«EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL»

You’re on  HBO – again – with Russell Simmons Presents Brave New Voices.  You not only brought poets to most television screens in America, you did it twice.   What made you say to yourself let’s get some poets on major cable?
Simmons:  I just said let’s get some poets on tv.  And when they said that sounded unlikely, I made it worse.  I said, no man, I want to put a bunch of black poets on stage, too.  Some Latino poets who barely speak English and Asian poets who can’t believe how discriminated against they are.  It was luck and being in the right place.  I wasn’t saying nothing somebody else wasn’t saying but they wouldn’t hear it from them.

And you took Def Jam to Broadway in the ’90s?  Live poetry on Broadway?

Simmons:  We got a Tony.  Look at it this way, black actors on the road, flying around the country working as poets.  Those people are inspirations for millions of kids who write.  We have great ratings.  It was an interesting art form you couldn’t see anywhere else on television.  Imagine that!  Poetry!

True Slant
Sept 3 2009