Karen Ponzio Photo
Baub OneGod Bidon.
When I arrived at the People’s Center on Howe Street, the door was locked and two men were hanging out on the front steps waiting to get in. I introduced myself to Baub OneGod Bidon, the night’s featured performer as well as the founder of the long-running spoken-word open mic Free 2 Spit. I told him I hadn’t wanted to bother him as he was getting ready.
“Next time, you come right on over. When you come here, you’re family. You just come on in. Everybody is welcome here. This is our family and our community,” he said. He set the tone for the entire night.
Bidon — poet, actor, and playwright — has been performing for over 15 years in New Haven, having also graced stages in New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia. He described a “renaissance of poets” back around 2001, which is when he also blossomed as a spoken word artist, becoming part of the Blackout Arts Collective. By around 2004, Bidon said, many people left the area and the venues died out. He was eager to start something in this community, so Free 2 Spit was born.
The open mic started weekly at June’s Place and then Porky’s, but eventually ended up at the New Haven People’s Center when Joelle Fischman, who runs the space, asked Bidon to make it Free 2 Spit’s home. The show currently happens the first Friday of every month (except January “because that’s my birthday month” said Bidon with a laugh). Doors open at 7 p.m. The evening includes not only open mic time, but a featured performer who gets a 30-minute spot and a talkback session with the audience afterward.
Because Bidon was this past Friday’s featured performer, he turned hosting duties over to friend and fellow poet Jason “J‑Sun” Dorsey. Dorsey has been part of Free 2 Spit from the beginning, and he and Bidon collaborated with several others on a play based on The Wiz called What it Iz: The Spoken Wordical that is still performed.
Bidon said his main goal with Free 2 Spit was to “create a platform for the community to come and share. I feel 90 percent of our problem is communication … poetry, song, dance, anything can be communication, and it can be shared here. If a 53-year-old man and an 18-year-old can see and relate to each other here, maybe they can see each other outside of here and relate to each other and maybe help each other out.” All ages were welcome, but he warned that there will be “freedom of expression. I don’t censor anyone, but I hope they use their common sense, though I don’t think we should restrict words.”
As DJ Mr. 8 Double 0 set up and began to spin some music, Dorsey asked the crowd to sign up for the open mic if they wanted or to “feel free to socialize and create your vibe.” Many in the room chose not to perform. Many were there as audience members. Some were long-time participants and friends. Some were newcomers like me — who Dorsey and Bidon encouraged to share poetry.
J‑Sun then began the night with one of his own pieces, a practice he repeated in between acts or when waiting for someone to get set up. The theme throughout his work was beauty; he has a book coming out soon called Beautiful “about the beautiful struggle we all go through” — that is, finding the “beautiful” not only in the world but in ourselves.
Just as Bidon hoped, the night was a mixture of friends old and new, people of all ages, and friends coming together to encourage and support each other. Two teenagers, Eli and Kiara, sang and read their poetry respectively; they were cheered on not only by each other, but by the crowd.
Flame Burns, a regular performer, read two poems, including one called “Writer’s Block” which included the lines “stuck in writer’s block, stuck writing about my block,” as she elaborated about the ongoing activities in her neighborhood much to the delight of the audience.
This reporter got her turn as well. After introducing me, Dorsey asked the audience to chant “KP” — the name I often use when I perform — as I walked up to the mic. As I read two of my poems, I was greeted not only with cheers, but was made a part of the community of performers and was asked to come back and perform again, as everyone was invited and encouraged to do.
In the audience was Ernel Grant, a long-standing and revered poet in the community as well as the owner of Poetz Realm, a monthly event similar to Free 2 Spit held in Bridgeport. Grant will be next month’s featured performer at Free 2 Spit. He played a drum both as applause and as accompaniment to Dorsey’s poetry intermittently. He also performed one of his own pieces to a hearty response, right before introducing Bidon, his friend and featured performer.
Bidon’s 30-minute set, with one short break, consisted of several new pieces, including two pieces that he later explained were parts of two plays he was currently working on, one on hip hop and one on Richard Pryor. In the hip hop piece, the questions “what happened to hip hop” and “what happened to the beat box” led into another piece about the hustle, each poem building on the intensity of the one before, In his third piece, his movements became as animated as his words, and that poem led into one about “what a cipher might say” as he continued to dive deeper into the material.
After a short break he returned wearing a gold shower cap and set up a table with face paints, water, and cloths. He proceeded to paint his face as he began his poem, beginning with the line “have you ever seen a clown prepare?” It became as much performance art as poetry. For his final piece he became two characters, one an old man introducing Richard Pryor, and then Richard Pryor himself talking about who and what he saw up in heaven. Bidon’s versatile set was creative and bold.
In the talkback, which had Dorsey and Bidon seated in the front of the room for an in-depth discussion of his set, Bidon said his clown piece was “mocking the buffoonery of the poetry scene at times,” as well as a take on minstrel shows. The talkback brought not only questions, comments, and critique from the audience, but self-critique and critique of the poetry scene. It added another dimension.
Before the talk back ended, Dorsey asked Bidon what the one thing was he wanted to leave the world. Bidon answered with one word — “peace” — but also added that he wanted to bring “the young and the wise together.” On Friday, seemed to have accomplished exactly that. Tawana, a regular participant and longtime friend of Bidon’s, paid homage to the People’s Center and to Bidon.
“We have a voice, and we have a space to free ourselves,” she said. Echoing Bidon, she encouraged everyone to come back and bring their friends.
Free 2 Spit takes place at the New Haven People’s Center, 37 Howe St., on the first Friday of every month except January. Doors are at 7 p.m. $6 admission before 8 p.m., $10 after 8 p.m. The evening includes an open mic/potluck, featured performer, and talk back. Visit Free 2 Spit’s Facebook page for more information.
Baub has a great, enlightened spirit...great words and great sensibilities. Always a welcome smile to run into.
Glad he is getting some much deserved press for it....he's been doing this for a long time..