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In this video, BTV T Miller surprises Camp Bar with an unprecedented performance.
Poetry is often thought of as a quiet and introspective form of writing, but BTV T Miller proves that this is far from the truth. In this performance, T Miller completely knocks Camp Bar off their feet with an amazing performance of poetry that celebrates and reflects on the lives and experiences of black lives matter and queer people.
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Button Poetry is committed to developing a coherent and effective system of production, distribution, promotion and fundraising for spoken word and performance poetry.
We seek to showcase the power and diversity of voices in our community. By encouraging and broadcasting the best and brightest performance poets of today, we hope to broaden poetry’s audience, to expand its reach and develop a greater level of cultural appreciation for the art form.
[Applause] [Music] I like y'all I'm also off NyQuil and whiskey so I Might not like y'all I might just be Pretending Um but I love Button Poetry and I love Like honestly more than anything the Confidence of white people I love that Y'all are y'all are still here like Y'all didn't up America and I'm Like this is such a beautiful thing we Gotta die because of y'all y'all still In poetry spots so uh give it up for Being white Um Because we did so uh now I just want to Acknowledge that um off the she's like Thank you I've been saying this all My life white people just be off and I know that just will Oh you from the give it up for Detroit White people y'all ain't gonna never go There but but yeah I love being from Detroit people always Ask me stupid like yo like you from Detroit to ever been killed and I'm like Twice twice Um But I'm here and I'm Black and I'm alive So um yes yes yes white people I want Y'all to laugh I didn't go all night Even if you don't like my just Pretend for me right and then black
People y'all just laugh because we still Alive in this Um all right so uh speaking speaking of People that um you know I love and I Hate uh I I I I I I haven't been able to do this This uh poem on Button Poetry because I Haven't been on a Button Poetry stage in A while um But I have this love-hate relationship Uh with Raven Simone right As we as we all do uh I just I just don't get her right like I Love That's So Raven and I'm gonna watch The reboot like for show right for real Okay Um but sometimes you gotta call like you Gotta call your base out right and I say That because that's my back Um And I want y'all I want to be very clear About this like if you ever see me and Raven Simone on Instagram like holding Hands like I'm a fake so like um So if she'd be like yo who wrote that Poem you'd be like I have no Idea like First 48 me blur my face out it wasn't me I'm just trying to Sell out and get on so Um so y'all know right but she was going Through that whole of like you know Like I'm I'm from every continent in Africa and um you know like don't label Me but do label me American that whole
Stupid that that the new black People go through Um so I don't have enough money to be The new black right Um but again I'm trying to sell out so I Can understand it so Um So I I wrote this poem dedicated to to Raven Simone and the Stacey Dash and all The people of the world they're just Like all our fan base up I get It right I know that but but we still Gotta sacrifice and have sex with him so Um So yeah I wrote this An open letter um To Raven Symone If you tear half the label off of a jar Two things happen One the contents of the jar are still The contents of the jar the label does Not make it what it is or what it is Trying not to be to a half label jar It's still a labeled jar indeed if you Tear the part that says Peanut off of a Peanut butter jar that does not make it Butter That does not make it any less brown any More yellow does not bring it any closer To the Sun people with peanut allergies Will still view it as a threat when they See it still still shoot it down in the Middle of the road in St Louis in a Suburb in Florida and a Walmart in Ohio
On a bar in California on a couch in Detroit say say that it was playing as Music so loud that they felt their Throats closing killing and blame it on Allergic reaction tell me when you went Home and made love to your girlfriend That night did it feel like too labeled Bodies two humans free of everything Except for their American or did it feel Like The Godly curves of two women Rubbing against each other with enough Intensity to come and birth a revolution Simultaneously was your in her Mouth was her breasts and your hands did It feel like gay sex did it feel like This is the feeling deeply that Brittany And Crystal in Texas died over like this This is the feeling deeply that Audrey Lord was speaking about like like not For you to only wear one of your flags Not for you to only be gay on the Internet not for you to try and convince Black gays the most important part about Being black and gay is to not be either See your hair your hair might curl when It rains but when they come for you they Will not bring water their guns will not Be loaded with compliments but all of The years that you spent on Disney Keeping their children company they will Not take off their Hood lower their Sickles have your back claim use one of Theirs all because you don't know which Country in Africa you're from you might
