#anthony ragler

[buttonpoetry]

This is the beauty of my people, how we turn tragedy into celebration.

Anthony Ragler - “Target” (NPS 2014)

[buttonpoetry]

Thank you for not quitting when you were the best. For knowing that some things are always worth fighting for.

FROM THE VAULT! Jared Singer & Anthony Ragler - "Potential" (NPS 2014)

Performing for NYC-Urbana during prelims at the 2014 National Poetry Slam. Make Button Poetry grow!

[buttonpoetry]

Suspicious is the gap between innocent and funeral.

Anthony Ragler - “Target” (NPS 2014)

[buttonpoetry]

Being black in America is like being a grizzly on hunting grounds. Everyone is afraid of our claws, but claws are futile against bullets.

FROM THE VAULT! Anthony Ragler - "Target" (NPS 2014)

Anthony Ragler, performing for NYC Urbana at the 2014 National Poetry Slam. Want captions on all videos? Multilingual subtitles? A nationwide Button tour? Check us out on Patreon!

[lauralethe]

Une rue, une nuit - à voix haute #16

Anthony Ragler - "Target"

Anthony Ragler est un rappeur et poète de Brooklyn.

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The night of the verdict, we were parading through the streets before the phone call. Silenced by the hush of a gavel through summer air, we trudge our way to the L train, which on this night means Luck. Or Lost. Or Lives. Or Law. As in: we are lucky we have not lost our lives; the law won’t protect us. All that matters now is “Suspicious”. “Suspicious” is the gap between innocent and funeral. My brother is screaming that we are endangered. He only sees red, thinks it’s the shadow of the target on his back. The white people look at him like he’s a rambunctious bullet; they know not how far we are willing to take this protest. I am the only one not outraged. Didn’t expect any different. Post-racial society, is a pretty way to say “Hope for justice, don’t expect it.” An older black man says: “The way to avoid being mistaken for a hoodlum is to present yourselves better. Stay in school and stop sagging your pants.” As if we were responsible for our own deaths. He is good intentions and horrendous delivery. Telling 12 Black youth that the system isn’t working against us, but they wouldn’t call it a system if it wasn’t working. Being black in America is like being a grizzly on hunting grounds. Everyone fears our claws, but claws are futile against bullets. We drag towards mybrother’s house where death weighs us all down. A friend says “Weren’t we coming here to party?” We go buy drinks, like that would numb the numb we already aren’t feeling. The night is plantation humid. My friends are mahogany carved flasks,dancing their targets off in a drunken slur. This night has made lovers out of lone wolves. To us, this is the Black Y2K. This is the beauty of my people, how we turn tragedy into celebration. Something outside is trying to kill us. This is how we mourn a brother’s death. This is not the end of our lives. It is the beginning of the fight for them.

[thisbirdwassetfree-blog]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBfw8pZ8fGU)

so god damn powerful

[bostonpoetryslam]

Say what you mean. The truth is definitely something you can’t shy away from and it’s much better to be an honest person than it is to speak only for others to enjoy you. Write your truth and let no one try and take that from you.

Anthony Ragler’s advice to up-and-coming artists, as told to Tosin Oyekoya for Blavity’s Behind the Mic

[bostonpoetryslam]

I think my biggest inspiration is the mind; I find it really interesting how people think and form opinions and conclusions on things. A lot of my work comes from trying to understand things in a way sometimes outside of myself, and also trying to communicate the way I think and rationalize to others.

Anthony Ragler, interviewed by Tosin Oyekoya for Blavity’s Behind the Mic