[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 44 (Wednesday, March 30, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E564]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 A DAY IN HONOR OF ABIODUN OYEWOLE, ``FOUNDING MEMBER OF THE LEGENDARY 
  LAST POETS'' AND ARCHITECT OF POETS HAVEN--OPEN HOUSE SUNDAYS @ 110 
                           MORNINGSIDE DRIVE

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                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 30, 2011

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a day in honor of 
Abiodun Oyewole, founding member of the legendary Last Poets and 
architect of Poets Haven--Open House Sundays @ 110 Morningside Drive.
  On Sunday, March 27, 2011, Harlem's beloved National Black Theater 
hosted and joined the community of Black Diasporan Artist and Poets to 
celebrate and honor the legacy of Abiodun Oyewole and his most prized 
institution, ``Open House Sundays @ 110 Morningside Drive,'' a true 
rendition of free art, expression, and family love.
  Abiodun Oyewole, a founding member of the legendary and original 
spoken word group, The Last Poets, has for over 30 years opened his 
apartment every Sunday, feeding his fellow artists food for thought, 
body and soul. Sunday's participants would gather at Poets Haven to 
celebrate each other, eat delicious foods, and gravitate to the elders. 
For many aspiring and renowned artists and poets, this is home, a place 
where one can help oneself to salmon croquettes, grits and home fries. 
In his living room you can find griots, storytellers and poets sharing 
their work with people who have an appreciation for the arts and yearn 
to be around love and expression of Black Consciousness.
  Shortly after the assassination and murder of Reverend Dr. Martin 
Luther King, Jr., along with the changing domestic landscape came the 
New York City-hip group called The Last Poets. They used obstreperous 
verse to chide a Nation whose inclination was to maintain the colonial 
yoke around the neck of the disenfranchised. Their name, ``The Last 
Poets,'' is taken from a poem by the South African revolutionary poet 
Keorapetse Kgositsile, who posited the necessity of putting aside 
poetry in the face of looming revolution. ``When the moment hatches in 
time's womb there will be no art talk,'' he wrote. ``The only poem you 
will hear will be the spearpoint pivoted in the punctured marrow of the 
villain. . . . Therefore we are the last poets of the world.''
  So Abiodun Oyewole and founding members Umar Bin Hassan, Jalal Mansur 
Nuriddin, Felipe Luciano, Gylan Kain, David Nelson and percussionist 
Nilaja Obabi formed The Last Poets on May 19, 1968, Malcolm X's 
birthday, at Marcus Garvey Park (formerly Mount Morris Park) in the 
East Harlem/El Barrio neighborhood part of my Congressional District in 
New York.
  These young radical poets and musicians rose to become the rappers of 
the civil rights era. During the late 60s and early 70s, Abiodun and 
members of The Last Poets connected with the violent factions of the 
SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee), the SDS (Students 
for a Democratic Society), and the Black Panther party. They went 
through confrontations with the FBI and police, arrests for robbing the 
Ku Klux Klan and various other ventures with Revolution in mind. 
Abiodun Oyewole received a 12- to 20-year jail sentence, but served 
less than four years.
  Post the revolutionary Civil Rights era, Abiodun went into teaching. 
He was a Columbia University Fellow, where he taught biology, and also 
spent 15 years with the New York City Board of Education teaching 
children.
  The Last Poets have been cited as one of the earliest influences of 
what would become hip-hop music and for paving the way for all socially 
committed Black and diverse emcees. So, Mr. Speaker, I ask that today 
we pay homage to Abiodun Oyewole, Umar Bin Hassan, Felipe Luciano and 
percussionist Don Babatunde Eaton. Without fame or fortune, they 
continue to raise the consciousness of America and influence the world 
through the spoken word of the ``Legendary Last Poets.''

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