>>> My name is Messiah Ramkissoon. I'm a spoken
word poet.. Hip-hop artist.
♪ Live on. Gotta keep on continuing life is a dirty game
ain’t always as genuine. It's like all this adrenaline
watching the clock tick just so when you win
you can watch from the cockpit- ♪
>>> I also work with youth incarcerated,
bringing programs into the jails and using mentorship to
connect with young people in the criminal justice system.
>>> I'm from a village called Mayaro in the
country Trinidad and Tobago. My mother's from
more of the north side of the country, Santa Cruz,
city side. My father's a village man. My artistry
really became inspired at a very young age.
I would say around the age of four five years old.
My parents split and so, I started writing to express
myself and my writing really took shape in the
form of letters to God. My second mother, who I call
my spiritual mother, my father's second wife,
is an artist. She started really, supporting my
creativity and my want to create. So I moved to
Annapolis, Maryland at the age of eleven, eleven and
a half I would say, from Trinidad.
I was home-schooled prior to college. So my father,
his vision was very different. As a result of
that my social outlet was the Boys and Girls Clubs.
They have a competition that I eventually
participated in called Youth Of The Year.
I won a $25,000 scholarship from Oprah Winfrey.
That scholarship later on was the key for me to go to
Howard University. My first week I participated
in the opening night called ‘One Mic’ at Howard.
I did this poem called ‘Shareka was a Champ’.
That same poem that I performed,
I auditioned for Showtime at the Apollo. I got the call
from Apollo saying that you know, we would like you to
come and compete in Harlem. There was a lot of visibility.
>>> Fly like a butterfly sting like a bee.
Oh, no Shareka thought she was Miss Ali. Me getting
knocked out? Please. Safe I be. Until she fought the
heavyweight. Mr. HIV. Shareka was a champ y'all.
Peace. Thank you Apollo.
>>> Now he's 18, release they dreams. It's about time.
Thought he was free, til the gatekeepers gave
him adult time. When will the bulb shine in this
dark hour. In his bloodline is star power.
No BET, a smart scholar with no GED. Intellects,
young Malcolm X in the feds like FedEx mail.
They shipped him to federal jail. Off to Michigan,
family can't afford to visit him. Recidivism in
the prison system is the heartbeat of Wall Street.
>>> I'm responsible for subcontracting other
programs to come into the jail and provide support
for the young people. I wanted to really connect
with the prison population because I knew it
was a significant population as it relates
to young black men. I saw a lot of my peers a lot of
my partner's going to jail at a young age. I knew
that it was a community that I felt needed special
intervention. I'm a firm believer that only us can
successfully save us because you have to
understand, fully understand, the problem in
order to solve the problem, right? It costs $247,000
a year to keep a person on Rikers, right? A year.
What if $247,000 could have been put into you
from childhood? When it comes, when we talk about
recidivism and resources and money and opportunities,
those things are very much needed, very much important,
very much pertinent to breaking the cycle,
but we have to really start here because I can put you in
front of right resource, but if the thinking caps don't go
on first, it doesn't mean you're going to sustain it.
It's about sustainable change.
>>> This is the rebirth. The coming of the Kings who built
pyramids amongst other things. This is Tupac
before the role they cast him in. King before Bishop
no need for castling. Known for mastering square
by square. Like a mason with the queen adjacent,
our most precious asset, the seed in the bassinet
has been a threat since Jesus of Nazareth.
Born from triple darkness. That's the Black Knight
never been the pawn to the dawn of the crack pipe.
To all my Kings resting, faces on t-shirts, time to
live again. This is the rebirth. Coming of the Kings.
>>> The power and strength in Black America lies in you-
nity. Unity. The great Malcolm X said that
I can take this hand, he said after I slap,
you might still be looking at me he said, but if I
really want to make an impact, all I have to do
is bring these digits together. That's where the
power is man... our solidarity.