yeah, that was a beautiful time.

Tell me a bit about how that culture of the Bronx and hip-hop and rap specifically, how does that influence your poetry, though?

Well, anybody that understands rap knows rap is rhythm and poetry And to be honest, like, some of my favorite poets are rappers.

And people with their pen, because something about the way they articulate themselves to like, the rhythm, the pattern, the way they change their diction, the way they use their voices to go up, it's just like, I'm just a fan of.

Yeah.

he doesn't get put up there, like, Big Pun arguably is one of the craziest lyricists I've ever seen in my entire life.

Big Pun.

Yeah.

And just little .. like, it's a beautiful thing.

And even Fat Joe, like, his store is probably like a couple blocks down.

Oh, where is that?

But the elem.. want to live my lifestyle.

They've never seen it in brick, never seen the crack house.

Like, it's tough because New York is this beautiful place.

Yeah.

But there's .. like, things changing.

Yes, yeah.

Yeah, so.

There's a lot of change, and you se.. just walking through the streets.

I think it's definitely the streets here in Bronx, they tell their own story, though.

For sure.

Just through the signs, through the delis, through the hair shops, right?

Through the bookstores.

It's a lot of the streets tell a story.

It's most definitely tell a story.

To be honest, the concrete tells a story.

Yeah.

But I could tell f.. that I've gotten redone over, and the blocks that still look like they don't care about it.

Yeah, yeah.

So it's interesting.

Oh, yeah.

It's what .. And it's like, you know, the cognac that pours through the cracks of the concrete, like, leads to the river that my ancestors have to go across the Atlantic with.

And it's tough because it's like, I don't know, like, it's a concrete jungle, but gentrification just makes it feel more like, like, how do you like, put a label on a concrete jungle?

Yeah, yeah.

It's like, it's like you're wrapping the culture in, and it's aluminum foil, and you try to like sell it back to us at an accelerated price.

Yeah, oh, yeah.

And that's the issue.

It's like you're taking my culture, and you're just changing the label of it.

And then selling it back to me for what 300% markets on a price?

Yeah.

I don't .. No.

But.

Absolutely, absolutely.

Now tell me, what is one of your favorite memories being a boy in the Bronx?

One of my favorite memories being born in the Bronx is that dance era.

It's the time when just like walking around the train and going somewhere, and somebody just clap their hands and say no music, and then you'll just see like joy.

You'll just see people connect.

You'll just see like that vibe.

And also just how we're connected, but not connected.

Yeah.

A lot .. the Bronx talking about like, what kind of mean?

I don't think we're mean.

I think we just understand like, don't waste my time.

Yeah.

And we can connect with pe.. we see on the day-to-day, and we want the world to be a better place.

Yeah.

But it.. It's just the energy of it.

Like every time I come back home from leaving the road, I just miss somebody walking by to me and not saying hi.

Yeah.

Because .. I don't know you.

And I love that.

Yours is crazy.

He don't look like you.

Like when I go places and I'm walking, I got to say hi to everybody.

It's interesting to me.

Now don't get me wrong.

I'm from a Jamaican culture, so if you walk in somebody's house, you better say hi.

Yeah.

But like walking down the street, I'm not saying hi to 100 random people.

But in some of these places, I got to say hi to everybody because everybody sa.. And I'm like, I love the courtesy of our rudeness.

It's so kind.

It's more like, yo, you doing your thing, I'm doing mine.

But I hope you stay safe.

That's it.

Peace.

Peace everywhere.

OK.

Yeah.

OK.

But we're going to have so.. You're going to give me chopped cheese thoug.. I'll get you chopped cheese.

OK.

Open the door.

I'm gett.. I grew up on a bacon, egg and cheese OK.

Like some-- All right.

We about#to#go#do#that- Tell me, babe.

All right, so this the famous chopped cheese .. That's chopped cheese right here.

Now it's good.

This junk is good.

I ain't never really had one, so but it's good though.

I know it's good, Simi, because New Yorkers, when they get a chopped cheese, they be like... They make it happen, yeah.

After the hookah spots, after the clubs and stuff, they be like, yo, bro, yo, all of me get the chopped cheese.

Don't say salt and pepper, or mayo.

The vinegar.

I got the vine.. I got the vinegar.

I got me a bacon, egg and cheese because I'm going to go back to my roots.

Growing up, I just get detention because we used to wait for the bacon, egg, an.. You know what I'm saying?

Yeah.

So that's only right though.

We eat balls, add some avocado, a little turkey, bacon, and all that, you know?

And you get crispy with it, too.

I like it.

I like it.

It looks good.

All right, cheers.

Y'all cheers out her.. We're only cheers on the, cheers on number fours crazy, but you know what I'm saying, yo?

Good eats.

Good eats.

Good eats.

Good eats.

For sure.

For sure.

I'm good.

Ye.. Mm.

Oh, wow.

I'm hungry.

[LAUGHING] I've been having it in my head now.

You know what?

It's pretty good though.

I don't know how to do that.

All right, I should do a first bite, huh?

You got a bite.

You got to try it.

Let me get a bite.

Whoa.

Let me get a bite.

You know what I'm saying?

Turkey bacon.

Let's try it on my-- My first ever chopped cheese, let's see.

Let's see what this is.

