“It wasn’t until I joined Florida State University and found out about ‘Black on Black Rhyme’ that I realised that poetry could be cool and thought-provoking at the same time and I got hooked.”
After graduating, Dorian became a teacher and chose to teach the inner city public schools. “I taught those schools because I felt the kids had a lot of potential but were just neglected. But even that became too much as I realized that I was not able to affect a mass group of students.”
Pondering his next move, Dorian quit teaching to follow music and almost got signed by Atlanta Records. “While chasing my music career, I was able to perform my poetry a lot more and even found a teaching opportunity in the UAE which was when I moved here.”
Poetry revolution begins
Arriving in Abu Dhabi, Dorian found the Middle East had a rich poetry history but there was still a void to be filled.
“I teamed up with Ben ‘DJ BlackWolf’ Mays to bring a music element to an open mike night and that was how Rooftop Rhythms started. We had our first event at Café Arabia and expected about 50 people to turn up. We ended up hosting 100 people and it was incredible! “
“I was introduced to Bahareh Amidi, a fellow poet who was organizing Speak Abu Dhabi, an event that celebrated some of the masters including Rumi, Khayyam and Gibran.”
“The poetry revolution snowballed after this and open mike nights were being organized everywhere. New York University, Women in Film and Television and the Paris-Sorbonne University each did one and the buzz just kept building! “
Making poetry cool
As Paul D, Dorian has achieved a lot in a short space of time but the real challenges come back to the classroom.
“I teach English to senior school students so I have to find a way to make poetry and the language cool. The cool factor is what got me hooked and that need to be cool hasn’t changed through the years. Poetry helps with releasing the aggression and angst that every teenager has pent up inside.”
Finding inspiration
For Dorian, poetry creates many powerful emotions. “My poetry is very spiritual to me. I come from a bi-racial family and there’s almost a genetic yearning to speak out. In Georgia, my home town, you are either black or white but I was both and it was hard to come to terms with my ethnicity till I found ‘Black on Black Rhyme’.”
“I find inspiration in the daily struggles and the need to speak out for people who don’t have a voice. I believe that artists have perspective and we see meaning in things that others don’t see.”
Staying power
As the poetry revolution grows in the UAE, Dorian hopes it has staying power. “There is so much collaboration between the artists and even audience members that people who are typically separated come together and enjoy the art form as one. The people that head the artistic movement need to keep an open mind about bringing the different art forms together and if this continues, the revolution will keep growing.”
Paul D conducts regular poetry workshops in Abu Dhabi. To find out more, join the Facebook group ‘Rooftop Rhythms- Abu Dhabi’.
