American poet Fredrick- Douglas Knowles II speaks
Dumisani Ncube | Friday January 19, 2018 15:00
Prior to speaking to Art & Culture he recited a poem titled Natural Born. The American native sat down to speak about his poetry, career, being a black man in Donald Trump’s America, police brutality and Trump’s ‘shithole’ stunt.
The 44-year-old caught Arts & Culture’s eye last week when he recited a number of poems during a Moratiwa Molema organised poetry session. His energy had everyone silent and the interest grew.
“I got into writing during my last year in college. My professor challenged us to read in-depth literature, I read mostly books by black authors such as Nathan McCall. I learnt that there is a global struggle for black men in America and universally,” Knowles said, giving examples of the different struggles experienced by black people ranging from slavery, segregation, lack of resources and white supremacy.
He said the books helped him in gaining inspiration to write and talk the struggle that black people have been experiencing for centuries.
“This has since inspired me to write and talk about it through my poetry and I have become an activist through my poetry. Poetry was ignited by my love for hip-hop. I have always wanted to be an MC, I was eight when hip-hop came into the scene. I was raised in the church with a photographic memory of memorising bible verses and poetry came as second nature”.
Through his poetry he has become an activist against the segregation of black people. Knowles is also an HIV/AIDS activist. “Education is the most pivotal tool for the black man to gain power against the oppressive system.
Young people should be more educated to grow the society, remember our ancestors were deprived of reading during slavery. They were forced to learn English. If you were found reading you would be killed”.
Having experienced the local spoken word scene in Botswana, he spoke about the USA, stating that youth are the most dominant in the industry because they use it to express their stories such as police brutality, bullying, depression and drug abuse.
Knowles, however, stated that USA, just like in Botswana is difficult for one to eke out a living from poetry. He said most poets resort to other professions to survive.
As a black activist he believes that slavery and discrimination against people of colour still exist. “Slavery is alive and existing and it has been transferred into the prison system,” he said.
With Donald Trump recently labelling African countries as “shithole”, Knowles was quick to lambast his President without fear, describing him as a “racially disturbed man”.
“He is a narcissistic European American who is doing what he was raised to do because of his skin colour, power and top seat.
“He is not concerned about poor people. Referring to the global population and land of my ancestors as ‘shithole’ countries is really a sad thing.
“We do not feel safe in placing our faith in this man. He does not represent the majority of America and we do not stand with him,” Knowles said.
Knowles has been in the country for a number of weeks on vacation, stating that he has been taking his time to rest and write his new book that is dedicated to his little granddaughter.