Listen to the Full Interview Here:

Keith Roach: *At the age of 15, I became involved with the Black Panther Party for self defense. And that went on for about a year. I became a member of the party very shortly before the party itself became rent asunder by, you know, COINTELPRO.
(…)

COINTELPRO was a counterintelligence program by the FBI. It was a program conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, I mean, not strictly against the Black Panther Party, but you know, against pretty much any radical party, you know, dirty tricks, Black Ops, all of that sort of stuff. They look for people's weaknesses, and they exploit them, you know, and a lot of people who get involved in, in social movements tend to wrap up their ego with the work that they're doing, somehow, and so it's easy to kind of get trapped off into believing the hype, as it were.

Justina Mejias: What was that experience like for you?

KR: Well, you know, it's a funny thing. It's like being a fireman, 99% boredom, and then every now and then, boom, some amazing conflagration comes up… but basically it's a lot of community organizing, tenant organizing, they had free, the Panther Party, had free breakfast programs. Well, somebody had to get up and you know, do those things…the medical cadre, fundamentally what you learned was community organizing. That was what the party was basically about, organizing the community to try and get the people to stand up and you know, demand what, demand humanity if you will. That’s what it was like. Demonstrations you would go to…Like any other organization, it requires grunt work. Being a revolutionary involves a lot of grunt work.

Keith Roach was an activist, community organizer, poet and performer. He produced a variety of reading series in New York City, and was the host of the Nuyorican Café’s Open Room Series. He also served as the Slam Master of the Nuyorican’s iconic Friday Night Poetry Slam for many years. Roach was the co-curator of the 2006 Mid-Atlantic Poetry Festival, and the producer and host of multiple broadcasts for Eadon’s Place and NoBoarders Poetry Radio. He was the author of the book, The WORLD Changes at the Expense of Black People, published by CliqueCalm Books Inc. in 2003. Keith Roach played a vital role in the advancement of spoken word and slam poetry as an art form. He died unexpectedly of natural causes in 2017, and has been greatly missed by his community since his passing. Roach was an active member of A Gathering of the Tribes for decades.

Justina Mejias is a vocalist, poet, and educator native to New York City. She has been performing professionally since she was a teenager, appearing at Lincoln Center, the Knitting factory with Savion Glover and Reg E. Gaines, and the Nuyorican Poets Cafe with her twenty piece big band. She was also part of the creation of the StoryCorps Project, and has had many pieces aired on National Public Radio. A certified Kripalu yoga teacher, amateur mycologist, and chipmunk enthusiast, Justina has no concept of boredom.

Keith Roach in Conversation with Justina Mejias