PARIS: WHAT ARE EACH OF YOU BRIEFLY CELEBRATING THIS CAPE VERDEANS INTERDEPENDENCE DAY?

>> PEOPLE THOUGHT THE COUNTRY COULDN’T SURVIVE.

THEY HAVE PROVEN THEY CAN DO THAT.

>> FOR ME IT IS ABOUT STARTING POETRY FIRES ALL OVER THE PLACE.

THE KIND YOU HOPE WE CAN’T PUT OUT.

PARIS: HOW IS EVERYBODY DOING?

EXACTLY ARE CAPE VERDEANS AND HOW DID THEY END UP IN MASSACHUSETTS?

>> A LOT OF THEM CAME OVER ON WHALING SHIPS.

AT THE TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY, WHALERS CAME INTO NEW BEDFORD.

>> THAT WAS OUR ELLIS ISLAND.

DARREN: MY FAMILY STAYED IN WHERE HIM.

GETTING BACK TO WHAT YOU SAID, SENATOR, I THINK THE CITY OF BROCKTON OPENED UP TO THEM IN THE LATE 1930’S AND 1940’S, THERE WAS THE SHOE INDUSTRY, THERE IS INDUSTRY HERE.

I’M LEAVING THIS FARMLAND AND INSTEAD OF BEING A FARMER I WILL BE AN INDUSTRIAL WORKER.

THAT IS WHAT MY FAMILY DID IN THE 1930’S.

I THINK THERE WERE FOUR OR FIVE CAPE VERDEAN FAMILIES.

>> SITUATE HAD A BIG ASSOCIATION.

I FOUND OUT WHAT MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER LOOKED LIKE BECAUSE OF A PHOTO FROM THE CAPE VERDEAN ASSOCIATION.

IF YOU LOOK AT THE CROWD, THE ONLY REASON I KNEW HE WAS, HE LOOKS LIKE MY UNCLE.

IT SKIPPED A GENERATION.

HE LOOKED LIKE HIS GRANDFATHER.

I THINK WHAT THE STORY IS, THE WHALING AND CRANBERRY BOGS AND WORKING IN INDUSTRIAL.

LOTS OF PEOPLE WENT INTO THE ARMED FORCES.

THE NAVY, THAT IS WHY THERE ARE CAPE VERDEANS IN CALIFORNIANS, PEOPLE IN OHIO, MAJOR POINTS OF INDUSTRY THAT PEOPLE GOT SPREAD AROUND.

PARIS: I’M SURE IT HELPED THAT IT WAS WARMER IN THOSE PLACES.

MOISES: WE HAVE CAPE VERDEANS IN WISCONSIN AND OHIO.

PARIS: FOR PEOPLE TO -- SEN. MIRANDA: FOR PEOPLE WHO MADE THE CHOICE TO GO TO FLORIDA, THERE IS A COMMUNITY IN GEORGIA.

PARIS: GROWING UP, DID YOU KNOW THIS HISTORY WE WERE TALKING ABOUT?

ANGELA: I DID BECAUSE I’M FIRST GENERATION, BORN HERE.

MY PARENTS WERE FROM CAPE VERDE.

MY MOM CAME IN THE 1980’S, MY DAD CAME IN THE 1970’S SO I KNEW WHAT IT WAS.

LUCKILY I GREW UP IN BROCKTON SO THERE WAS A BIG POPULATION WHEREVER YOU GO.

MAYBE ONE IN FOUR IS CAPE VERDEAN, SO WHEN YOU TALK TO PEOPLE FROM BROCKTON THEY KNOW WHO CAPE VERDEANS R. OUTSIDE THE STATE, IT IS, I AM CAPE VERDEAN, AND IT IS LIKE WHAT ARE YOU?

CAPE COD?

I GOT ACCEPTED TO UCONN AND I WENT TO BRIDGEWATER.

PARIS: I AM BRIDGEWATER ALUMNI.

DARREN: THESE ARE DIFFERENT GENERATIONS BUT IN THE EARLY 1980’S I WENT TO HOWARD UNIVERSITY AN ALL-BLACK SCHOOL.

