A.A.C. @ The SIP Coffee House, ATL

A huge part of our mission to Educate, Inspire, and Entertain involves performance poetry. We encourage and embrace all forms of the Arts, but Spoken Word is our biggest vehicle to deliver our message of inspiration to our audience. In the next two videos, Antonio Davis and Paul Ayo present their proclamations for the betterment of the world. Enjoy!




From Antonio Davis
"Getting people out of the red and onto the positive side of life, by changing the way we think, and making sure everyone listens and hears the message, no matter their way of thinking is the purpose of this piece. My inspirational moment came while I was at work looking at all of the people around me and I looked at my pen. It was literally a red ink pen, and it just flowed from there. I try to write about all view points to help people relate better. I try to see what I can do to change the negative things in the world. Therefore, I start with my self as the test subject for positive change. " -Antonio Davis




From Paul Ayo
"When I wrote this piece, I was thinking about my approach to living and how I can serve as a testament to a purposeful life. I always lead by example, and if my example isn't a good one, I like to rehash it and think of a better way to fulfill my mission or goal. I'm not going to lie and say purpose is easy to find or it's easy to pursue. It's often easier to aim low or not challenge yourself to fulfill the dreams you have in mind for yourself. Whatever you do, don't be afraid to go out on a limb and do something purposefully incredible." - Paul Ayo

A.A.C. @ A-Town Day

Saturday June 25, 2010 A.A.C. visited A-Town Day, Atlanta's largest Health Care Festival, Concert, and Day of Awareness. We met some talented artists and delivered a spirited performance.


During the day we set up a table and rapped with folks who visited our table.


We couldn't miss the chance to build and connect with new artists. Meet our new poet friend, Chris-Free-Will from Richmond, VA. He had a dope set, as well.


Tameka sharing info about A.A.C.


Paul Ayo couldn't resist the urge to get out a Shut it Down 3000 and... SHUT IT DOWN!!!



A-Town Day was a day filled with connecting, building, and Shutting Down to the A-Town. Stay tuned; there are more exciting developments to come as we continue to educate, inspire, and entertain.

Posted by
Paul Ayo

Poet Connects Art, Artists, and the Industry: Straight, No Chaser

Born and raised in Pine Bluff, AR, Christopher K.P. Brown entered his first poetry contest as a freshmen in high school after winning a Martin Luther King, Jr. essay contest and $50. His teacher asked him to enter both contests.

“I’d never written any poetry before, hadn’t been exposed to that much poetry,” he says. “I entered the contest, wrote a poem called Teenage, Not Danger, and it won first place. That was my first poetry contest, and [I’ve] been writing since then.”

When he was around 16, Brown compiled 100 of his poems in a book and ended up selling around 200 copies. Making money from poetry and writing caused him to take his craft even more seriously.

Although he attended Mercer University in Macon, GA, he really didn’t want to go. He knew he wanted to do poetry full-time since he was 14.
“My only reason for going to college was so that I could leave Arkansas. I left [there and] went to college primarily to get to an open mic scene,” Brown says.
After his first semester, he did consider dropping out. But he released a CD his freshmen year and ended up selling around 150 copies in just a couple of months. The feedback he received from his fellow students made him want to stay.

“The people at school supported my poetry at that time,” he says. “Because I was away from home, I didn’t know that many people so the fact that people embraced the poetry and bought it was one of the things that actually kept me at Mercer.”

Brown wrote poetry and participated in open mics throughout college. And in 2003, he and his brother created 2 Pens & Lint so friends and family could get any work he released. The Company is now an LLC with the primary goal of printing chap books for other poets and selling and promoting them through the website.


The first Straight No Chaser Mixtape was created in 2008 after the 2007 killing of 23-year-old Sean Bell in New York.

“I took that personally, being a young, black male; I felt like it needed to be addressed,” Brown says. “It was 2008, and people wanted to talk about change, how far we’ve come, but any day you could get killed, and nobody would get punished for it.”

“Because it impacted me, it impacted my poetry, too….Straight, No Chaser is just really raw poetry. It’s not holding anything back. I felt like that was the only way you could really respond to something like Sean Bell’s killing-- to be completely truthful, raw, say what you need to say no matter what because we’re being killed no matter what, so it’s like an equal response.”

The name Straight, No Chaser was inspired by one of his favorite artists, Thelonious Monk, who had a song with the same moniker. He also gave it the name because he says the poet has to be completely truthful.
Brown began working on the album after Haiti’s earthquake, and it addresses issues he feels needs to dealt with. One reason Brown put a second Straight, No Chaser out because of things going on after President Obama was elected.

“Everybody was like, ‘Ok, we’re really moving in the right direction.’ People were talking about the dream of Martin Luther King Jr. being accomplished. It was like, ‘No, these things are still happening…,” he says. “Yes, we have a black president, and I’m glad we do, but at the same time, we can’t sleep, we can’t act like America is completely changed, that it’s a utopia now.”

The album has 10 tracks which covers a few different subjects. One piece, New Day Nefertiti, concerns purchasing, respecting and preserving the black arts culture. The album also features several hip-hop beats and most were chosen for a specific reason.

Because Brown listens to a lot of hip-hop, choosing the songs basically came down to beats that match the speed of the poem. For example, New Day Nefertiti is about Brown actually buying Erykah Badu’s latest album as opposed to burning it.

“I knew with that poem, since it was about Erykah Badu, I wanted to use [one of her] beats,” he says. “I ended up using Danger from Worldwide Underground.”

“Most of the other beats were just [from] artists that I like. You have a Common beat on there, one Wu-Tang beat, two Outkast beasts, one Nas. So the artists that I respect, those are the beats I use.”

