Examiner.com Baltimore: Baltimore activist and artist uses talent to raise consciousness
by Vickie Oliver-Lawson
Baltimore Arts Education Examiner
Activist Ron K. Williams has done it again. He has taken his artform to another level with the release of a new CD entitled Aware and Outraged: Silence is for Suckers.
The CD is produced by Rube-Rice of II Nyce Entertainment and packaged by Nice Package Productions. It features twelve cuts of poems addressing various topics of current interest from immigration to greed to censorship to terrorism to politics.
Intermingled throughout the CD are snippets from the movie, Malcolm X, including a differentiation between the field negro and the house negro.
In one poem, If Harriet Tubman Were Ghetto, Williams juxtaposes the strength and determination of Harriet Tubman to some of the behaviors evident in today’s ghettos and what might have been.
Hurricanes talks of what would happen if the matriarchs take over. “Women are coming in the forms of hurricanes to teach men a lesson…”
This writer’s favorite piece (which I love to see Williams perform), My Name is Emmett Till, is also included on the CD.
The sound effects add a nice dimension and touch to the CD.
Williams minces no words as he speaks truth to power. His passion for activism and awakening as well as his strength shine forth through the different tracks on this CD.
This CD is definitely not for the faint of heart or those who would prefer to keep their heads buried in the sand.
As I listened to this CD, I could hear the voice of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. saying, Truth pressed to the ground will rise again.”
The time has come!
The CD is available at several locations in Baltimore including:
•Red Emmas Bookstore and Coffeehouse, 800 St. Paul Street;
•Expressions Art and Custom Framing, 222 N. Paca Street; and
•on http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/ronkiplingwilliams
Aware and Outraged 