Kenneth Something is an author, spoken word artist, organizer, educator, and playwright. However, he is best described as an artivist. Kenneth is a four-time national poetry slam champion and coach for the Baltimore Slam Team. Kenneth is the former executive director of the Pride Center of Maryland and a former professor at MICA. Currently, Kenneth is the lead producer of Charm City Slam and Program Director of Black Arts District. 

Note to the Hanging Tree

A black boy watches his father hang from a tree

I prayed the branch would break

That the tree would turn that summer night into autumn

Let my father’s body fall like a leaf

but instead it stood still

like its limb was more important than a black man’s life

Dear Oak Tree,

I pray spring forgets you

I pray you get termites

I pray there is a fireplace in your future

I pray that you become a matchstick

and burn down everything

Next winter when the cold whiteness comes for you

I will not wish you mercy

Y ou do not deserve mercy

I will not water you with forgiveness

Y ou do not deserve my forgiveness

Y ou do not deserve to even become a black man’s casket

Curse the ground that held you while you held my dad

Curse the dirt for waiting to swallow his body

Curse the buds that will bloom from under his blood

Curse the night for listening

Curse the moon for watching

I wonder how many Black dads the moon has watched die

I wonder what the moon will say to the sun in the morning

I wonder what anyone will say to the son in the morning

Do you tell him it will be okay

Do you think everything is okay?

Dear Oak Tree,

I know that you didn’t kill my dad

but there is a special place in hell

for all the things that stand still

and do nothing

when a Black man dies