‘Prophets’ decry racial inequality
Event Watts poets deliver social activist message at Spectrum event in Bovard
By REBECCA ZAK
Projects Editor
The soft sounds
of modern jazz and spoken poetry floated to an audience of about 60
students as the Watts Prophets, a trio of socially active performing
artists, played in Bovard Auditorium as a part of the Spectrum Series last
night.
The Watts
Prophets, comprised of Father Anthony Hamilton, Otis O'Solomon and Richard
Dedeaux, treated the audience to a montage of the poetry they've created
since their beginning days after the 1965 Los Angeles riots. The majority
of their songs expose the reality of racial tension, demoralizing
commercialism and environmental degradation.
"They have a
very powerful social message," said Emma Dumont, an undeclared sophomore.
"They're not afraid to make personal political statements."
After the show,
the "prophets" said theirs is a message of hope.
"Our most
important message is to wake people up and become alert and come to a point
to accept that you can make a difference and bring people
together,"O'Solomon said.
The show began
with a performance of "Hey World," a poem highlighting environmental and
social problems in Los Angeles. Expository lyrics included the line,
"tomorrow might be too lateŠif we destroy this earth, what are we going to
do?"
The next poem
called "Freedom Flame" utilized the imagery of a fire to illustrate the
problem of easing racial tensions.
"Theses racial
things take a little more time," the Prophets said, "Too many broken
promises, throw another log on the fire."
One of the most
popular poems of the show, called "When the '90s Came" exposed the problems
of mental despair, black self-hatred and disease, yet ended with a promise
of hope.
"Justice and
morality are no longer reality in most men's mentalities," the Prophets
said, adding "Through all the negativity, there is still positivity,
hope."
Students were
impressed by the message behind the performance.
"Every poem has
a meaning," said Justin Buckner, a sophomore majoring in music industry, "I
was very interested."
"(Their
performance) has a lot of depth and a lot of wisdom. Some of the stuff that
they say really makes you think," said Annette Stepanian, a sophomore
majoring in business.
From speaking at
Bob Marley's funeral to writing for the Los Angeles Times, each of the
Watts Prophets is an accomplished individual with an activist past.
The three
started their performance poetry career, calling for a resurgence of
African-American consciousness nearly 40 years ago in Watts, a
predominately black working-class community south of USC.
The Watts
Prophets came together at the Watts Writer's Workshop, a workshop that has
since ceased to exist, which was created to encourage creative expression
in the poor community. From there, the poets went on to a highly
controversial career, fighting the oppression of African Americans.
"You look at
these people and you see 30 years of activism," Dumont said, adding that
"this is an event with meat on it."
Some were
distressed that more people didn't see the show.
"People are
missing out," Buckner said, adding that people need to break their routines
and experience things that they haven't seen before.
The "prophets"
were happy to be speaking at USC.
"We have a long
relationship with USC," Dedeaux said. "We have been here numerous times.
The school is right here in our hood."
Writer Peter
Anthony Rasmussen contributed to this story.
Copyright 2001 by the Daily Trojan. All rights reserved.
This article was published in Vol. 142, No. 27 (Friday, February 16, 2001), beginning on page 1 and ending on page 3.