Free 2 Spit Celebrates 15 Years of Poetic Expression

Poet and organizer Baub One God Bidon does not like the sound of his own voice. ​“I hear myself speak and think ​‘Is that what I sound like? Is that what people have to listen to?’” he said from his seat at a table outside of Koffee?.

But listening to Bidon is exactly what people do at Free 2 Spit, a local performance event and open mic that he organizes, hosts, and performs at once a month. He will be celebrating Free 2 Spit’s 15-year anniversary this Friday, Nov. 1, at the event’s Howe Street home in the People’s Center.

“Fifteen years, that’s a teenager,” Bidon said. ​“That’s sophomore year in high school. My Free 2 Spit is in its sophomore year of high school right now. We’ve come a long way. I wanted to last a long time but I didn’t think 15 years, because you’re so used to venues opening up and closing.”

Bidon treats all aspects of his art with pride and without pretense. ​“This is my job. I perform for people. I’m going to be the host, but I’m also going to perform some poems here and there in between other acts. It’ll be a very tight show. It’s going to be everything. It’s going to be bananas.”

The show, held the first Friday of every month, typically has a featured performer as well as a talkback with the audience. For the anniversary show, not only is there a featured performer and talkback, but there are also 14 other performers scheduled, making it 15 total in honor of the show’s anniversary.

As Bidon started to discuss how he sets up the show, he saw a friend of his walk by and stopped her to ask if she was coming to the show, adding, ​“she’s an awesome poet too.”

“It’s our 15-year anniversary,” he told her. ​“Tell everybody about it.”

“She’s a great poet,” he repeated as she walked away. ​“That’s how I plug it mostly. I’m like a walking billboard. It’s always on my mind. And I want it to be organic like that too.”

Bidon believes he knows why his event has lasted as long as it has. His explanations come forth as their own type of poetry. ​“It’s not about money,” he said. ​“It’s not about popularity, you understand what I mean? It’s a hospital. It’s a church. It’s a place where people come and if they’re dealing with something they can heal through word.”

Bidon also believes art can entertain, but not at the expense of the art itself. ​“There are a lot of well-known poets who still maintain being organic and being transparent and humble.”

“You have entertainment and you have the art,” he continued. ​“To me the art is poetry. The art is the soul. The art is what gives everything its meaning. I think it’s entertaining, but it’s not about entertainment. What makes you a great artist is when you cause people to talk, when you ruffle some feathers because in order to make change in this world you have to ruffle feathers. You have to challenge the status quo. Not everybody is going to agree with you.”

The words of Martin Luther King, Jr. — ​“injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” — have guided Bidon as he searches to express himself through his words. ​“When you know something is wrong I think that’s when you’re actually doing what you’re supposed to be doing. You’re speaking against it. I see someone being mistreated and I speak up on it. That’s art. I put it in a way that says, ​‘Look, this is not right — we have to do better.’”

Bidon spoke of the origins of Free 2 Spit and the world that he and other artists like him responded to at that time.

“When I started Free 2 Spit back in 2004, there was such a renaissance going on, such great poetry. We challenged the hate and we challenged the system. Our protest was our words. We marched on paper. We rallied in ink. It was all from the heart. It was all pure.”

One of Bidon’s well-known pieces is called ​“What Happened to Hop Hop,” that elaborates on the music he loved from that era compared and contrasted with the music of today.

“I was questioning it, not explaining it” he said. ​“You have to question what you love. It has to take a lot of love for something for you to question it.”

Bidon continues to question, though he says his writing has changed over the years. ​“My writing has changed hugely” he said. ​“I haven’t written about a lot of stuff that I want to write about because there is so much going on in the world. I’m not writing about the things that I want to write about yet. I mean, everything I write, I want to write. But I have other stuff in me that isn’t out yet. There is so much is going on.”

An actor and playwright as well as a poet, Bidon says he has not been writing plays as much lately, even though the ideas are there. ​“I’m writing so slowly, man” he said. ​“I start writing something, and then this poem hits me. It’s like a maestro. It goes all over the place — you’re here and then the maestro throws me here and says, ​‘I got a great hip hop poem for you,’ or ​‘I got a great poem about how we can discuss racism in America, or ​‘We got this great poem about women in politics’ … You’re not the maestro. The poem is the maestro, and you follow the idea.”

Though Bidon could be considered a maestro himself for those searching for an outlet for their words, a place to share them and hear others who want to share theirs as well. ​“I call it Free 2 Spit because it’s expression,” he said. ​“It’s a struggle. I am a full time artist, and I don’t exploit people because I don’t want to be exploited. You teach them right — the community, the young people — and not be cliquish. I want to help create poets in CT, especially in New Haven. I want to work with them, and I want them to get it.”

The future of Free 2 Spit in Bidon’s hands will remain true to its origins. ​“I want Free2Spit to remain a humble platform,” he said. ​“You can entertain and be honest and be humble and be progressive. That’s the secret ingredient to a successful venue. Be humble.”

“The theme that I’m using — #weredoingittherightway — that says it right there,” he added.

Bidon added that he looks to his own inspirations as he guides Free 2 Spit into the future.

“Saul Williams is one of my favorites of all time,” Bidon said about the famous poet. ​“He is one of the most prolific poets and artists. Revolution is embedded in his DNA and what he expresses is still entertainment.” Bidon also cited Ngoma, who hosts the Peabody’s annual poetry slam, as another favorite poet. ​“He’s the one who inspired me to get into it in the first place,” Bidon said. ​“My first poem performance piece was after hearing him.”

“These are the people I follow,” he continued. ​“When you follow poets you can’t write just anything. You can’t just write for the spotlight. You have to do them justice. I hear Saul Williams’s voice, and it’s a rhythm. It’s inspiration.”

And perhaps one day in New Haven and beyond, a new wave of poets will cite Bidon as the voice they heard that inspired them as well.

Free 2 Spit’s 15th anniversary show is being held this Friday, Nov. 1 at the People’s Center, 37 Howe St., 7 p.m. More information can be found on the Free 2 Spit Facebook page.