{"id":47967,"date":"2016-06-26T19:51:07","date_gmt":"2016-06-26T19:51:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mixedracestudies.org\/?p=47967"},"modified":"2016-06-27T17:32:05","modified_gmt":"2016-06-27T17:32:05","slug":"a-new-movie-about-bob-kaufman-a-jewish-african-american-street-poet-shrouded-in-myth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/?p=47967","title":{"rendered":"A New Movie About Bob Kaufman, a Jewish African-American Street Poet Shrouded in Myth"},"content":{"rendered":"

A New Movie About Bob Kaufman, a Jewish African-American Street Poet Shrouded in Myth<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Tablet<\/a>
\n2016-06-24<\/p>\n

Jake Marmer<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

And When I Die, I Won\u2019t Stay Dead<\/a> does little to dispel the mystery surrounding the artist, which is why it works.<\/em><\/p>\n

Bob Kaufman Alley<\/a>, in San Francisco\u2019s<\/a> neighborhood of North Beach<\/a>, is tiny\u2014narrow and hardly a block in length. Only a smattering of locals and dedicated poetry aficionados around the world remember whom it is named after\u2014the eccentric street poet-prophet, whose personal history remains a mystery to this day. Kaufman\u2019s<\/a> improvised street performances, his 30 (or more) arrests, Jewish and Caribbean roots, involuntary shock treatment, and decade-long vow of silence are touched on in Billy Woodberry\u2019s<\/a> And When I Die, I Won\u2019t Stay Dead<\/em><\/a>, a new documentary that honors the poet\u2019s work and life.<\/p>\n

Though cleaned up, these streets still bear witness to the pulse of hipness and desperation that inspired Kaufman\u2019s \u201cHeavy Water Blues:\u201d<\/p>\n

Consolidated Edison is threatening to cut off my brain,
\nThe postman keeps putting sex in my mailbox,
\nMy mirror died, and & can\u2019t tell if I still reflect,
\nI put my eyes on a diet, my tears are gaining too much weight<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here, a classic blues-styled litany of troubles meets urban imagery, surrealism, wit, playfulness, and puns. Though self-\u201creflection\u201d is one of poetry\u2019s trademark functions, this poet is no longer so sure he\u2019s capable of reflecting, and in any case, his mirror stares back with Picasso<\/a>-like enmeshment of the body and polis<\/a>, violence, humor, and sorrow…<\/p>\n

Read the entire article here<\/a>. Watch the trailer here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A New Movie About Bob Kaufman, a Jewish African-American Street Poet Shrouded in Myth Tablet 2016-06-24 Jake Marmer And When I Die, I Won\u2019t Stay Dead does little to dispel the mystery surrounding the artist, which is why it works. Bob Kaufman Alley, in San Francisco\u2019s neighborhood of North Beach, is tiny\u2014narrow and hardly a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,24,1245,8,20],"tags":[24295,24296,24297,19592,19593],"class_list":["post-47967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-arts","category-biography","category-media-archive","category-usa","tag-billy-woodberry","tag-bob-kaufman","tag-jake-marmer","tag-tablet","tag-tablet-magazine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47967"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47967\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47982,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47967\/revisions\/47982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}