J u n e   S p o t l i g h t  :  F a u z i a   A g b o n h i n 

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As featured in CTV, CBC, and other publications, Fauzia Agbonhin is a 19-year-old Nigerian-Canadian slam poet and author of I Never Truly Hated You. She has represented London in two national festivals. She and her London team were ranked fourth place in Canada at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word Poetry 2019. In addition, Fauzia performed at the first ever BLM protest in London Ontario with over 10,000 people. Fauzia is a recipient of the 2019 Lewis Coray TrailBlazer Award from the London Police and was showcased in the 2020 Night of Hero’s for Community Living London. 

Additionally, she has performed for several organizations including Photography Without Borders, the Pillar Community Innovations Awards The Pathways to Prosperity National Conference, for the Minister of   Refugees, Immigration, and Citizenship, for the Thames Valley District School Board's Diversity Conference, the Black Employee Network at TD bank, the Black Students Association at Western University, the Journeys to Migration 2019 event, the Life as a Refugee 2019 conference, several events at LUSO Community Services and for the kids in care at the Children's Aid Society. In her poetry, Fauzia addresses diversity, racism, mental health, anxiety, and many other social justice issues that face our society today.

Fauzia Agbonhin performing her original poem
Ode to the boys who died to make hip hop happen 

Ode to the boys who died to make hip hop happen 
Inspired by Steven Willis 

When the city loves a black man they make hip hop songs about him 

Have you ever listened to the rhythm of a hip hop song about a black man 

The bass is crafted from the beat of that black mans heart 

When the city loves a black man 
He becomes a hashtag 
His name will be displayed in tweets and posts in blue font, underlined, italicized 

His name will sweep the nation and leave the mouths of people he never knew 

See the fastest ways for a black man become trendy is to die 

So isn’t it funny how fast death becomes 
fashionable 
Becomes Tangible  
Becomes token character in a lyrical hymm
Death becomes paint stroke on street corners,, 
Posts on Instagram, 
It becomes clickable, touchable, portable, holdable, 
My phone holds more Black Death than you can even imagine 
It can recite more dead black names than you can even fathom 

So I find it funny how 
When the city loves a black man  
silence sits on the tongue of a white girl who fought so hard to get braids twisted onto the roots of her scalp 

See, words die when we do 
But not when an arab boy wants to call his friends niggas 
those who yell so loud for the equal rights to a word 
They don’t even understand 
A word
They can’t even comprehend  

Sling blindfolds over their eyes 
And curtains over their hearts 

I guess some people can only see “racism” when they can’t tell it apart 
From privilege

It must be a one hell of a gift
to witness five black people die in the span of three days and still think racism isn’t legitimate 

When the city loves the black man 

They realize they want out rhythm but not our blues 
they want our backbones, 
this melanin rich skin
but they won’t march with you 

So 
They will appropriate 
And confiscate 
Pretend to Commemorate 
And celebrate 
Why don’t you concentrate 
On The black man hate
In North America 

You don’t care about us 
If you’re silent when we need you
If you use our culture when it’s convenient to

When the city loves the black man 

They wear wear Durags 
tell their friends they got waves and fades 
And that they listen to hip hop everyday 
And maybe if we’re lucky they’ll buy 
A double XL white t shirts with Tupac’s face on it 
To prove they aren’t racist 
They aren’t hating 
They aren’t taking 

When the city loves a black man 

The city watches that black man die over and over and over again 
Splayed out in blood on timelines 
We see quotes of his last words 
Carved into 
Childrens bio s

When the city loves a black man

The city allows people to draw him on street corners and in homes he’s never stepped foot in 
they turn his death into a hymn
into a line on a piece of paper 
So we can digest it  
And pretend we have addressed it 

We print their faces on tshirts we wear to protests 
Where we fight for the right to live past the age of 25

When the city loves a black man 
They will remember nothing about him except how he died 

And that ain’t right

So an ode to the black boys who died to make hip hop happen

we will sing your blues away 
For the culture

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J u l y    S p o t l i g h t  :  W i n s o m  W i n s o m

Winsom Winsom's artwork interprets images of the elements, land, animal and human presence in the context of Afrocentric value systems. Spirituality becomes central to the imagery. Winsom continues to bring about the synchronization of her art and Spirituality and believes “true power originates from internal spiritual enlightenment, and that we must use this power to reach our higher selves: creating harmony”. 

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A u g u s t   S p o t l i g h t  :  S u n d a y   A j a k

I am Sunday Ajak. A 22-year-old motivational speaker, activist, and student at Western University; studying Social Justice. At my core, I am a merely a writer who loves to bring my thoughts into reality. Everything I have ever written, I have experienced, or have been thoughts that manifested through the amazing people in my life. I have a dream that one day my speeches will change the world, and I live in each moment trying to make that a reality. Regardless, if I can use my passion for speaking to positively impact at least one person, then I am living a happy life. I don’t wish to be famous or be wealthy, I only seek to help those who may need it because in the end; I do to.

twin flames

What is it that they say about twin flames?
Two souls speak a language that is beyond human understanding,
a connection so rare the universe won't let them part.
I think that’s beautiful.
Many people that I come across have chosen not to believe in love,
for whatever reason they may choose I get it.
Not all of us have a good experience with it,
and that’s fine.
It takes a couple heartbreaks to realize that love,
isn’t always perfect.
For what is love without pain.
For what is a flower without a little dirt.
For what is a flame, without a little heat.

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Blissful Ignorance

I miss being a kid,
life was so fun back then.
Something about the way a child sees the world,
It’s ignorance in perfect bliss.
As a child you have no stress, all you know is happiness.
There’s something to learn in the mind of a child,
we often think that they need to learn from us.
But as I get older,
I tend to wonder.
Maybe we’re the ones that need to learn from them.

​to the father I once knew

to the father I once knew,
if be any chance you ever hear this.
There’s one thing I want to say,
and it’s not what you may think.
Despite how much I want to,
I don’t hate you.
I’m not mad about all the birthdays you missed.
I’m not mad about all the things I had to teach myself.
I’m happy, actually,
because as the years go on.
I am learning to become to the man that you couldn’t be.
and that’s the best thing you’ve ever done for me.
So, thanks,
thanks, dad.

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mistakes made twice

They say a mistake made twice,
is no longer a mistake,
but a decision.
And the funny part about that,
is that many of the mistakes we make in life are preventable.
But we trick ourselves,
into thinking that the mistakes we make,
are at no fault of our own.
Removing the blame from a bad decision,
in the hope of reducing the guilt that follows,
is no way to life a healthy life.
Practice self-awareness in all your decisions,
and you’ll never make a mistake ever again.

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