PARIS: YOU WENT THERE WHEN VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS WAS THERE.

DARREN: WE WERE IN THE SAME CLASS.

MOST PEOPLE HAD NO IDEA WHAT CAPE VERDE WAS.

MY ROOMMATE WAS NIGERIAN.

HE WAS RAISED IN ENGLAND.

>> THERE IS A BIG CONTINGENCY OF HOWARD CAPE VERDEAN ALUMNI.

>> I WENT TO HOWARD.

>> I NEVER GOT MY DEPOSIT BACK.

>> HOW DID THAT TRANSLATE IN TERMS OF IDENTITY?

>> SOME PEOPLE ARE COMING FROM CAPE VERDE TO THE U.S. AND IN YOUR CASE YOU GREW UP HERE, YOU WERE BORN HERE.

YOU AS WELL AND YOU, YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE -- MOISES: MY PARENTS WERE BORN HERE AND MY GRANDPARENTS WERE NOT.

>> AS PEOPLE ACCLIMATE TO AMERICAN CULTURE, WHICH IS OFTEN, YOU ARE BLACK OR WHITE AND EVERYTHING ELSE FALLS AROUND THAT.

HOW DOES THAT APPLY HERE?

MOISES: ONE OF THE THINGS, WHEN YOU TALKED ABOUT BEING CAPE VERDEAN, ONE THING WE HAVE BECOME HIS GREAT DRAWERS OF MAPS.

WHEN YOU SAY TO SOMEBODY I’M CAPE VERDEAN, WHERE IS THAT?

WHERE’S THAT LOCATED?

SO YOU WILL GET UP AND SAY THIS IS AFRICA.

WE ARE RIGHT HERE, AND WE HAVE BECOME GREAT DRAWERS OF MAPS.

TO BASICALLY EXPLAIN TO FOLKS EXACTLY WHERE WE COME FROM BECAUSE AGAIN, WE SHOULD BE BETTER KNOWN IN THE U.S. BECAUSE CAPE VERDEANS HAVE BEEN IN THE U.S.

SINCE THE DAYS OF COLUMBUS, THROUGH THE VOYAGES OF COLUMBUS.

THERE IS A HISTORY OF THEM COMING, PICKING UP SUPPLIES AND MANPOWER AND GOING BACK ACROSS THE ATLANTIC.

WE HAVE BEEN HERE FOR A LONG TIME BUT THE PROBLEM IS, THE WHOLE IDENTITY THING.

THE COUNTRY DIDN’T BECOME A COUNTRY ON ITS OWN SINCE, UNTIL 1975.

SO ANYONE BORN PRIOR TO OR WAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE COUNTRY PRIOR TO 1975, YOU WERE PORTUGUESE, FROM THIS PLACE CALLED CAPE VERDE.

NO WILL -- NO ONE KNEW OF CAPE VERDEANS.

THEY HEARD OF CAPE VERDE BUT NOT CAPE VERDEAN NATIONALS.

THE DIFFERENCE IS WE WEREN’T KNOWN.

HIS PARENTS OR GRANDPARENTS IN A SENSE, THEY WEREN’T CAPE VERDEAN S BECAUSE THERE WAS NO SUCH PLACE AS CAPE VERDE.

THEY MIGHT STILL IDENTIFY AS BLACK PORTUGUESE WERE DARKER PORTUGUESE, OR PORTUGUESE FROM THIS PLACE CALLED CAPE VERDE.

DARREN: MY BIRTH CERTIFICATE UNTIL I FINALLY SAW IT, I WAS A TEENAGER, HAD ME DOWN AS WHITE.

TO GAZE.

-- PORTUGUESE.

I DON’T LOOK WHITE.

EVENTUALLY WE CHANGED IT BUT FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE BORN IN THE 1950’S, 1940’S, 1960’S, AND YOU LIVED IN THE NORTHEAST OR WHEREVER, YOU SAW THAT.

WHAT AM I GOING TO PUT DOWN?

PORTUGUESE.

PARIS: THE BROCKTON CAPE VERDEAN POPULATION MADE IT THE FIRST BLACK MAJORITY CITY IN NEW JERSEY -- NEW ENGLAND.

