Filed under: Film: Art of Love & Struggle
In our film the very very talented Helena D.Lewis takes us to the “stroll” in New Jersey and talks to us about the young women she worked with when she was founding a drop in center for sex workers. She also shares her award winning poetry, much of which is inspired by her work with prostitutes, inmates and HIV patients. From working with sex offenders to defending sex workers, Helena speaks in hard to hear truths. Her poetry keeps her traveling around the country. She has performed twice with Def Poetry Jam.
Helena D. Lewis, a Brick City [Newark, New Jersey, USA] native, is a natural born entertainer. She has done some modeling and acting. However, it is her gift with words that has brought her national attention.
Helena D. Lewis got her polishing with other artists like Pinky, Talaam Acey, Flow Mentalz, and Rob Hylton at her home mic, Bogies, in East Orange, NJ. In the beginning, they were dubbed New Jersey’s Fake A$$ Poets, but all the naysayers soon were silenced as this group of supposedly wanna-be rappers became a force to be reckoned with in the NY/NJ poetic community of seasoned writers, performers, and slammers.
Helena D. Lewis started writing in college, but she wasn’t always the polished poet that she is today. She was tentative at her first open mic performance as the audience shouted “VIRGIN!!,” the cheer that greets most first timers. But as their greeting faded with time so did her doubts. It was not long before she was a featured artist and touring colleges and venues all around the country, from Baltimore, MD to New York, NY to Miami, FL. But she did not stop there. She also picked up several awards, including winning a coveted spot on the famous Nuyorican Poets Cafe 2000 National Slam Team (previous Nuyorican Slam Team members have included: Sarah Jones, Jessica Care Moore, Saul Williams, and Steve Colman).
Helena D. Lewis delivers a special brand of in-your-face, no-holds-barred poetry that spans a wide range of subjects, from prostitution to time-travel. Her spoken word content and performance exploring a new side to poetry that exposes raw emotions. Her work spurns the sappy and unintelligible Love Jones-esque brand of poetry for a refreshing, honest, and blunt substitute, not saccharine but pure cane sugar.
Her words are the kind that invoke emotions that speak to everyone. Her delivery is the kind that enthralls the audience and involves them in the poetry. when you see her perform live, check out her chapbook - From The Gut, and listen to her CD - Where Does It Hurt?, be prepared to . . . feel it.
Incomplete versions of Things I Just Can’t Get Out My Mind…
by Helena D. Lewis
Long after my death
I want someone to speak my words with pride
use my chapbook and cd as a guide
to help slide them through
the sliding indrieernce of humanity
I was born female and black
two strikes against me
yet im prevailing
not existing
surving
surpassing jokers
plotting
convinced they can steal my joy
rename me toy
with capitalism breathing down my back
I am the queen of swords
fighting for the have nots
telling the knots in my stomach
no weapon forged against me shall prosper
for i am filled with the courage of women who jumped ship
before the completion of the middle passage
like them i rather die then be enslaved
or stop fighting for the American dream
not promised to me
but whispered on winds
by lynched men on trees
all black like me
see
Incomplete versions of thoughts I can’t get out my mind…
On the eve of my 31st birthday
I found myself alone
alone in the medical imaging center
with the old maid card I plucked when I was six still in my back pocket
waiting for the technician to x-ray my left foot for the 8th time
preying the swellen of unknown origin was not another sign of old age to come
like my inability to use all the digits on my right hand on cold, damped and rainy
days…painfully caused by the arthritis I acquired working minimum wage to obtain a four
year degree in 8years from an accredited university that serves no purpose in a room I
barely use…
Not the person I should be
Not the person I was
but destined to be more
Incomplete versions of thoughts I can’t get out my mind…
No
No, I don’t wanna’ date your
baby’s father, cousin, ex-best friend
I might be single
but
I’m not desparate
Incomplete versions of Things I Just Can’t Get Out My Mind
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