Think that here is the only language That your skin speaks but I can assure You that racism is one hell of a Translator oh black or New Black You still black Outside gay or bedroom gay You still gay you still Target you steal One police stop or no I'm sorry I have a Girlfriend away from your mother bearing You on this same land you try to protect Don't make them have to remind you that You are still one of us thank you [Applause] Um You know but Again I'm still gonna have sex with her So um here's the thing uh All right so so I before I was on this Tour Um it was called the good grief store And it was uh with one of my best Friends in this world her name is uh Sierra Freeman give it up for Sierra if You know Sierra's poetry um CR is the only person that can make me Smoke weed right like I don't Smoke weed because I turn into a stupid Person but she like she like if You gotta you got me eating sushi you Gonna smoke weed and I'm just like okay I get it we're two different types of Lesbians so Um So so what while we were on this tour we
Were like just traveling the world Teaching uh black people specifically Black women how to navigate through Grief without uh the proper resources And I lost my brother Um and I I was writing about my brother And all of these abstract ways and I was Like you know what it I'm just Gonna write about like all the things That my brother were uh to me as opposed To a role in my life right so white People there's a few things you might Not understand Um so do white people you don't know What a baller belly is right all right Cool I got you so a baller belly is when Like you in the hood and you getting Money and your stomach gets like really Big but every else everything else is Like really small okay so like you You'll understand that Um and it was just like so many things My brother was like he gave me like a Fake Louis Vuitton bag he like drank a Lot of people's juices in the middle of The night and so I was like you Know what you were an um and Even though you're gone I have to like Let people know that you were Nassau so Um So so I wrote I wrote this poem Dedicated to him and um and the things That that he uh that he wore to me uh You ball her belly
You baller You broke You ten thousand dollars one day Gambling CIS can I borrow a hundred Dollars the next shoe Had me all excited about that Louis Vuitton bag you had me in the airport Thinking I was stunting you had me in a Fake Louie bag looking stupid erasing Pictures on Facebook and Instagram you Black man statue tall you hella Answer your phone like a hood rat But you Marcus so we think it's cute When you answer your phone like a hood Rat you got me answer my phone like Marcus got me wishing Marcus could still Answer his phone wishing you was about To pull up but you ain't pulling up late No more you ain't pulling up on time Ever you gone you when your son smile You somewhere still gambling like Roulette and taking a chance then end Your life you better not piss God off Drinking his juice in the middle of the Night but even if you piss God off You'll be back in his good graces by Morning because you charming cause you Marcus you had me late to prom Considering not going still went with You stole my thunder but still show me The best time that so Marcus that so you You so selfish you so angry with me I'm Still angry with you but boy you you so Angry you yelled at my nephew I yelled
At you you stumped on my 42-inch brand New smart TV I ain't talked to your ass For weeks you You were murdered before we made up I Told the funeral home not to make you up To cremate you you laid there with a Smirk on your face like you died smiling Like I didn't see the dried up tears on Your cheek like the piercings of the Bullets through your nose didn't hurt You made me believe that we couldn't cry To each other even when we were in pain So I smiled ignored how the bullets Ripped through your chest and told you you owe me a brand new TV And I swear you smirked harder Especially after I said that you were Right Kobe would never win another Championship and the lions are probably Much better than I've been giving them Credit for you 33 on the three year Anniversary of your death you trying to Make me believe that you some type of Jesus like you ain't just another black Man with no father an untimely death bad Habits and a sister that can't forget About you you Marcus you and your son Smile your mama's addiction your Father's regret you deserve this life as Much as anyone else you could have Taught a course on Survival you didn't Start this War on Drugs you were a casualty in it you Marcus you Martyr
You martyr Even if you died For yourself thank you [Applause] So So long story short I'm just a sad So um and I say that because like I Don't I I don't want the nest to come Back as a lesbian and think that I'm Like the best relationship ever I'm Literally the worst relationship ever Um you just have to be sad with Me all day every day um and I'm okay With that right so give it up if you Said you okay with that Again white people you are not sad so You you don't have the right to be sad Um it's all black people Um all right so here's the thing uh this Is like very straightforward this this Is called 10 things you sound like when You say all lives matter in response to Black lives matter Um [Applause] Or Stop saying that stupid insensitive ass Um Huh you like this already or just the Title I with you Um We're gonna go out after this all right Um so