IT BECOMES A LUMPING, OR IS IT AN EVOLUTION OVER TIME?

MOISES: IT HAS BEEN AN EVOLUTION BECAUSE BROCKTONIANS KNOW WHERE CAPE VERDE IS.

WHITE, BLACK.

DARREN: EVERYBODY KNOWS.

MOISES: I THINK SOME OF THE WHITE KIDS AT THE HIGH SCHOOL OFTEN SAY THAT EVERYBODY KNOWS WHAT MEANS WHAT.

SO AT LEAST THE POPULATIONS OF BROCKTON OR THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES KNOW EXACTLY WHAT CAPE VERDEANS ARE.

DARREN: I COULD TELL A STORY.

PARIS: TELL IT.

MOISES: THE SHOW IS ONLY 15 MINUTES.

DARREN: TODAY IN BROCKTON, EVERYBODY KNOWS.

YOU COULD SAY IN BOSTON EVERYBODY KNOWS WHAT CAPE VERDE IS.

FIRST GRADE, THEY ASKED YOU, WRITE DOWN YOUR FAVORITE FOODS AND I’M WRITING DOWN ALL OF THESE CAPE VERDEAN FOODS BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT I ATE AT THE TIME.

I GOT THE PAPER BACK AND THE TEACHER WRITES A BIG RED?

IN RED PEN.

MY PARENTS ARE CRACKING UP AND I DON’T UNDERSTAND.

WHAT IS IT?

I DON’T KNOW WHY SHE DID THAT.

OF COURSE SHE DOESN’T KNOW ANY OF THESE THINGS.

PROBABLY DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO SPELL IT ANYWAY.

SEN. MIRANDA: I THINK ABOUT THIS AS A FIRST GENERATION, GROWING UP IN ROXBURY, WHERE THE COMMUNITY WAS IN TRANSITION WHEN CAPE VERDEANS CAME TO ROXBURY.

MANY CHOSE IT BECAUSE IT WAS AFFORDABLE.

THERE WERE SOME CAPE VERDEANS THERE BUT NOT MANY.

IT HAD GONE THROUGH WHITE FLIGHT DUE TO BUSSING.

WHEN JUDGE GARRITY’S DECISION CAME DOWN THAT WE NEEDED TO DESEGREGATE THE SCHOOLS, MY NEIGHBORHOOD NEAR SOUTH BAY WAS LARGELY ITALIAN AND IRISH AND LOTS OF PEOPLE BURNED THEIR HOMES FOR PROFIT.

SOME PEOPLE LEFT THE HOMES.

THERE WERE ISSUES WITH URBAN RENEWABLE, REDLINING SO THEY ARE COMING INTO A COMMUNITY WHERE THEY ARE TOLD AS NEW IMMIGRANTS, ALL DIFFERENT HUES.

WHITE SKINNED WITH BLUE EYES, MY DAD IS CHARCOAL.

YOU ARE DIFFERENT FROM THE BLACKS FROM ORCHARD PARK, SO YOU HAVE TO BE DIFFERENT.

THEY ARE TRYING TO CREATE IDENTITIES.

PARIS: HOW WERE THEY RECEIVED BY BLACK PEOPLE?

SEN. MIRANDA: MY UNCLE TALKS ABOUT BEING SHIPPED FROM ROXBURY TO SOUTH BOSTON HIGH SCHOOL AND THEY DIDN’T KNOW WHAT HE WAS, SO HE DIDN’T SPEAK SPANISH AND HE GOT BEAT UP BY EVERYBODY.

HE IS LIKE, THE PUERTO RICANS WERE LIKE YOU SHOULD SPEAK SPANISH.

HE LOOKED PUERTO RICAN.

THE BLACKS WERE LIKE HE IS TOO LIGHT-SKINNED.

THE WHITES KNEW HE HAD A HINT OF SOMETHING.

THE CAPE VERDEAN KIDS GOING TO SOUTH BOSTON SCHOOLS TALK ABOUT THE TRAUMA, THEIR FIRST LESSON ON WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AN IMMIGRANT IN AMERICA IS GOING THROUGH THE CRISIS OF BUSSING.

