Front Lines Tour Day 2

Day two on our journey through the reality of U.S. !

    It's day two on the Front Lines Tour and the sun is burning my hands as a I write to you. I feel as if fire is slowly igniting my hands while UV rays enter our meagerly tinted windows browning my skin. Interestingly enough, that fire is not what's currently causing my fingertips to vigorously caress these keys and distantly guide you on our journey.  It's the voices of youthful souls that speak to their local communities and demand a quality education. The voices that stand up daily telling others that education is key to a better tomorrow and without it the cycle of poverty and injustice will continue. I write of the Philadelphia Student Union.
    The Philadelphia Student Union (P.S.U.) is a youth led organization (with advise from adults) that actively fights to keep their public schools public. In addition, they work to ensure that their public education is based on quality and not on numbers. A friend of ours (Dana who is formerly from Poughkeepsie) put us on to them. They organized a benefit concert dedicated to Hip Hop/Spoken Word to help raise money for their organization. We were asked to be the headlining act of the event and to present our Hip Hop & Poetry Saved My Life Workshop. Ol Soul had asked if he could jump onto some of the Front Lines Tour so we put him on to the Brooklyn event as well as this one.
    We drove from Brooklyn to Philly yesterday morning and made it to Decora's Aunt's house late in the afternoon. Before we got there we stopped by "Steve the Prince of Philly Cheese Steaks" restaurant to get some of the good stuff (the toll booth worker on I76 recommended it). Unfortunately, we didn't find any good stuff  there. However, we did find some bad attitude from the four guys that worked there, a landfill that was marked restroom, floors with more food on them than on the stoves, and food that made are stomachs say; COME ON! ARE YOU SERIOUS! Interestingly enough they're in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest Cheese Steak Sandwich measuring in at 395 feet and 7 inches. I have a feeling that's the only real thing Steve is Prince for. Maybe the restaurant patrons revolted and put King Steve out of business so the Prince took over and did what he could.
    At Decora's Aunt's hours we welcomed with open arms. She lives in a beautiful home and we glad to have a safe place to clean up and prep for the event. We were all feeling Cuttz's absence and looked forward to seeing picking him up at the bus station. Unfortunately, the only bus he could catch was going to get him into Philadelphia at 9:30pm and the event was scheduled to start at 8:00pm. We did what we could to get the inevitable scent of the road off of us and focus on the event even though it didn't seem like Cuttz was going to make it in time. Then we got into the bus and headed towards the Rotunda (a large community space owned by Penn State). The show actually ended up starting at 8:45pm. Dana (our friend that helped P.S.U. put the event together) asked us to hold it off so that more of the invitees could make it. She asked if we could host the first half as an open mic so that some of the P.S.U. members could perform. Two talented youth were also scheduled to perform. Latin agreed to host the event and made sure to give props to P.S.U. and the young performers. Both of the performers that went on stage (Yates and Passion) rocked the mic with words of truth, love and all the realities their minds could muster.
     Afterwards, Latin asked if there was anyone in the crowd that would like to do their thing on the open mic. One young brother (Kaleef) yelled out from the 50+ crowd and asked if he could step to the stage. He did so indeed and freestyled a poem from the top of his "dome". Afterwards Latin introduced Ol Soul to the crowd. Ol Soul made sure to let the people of Philly know that he was in the building. We were hoping that by the time he was done Cuttz would be at least near to the event but after a few phone calls we learned that he was still on the bus and that he'd be getting dropped off nowhere near the Rotunda. DJ H20 (who had been blessing the sound waves with his skills throughout the night) Got back on stage and played Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come". A few verses into the song Decora, Free and Latin walked on stage and began altering minds with their lyrical verses. After a few introductory pieces and some info about the group Decora began explaining to the crowd how he "Love[s] Hip Hip". Free followed with "Chiquita Banana" and "[Latin] Packed His Bags". Decora and Free then got back on stage for "Youth" and Latin followed by letting the crowd know "We All Come From Queens". When he was done he glanced backstage and saw a fireball tearing his bags off and being informed by Decora and Free. Latin was glad to see his 7 year brother Cuttz el Colombiano and gave him the introduction he deserved. Cuttz ran towards the stage along with Free and Decora for "C.O.C.A." Cuttz followed by speaking from his "Arterias". The group then moved into "Useless" and wrapped it up for an amped crowd by letting them know they all "Wade" together.
    After the event a woman named Hannah and her friend Jen interviewed the ReadNex and promised to post footage from the event and interview on Youtube.com. (We'll keep you posted about and let you know when you can check it out).
    After a job well done we saw a guy with one of our T-shirts who said J had given it to him. (We later found out he stole it but it's all good...maybe he needed it more than we did).  J (intern and former member of the ReadNex) had gone to his cousin's house for the night for some much needed family love. Then we headed back to Decora's Aunt's house and we feasted on Curried Chicken, String Beans, Garden Salad, etc. etc. etc. (THE REAL GOOD STUFF). Decora's Aunt was very hospitable and even made us some tea. We sipped on it as we discussed the Rotunda event and a few adjustments that we'd like to make to our performances. Soon after, one by one our exhausted bodies began collapsing into distinct rooms and sofa's throughout Decora's Aunt's house.
 
    Another day in the office down. 44 more to go.