Muse Of the Moment: "Black Boyfriend" by Dave Harris

Hey! 

So I guess I'm going to do a new segment here and simply discuss music, artwork, poetry, books , photography, or simply things I like. I've been watching Button Poetry on YouTube for a couple of years now and I've gathered a bunch of spoken poetry I really love. From Fatima Asghar to Ollie Schminkey to Aziza Barnes to Patrick Roche I have taken an interest into spoken word. Some have made me cry, others have made me laugh and others have made me take a seat and think.

"Black Boyfriend" by Dave Harris gives a thought provoking take on what it means to be a black man in the world of interracial dating. It's interesting, funny and at the end of the poem it brings up a poignant statement. Honestly, I really feel like it would do the poem injustice if you don't watch the video. These words on the computer screen do not carry the same rhythm, pace, and emotion as how the poet would want it to be delivered so please watch it the link will be here.

Watch it, than come back. Please :)

For now I will post the poem here and discuss it. Pretty much it. (I transcribed it so obviously there might be some rhythm or spacing issues but I tried to make sure it was as accurate as possible.)

To the fathers of too many women I’ve dated

The day I meet you, I always straighten my tie.

I use the biggest words I know

I break out the good shoes.

So you can see them, before you can see past them

I always go in for the handshake.

See I’ve been practicing my good, strong, grip. I go in for the shake, look you in the eye like the man I always see it that

Surprised face.

That face that says

“Oh”

Says

“Oh shit.”

Says

“Oh shit, my daughter did not bring home a black guy –“

Yup!

That’s me! I’m your daughter’s first black boyfriend. Surprise!

I bet, I bet you didn’t see that one coming.

Yes indeed, you daughter is in fact “down with the brown”

I’m sorry. I guess this means you must have failed as a parent.

Or maybe it’s just a phase, let’s hope it’s just a phase.

Still

I know you tried to nip this in the bud, when you were young.

See you caught her watching Tyler Perry one time and you slapped her across the mouth!

She said, “But Dad, I was only flipping through the channels.”

To which you replied, “Becky, you better take yo ass in yo room and watch an episode of Full House, starring Bob Saget. BOB SAGET!”

Yet still,

Those thirty seconds of "Madea’s Family Reunion" must have burned a hole into her heart cause now,

I’m here

You’re worst nightmare.

You know how it goes,

“Once you go black, you never go back.”

Say it with me y’all

“ONCE YOU GO BLACK, YOU NEVER GO BACK.”

And it’s permanent.

That’s right.

It’s real

It’s real like she gonna look at Ryan Gosling and think “I wish he was darker yo, I wish he was darker!”

It’s real

It’s real like you can Google that shit on WebMD

It’s real

It’s real like if my penis was in Congress, they’d call it the majority whip

And speaking of Congress

Did you know that the first American log of interracial marriage was made in 1691?

Interracial marriage was not made legal in the United States until 1967, America

Is often lauded as being the great melting pot

For the way it brings together different races, different cultures, different differences

Do not, call this country a melting pot when nothing has melted

Do not, call this country a melting pot, forget how long it was illegal to mix.

You might never live a day in the life of this skin and I won’t ever yours

but shared experiences has value regardless

One girl taught me how to swing dance, I taught her how to dougie.

One girl taught me about Seoul food from Korea, I taught her about soul food from my kitchen.

So to all the fathers

Like you.

This

Is simply what it looks like when your children do better than you did.

Wake up.

If I am your worst nightmare you need to figure out what the fuck is wrong with your dreams.

As soon as I heard that last statement I understood that this was going to be a favorite. He won me over with the performance, the distinctive pauses in between verses and just the passion that he exuded during this entire poem. And now I have something new to appreciate since working on this blog post. I haven't noticed or appreciated a spoken poet's writing abilities until transcribing this poem. So much of it sounds like regular talking that I lost some of the purposeful emphasis and repetition that Mr. Harris put a lot of work into and is consistently show through the poem. The play on words is also a really cool feature with "Seoul" food and "soul" food. It had humor with pop culture references such as Full House and I was laughing so hard when he said Bob Saget with so much conviction. Like yes. I needed this angry man to yell at me those two words: Bob Saget! 

It's an entertaining poem, I want more from Dave Harris honestly. Maybe I can find some! Until than, I hope you liked this post and I will see you soon. 

- Jante 

i n s t a g r a m | _abatty_