March 20, 2009

'Back in the Day' - Faylita Hicks, Spoken Word Artist

Meet Faylita Hicks, my young twenty-something year old cousin whose voice and poetry have been making waves in the Austin and San Marcos community for years now. [NOTE: Click on blog title to see the video]





This poem was written while Faylita was a student at the local community college. She wanted to explore the different reasons why some people end up using drugs as a way to escape reality. This poem also explores the long term effects of child abuse.

Villagers, what are your thoughts on Faylita's spoken word?

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow, when Faylita hits the world stage (and she will) I can say I first saw her huge talent at the Village. This sister has mad talent and a voice that should be widely heard.

Unknown said...

Karen - I hope that cyberspace drumbeats get to Faylita so that she can respond to your kind words in person...

iriegal said...

I agree with Karen. A wonderful talent. I am a big fan of the "spoken word" poetry. I use to watch Def Jam Poetry all the time

Unknown said...

Iriegal - I haven't had HBO for many years, so I haven't seen Def Comedy Poetry in a long time. I did enjoy it when I was able to watch it.

I still hope that Faylita will visit with us and share her own thoughts. I will queue up other work by her in coming weeks.

Durward Discussion said...

Faylita is remarkable. I was at the top of the blog when it started playing and kept rolling down wondering who owned this powerful voice. When found, I simply played it all over again just to absorb everything she had to say.

Unknown said...

Jamie - Thank you for the kind words. I'm sorry that it played automatically. I can't find a way to make this clip only begin upon user request...

Anonymous said...

Hi! I want to thank everybody for the lovely comments. This poem is actually one of my earliest pieces, and as Villager posted, written after an experience I had while attending my local community college. A lot of my work tends to focus on both the trials and successes of black women. More recently, my work has shifted from just the black woman to all women.
The journey we have taken as a sex has been a tumultuous yet fulfilling one and as a poet and a writer, I am learning how to chronicle the modern woman's experience. Speaking about the "herstory" of our sex has been a continuous theme in my spoken word and I have found it to be a completely invigorating experience.
I will soon be posting new videos on my website, with some of my more recent poems that deal with subjects such as the spiritual love between a man and a woman, the deaths in Darfur, the stifled discussion of women’s sexuality, and even modern day slavery. As a young growing writer, I hope to find a way in which to speak up for those who cannot and inspire those of us who have the voice to say something meaningful. Poetry is just one of the ways that I can do that.
Thanks again for the feedback here and thanks Villager for posting it!

www.FAYLITAHICKS.com