THAT HAD A LOT TO DO WITH CAPE VERDEANS TRYING TO PROTECT THEIR HERITAGE AND PROTECT THEIR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES BEING LIKE, WE ARE NEW AND DIFFERENT AND THERE IS A PRIDE THAT EMERGES IN BOSTON WHERE ALL CAPE VERDEANS ARE LIKE I’M NOT BLACK, I AM NOT WHITE, I AM CAPE VERDEAN.

THIS CREATES A BIT OF A DIVIDE BETWEEN THE OTHER BLACK POPULATIONS IN THE CITY OF BOSTON.

PARIS: HOW DOES THAT TRANSLATE NOW AS WE DEAL WITH OUR CURRENT IMMIGRATION CRISIS?

WHAT ARE THE LESSONS PEOPLE ARE LEARNING?

SEN. MIRANDA: OAKS ARE LEARNING THEY ARE NOT AS DIFFERENT AS HAITIAN AND NICARAGUAN BROTHERS AND SISTERS.

CAPE VERDE WAS JUST PUT ON A BAND LIST.

THEY HAD A DEPORTATION LIST WHERE THEY TOUTED THAT 300 PLUS CAPE VERDEANS WERE GOING TO BE DEPORTED AND FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE ABOUT A MONTH AGO ON A SATURDAY, ICE WAS IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD.

NEVER IN A ONE MILLION YEARS WHAT I THINK ICE WOULD BE IN MY COMMUNITY.

THERE IS PALPABLE HERE, -- FEAR, AND PART OF IT IS THAT CAPE VERDEANS OVERSTAY THEIR VISAS AT A LARGE RATE.

I THINK IT IS OVER 12 PERCENT, AND THEY LIKE TO KEEP IT AT 4%, TRY TO MAKE IT MANAGEABLE SO THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE WORKING HARD, TAKING CARE OF THEIR FAMILIES BUT THEY MIGHT HAVE OVERSTAYED THE VISA.

THEY ARE NOT CRIMINALS, BUT THEY ARE NOT JUST GOING AFTER CRIMINALS.

THEY ARE GOING AFTER ANYBODY.

ANGELA: CAPE I THINK ONE VERDEAN OF THE PIECES THAT MAKE VERDEANS WHO THEY ARE IS WHETHER THEY CAME TO CAPE COD OR COMING NOW, THEY ARE YOURS.

DESCRIBE CAPE VERDE, THEY ARE HARD WORKERS.

THEY ARE VERY HARD WORKERS.

DARREN: PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY WILL TELL ME, WHERE IS JOHN?

WHAT HAPPENED TO -- ICE CAME AND GOT THEM.

WHAT HAPPENED?

IN SOME CASES, THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO, THEY KNOW THAT PERSON OVER EXTENDED THEIR VISA AND THEY CALL ICE ON THEM.

THAT IS UNFORTUNATE.

THERE ARE CASES WHERE THAT HAPPENS.

IT IS VERY SCARY SO IF SOMEONE HAS A DISAGREEMENT WITH SOMEONE, THAT CAN HAPPEN.

I DON’T KNOW HOW WIDESPREAD IT IS, BUT I KNOW FIVE CASES WHERE THAT HAPPENED.

THAT IS UNFORTUNATE.

PARIS: WHAT ARE PEOPLE GOING BACK TO?

IF THEY ARE DEPORTED OR THEY CHOOSE TO RETURN TO CAPE VERDE, 50 YEARS AFTER INDEPENDENCE, WHAT IS THE STATE OF THINGS?

MOISES: THINGS AREN’T BAD.

WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, A LOT OF TIMES PEOPLE BEING DEPORTED BACK TO THE COUNTRY HAVE LITTLE TIES LEFT IN THE COUNTRY BECAUSE THEY CAME HERE AS CHILDREN IN SOME INSTANCES.

NOT A LOT OF ADULTS ARE BEING REPORTED -- DEPORTED BACK TO CAPE VERDE.

IT IS YOUNGSTERS, KIDS WHO ARE BEING DEPORTED BACK.