I ain't gonna lie to you.

Say this, bro.

[LAUGHING] Was it worth it?

Was it worth the wait?

That's fire.

Oh, yeah.

She's-- That's like, oh, no.

Like, mm.

That's the-- I don't want to see how I'm su.. That vinegar.

That vinegar.

The vinegar just sounds-- Yeah.

That ode to something.

No.

Wow.

No, I'm not gonna-- The meat is seasoned well.

Mm.

Mm.

Mm.

On that roll, no, it's good.

That's good stuff.

All right, bro.

We've got to get the roll.

The roll is important.

The roll is good.

The roll is good.

Nah, I like that.

That's fire.

Y'all doing something out here for sure.

Mm-mm.

We in New York, man.

We started this coming back.

You know what I'm saying?

Right here.

Y'all doing something with that?

OK.

I like that.

I'll take you trying to do it a certain way, but you know, New York is New York, bro.

Love everywhere.

Yeah.

Love everywher.. it's starting in the Bronx.

It's starting in the Bronx.

It's starting in the Bronx.

I'm just saying.

I like that.

I've been outside from the bacon, egg, and cheese to the chop.

Been buying bevs way before I could afford a tropical fantasy, but nothing.

Nothing feels better than unwrapping this aluminum foil.

So Chopped Cheese got to be $2,50 again.

And it's really not about the $2.

It's really about the $0.50, because y'all trying to bring change after we redefine these red lines without paint brushes and spray cans.

Do you know what it feels like to stand in a full desert see a mom turn a mirage into a Last Supper?

Make it through the drought one, two, an.. so I'm not being naive.

I know this grease is still getting too close to my arteries, but at least for my cheat day, Chopped Cheese got to go back to market value along oxtail and the rent, because people can't keep living this way.

I remember one of those a solos or the butters.

and when the temperature keeps on rising and rising, and when I get that feeling, I need me a Coco Mango Cetti Icy, summer times in a white tea.

Oh, I think they like me, because people can't keep living this way.

So it's not about the bag, even though it really is.

It is not about the bread, even though it really is.

All the tomatoes, even though you deserve a rotten one, or two, it's really about this cheese.

And I'll season it, because what's the point?

I'm trying to buy back a block if it doesn't like the block that I grew up on.

Chopped Cheese got to be $2,50 again, and I ain't going to say it again.

As the sun sets on the Bronx, the legends remain, in the whispers of the wind, in the rhythm of the train.

From the past to the present, their spirits endure, in the heart of the Bronx, legends forever pure.

All right.

Shoo, tell me how to order.

Most definitely so, you know.

Well, you can't order right here.

You got to order over there.

Oh, I didn't even know.

You got to order by the guys, man.

OK.

You got to mak.. Oh, they got everything up in here.

For sure.

Shampoo, shampoo.

They got shampoo.

They got chips.

I feel like the best way to describe it is, like, you said I got gas station.. supermarkets and stuff.

Yeah.

Like, our .. just give us everything we need.

Yeah.

Everythi.. Nice.

You know what I'm sa.. We evolved now.. We got avocado.

We got-- We got banana.

You know what I'm saying?

We got banana.

We got everythin.. You got to mix everything in.

100%.

Go, papa.

What's the word?

She want a classic Chopped Cheese.

Classic Chopped Cheese, yeah.

I'm not a Chopped Cheese guy.

I grew up on a bacon egg and cheese.

You got turkey bacon, though?

What's up?

All right, all.. You make sure you get th.. So you want a roll?

You want a hero?

Ooh.

Or y.. You got bagels?

Yes, sir.

Yes, all right.

OK, so you get them.

OK, roll, hero, bagel.

Which one is like the best tasting one?

I like the roll because I feel like .. Yeah, the roll-- The roll.

Yeah, the roll.. The roll is the-- something about the surface.

Something about the circumference of the seaso.. and the flavor that make it go right.

OK, so a roll is like long or they round?

Oh, no, it's round.

[LAUGHTER] Yeah, it's long.

That's right.

It's right.

[LAUGHTER] OK, all right.

So you good.

So all right.

So what you want?

You want cheese?

What type .. Bacon egg-- no, I want the Chopped Cheese.

What's in the chopped Cheese?

Let me get the full experience, Chopped Cheese full experience.

What kind of cheese?

You want pepper jack cheese?

You want American cheese?

You want-- Let me get.. American cheese.

I also want to get Chopped Ch.. with American cheese.

Tomato, onion, pepper.

Lettuce, tomato, onion, pepper.

Can I get the vinegar too?

Oh, vinegar.

Let me get the who.. You get a bacon, egg, and cheese with turkey b.. salt, and pepper, and avocado.

They have?

Yeah, on.. All right.

Yeah, both of them on a roll.

Thanks, Papa, I appreciate it.

Next time on The Poet Speaks A place like Liberty State Park, 100 flags, 100 different stories.

I was inspired by my own experience as a child of an immigrant family.

Each of us were their own stories, the accounts of our ancestors, and all that they sacrificed for us.

I survived the American dream deferred in the loss of a mother who thought Lady Liberty would be this beach she saw.

People from Asia, from Africa, from everywhere, we get to enjoy it and most importantly, we get to remember it through landmarks like this one.