Watch Mutabaruka deliver his iconic, high-energy performance of 'Dis Poem' on HBO's Def Poetry Jam: Def Poetry: Mutabaruka- Dis Poem (Official Video) Poetical Tv YouTube• Mar 16, 2010 MUTABARUKA | DIS POEM
is the most famous work by the renowned Jamaican Rastafari dub poet Mutabaruka . First released in 1986, the poem is a powerful, rhythmic critique of historical and systemic oppression, designed to be heard and felt as much as understood. The Narrative of "Dis Poem" Dis Poem
: "Dis Poem" is a prime example of dub poetry, which prioritizes orality over traditional European literary rules. It uses Jamaican Patois, lacks standard punctuation, and is meant to be performed to a reggae-inspired beat. It uses Jamaican Patois, lacks standard punctuation, and
: It rebels against man-made divisions like "First," "Second," and "Third World" and expresses outrage against apartheid , racism , fascism , and the Ku Klux Klan . : It invokes a pantheon of revolutionary figures,
: Mutabaruka explicitly states that "dis poem is still not written" because it is a part of an ongoing, untold story that continues in the listener's mind.
: It invokes a pantheon of revolutionary figures, including Malcolm X , Marcus Garvey , Patrice Lumumba , Jomo Kenyatta , and Haile Selassie .
: The poem describes itself as "knives, bombs, guns, blood, fire blazing for freedom" and likens its rhythm to a drum or a shanty. Themes and Style