OFTEN, THEY DON’T HAVE MUCH OF ANYTHING BACK HOME.

THE GOVERNMENT IS HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THEM, BECAUSE THEY CAME AS SAINTLY KIDS AND THEY ARE GOING BACK AS PROFESSIONALLY, IN SOME INSTANCES PROFESSIONALLY TRAINED THUGS.

SO THEY ARE HAVING A PROBLEM.

PARIS: AND THAT IS UNIQUE TO THE U.S.?

MOISES: UNIQUE TO THE U.S.

BUT NOT UNIQUE TO CAPE VERDE.

ESPECIALLY IN SOME PLACES, IN SOME CITIES, BECAUSE OF THE LESSER DEVELOPED AREAS OF THE COUNTRY ITSELF, THEY ARE HAVING A TOUGH TIME DEALING WITH THESE DEPORTEES.

ANGELA: I LOST MY BROTHER AND DAD AT 18.

SEN. MIRANDA: ALL MY MALE SIBLINGS HAD INTERACTIONS WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD IN THE 1990’S.

IT WAS LIKE THE WAR ON DRUGS WAS A REAL THING AND THEY DIDN’T CARE WHETHER YOU WORK CAPE VERDEAN OR LATINO OR BLACK.

A LOT OF YOUNG PEOPLE ARE GROWING UP IN THE CAR SEVERAL SYSTEM AND WHEN THEY ARE DEPORTED BACK TO A NATION WHERE THEY DON’T SPEAK THE LANGUAGE, MOST OF THEIR FAMILY HAS IMMIGRATED TO A COUNTRY THAT ACTUALLY THINKS THEY WASTED THEIR OPPORTUNITY, THEY ARE TREATED LIKE LEPERS.

IN APRIL I MET WITH 20 DEPORTEES AND THEY ARE HAVING A DIFFICULT TIME ADJUSTING TO A COUNTRY THAT SAYS YOU DID A BAD THING, THERE IS NO SECOND CHANCE HERE, AND NOT HAVING A SUPPORT SYSTEM.

PARIS: WE KNOW THERE IS A LOT TO CELEBRATE AS WELL.

WE TALKED ABOUT HOW CAPE VERDE HAS SUSTAINED ITSELF.

YOU SAID THE MOST SUCCESSFUL DEMOCRACY IN THE AFRICAN, SUB-SAHARAN DIASPORA.

WHAT ARE EACH OF YOU BRIEFLY CELEBRATING ON CAPE VERDEAN INDEPENDENCE DAY?

SEN. MIRANDA: WE GOT A BILL SIGNED INTO LAW TO CREATE A CV COMMISSION TO DISCUSS THE FEASIBILITY OF AN ART AND CULTURE HISTORY CENTER IN BOSTON.

TOURISM IS THE NUMBER ONE INDUSTRY IN THE COMMONWEALTH AND I WANT TO MAKE SURE IT IS DONE RIGHT AND ADVISED BY AS MANY CAPE VERDEANS AS POSSIBLE SO IN A YEAR OR TWO, WE CAN START WORKING ON A BUILDING THAT MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WHO COME TO MASSACHUSETTS CAN LEARN THE HISTORY.

ANGELA: I WAS BORN HERE, BUT I’M CELEBRATING THE HISTORY OF HOW WE GOT HERE.

EVEN THOUGH I WAS BORN IN THE UNITED STATES, IT IS A RICH CULTURE AND THAT IS WHAT I’M CELEBRATING.

MOISES: MINE WOULD BE THE SUCCESS OF THE COUNTRY ITSELF.

WHEN YOU WERE BORN IN THE COUNTRY, YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WERE BORN INTO, AND WHAT THE COUNTRY HAS BECOME IN THE LAST 50 YEARS OR SO, IT IS SOMETHING THAT PRIDES ME IN A SENSE, TO BE FROM A PLACE THAT HAS GONE AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, WHEN WE WERE TALKING, THERE WERE QUITE A FEW PEOPLE WHO THOUGHT THE COUNTRY WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO SURVIVE ON ITS OWN, AWAY FROM PORTUGAL.

