Please

Some five years ago an event occurred in Sanford, Florida that will forever impact the scope of my artistry and my life. Although it was not the first senseless death America had witnessed as we stood by, unable to turn back the hands of time, and was proven to be far from the last, its occurrence seemed to be the catalyst that thrust my world into a cyclical state of protest. After receiving the Sekou Sundiata Award at The New School for "Please" and I can't help but think about how bittersweet it all is. From the very beginning, Please was meant to be a self destructing work of art. The ultimate goal of the work is to phase itself out to the point of irrelevance, but years after the seed was planted, it remains more relevant than ever before. I am simultaneously grateful beyond words to have recieved such an honor and saddened that it serves as a reminder that we seem to have made far less progress than we are capable of in these past five years. Nevertheless, I would like to thank everyone who was a part of this project and who has allowed themselves to speak for those who no longer have that luxury. In addition, I would like to thank all those who have gone before us and made way for our voices to be heard. I would like to thank everyone who has stood in agreement with me from Sanford to Anaheim and everywhere in between. Although we cannot change the past, WE WILL continue to move forward, beginning with today. Today, with a heart that is heavy with optimism, I move forward with new affirmation that all those silenced voices will continue to be heard through me. Today, we move forward, promising that we will continue to speak and mobilize in whatever ways we can. I'm not sure what the next step is for Please, but I can hope beyond all hopes that through its pertinence, it will soon cause itself to be irrelevant. I'm not sure of all the steps in my life but I made a promise five years ago that those steps would be heard. I am the voice you CANNOT silence.