Catch The Fire!!: A Cross-Generational Anthology of Contemporary African American Poetry
by D-Knowledge

African-American poetry is an ever-growing and ever-changing art form… in coffee houses and night clubs… from the blues and be-bop, to rap and hip-hop. Catch the Fire!!! is more than a poetry anthology. It is a cultural event: the indroduction of a new generation of African-American poets by an established generation, and a celebration of contemporary African-American poetry. Through the themes of family, the city, revolution, the body, and the soul, included selections written by several noted poets and writers including the late Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Nikki Giovanni, Quincy Troupe, June Jordan, Ntozake Shange, Abiodun Oyewole of The Last Poets, and many others. discuss their own generation of poets and their thoughts about the emerging poets whose poems they are presenting here.

The Revolution Will Be on the Big Screen

My man Gil Scott Heron once said:
The revolution will not be televised
Well…
Gil Scott may have a point
The revolution may not be televised
But…
The revolution will be a major motion picture
The revolution will not be televised
But…
The revolution will be on the big screen

The Revolution will be a fifty million dollar production
The Revolution will be written by John Grisham
And directed by Oliver Stone
The Revolution will star Kevin Costner and Julia Roberts
And they will teach people of color
How to revolt
And how to fight and how to hide and how to kill
And how to SCREAM
The Revolution will be on the big screen, brother.

The Revolution will have one Latino extra
Playin’ a thief
One Asian extra
Playin’ a servant
And one Native American extra runnin’
down Florence and Normandie yellin’
Geronimo.

The Revolution will have one Black supporting actor
Denzel Washington
Who will be killed by Kevin Costner in the first
three minutes
For looking at Julia Roberts for more than
one minute
While Kevin Costner will have a picture of Whitney Houston
Burnin’ in his wallet
The Revolution will be on the big screen, sistah.

The Revolution will be coming soon to a theatre near you
And will get two thumbs up from Siskel and Ebert
And will make more money than Jurassic Park and ET
The Revolution will cost $7.50 to see or $5.50 if
you got a student i.d.
The Revolution will go good with popcorn, bon bons and licorice
The Revolution will be on the big screen.

The Revolution will have a multi platinum soundtrack
Wtih revolutionary songs sung by
Guns ’N’ Roses, Metallica and Madonna
The Revolution will be advertised on billboards, buses, t shirts
and at Taco Bell and Micky Dees
The Revolution will be on the big screen.

The Revolution will be distributed internationally
The Revolution will be seen in Cuba, Ruwanda and Haiti
The Revolution will change the way the world thinks about
Revolution
And the way the world thinks about
Change
The Revolution will be on the big screen.

The Revolution will have a sequel
The Revolution will have a part III
The Revolution will be too large for t.v.
Too large for the little screen
The Revolution will be larger than life
Larger than large
And larger than larger than large
The Revolution will not be televised
Will not be televised
Not be televised
Be televised
The Revolution will be
On the Big Screen.

D-Knowledge
(Derrick I.M. Gilbert)