Author Archives | Hakim Bellamy
Hakim Bellamy was the inaugural poet laureate of Albuquerque and is a national and regional Poetry Slam Champion. He holds three consecutive collegiate poetry slam titles at the University of New Mexico and his poetry has been published in Albuquerque inner-city buses and various anthologies. Bellamy was recognized as an honorable mention for the University of New Mexico Paul Bartlett Re Peace Prize for his work as a community organizer and journalist and was recently bestowed the populist honor of “Best Poet” by Local iQ (“Smart List” 2010, 2011, 2012 & 2013) and Alibi (“Best of Burque” 2010, 2011 & 2012). He is the co-creator of the multimedia Hip creator of the multimedia Hip Hop theater production Urban Verbs: Hip-Hop Conservatory & Theater that has been staged throughout the country. He facilitates youth writing workshops for schools and community organizations in New Mexico and beyond.
Hakim is currently finishing his MA in Communications and Journalism Department at the University of New Mexico. He is the proud father of a 5 year-old miracle and is the founding president of Beyond Poetry, LLC.
Hakim's photo by Wes Naman
Michael Datcher takes ABQ on a distinct ‘trip down memory lane’ this Saturday at the Outpost
Sometimes nonfiction is just not quite creative enough. Not even creative nonfiction. “With fiction, my goal is to remind people about the vitality of fiction. In our world people prefer nonfiction,” says Loyola Marymount Professor and New York Times Bestselling author Michael Datcher. “Because it is made up material people don’t respect it as a way to talk about the real world. They don’t look at it as a way to learn something about the real world, as opposed to a book of theory…people want to be entertained, rather than learn something about the past or themselves.”
This Saturday, Datcher is bringing his newest work to Albuquerque thanks to 516 ARTS and Outpost Performance Space. AMERICUS is a uniquely American story swaddled in Egyptian mythology and set in East Louis circa 1917...
Continue reading...Weekly Poem: Hot Tub Time Machine
25. June 2014
There’s a place
just beyond the present,
where the past goes to die
in the name of progress.
Where prayers
become quaint folks songs,
instead of blueprints,
instead of sheet music to the revolution,
instead of the past words
to our next donut round the sun...
Weekly Poem: In The Heart of Syria (A Hak-ku*)
09. September 2013
Humanity is
never the most logical
option, just like love.
One Million Bones on ¡Colores! particularly timely
02. September 2013
My most striking memories of being on the National Mall for the One Million Bones installation are of the conversations I overheard. Families of four would stop and look. One of the younger family members would ask, “What’s that?” One of the older family members would pause for approximately a moment of silence. Then, I’d listen as the adult gracelessly tries to choreograph an explanation as to why there is a mass grave in front of the United States Capitol without stepping on the word “genocide"...
Continue reading...Two Hak-Ku*
16. July 2013
This first haiku is for a forthcoming book of haiku, I am publishing. However, current events have recently made this short poem very popular and very potent. Thank you to poet and friend Susana Rinderle and organizer, childhood friend and mother Tangi Lancaster for asking to use this poem as their mantra to grieve and get something that at least resembles justice in the Trayvon Martin case. The haiku that follows Black Poem for America is brand new, and titled Only in America...
Continue reading...Youth “Voces” on display this Friday
27. June 2013
Every Monday through Friday for the month of June, from 9am to 4pm, a group of teenagers have devoted themselves to the art of being heard. These teen authors have bought into a 12 year-old program at the National Hispanic Cultural Center called Voces. This teen summer writing intensive was facilitated by the multimedia hip hop theater collaborative Urban Verbs, under the direction of Hakim Bellamy, Carlos Contreras and Colin Diles Hazelbaker. Throughout the month these young writers, with interest that vary from poetry to music to politics to comedy to short stories, were given the freedom and form to develop their innate writing talent. Guest presenters were brought in as experts on different styles of writing and performance, as well as visual art, choreography and communications/media training...
Continue reading...Weekly Poetry: Officer Smith
12. May 2013
What I wish I would have said to the soldier this morning as we stared each other down for a three second eternity in the *Smith’s parking lot (AKA “Officer Smith” poem)
I wonder
if this is what it feels like
standing on the other end
of your rifle
or are your eyes always that big
and soft
would you take offense?
if I said
that you are the only part
of that uniform
that makes me proud to be an American...
14. November 2014
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