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Wang Ping, left, and Ron Whitehead, right. YouTube screenshot.

Yesterday, U.S. National Beat Poet Laureate and GonzoFest co-founder Ron Whitehead and writer and performance artist Wang Ping released a video of “YES I AM CHINESE & I WILL NOT BOW DOWN,” a collaborative spoken-word poem with backing instrumentals from The Storm Generation Band.

In the video, Whitehead and Wang speak out against anti-Asian hate (“I made paper, not to sow lies, but spread love and kindness / I invented gunpowder, not for guns, but the wonder of fireworks / I invented printing, for art and beauty, not for the hate on your T-shirts, in your books”) and American imperialism and consumerism (“I will not Bow Down / to your Government / to your Religion / I will not Bow Down America / to your Materialism / to your International Corporations / to your Religious Shrines / your Stock Markets / your Shopping Malls”). 

The poem comes from an 18-track album to be released by sonaBLAST! Records on Thursday, April 20. A book featuring all 18 poems will be released at GonzoFest on Friday, July 14.

The video was filmed in part at the Big Four Bridge.

Watch the video below.

This article appears in March 14, 2023.

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Carolyn Brown is the staff photographer and digital writer at LEO. Follow her on Instagram at @cebrownphoto or get in touch at cbrown@leoweekly.com.