Open Mouth, Insert Foot & Chew Vigorously – The Journey Of A Thousand Miles Begins With A Single Step
- Nov 29, 2024
- 4 min read
David "Messiah" Stamps is a LGBTQ+ icon, Black, Veteran Artist w/PTSD and a 2024 Office Hours Resident for Social Impact at The Kennedy Center for his ground-breaking choreo poem," The Black Bullet Dichotomy." It dramatically decreases the number of unarmed Black men shot and killed in the streets.
Earlier this year, I attended a cool, cultural event hosted by the office of Donovan Richards Jr., our Queens Borough President. A celebration of the vibrant Asian community in Queens, NYC, the Lunar New Year, rich with culture, resilience, and pride.
One cultural highlight I genuinely enjoyed was the Dragon. Colorful, spirited, and festive, The Dragon, in Asian culture, represents power, strength, and good luck-little did I know I’d need it very soon…
As I, a 56-year-old LGBTQ+ icon, Black, Different-Abled Veteran Artist, hit the (FREE) refreshment line, a momentary lapse of appetizer plates led to an opportunity for levity. To lighten the mood and make for a jovial wait.
The differences in our cultures made me blind to my faux paus which was not well-received. It was culturally insensitive. An Asian woman saw my heart and could see I didn’t see how I was presenting. She simply touched my T-shirt and made a sweet compliment.
It was Donovan Richards Jr.’s event, it was a good chance she could touch me without any fallout. There was none.
Secondly, touch trumps any cultural clash. Tactile and tactful-and her energy, a welcome caress.
I am a MINDVALLEY, a platform dedicated to personal transformation, fans, and clients. Jeffrey Allen, an American-born citizen of Japan and an Energy Master, advises, “ground” yourself to recalibrate. Her touch pulled me into the moment. It was I who needed to recalibrate. I took a plate of sumptuous dumplings- some sweet-some savory-sat and got “grounded.” The spiritual practice of connecting with the earth via energy and imagery.
Once grounded, I connected with a fellow artist, who lives three blocks from me. A connection I’d have surely missed had I had fallen into the trap of feeling “offended” or “embarrassed.”
This is one of the benefits of events like these. To foster connection. Will there be moments of “culture clash?” If we’re lucky!
This environment fosters fellowship, connection and understanding. A safe space sponsored by Borough President Richards, an all-inclusive community to foster a deeper understanding in the most diverse borough of New York, Queens.
The journey of a thousand miles…
In response to the Asian hate, they endure during COVID-19, they‘ve galvanized.
The result was the historic first two Korean Americans ever elected to the New York City Council.
A history-making seven (7) Asian Americans currently in office to date.
Taoist philosophy anticipates and even celebrates the natural ebb and flow of this amazing world we get to share.
To include a sweet woman who helped me to dislodge my size 12 Jordan sneaker from my mouth without ever making me feel “less than.”
As a 2024 Office Hours Resident for Social Impact at The Kennedy Center, I will workshop my award-winning (chosen finalist in 2022 by Pulitzer Prize winner, Paula Vogel) choreopoem* entitled,” The Black Bullet Dichotomy Aka The BBD.”
(*I Think “For Colored Girls by Ntozake Shange”) This epic love poem about the Black Family edifies the Black and Minority man. It uses Spirit-centered emotional relief techniques to inspire the protagonist, The Heckler, to go on the Transformational Journey to embrace his worthiness.
The goal is to dramatically decrease the amount of unarmed Black and minority men shot and killed in the street.
Through The Veteran Artist Advocacy Project, Inc., my nonprofit, I curate. With the FSWW in association with The Billie Holiday Theatre’s Virtual New Play Reading Series, I advocated for Tim Bowman Sr., a Veteran with PTSD, by curating his play,” Man on the Ground.” It received a Virtual Table Read starring the legendary Garret Morris.
Man on the Ground won the 2022 AITAF Bridge Award competition, receiving a $10,000 cash prize, a three-day exclusive writing retreat on Cape Cod, and a Staged Reading at The Public Theatre, directed by Patricia McGregor, the Artistic Director of TNYTW.
“Dance and the Railroad” by 3-time Obie winner and Pulitzer Prize nominee, Henry Wang, produced with living legend and Tony Award Winner, Woodie King Jr. When Woodie spoke of the seminal work while we co-produced my show at the Nuyorican Poet’s Café-it was always with sheer delight. Like “For Colored Girls” … He is a Dragon in American Theatre given to the Dance.
The constructive interaction of the Dragon and The Dance.
“I know of the great birds of the earth who fly thousands of miles in a single flight. I know how they fly. But finally, I [have] met a dragon. A dragon that rides on expansive clouds and feeds on the purest of Yin and Yang.
Words spoken by Confucius, considered the paragon of Chinese sages, after meeting Lao Tzu.
Events like The Lunar New Year Celebration hosted at 120-55 Queens Blvd. at Queens Borough Hall with the office of Donovan Richards Jr. let me know casting a vote for Donovan Richards Jr. was one of the best things I have ever done for my neighborhood, in Southeast Queens, St. Albans.
Read more from David "Messiah" Stamps
David "Messiah" Stamps, Spiritual Master, Master Storyteller and Producer
David Stamps is a Spiritual Master, Master Storyteller and the Writer/ Producer of the award-winning choreo poem entitled," The Black Bullet Dichotomy."
David has co-produced a 2hr Virtual Table Read (Actors/Poets performing the stage version of the BBD) with the (FSWW) Frank Silvera Writers Workshop in association with The Billie Holiday Theater’s Virtual New Play Reading Series. It’s followed by a 55-minute talk moderated by the Executive Artistic Director of the FSWW, Garland Lee Thompson Jr. See here.
It's the pilot project from his Anthology Series-The Other Side- where Conscious Hip Hop meets The Twilight Zone. He's created, from inception to completion, many high concept screenplays, plays, teleplays and webisodes based on this Cash Cow Franchise. A new sub-genre he created, Hip Hop Horror.
