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Welcome

  • 1. Welcome Prepared by Anju A Keyi Sahib Training College

  • 2. Piri Thomas

  • 3. Biography •Born in Harlem, New York on September 30, •He was the eldest of seven children. •His mother is of Puerto Rican descent and his father is Cuban.

  • 4. •Thomas' full name is John Peter Thomas • Some sources state that his parents named him Juan Pedro Tomas, but that his name was changed in the hospital to the English version of the latter.

  • 5. •The nickname, Piri, was given to him by his mother, whom he had a very close bond with. •It comes from the name of a bird called the "pirri", which is a small bird that has enough strength to wound its enemy bird by attacking its underwing.

  • 6. •Thomas grew up in Spanish Harlem (El Barrio) at a time when lynching was still very prevalent in the United States, so the threat of racism was very real for him and others like him. •As a young boy he attended public school in East Harlem, where he was forbidden to speak Spanish.

  • 7. • Because the assimilation towards English was greater in school, Thomas began to lose some of his ability to speak Spanish. • Thomas was faced with racism at school and in his own neighborhood, where he was taunted by whites and frequently called a "nigger spic". • Thomas later writes of his experiences with racism in his books and in his poetry.

  • 8. • In his late teenage years, Thomas began to get involved with the street life in Spanish Harlem and later found himself facing a 7 year prison sentence. • In Thomas was involved in a shoot out with police when an armed robbery attempt at a nightclub went sour.

  • 9. • He was wounded and spent time in the prison ward at Bellevue Hospital and after his case was settled he was sent to Sing Sing prison. • It was during his imprisonment that he began writing what would later become his first book, "Down These Mean Streets" which was first published in

  • Down these Mean Streets

  • • Thomas said in an inte

    •  

    A life sentence in prison is life, that is, there is living to do in prison, even under a life sentence. Quntos KunQuest, in his novel, This Life, demonstrates that life goes on inside of prison. Since , KunQuest has been living, and writing, in prison.

     

    I have a long history and engagement with writing and writings from prison, with “prison literature.” For a number of years, I volunteered with the American affiliate of PEN International, the writers’ organization, PEN America, in its Prison Writing Program (PWP). As a poet, I sat on the subcommittee that judged poetry submissions from people in prisons and jails from across the nation for PEN’s annual Writing Awards contest. I, myself, have garnered seven PEN Awards, and four Honorable Mentions, in poetry, drama, and nonfiction.

     

    Writers and aspiring writers in prison would submit their works to the writing contest. Aspiring writers often begin with poetry and soon, as John Steinbeck wrote, discover that it’s the most demanding form of writing, and move on to the short story, another demanding form of writing, and finally settle on the novel. Nonetheless, poetry was and continues to be the most submitted to category for PEN’s annual awards contest. Much is awful religious and love poetry.

     

    In This Life, KunQuest is by terms poetic in his prose, though it is informed by Rap and Hip-Hop culture. (The book, itself, is divided into “Verses,” not “Parts.”) KunQuest is a “musician, rapper,
    visual artist and novelist.” Note that KunQuest is not described as a poet, which bears mentioning, because there is a fine distinction between a rapper and a poet.

     

    As I read This Life, it struck me how music deeply informs Black culture, wherever Black people are, on the plantation, or in the penitentiary. KunQuest, born in , the year America celebrated her birthday, is deeply informed and formed by Rap. As one of the main characters, Lil Chris, KunQuest’s alter ego, or b

  • Biography •Born in Harlem, New York
  • John Peter Thomas, aka Piri

    • PIRI THOMAS

  • 1. Welcome Prepared by Anju A Keyi Sahib Training College

  • 2. Piri Thomas

  • 3. Biography •Born in Harlem, New York on September 30, •He was the eldest of seven children. •His mother is of Puerto Rican descent and his father is Cuban.

  • 4. •Thomas' full name is John Peter Thomas • Some sources state that his parents named him Juan Pedro Tomas, but that his name was changed in the hospital to the English version of the latter.

  • 5. •The nickname, Piri, was given to him by his mother, whom he had a very close bond with. •It comes from the name of a bird called the "pirri", which is a small bird that has enough strength to wound its enemy bird by attacking its underwing.

  • 6. •Thomas grew up in Spanish Harlem (El Barrio) at a time when lynching was still very prevalent in the United States, so the threat of racism was very real for him and others like him. •As a young boy he attended public school in East Harlem, where he was forbidden to speak Spanish.

  • 7. • Because the assimilation towards English was greater in school, Thomas began to lose some of his ability to speak Spanish. • Thomas was faced with racism at school and in his own neighborhood, where he was taunted by whites and frequently called a "nigger spic". • Thomas later writes of his experiences with racism in his books and in his poetry.

  • 8. • In his late teenage years, Thomas began to get involved with the street life in Spanish Harlem and later found himself facing a 7 year prison sentence. • In Thomas was involved in a shoot out with police when an armed robbery attempt at a nightclub went sour.

  • 9. • He was wounded and spent time in the prison ward at Bellevue Hospital and after his case was settled he was sent to Sing Sing prison. • It was during his imprisonment that he began writing what would later become his first book, "Down These Mean Streets" which was first published in

  • Down these Mean Streets

  • • Thomas said in an