POERTY: Shabazz
On the corner of 7th Ave and 42nd Street,
That was your spot.
Boom boxes bangin’
Criss crossin’ rock
Anyone that passes by you,
They were likely to get shot.
Because you were a shooter.
With a sharp lens,
And a lethal flash,
You were constantly firing film.
Focusing on posing
So we could appreciate our past.
Shabazz,
At the age of 15 you picked up your weapon of choice.
Photography was burnt in your blood.
Who knew you could make history just by doing what you loved.
The hood was your home,
And it was all you needed.
These were your people
Brooklyn, home of the hip-hop heads.
The birthplace of fighters and writers.
And a culture that shaped America
Train carts were overflowing with
The swaggiest swag masters,
This is where can you find the
Hippest Emcees, the dopest DJs and the best graffiti gurus
roaming every street.
A pair of cool kicks
was the ticket to the hottest block party
Skinny ghetto boys and girls would flock for a photo.
Call it reverse paparazzi.
In your eyes they were superstars,
They were the best kind of beauty;
Spontaneous and natural,
Hopeful and rare.
With this mentality
You turned a dirty subways into galleries,
The hustling street corner into a studio,
Be-boys into runway models, and
Street musicians became royal orchestra maestros.
Brick houses were your backdrops,
Towering projects became glamorous skyscrapers,
Once you gave them a voice.
You discovered that when Brooklyn speaks,
people listen.
You were able to adjust your depth
Of your field perfectly;
blurring out any negativities in your way.
Man you really focused,
manually focusing
On bringing exposure to the youth.
Offering every possible piece of truth.
Aperture was not the only priority
Your shutter never shattered under pressure.
While white imbalances made your people neglected
Your depictions made the community respected.
You never did mind the grain in your prints,
It only added to your grit.
You made history with every single click.
Shabazz,
You had something to prove.
You had to let them know
That little black boys are more than
Empty pots and pans catching drops
From the white m
an’s leaky handds
That little black girls
Will never be stiff pieces of chalk.
They are permanent markers
They cannot be erased by janitors at the end of a long day.
That black men and women
are worth remembering.
You decided that;
This--
Is worth remembering.
Your encounters, your conversations, your people.
This is worth remembering.
We are worth remembering in our prime
A time before history distorted the truth.
Just as every photo has to go through a dark room to develop,
Every community has to go through a dark period to come out brighter.
Brooklyn there is a time worth remebering
a time before crack.
3.
A time before your 3 neighbors on the third floor
Got turnt out and abandoned three kids each.
A time before your two best friends
decide they were two cool for school
murdering two people a day was fine
long as they could run a line when they got done
1.
A time before every one had at least one cousin
Who just needed one more dollar
And one more chance to get clean
Say cheese.
A time before living in the Bronx
Was the same as not living at all.
These are more than just photographs,
More than just a collection of reflections of light on paper
More than nice images for a tumblr, hipster, or cool kid screensaver
These are seconds of your life
What is more valuable than 525,600 occurrences
Capturing is what you do best
Documedicine for the eyes
Visual magic for the soul
You have created the first ever urban history books
A delicate balance between the unavoidable bad
And the ever-present good.
On the last Sunday in June I flipped through your archives
Reading each picture with intensity
you have redefined what being a photographer really means
I see a girl with a pair of roller skates one size too big,
Waiting to be grown into.
I see an elderly man
With marble glass eyes that say;
“What a remarkable time to be alive”
I see young men in flight,
Given wings to reach every possibility
Their imagination can conjure.
I see best friends, lovers, gangs, and family.
I see the best of your visions made into a reality.
You are a legend that continues to inspire.
Shabazz
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