AND I THINK IT HAS PROVEN THAT IT CAN DO THAT TO A LEVEL WHERE YOU ARE COMPETING WITH OTHER COUNTRIES, NOT COMPETING MILITARILY, BUT COMPETING WITH STATUS AND STATUES IN A WAY, DEMOCRACY.

WE HAD A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN 2001 DECIDED BY 12 VOTES.

THAT IS UNHEARD OF IN TODAY’S WORLD.

SO THAT SHOWS THE GROWTH OF THE COUNTRY AND ITS PEOPLE.

DARREN: I CELEBRATE WHAT MANY CAPE VERDEANS HAVE DONE IN THIS COUNTRY.

LOTS OF FOLKS STILL WORK AND SEND MONEY HOME.

BUT YOU ALSO HAVE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO ARE NOW DOING THINGS 25 YEARS AGO, 20 YEARS AGO, YOU DIDN’T SEE THEM DOING.

RUNNING FOR OFFICE AND SUCCEEDING.

BECOMING SURGEONS, DOCTORS.

I KNOW CAPE VERDEANS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY WHO ARE DOING GREAT THINGS WHERE 25 OR 30 YEARS AGO I COULDN’T SAY THAT.

YOU CAN SAY THAT NOW.

NOT ALL OF THEM ARE TOUTING THEIR CAPE VERDEAN HEAD -- HERITAGE.

YOU KNOW THE NAME.

PARIS: I LEARNED LISA LOPEZ FROM TLC.

DARREN: A LOT OF PEOPLE DON’T KNOW.

WE DID A STORY, I’M A HOST AND WHEN I FIRST CAME BACK HERE, I WAS GONE FOR MANY YEARS AND I CAME BACK AND NOTICED THE DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE.

THIS WAS 1994, THE YEAR YOU WERE BORN.

AT THE TIME, IT IS INTERESTING I’M WORKING FOR THE POLICE NOW.

AT THE TIME, THERE WERE EIGHT PEOPLE OF COLOR IN THE WHOLE FORCE.

FIRE HAD ZERO.

MAYBE ONE CAPE VERDEAN, BUT THE CAPE VERDEAN WAS A HUGE POPULATION.

IT HAD GROWN SO MUCH.

WHEN I LEFT 17 YEARS PRIOR, NO ONE KNEW WHAT THAT WAS.

15, 17 YEARS LATER EVERYBODY KNEW WHAT IT WAS.

TODAY, BROCKTON POLICE, I WOULD SAY A GOOD HIGH 30, 40% ARE PEOPLE OF COLOR AND MOST ARE CAPE VERDEAN.

THE MOST DIVERSIFIED POLICE FORCE IN THE STATE.

PARIS: A LOT TO CELEBRATE.

SENATOR MIRANDA, ANGELA, COUNSELOR, ERIN, THANK YOU FOR HAVING US.

>> SOMETIMES IT SEEMS OUR MIND ARE RIPE TO GET PLAYED BY THE VULTURES IN OUR CULTURE WHO KEEP HOPING TO WITHHOLD US FROM ANYTHING.

ANY DEEPER THAN WORK.

PARIS: REGIE GIBSON IS THE FIRST POET LAUREATE.

THANK YOU.

FOR THOSE WHO DON’T KNOW, WHAT IS UP WITH LAUREATE AND WHY DOES THE STATE NEED ONE?

REGIE: WE HAVE NEVER HAD ONE.

IT HAS BEEN 400 YEARS.

I THINK IT IS ABOUT FOR ME, STARTING POETRY FIRES ALL OVER THE PLACE.

THE KIND WE HOPE YOU CAN’T PUT OUT.

IT IS ABOUT CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AND I THINK THE PUBLIC LAUREATE’S RESPONSIBILITY IS TO ENGAGE CYNICALLY WITH PEOPLE AND -- CYNICALLY WITH PEOPLE AND CALL US BACK TO THE BETTER ANGELS OF OUR NATURE AND SEE HOW LITERATURE CAN DO THAT, LITERATURE THAT IS NOT WITHIN THE CONFINES OF PAGES BUT ALSO EMBODIED AND SPOKEN.