One Your family pet goes missing you post Pictures of it all around your Neighborhood I come and post pictures of Other people's Missing Pets from around The world on top of the picture of your Missing Pat Well Because you ain't the only one missing a Pet Two I show up to your grandmother's Funeral And hands out my grandmother's Obituaries You asked why cause you ain't the Only one that's missing a grandma for I go into the hospital and change all of The Intensive Care Unit signs to Care Unit signs because every life in the Hospital should be cared for just the Same what makes Intensive Care Unit Patients think that their lives matter More than the life of Jenny on the first Floor fighting a cold colds can kill you Too For Your fiance stands you up at the altar And as you're crying I get up and yell Millions of people get broken up with Every day stop whining about it Five I show up to the Alcohol Anonymous Meeting to get help from my cotton candy Addiction
An attic is an addict we all deserve Help six You say Kaylee Anthony I say what about Her we still don't know who killed Little JonBenet Ramsey seven I say black lives matter You say you don't see color eight I say Dallas you say blue lives matter I say I Thought you didn't see color nine [Music] [Applause] It sounds like when I say black lives Matter and you say all lives matter 10 It sounds like when I say black lives Matter and you say all lives matter 10 It sounds like when we say black lives Matter and you say all lives matter it Sounds racist it sounds inhumane it Sounds like you trying to choke us with Our own grief and sounds like all lives Matter but when we say rakia Boyd Alton Sterling Tamir rice philando Castile Ayanna Jones Jessica Hernandez Ricci Walker Kendrick Johnson the people in Flint you say you say Nothing [Applause] [Music] I I I I don't I just don't understand Y'all it's like literally like it's it's Like it's okay for you to say black Lives matter right like Oh so here's the thing all black people Just shut the up right and I know
You don't tell black people shut the up because y'all slap other people And I can't fight so don't do that so I'm gonna politely say okay here's the Thing all white people one time just say Black lives matter just All right now just say black lives Matter like you gonna be at the next Black lives matter rally and we gonna Like not get mixed and Because y'all gonna be at the front line And y'all got health insurance so one More time for us Thank you that's all and then we and Then we can just go like a few steps Further right we can say black Trans Lives matter let's go Are y'all good with that y'all okay all Right so All right so here you go blood and Poetry all your white people said it Tonight so now they got to be held Accountable for the that happens From here on out okay cool um all right So I don't Huh Oh do that all that too go ahead Native live All the all the lives matter that's what We've been saying this whole time Um so like we know y'all lives matter we Get it like y'all have 401ks and so Um
All right so I am Natasha T Miller I Don't have anything for sale tonight I Give out free hugs come get that The Love Is Free uh but it's hot as Up here so I might be a little bit musty But I did take a shower but that is I know and I'm black it's like sweating On my press and I'm like I am not Beyonce in this Um For real it's hard as uh yes I am The founder of artists in Detroit that Is a bed and breakfast a global bed and Breakfast which means that you can come Stay at the artist in Detroit for free In exchange for going into a local high School and providing a Workshop That's all you have to do at any artist In around the world you can come stay With me for free and I have sex for free So Um Catch me outside Um All right so I like y'all all right um A couple more and get out your way again Give it up for Button Poetry for making This possible Um All right so uh two more I'm done back To the sad this is a poem that I Wrote about my brother because I love my Brother because my brother was uh he was He was murdered three days uh before New
Year's and he was cremated on my Birthday and his funeral was the day After he was a year Um and 11 days apart from me and then His birthday came 11 days after that so Uh he was my best friend and I want to Make sure that that I'm honoring him and Again I learned this from Sierra to just Talk about the people that that we lost So on that tour we realized that a lot Of people weren't saying the names of The people that they lost and um and I I Hadn't said my brother name in two years After uh I had lost him and I wrote this Poem dedicated to that They say you shouldn't mourn over the Loss of a drug dealer They say the drug dealer stood on the Tracks their whole lives challenging the Train knew that even if the weather Delayed death was still showing up at Their front door they say the drug Dealer died So casually They say what's his name's child on Joy Road or Rosa Parks was murdered in Cold Blood on his front porch they say his They don't say his name they don't Sympathize with the death of a drug Dealer unless he was their drug dealer Gave them free drugs paid their rent Once kept their lights on gave their Kids a Christmas they don't give the Drug dealers a backstory or a reason why
He's just another one they say he Purchased the engraving so of course the Bullets had his signature on him they Say his they don't say his name they say His funeral is next week they say his Funeral had aligned the length of his Rap she curled around the corner must Have been popular probably could have Been somebody don't talk about who he Actually was they say his casket was Nice They say his mother Was nice Was burying her only son and still had Enough strength to stand outside the Church and laugh with his they Say his they don't say his name They treated like a weight their fragile Tongues are too weak to hold don't want To make the mistake of humanizing a drug Dealer can't let the public know they Gave a about a drug dealer so They'll show you his Chalk Outline long Before showing you his actual picture They say his death I say his death I say His grace sweats are still on a hanger And my closet his cologne still home I Dress her I say it's been 1256 days since my brother was murdered And I haven't said his name once I say His and every Facebook post and every Conversation since his death I say his Death I say that I'm afraid to say his Name because the quicker I say his name
