Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer
Duane Francis, poet and the host of 'Spoken Word' performing at the Rootz Lounge.
WESTERN BUREAU: POETRY HAS found an ear and air on Roots FM.Spoken Word is all of three weeks old and squalling on the radio station known as 'the voice of the inner city', holding a time slot of 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Tuesdays.
It is a case of the new bringing in the new, as relatively recent addition to the Roots FM team, Duane Francis, is the host of Spoken Word.
"It was Rosamond Brown's idea," Francis said, crediting the general manager of Roots FM with the initiative. Inspiration has a way of coming full circle, though, as it was after seeing Francis, who is known as 'The Sniper Poet', perform at the Rootz Lounge about a month ago that the move was made.
Fittingly enough, that weekly production at the ICOWAL Texaco station at the intersection of Old Hope Road and Mountain View Avenue, is also called 'Spoken Word'.
NOT STRICTLY ABOUT POETRY
The Roots FM show is not strictly about poetry, as Francis said "I play from Sizzla to Sam Cooke's Change Gonna Come. And if I find a Jimi Hendrix with a message I play it too." Peter Tosh and Abdel Wright also get their share of air time.
"The music varies, but it is message music," he said.
On the poetry side, Francis plays Malachi Smith, Cherry Natural, Dingo, Neto Meeks, DYCR, Ras Malekot and "last night (Tuesday) I played Steppa and Ras Takura.
"There is a set of new voices coming up now," Francis said. "From the work is good I will play it."
Saul Williams, United States poet, has made the playlist as well. So far there has been not much in the way of feedback, but there are plans to make the show more interactive. And, on Tuesday night, there was a live interview for the first time, with poet Sage being the guest.
There are plans to take the poetry out of the studio and into the streets, with a poetry
competition geared towards inner-city residents, in an effort to stimulate them to write. The possible format is to have the competition every two months, leading to a grand championship.
While it would be good to do outside
broadcasts of poetry events, there is the matter of cost and Francis says sponsorship would have to come into play.
There is one limitation, however, that Francis wishes to get over. "When you play one hour on radio it is the shortest thing," he said, laughing.