When it comes to Straight No Chaser Volume 2, Brown really just wants people to enjoy it.

“I want them to enjoy the CD, play it, and put it into their normal rotation of music just like they would play any other CD. Secondly, I just want them to take the individual messages of each song…take it in and try to use it in their life somehow…I want them to at least think about the subjects that I’m talking about, really, critically think about [them] and try to apply that to what they see in society.”

When it comes to the social change 2 Pens & Lint makes, Brown says he ultimately wants to build an institution inside the community than can depend on them.



“If you don’t have the institution, if you don’t have any kind of organization then we can’t get anything done, we can’t make these other small changes that need to me made,” he says. “Yeah, we have a president that’s making changes, but we also have to have people in the community…that’s organized and can take action, also. That’s my thing-- being community-oriented and being organized enough where we can move and make these small changes that still need to be made.”

If you’re a poet interested in publishing a book or just want more info, visit the 2 Pens & Lint website.

Download Straight No Chaser, Volume 2 for FREE: http://christopherkp.bandcamp.com/


Edited by Paul Ayo
Written by Jamie Fleming (www.mochawriter.com)

Art Activism Goes Global with La Poderosa III

As a child growing up in Belize, Jose Victor Guerra-Awe struggled to find avenues to express his unique talents and abilities.

“I held my own, but in private,” he says. “Our society can be a bit stifling at times when it comes to the arts.”

He enjoyed theater and was asked by teachers to participate in skits and plays because of his talent. But beyond primary school and outside of the school system, he didn’t find many options to continue pursuing his passions.

“So, I picked up writing, singing and jewelry making, [and] my creative talents soared to new heights, but… the options for improvement were rather limited and very inadequate,” he recalls.

Eventually Guerra-Awe attended a community college and received an associates degree in environmental science in San Ignacio, Belize. Upon graduating, he spent three years working as a research assistant on biological and archaeological projects in the Belizean jungles.

In 2006, he enrolled at Georgia College & State University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in environmental sciences in May 2009.

His travel and college experiences initiated Guerra-Awe’s interest in social change.

“After having moved away to study, I started conjuring and devising ways to help create avenues of self-expression for the young people in my community, primarily, but also for the entire community in general,” he says. “I brainstormed long and hard and came up with the idea of starting a grass roots movement using art as an agent for social change. I dubbed it La Poderosa III.”

The name comes from the following:

In 1952, a Norton Motorbike, dubbed La Poderosa II, was driven to its death by two young Argentine medical students as they explored South America. Along their journey, they witnessed many things, some impacting them enough to change their lives completely. One of these young men went on to become one of the world’s most controversial revolutionary figures. La Poderosa II was the wheels of a revolutionary.

“La Poderosa III is a concept group born from this idea and from the necessity for leadership and direction for young people in Belize,” Guerra-Awe says.

“La Poderosa will strive to be a major catalyst of change by inspiring through radical rhetoric, art and civil action. It will challenge young Belizeans to be the change they wish to see in their communities using their talents, strengths and passion as the primary tool for inspiring hope in revolutionary ways.

“La Poderosa III will be the wheels of a revolution, an Intellectual Belizean Revolution.”

By creating this movement, Guerra-Awe has presented an avenue for people to express themselves positively using art, and he has given himself a way to further develop his talents and explore new ones.

However, due to lack of funding, the organization has only been able to initiate a few programs: salsa dancing lessons, open-mics and poetry slams. Ultimately, he wants to do a cultural exchange with a university in Cuba and publish a small collection of his prose and short stories.

Guerra-Awe believes art is a major catalyst for change whether it’s providing recreation, expression or used as an educational tool.

“Art is one of the most effective ways of inspiring radical social change because of its ability to capture people’s attention,” he says. “The projects that I’ve undertaken or gearing to undertake all involve some form of art and are geared at portraying some message in order to spark social change.”

He also thinks that every community needs progress and needs to evolve mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically.

“In Belize specifically, we are at a point where people, young and old, have very few outlets or avenues to grow and/or develop their talents. Belize has a plethora of talent,“ he says. “Being an underdeveloped country, there is a great deal of social change that needs to be undergone in order for progress to occur.”

When it comes to future plans with La Poderosa III, Guerra-Awe intends to further develop projects and concepts to apply in his community. This includes developing and organizing an art-based cultural exchange program and assisting with developing projects so Belizeans can visit other countries and learn about art movements or attend workshops to develop their own skills and talents.

“[We also want ] to develop a fellowship of Belizean artists and perhaps even construct and manage a nonprofit studio where Belizean artists of all genres can display, record, created, compose and develop their art.”

Guerra-Awe says his greatest inspiration is his late grandmother, Elena Awe Galvez,.

“She never sat still until the day she was dead. She worked tirelessly as a steward of our community, and I can only dream of being like her.”

Nowadays, he finds motivation from various things.

“At this point in time, my muse is the vast talent that exists in my beautiful country. My muse is the knowledge that my country has such great potential to produce great writers, dancers, musicians, actors, artisans, athletes but above all, great leaders.”

“I believe that a great leader makes leaders of her/his followers. I strive to be a great leader.”

Some things La Poderosa III is in need of an acoustic-electric guitar, a small amp, a mic, camcorder, projector, a laptop computer equipped with audio and video recording, editing software and Photoshop and an SLR digital camera.

The drive to Shut IT DOWN goes global with the efforts of Jose Guerra-Awe and others. The solution is in our hands.

Written by Jamie Fleming (http://mochawriter.com/)

Edited by Paul Ayo