The other day I stumbled across Rafael Casal on YouTube and was blown away. The first thing I did was to send out an email to a bunch of my friends that said: If you knew about this guy and didn’t tell me about him, y’all are in some deep shit.

A slam champion poet, recording artist, and educator, Rafael Casal is turning up the political heat. His message is steaming hot. And now that I’ve found Casal, I want to tell as many people as possible about this amazing hip-hop influenced poet who cuts straight to the heart of so many issues.

Take the Bill of Rights. You know, those 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution that were ratified as a package deal in 1791? Remember those 10 gems that are supposed to protect us from an overzealous federal government? Freedom of speech, the right to peacefully gather, freedom from cruel and unusual punishment or unreasonable search and seizure. Yeah, that Bill of Rights.

Well, “I’m billing them for my rights,” Casal says.


“They had a chance to give us rights and steps to find solution. But the Bill of Rights only speaks power and a speedy prosecution. No mention of obligations from nations to its people. It is strictly self-protection laws to keep the weakest feeble. So fuck their 10 amendments. I’ve got 7 that are nice so I’m writing up an invoice and I’m billing them for my rights.” It’s worth listening to Casal’s entire slam on power, wealth, and gender injustice:


And then there’s that pesky matter of body image. This up-and-coming Def Poetry star gets this rolling:

“Sometimes I feel like I’m sitting in the back of Barbie and Ken 101. A class we’re all in but never seem to learn from. Some general ed requirement for students of American culture. One that convinces even the brightest of young women that sex is survival of the thinnest. And I’m sick of this education that doesn’t serve our best interest … Shit, just turn on your TV. This just in: A skewed perspective for today’s youth. Y’all ladies ain’t thin enough. Fellas ain’t trim enough. Want to be sexy? Ya’ll don’t get to the gym enough. Cut to commercial.”

Savory food for thought. (Pun intended.)

To repeat one YouTube fan: “Hallelujah. A male who would rather point out how fucked up the media’s treatment of women is rather than benefit from it. Thank you, Rafael.”

I couldn’t have said it better. Plenty of activists, authors, poets, and performers have been putting out these politics for a long, long time. And now we’ve got Rafael Casal who’s doing it to a really great beat. How much do we heart him? Lots.