PARIS: YOU WILL START A PUBLIC PREFIRE HERE AT GBH -- A POETRY FIRE HERE AT GBH.

REGIE: SOMETHING TELLS ME IT ALREADY EXISTS.

PARIS: GO AHEAD.

WHAT ARE YOU PERFORMING?

REGIE: I PRESENT A PIECE THAT IS AN EXCERPT, THAT CONNECTED ME TO MASSACHUSETTS WHEN I WAS 15.

IT IS ON THAT SUBJECT AND IT IS ON THE TRENDS IN DENTAL LIST HENRY DAVID THOREAU OUT OF CONCORD.

I READ WALDEN WHEN I WAS A SOPHOMORE IN HIGH SCHOOL AND IT CAPTURED ME.

THIS IS ME SPEAKING TO THOSE WHO WOULD BE SO CAPTURED.

HENRY THOREAU TOLD CIVILIZATION, I’VE GOT TO GO, BABY.

I NEED TO BE ON VACATION SO HE HEADED OUT TO WALDEN, WHEREUPON HE COPPED THIS REVELATION.

SO MANY OF US HAVE LIVES OF QUIET DESPERATION.

LO AND BEHOLD, ANOTHER TRANSCENDENTALIST QUOTATION SEEMS TO CAPTURE A MODERN VEXATION.

IT IS LIKE HE KNEW IN THE FUTURE, WE WOULD NEED TO ACT IN RADICAL WAYS TO MITIGATE THE SAD FACT THAT BECAUSE WE’VE GOT TO SLAVE THESE BILLS PAID, IT SEEMS OUR MINDS ARE RIPE TO GET PLAYED BY THE VULTURES IN OUR CULTURE WHO KEEP HOLDING US FROM ANYTHING ANY DEEPER THAN WORK WHILE WE SCHOOLED YOU BY WHAT WE TOLD YOU PAY, WHAT YOU OWE AND MAKING SURE YOU HAVE STUDENT DEBT YOU WILL NEVER GET OVER, SOLDIER.

TREATING HUMAN BEINGS AS IF WE ARE MERELY SKIN MACHINES WITH -- WHERE THE CASH HE IS, PROFITEERS DEMOGRAPHICS, PUPPETS MADE OF PLASTIC, MOLDED AND STRETCHED THIN AS THREAD UNTIL WE ARE DEAD IN OUR CASKETS.

WEEK WISHING WE ARE FACING THAT WE FIND ITS ADDRESS DRASTIC, MANY OF US HUFF AND PUFF AND SNORT AND GET BLASTED, HOPING TO DEADEN THE PAIN THAT SEEMS EVERLASTING.

WE FIND THOSE ACTIONS MEET THE MASSES, BACK MORE PASSIVE WHICH KEEPS MINES INACTIVE TO THE PLANS OF ALL OF THOSE FASCISTS WHO WANT TO KEEP US SEPARATED INTO RACES AND GENDERS AND CLASSES.

BECAUSE THAT IS THE WAY YOU MAINTAIN THE STATUS QUO, STATUS AS IS.

DON’T LET THEM HEAD FAKE YOU.

CHICKEN BACON BACK BREAK YOU DOWN, COME AROUND, CLOWN AND UNDERTAKE YOU.

YOU HAVE TO FIGHT BACK.

MY ADVICE IS, USE POETRY AND WHAT YOU HAVE TRAPPED INSIDE WAS YOUR WEAPON.

DO YOU DIG?

THANK YOU.

PARIS: WE DIG.

TAKE US BACK, REGIE.

WHAT YOU SHARED IS RELEVANT TO THE TIME WE ARE LIVING IN.

WE KNOW THERE IS A NATIONAL PUBLIC LAUREATE, AND HER TERM IS ENDING.

GIVEN THE CHANGES HAPPENING WITH THIS ADMINISTRATION, DO YOU THINK HER ROLE WILL BE FILLED?

REGIE: I’M DOUBTFUL, GIVEN THE CUTBACKS.

I’M DOUBTFUL THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION RECOGNIZES WHAT POETRY CAN DO TO BRING OUR NATION TOGETHER AND TO PROJECT OUR HIGHEST IDEALS.