The quicker I'll empty myself of his Memories afraid of remembering what his Name tastes like scared that it'll fall Like ashes and my mouth get buried Underneath my tongue turn my lips into a Headstone that forces me to talk about Him to stop saying his name to say Marcus to say Marcus to say my brother His name was Marcus thank you Foreign So if you follow me on anywhere like on Social media like Natasha T Miller team Miller poetry on Instagram Natasha T Miller on Facebook Um and you can also look up artists in a R t i s t s i n n uh Detroit dot org if You want to keep up with uh how we're Expanding um but again I don't I don't Have anything for sale if you want to Buy me whiskey I drink that if you want To give me a hug I do that if you want To have sex I can't do that sometimes Actually you don't want to have sex with Me I'm very lazy Um Literally just like okay I'm done good night I gotta get up in the Morning so Um and I I want to I just don't want to Like make any false promises you think That like I'm an all-nighter and I'm Like a 46 minute or Um and I'm okay with that right uh Because who cares so
Um here's the thing um I was I was Dealing thank you to all the people who Only last 36 to 48 minutes Um White people so here's the thing Um I I I wrote it I wrote this poem Actually on the plane this morning So I've never performed this poem before Um and I wrote this poem because I Realized that I was an Well I've been I was an but I Realized that I was an when it Came to like all of my friends who were Trying to comfort me Um through this process of grief and And I know that a lot of us like we deal With grief and we deal with grief and Like peculiar ways and sometimes we we Shut people out but we have to be Willing to accept the consequences of of Shutting people out Um So I wanted to write this to honestly There's a girl in Detroit her name is Cherise and we dated before right and She was one of my best friends we Stopped dating in like high school and The night that my brother was was killed Like somebody called her in Detroit and Was like yo like like this just happened To T Miller's brother and she showed up And she stayed with me Um for like 56 days straight right and
All we did was we drank Sorak every Night and listened for real like it was Just Peach syrac and drunken love that Was all we did Um and then right after I felt like a Tiny bit of happiness I just went on the road to do poems and I stopped calling her Um and I've never apologized to her so This is more of a personal poem and um And also just a letter to the people That that we treat like like Because sometimes we're we're just people and you have to Admit that but if you still want to have Sex that's okay right Um So so this is more so about Um what I learned about my own grief I learned that grief will humble you That there's not enough success in the World to make you forget that your loved Ones are dead I know that I've been an to all of my friends since my Brother died that there's a girl in Detroit named Charisse that I hadn't Talked to in three years prior to the Night he was murdered and she still Showed up to the crime scene before his Body was even removed from the concrete She drank her liver into the darkest of Holes and listened to the song Drunk in Love with me for 56 days straight and The first time I felt well enough to go
Outside sober and sleep in the dark Again I stopped answering her phone calls Charisse if you're listening I'm sorry Even though there's a good Excuse for it I know sometimes we become The haunted and the hunter the monster That we are running from in the monster That we are becoming I know that your Phone has been ringing non-stop since The overdose since your mother passed Since your relapse since the surgery Since your lover left since the very Moment it all happened and you've been Hitting the ignore button and telling Yourself That nobody cares about you And I get it grief is more contagious Than Joy it is much easier to share Sadness than it is to be responsible for Making someone else happy easier to hand Our baggage to the people we love then Move to the world freely is the reason I Sat in my car and cried when I found out Charice was pregnant instead of sending Her a congratulations message is the Reason I left my mother at home to mourn The death of her only son while I went Out on the road to perform poem for Strangers because her people hurt people Is so damn cliche but true because you Know that you can't be held accountable For anything you do under the influence
Of grief and that you can blame anything On the dead so you do You become the excuse and the excused The burning building and the fire Expecting to be rescued and left alone Until you are left alone until you can No longer blame your behavior on your Pain until you have to be good to your Friends again until you have to send Apologies years later until you hear Someone that you love tell you that you Can't that they can't forgive you and You feel success and empty in the same Body until you are humbled Until you Realize that you are not the only one That we are all hurting and as a result Hurting each other until you learn to be Humble until you learn to be grieving And also be gracious until you learn That this was never just about you Thank you Button Poetry thank you I am Natasha T Miller give it up for Your host give it up for yourselves [Applause]
