a rootfolkz defyning
poetry be the living arrayngment uv breth, sound, image, memory, silence, & spirit into languag that karryz more than informayshun. poetry iz not merely decorayted speech or emoshunal expresshun; it iz koncentrayted witness. it gatherz what ordinary languag kannot hold whole — greef, joy, terror, beauty, ancestry, rezistance, wonder, kontradikshun, & bekuming — & givz it rhythm, shayp, & prezence. at itz root, poetry iz a way uv listening to lyf until lyf speakz bak.
poeting iz the aktiv praktiss uv entering that listening. it iz the mayking, shayping, sounding, reevyzing, karrying, & embodying uv poetik witness. poeting be not limited to wryting poemz. it includez breth, chant, drum, silence, study, memory-work, richual, kommunity engaygment, & the disciplind effort to let languag remayn alyv. to poet iz to work with sound az force, image az portal, memory az responsibility, & word az living relayshun. poeting be how experience bekumz offering.
poet naymz one who praktissez this work. a poet be not only sumwun who wrytz poemz, but wun who listenz beneath surface speech for the hidden pulse uv lyf, then tranzkrybz, shaypz, & returnz that pulse to the peepl. the poet iz witness, sound-worker, memory-keeper, truth-bearer, trublmayker, healer, & messenger.
in the rootfolkz sense, the poet standz between breth & payg, wound & word, ancestor & unborn, self & kommunity — karrying languag az responsibility, not pozzesshun.
The poet & the press.
I am Omowalé-Kétu Oladuwa, poet, publisher, cultural worker, journalist, educator & community elder.
I am the son of Carrie Thomas Taylor & John Henry Taylor, Margaret Fisher & Tyrone Foster, and a cultural student of Chief James Hawthorne Béy & Dr. Margaret Burroughs.
I was born & raised in the tight-knit Black community west of Main Street in Elmsford, New York.
For 38 years, I have shared life with my partner, Clydia Early. I am the father of Onaje, Naimah, Teila, RasAmen & Kemit.
Poetry discovered me in the late 1960s while I was on death row in Massachusetts. Inside that confinement, I began writing my Self anew, studying Afrikan culture, history, politics, resistance & spirit while shaping an identity rooted beyond the definitions imposed upon me.
Poetry became witness, memory, resistance & waymaking.
I later earned a BS in Professional Theatre from Fordham University at Lincoln Center and an MS in Journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. After more than two decades working in theatre and journalism, I turned increasingly toward cultural education, community-building & independent creative work.
In 1999, I cofounded the Three Riverz Jenbé Ensemble, creating a Mandé drumming space for young people. That work expanded in 2007 into the Three Rivers Institute of Afrikan Art & Culture, which continued opening cultural doors in Fort Wayne through 2015.
Today, my work moves through poetry, publishing, cultural memory, elder responsibility & community practice. I serve with the People of Afrikan Descent Elders Council, the 3 Rivers CoOp Board of Directors, the Proven Sustainable Conversation Series, Poetz Portal Kollektiv, Identity Countz Cultural Collective & RootFolkz Poetz Press.
Since 2009, I have produced, coordinated & participated in poetry, music, cultural education & community-building projects throughout Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Nearly six decades after poetry first found me, I continue to write, publish, present & build spaces where memory, culture, resistance & imagination can remain alive.
RootFolkz Poetz Press is one expression of that continuing work.
RootFolkz Poetz Press
Organized under Identity Counts Cultural Collective, LLC, RFPP publishes the books of Omowalé-Kétu Oladuwa and consults with poets and writers to bring their work to print and forum.
