Meet Bomani Armah

As he so aptly puts it “I’m not a rapper, I’m a poet with a hip-hop style”. Bomani’s internet smash hit “Read a Book” is the subject of a short animated film that debuted on BET in June 2007 to much critical acclaim and controversial backlash. He is featured on the first single/video from Mello-D & The Rados: “Cool Witchu”, which aired on BET’s “Rap City” and peaked at #3 on national college radio charts. Bomani’s music video for “The Hustle” aired at the San Francisco Black Film Festival in 2006 to rave reviews.  Bomani’s 2008 release Radio Friendly blends his fluid and funky production style with his insight-fully poetic yet accessible lyrics.   As a editorial writer he has been published in the Washington Post and TheRoot.com. Bomani produces and engineers for other artists and has scored numerous movies and television shows.  Mr. Armah has worked as a consultant teaching creative writing, music and video production for American University, The Washington National Cathedral, The University of the District of Columbia, The National Youth Leadership Council, The National Organization of Concerned Black Men, The American Poetry Museum, Martha’s Table, and Words Beats & Life Inc.  In 2012 Bomani is releasing his first book and accompanying album entitled “Circumlocution Vol II”.  He will also continue being the drummer and front man for his #funk#rock#gogo#hiphop band Immaletchufinish.

SupermanBatman

The simplest statement,
spoken from the heart,
is more profound
than scripture

I fixed a four year olds favorite toy
With little more then the flick of a button
He looked me in my eyes
And smiled like he was opening a birthday present
postmarked from heaven

saying
“wow daddy, u r superman batman!”.

This little vessel with limited life lived
And an inkling of a vocabulary
Wanted me to know I was greater then any super hero he could fathom

I walked a step or two away before it hit me, and I almost teared up. That is to this day the most profound compliment I’ve ever received. Not only was it a compliment, but an expectation

When it comes down to it, this is all there is
This is my only love, this is my only bizz
I don’t event think about it, and I never mind
When I’m gone, this is all I leave behind
Despite that i feel so inadequate
He thinks I’m a godlike I think I’m bad at it
He appreciate every word and every touch
Makes me remember that I love my dad that much

the most amazing man the world has ever found
Could reach the top of the fridge without a single bound
with laser beam vision that makes the world melt
handle any situation with his utility belt
An American hero, the man of steel
his minivan was cooler then the batmobile
could jump from anywhere straight into his open arms
I had a superhero, no need for lucky charms

remember when I first became a teen
Before I knew what being a grown man means
Went thru that phase to define myself
Stop looking in his eyes to find myself
Stop listening, stopped calling
But knew he’d be there to stop me from fallin
didn’t appreciate the time and effort spent
so he changed from superman, to Clark Kent

his biggest investment, his biggest drain
no longer needed batman, i needed bruce wayne
you took it with a smile, like “i’ll be that”
knowing when i need super powers i’d be back
because he made it look so easy
The big things to raise me, the little things to please me
he’s home, i don’t have to be brave
my fortress of solitude his garage is batcave
The things he’d do without asking twice
Before I understood the meaning of sacrifice

raised three kids, we knew he where proud of us
played the background, perferred to be anonymous
as i sit here in awe of all his abilities
super human strength, cat like agility
X-ray vision reveals lifes mysteries
like superman and batman his strength is his humility

“Moment of Silence” featuring Lady Pcoq

Love is a language of laughter and tears
But the most telling moments are ones of silence

We have built this house
Where love reverberates of walls
And this isn’t sound
The squeek of the door
The creaks in the floor
The pitch. The mood
We’ve tuned each other out
every story has been told
once melodic yarn spun across bedroom floors
like sunsets on desert horizons
like red wine on breath
like new velvet yielding to my fingers
now just drone on
at one time the tenor in my voice held you
Now you wish I would hold my tongue
Sucked Teeth
Tapping fingers
The drum major in a war of words
the frustration is audible, so we change the play

Lost in translation
Not worth the frustration
There are no words for what I’m saying to you
Hush now
Not what but how
In my silence I have no choice but to be true

Your laugh brings color to white noise
Your accent flavors my morning
Your silhoutte leaves me dumbstruck
Heart valves as metronome
Our minor disagreements show the beauty in dissonance
Our bedsheets soak in the echo of last nights love making
As you say my name in your own time signature
Struck a major chord
When the cacophony of life perferates ear drums
Leaving sky lines bleek
the air blanketed in rotted dreams
like raw nuckles on granite
the rhythm of your words is the percussion
that gets me back on beat
the perspective that brings my world back to scale
the conflict that resolves into harmony
in this duet, we pluck heart strings
until we hear
nothing

Lost in translation
Not worth the frustration
There are no words for what I’m saying to you
Hush now
Not what but how
In my silence I have no choice but to be true]

 

Bomani on NPR’s “Tell Me More” with Michel Martin

In light of the child sexual abuse scandal at Penn State, host Michel Martin explores the challenges of mentoring and how that role is changing. She speaks with a diverse panel of mentors: two fathers and a young journalist.  Join Bomani Armah, Phil Lerman (author of the “Dadditude” and former producer on America’s Most Wanted) and Malik Washington.  Click here or on the photo to listen to the whole episode, and here to read the blog by Bomani that inspired the conversation

A Teachable Moment

This is my second home. 6pm, a crowded room of 12-18 year-olds, fresh off of their Doritos and grape soda hi’s. One of the more affable students, a 12 year old whose futile attempts at being gangsta only make him more lovable, for the first and only time gets a running start and jumps onto my back. Instinctively I reach behind me, grab him by the shoulders and begin to flip him over me. We are both laughing hysterically, and enjoying this moment. From the clues I’ve gotten from his grandparents, he doesn’t have a lot of interaction with grown men. Not in school, not at home, not in the streets that baby sit him, but here he’s my kid. Then another of student yells out “PENN STATE!”

And there you have it.

Like the rest of the nation, I have finally had a moment to breath. To inhale the stale stench of the Penn State phenomena, process this betrayal of the children, and the details of this heinous crime. This is the time to ask the cliche question “so what did we learn from this?”. In this instance that question can be quite chilling because almost all cases like this involve someone who is taking advantage of their position as a leader, mentor and educator of young lives. These crimes are perpetrated by people who are assigned the task of seeking out, and taking advantage, of teachable moments. For all intents and purposes Sandusky and I are in the same business, actively looking to have access to children, to help them through teachable moments. His alleged crimes casts a shadow over me and the millions of adults who have the trust of parents, children and communities. The “joke” a student yelled at me was just an extended part of the assault that Sandusky has perpetrated on all of us. The children involved in these crimes undoubtedly have asked “what did I learn from this? About proper adult behavior? About my own sexuality? About how the world feels about me?” Continue reading →