VIDEO: THE LAST POETS

The Last Poets

 on Aug 30, 2009

Harlem 1968 a group of young poets get together and found THE LAST POETS. With jazz or funk as a backdrop, percussions rolling and words shooting out like bursts of machine gun fire, the group denounces the oppression of African Americans, while painting a devastating yet humorous picture of life in the ghetto. Nearly forty years after their separation, the members of this legendary group - the founding fathers of today's hip hop, rap and slam - come together in Paris for a one-time concert at the 2008 Banlieues Bleues Festival.

From the intimacy of their Parisian rehearsal room, they evoke the past: the birth of the collective, the years of political unrest, their high-risk creative madness. THE LAST POETS: Made in Amerikkka is a film that erases the boundaries between different genres. It's a live recording, a musical documentary and an art film, all combined into one, and yet it goes beyond any of these. It is a film event, faithful to the spirit and the image of The Last Poets.

Last Poets with Pharoah Sanders

Blessed are those who struggle

 on Dec 5, 2008

The Last Poets with Bernard Purdie...from the LP "Delights Of The Garden"...This is the tune "Blessed Are Those Who Struggle"..

Written by Suliaman El Hadi

Voices: Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin Suliaman El Hadi Abu Mustapha

Bass, Guitar: Mann
Drums: Bernard Purdie
Conga: Abu Mustapha Suliaman El Hadi
Percusion: Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin Suliaman El Hadi Abu Mustapha

This is a different lineup then the original "Last Poets"
The original Last Poets were formed on May 19, 1968 (Malcolm X's birthday), at Marcus Garvey Park (formerly Mount Morris Park, at 124th Street and Fifth Avenue) in the East Harlem neighborhood of New York City. The original members were Felipe Luciano, Gylan Kain, and David Nelson.

The group continued to evolve via a 1969 Harlem writers' workshop known as "East Wind." Jalal Mansur Nuriddin, Umar Bin Hassan, and Abiodun Oyewole, along with percussionist Nilaja, are generally considered the primary and core members of the group, as they appeared on the group's 1970 self-titled debut (contracted by noted Jimi Hendrix producer Alan Douglas) and, in various combinations, on subsequent releases. Luciano, Kain, and Nelson recorded separately as The Original Last Poets, gaining some renown as the soundtrack artists for the 1971 film "Right On!". 

Umar Bin Hassan, and Abiodun Oyewole still perform under the name "The Last Poets".

 

via youtube.com