Jermaine Wong Writer, Director and Spoken Word Poet from Final Call Productions, yesterday released his response to the recent outcry to the George Floyd murder and Black Lives Matter protests with ‘Red Porridge’ – a contemporary poem performed in Spoken Word. The title of the poetry piece is a metaphor for blood.
Jermaine starts his poem “My 2020 vision has borne witness to sights my eyes were never designed to see” he goes on to focus on significant events of 2020, including; Covid-19 pandemic, police brutality and the experiences black people go through being a black person in society, knife and gun crime amongst our young people, the signs of the times and the confusion going on in the world which is now accepted as normal.
Jermaine and his wife Danielle Wong, who is also the video’s producer, marched in solidarity of those who are hurting last Sunday 7th June at the LDNBLM protests at the US Embassy in London, in protest against the selfish mindset that devalues human life, particularly black lives. “Selfishness is at the heart and core of all negative human “isms”. Practical “Other-centred” Love is the ONLY solution that will combat this. We’re at a place in history where the loss of precious human lives is discussed as easily as talking about what one had for breakfast. Red Porridge is my attempt to bring focus to the value of human life and highlight the solution to the human curse of selfishness by presenting an angle of other-centred love through the lens of Christ’s suffering” Jermaine explains.
Danielle Wong added “We wanted to stand against the wrongs and support the movement. However, we are humans made in the image of God first and foremost and so are automatically against any injustice, any wrong, any evil no matter who it is aimed at as it goes against who God created us to be and who he calls us to be. We were initially unsure of joining a march where there are many who are filled with anger and hate, swearing and shouting offensive abusive statements at individuals but we understand the feelings behind it, we also are filled with disappointment and compassion towards the wrongs that black people have faced for so long. We wanted to be there to support but to also bring a different way of responding. We are called to love our neighbour, we are called to forgive those that persecute us. In our own strength this isn’t something we do very easily but with the Love of God it is made possible. So we specifically decided to make our sign based on those ideals, the same views that Martin Luther King Jnr had when he made his famous speech ‘Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that’. This message is for the offenders, the racists, the killers, those in power, the protesters, the families affected, for us all.”
Although God tells us to love our enemies, this by no ways excuses diabolical behaviours and choices, the poem ‘Red Porridge’ speaks to Christian people who struggle with the injustices, the racism, mistreatment and how we as Christians are supposed to respond but it’s also honest about the difficulties we face with remaining Christ-like in the face of oppression, persecution and having to witness and experience innocent lives killed and broken families.
The highlight of the poem makes a strong point of what the real Christian message is, showing love to one another instead of “the good news being more than me announcing their doom” he then adds a twist and turns the poem to a strong reminder of how faith in Christ’s blood, shed for us is the solution for all of the wrongdoings we see in society and reminds us of how His life pays the price for all the evil taking place pointing to him as the answer to the sin problem to the evil that corrupts our planet.
DOP & Photographer: Ashley Bloom Images | Music: Askil Beats | Producer: Danielle Wong | Street Art: Van Jimmer