I AM HOPEFUL, BUT I’M DOUBTFUL.

PARIS: TAKE US BACK TO YOUR BEGINNINGS A LITTLE BIT.

WHEN DID YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH POETRY?

REGIE: I HAVE DONE THE FORENSICS ON THIS.

PARIS: THE GENEALOGY.

REGIE: IT GOES BACK TO MY GREAT GRANDFATHER, WHO WAS ILLITERATE AND WORKED ON THE RAILROAD.

HE WOULD MAKE UP SONGS AND POEMS AND TELL STORIES.

MOST OF THEM WOULD RHYME BECAUSE THEY WERE MNEMONIC DEVICES LINKED TO HELP HIM ACCESS INFORMATION HE WOULD NEED.

HE WAS THE COLLAR, THE ONE WHO WAS SINGING THE SONGS WHILE THE MEN WERE STRIKING THE SPIKES.

I REMEMBER HEARING HIM SING ONE OF THOSE SONGS.

MY GREAT GRANDMOTHER WAS IN THE FRONT OF THE HOUSE SHUCKING PEAS AND SHE WAS A SERIOUS BELIEVER IN THE GOSPEL.

AT 1.I REMEMBER HEARING HER SING CARLOS ONTO JESUS AND HIM SINGING HIS SECULAR WORK SONG AND A BLENDED.

MY BROTHER AND I, I WAS CAUGHT.

I THINK THAT WAS THE MOMENT IT CALLED ME, THE IDEA THAT WHAT WE HOLD TO BE TRANSCENDENT AND THIS WORKDAY THING WE MUST DO TO BRING ABOUT SOMETHING IN REALITY, WAS BRINGING TOGETHER TWO PARTS OF MYSELF, THE UNDERSTANDING THE TRANSCENDENT IS POSSIBLE IF YOU WORK FOR IT.

AND FOR ME, THAT IS WHAT POETRY IS ABOUT, BRINGING TOGETHER THE TRANSCENDENT AND THE EARTHLY AND SAYING WE CAN MAKE A SPELL AND IF WE DO THIS RIGHT, WE CAN CONJURE THE TRANSCENDENT HERE ON EARTH.

PARIS: YOU GREW UP IN CHICAGO, A PLACE FILLED WITH SPOKEN WORD.

REGIE: YES.

PARIS: HOW WOULD YOU SAY BOSTON’S POETRY CULTURE COMPARES?

REGIE: THE SPOKEN WORD HAS BEEN GROWING SINCE THE 1990’S, I WOULD SAY.

IT IS GROWING AND IT EBBS AND FLOWS.

THERE WERE QUITE A FEW VENUES AROUND IN THE 1990’S OF PEOPLE DOING MORE WITH SPOKEN WORD.

I THINK THAT IS HAPPENING AGAIN.

BUT THE POETRY CULTURE HERE IN BOSTON GOES BACK TO ANNE BRADSTREET IN THE 17TH CENTURY.

WE HAVE PHYLLIS WHEATLEY IN THE 18TH CENTURY, AND SO MANY OTHERS WHO HAVE COME THROUGH THAT SO THE BOSTON POETRY CULTURE AND THE NEW ENGLAND POETRY CULTURE AND MASSACHUSETTS IS ALWAYS BEEN STRONG.

SPOKEN WORD HAS BEEN GROWING STRONGER SINCE THE 1990’S.

IT IS VERY RELEVANT RIGHT NOW.

PARIS: REGIE GIBSON, THE FIRST POET LAUREATE FOR MASSACHUSETTS, THANK YOU SO MUCH.

REGIE: THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.

PARIS: THAT IS IT FOR THIS EPISODE.

WHAT KEEPS YOU ROOTED?

WHAT ARE THE THINGS THAT MATTER CAN YOU?

DROP A LINE ON OUR INSTAGRAM OR SEND US AN EMAIL AND CHECK US OUT HERE EVERY TUESDAY NIGHT AT 7:30.

FROM ALL OF US, I’M PARIS ALSTON.

HAVE A GREAT NIGHT.

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