According to Patrick Washington, there are 3 levels to being a well-rounded poet:
Beginner: Fully understands that not all poems have to rhyme.
Intermediate: Able to identify literary devices (simile, hyperbole, etc.)
Advanced: Able to host events and produce a full body of work.
He follows this rubric with his students at Hart Middle School in DC where he teaches poetry 3 times a week. Although he’s worked as a teaching artist since 2005, he’s taken the last few years to focus on his family, his hometown, and other ways to spark change with poetry. “After 10 years of being a hired gun for everybody else, I carved a lane out for myself,” said the 42 year old.
The roots of Patrick’s poetry career run close alongside America’s greatest cultural phenomenon: Hip Hop. As an army brat who spent his childhood in Japan and the Philippines, his family settled in Clinton MD around the time he started high school.
“I was a bamma,” he said of his time at Surrattsville High. “I was kind of awkward and didn’t fit in. I hated high school until hip-hop took hold.”
He grew fond of early Def Jam artists like LL Cool J and Slick Rick and eventually formed his own rap duo with a fellow classmate. One could think of them as a young OutKast; while his partner leaned more into the ‘gangsta rap’ style that was popular at the time, Patrick better identified as a flower child. “I considered my rhymes to be more ‘out there’ and abstract. So I took the name ‘Black Picasso’.”
Joel Dias-Porter, better known as DJ Renegade
After enrolling at PG Community College, Patrick transitioned from rapper to poet. That’s when he met legendary poet DJ Renegade, an ex- U.S. Airman and self-declared “guerilla intellectual” who spent years in a DC shelter to afford himself entirely to poetry. DJ Renegade was one of the leading performers at some of the city’s hottest poetry spots, which at the time were 9:30 Club, 15 Minutes, It’s Your Mug & the 8-Rock
“I was so inspired by him and all the artists from that movement. I started treating poetry like my college,” said Patrick, who left PGCC after 2 years.
“Great Day of U Street”, photo orchestrated by Patrick and taken in front of the historic Lincoln Theater on U Street. Featured in this photograph: Holly Bass, Renee Stout, Lisa Pegram, Jati Lindsay, Kwame Alexander, Weusi Baraka, Ta Nehisi Coates, Priest Da Nomad, Darrell ‘Naturalaw’ Perry, Toni Asane Lightfoot, Raquel Brown, Bala, Black Mongoose, Sam ‘The Seven Foot Poet’.
Back then, DC was a much grittier place than the polished, coffee-shop laden landscape you see today, particularly on U street. Crime and violence ran closely with its booming arts scene where Patrick broke bread with figures like Kwame Alexander, Saul Williams, and Ta Nehisi Coates.
“[Coates] influenced a lot of my early work,” said Patrick. Patrick became part of Modern Urban Griots, or M.U.G., a poetry group with a home base at It’s Your Mug. Between 1995 and 2003, he and his group and competed in over 100 slams across the nation. However, Patrick notes that he really honed his chops at Freestyle Union Collective, a poetry workshop founded by DC rapper/actress Toni Blackman that “made MC’s dope.” Poets who entered the cypher had freestyle rap about a given word, phrase, or topic.
But there were rules,” said Patrick of this weekly event. “You couldn’t disrespect women and you couldn’t battle joke. It forced you to be sharp-witted.”
Slam, 1998
In the 1990s, DC Poetry Scene became home to many renowned artists and even gained national recognition. “Slam”, a film by Marc Levin and Saul Williams, won awards at Cannes and Sundance and put DC on the map, featuring famous poetry spots like Republic Gardens and Bohemian Caverns. However, those spots now lay dormant amongst U Street’s rapid and vast redevelopment projects. When developers took notice of how the arts community made use of the city’s neglected properties, they quickly moved in and took control.
“When the scene got commercialized, the culture shifted,” said Patrick. “But we also got older and, you know, life happens”.
He helped found Generation 2000, a poetry group of 7 male and female artists who focused more on freeform-style poetry than written word. However, they disbanded after a few years of traveling and performing. Patrick and another member, Darrell ‘Natural Law’ Perry, formed a special bond & kept performing as The POEM-CEES
“We would finish each other’s verses,” said Patrick. “We were willing to take risks and blended poetry with beat boxing. [That’s why we] called ourselves ‘PoemCees’.”
The POEMCESS made their own way throughout the city’s performance scene but got their break when they were featured on HBO’s “Def Poetry Jam”, a poetry showcase founded by Patrick’s hip hop hero Russell Simmons that presented a wide variety of artists from Sonia Sanchez and Watts Prophets to Kanye West and Dave Chappelle.
“It was the early 2000s so it was kinda old school. We mailed in a 30 second audition tape! When we got the call back, it was a big deal because NYC was getting the most attention for poetry at the time.” Their first performance was such a hit that they were invited back the following season.
Patrick with his children.
Patrick’s poetry career was making waves, but, as aforementioned, “life happens”. On the morning of October 31, 2001, one month after the 9/11 attacks, he welcomed his first son into the world. Soon after, he began the shift from performance poet to teaching artist. “I used to do workshops with a 10-week curriculum. Then, in 2005, I became a full-fledged teaching artist.”
Career aside, Patrick also retraced his steps back to Clinton Maryland. He moved into his parent’s house, focused on his family and made strides to give back to his community.
With the Youth Poet Laurates at a Poetic Fashion Show at Creative Suitland
Currently, Patrick is the lead administrator for Dialect Prince George’s Youth Poet Laurate program, a poetry group that performs and competes locally and nationally. He also serves as a teaching artist for Word, Beats, & Life and the American Poetry Museum. Even with his extensive performance accolades, Patrick prides himself most of the impact he’s had on his students. “I’m not a formally trained educator, but I have a team of emotionally coherent students that can think critically. The youth need someone in their corner to help them heal, make decisions, and express themselves. I’m glad I can be a force to aid them in that process.”
written by Britt Barbour