Richie Innocent and Pat Chin

Although it has produced some of reggae’s most fiery artists, poetry sometimes gets the poor cousin's treatment from fans. But at Poetry: Echoes of Expression on September 27, Richie Innocent and his colleagues were received like royalty.

The event’s second staging took place at VP Records’ headquarters in Queens, New York. Among the attendees was Pat Chin, co-founder of that company.

Richie Innocent, organizer and founder of ‘Echoes of Expression’, was pleased with the response.

“The word in the streets of New York City and the hearts of those who attended is overwhelmingly satisfactory, with the recipients of a variation of poetry with different deliveries and styles that brought tears to the eyes of Miss Pat Chin,” he reported. “They had the poetry lovers and those exposed for the first time (to poetry) in awe, expressing that they didn’t know that this art form could be so informative, educational and entertaining.”

Richie Innocent, Ras Igus, Marj Da Poet, Marcia Jackson, Amaziyah The Great and Blaq Ice were the poets who performed, as well as Sharon Gordon, author of the book, ‘Sheribaby’.

The New York-based Richie Innocent is celebrating his 30th anniversary as a recording artist. Last year, he presented ‘Poetry: Echoes of Expression’ to not only launch ‘Perseverance’, his first book, but to help expose the work of like-minded artists.

In Jamaica, Richie Innocent was raised on the poems of firebrand poets like Linton Kwesi Johnson, Mutabaruka, Oku Onuora and Mikey Smith.

WRITTEN BY HOWARD CAMPBELL