Rudy Francisco is an African American spoken word poet from San Diego whose poetry commentates on politics, race, gender, class and religion in a humouring and humbling way, capturing the audience with his sharp and inquisitive work.
Often featuring on Button Poetry, his performances are highly enigmatic and enjoyable to watch with some of his most popular poems garnering over two million views on YouTube. His novel, the emotional and honest collection Helium, includes works such as his well loved introspective poetry My Honest Poem and his hard hitting love poetry Scars/To the New Boyfriend and To The Girl Who Works At Starbucks.
However, perhaps in linking to the recent events in America and the BLM movement, one of his most sobering and raw poems is Adrenaline Rush which focuses on the treatment of Black men and women in America, and how the fear and adrenaline of extreme sports is the same as how he feels as a Black man facing police brutality and racism in his country. He highlights how the institutionalised racism in America is still thriving and that the effects of it are still being ignored.
I highly recommend giving him a listen. Adrenaline Rush is linked below and you can find much more of his poetry performances on YouTube and Button Poetry’s website as well as his novels.
Featured image credit: crowsneststpete.com
