Need I Say More?: Selected Poems

By Dadisi Mwende Netifnet

I wrote my first poem one night in Atlanta, Georgia in March 1984. That was the night I fell in love with my imagination. Writing poetry allowed me to understand my most intimate thoughts and feelings. Thoughts and feelings that were mine alone until I wrote them and shared them with my readers.

Over the years there have been m

• Language: English
• Publisher: Go To Publish
• Release date: Dec 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9781647498610

Dadisi Mwende Netifnet

"Growing up in Charleston, South Carolina during the 1960's and 70's was not easy for Marvin Leroy Alston who later changed his name to Dadisi Mwende Netifnet. Raised by a good tight-knitted family, Dadisi still found time to visit some immoral places. Those distractions cause him to be placed in Special Education classes. Dadisi came to the realization after graduating from high school in 1977 that he had to move away from Charleston in order to save his life. Moving to Atlanta, Georgia and joining the Shrines of the Black Madonna Church in 1978 awaken him to a new consciousness. Dadisi soon discovered that he had the talent to write poetry. He became the recipient for the 2002 Shakespeare trophy and gold medallion for his poem "Sunshine Lady" by the National Poetry Society. In spite of the many challenges he had to face. Dadisi never gave up on improving his life. This family saga will have you turning pages to the very end.

Book preview

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my brothers and sisters

Clifford, Mariam, Clarissa, Annette, Mamie and the late Wonnie, Eddie and Izetta. I love you all.

Special thanks to the late Honorable Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman

(Bishop Albert B. Cleage, Jr.), Leader and Founder of the Shrines of the Black Madonna of the Pan-African Orthodox Christian Church for creating an institution that changed my life.

Other Books and CDs by Dadisi Mwende Netifnet

Think with Your Spiritual Mind (Spiritual Poems)

Love Flows Like a River (Love poems)

Poetry for Today’s Young Black Revolutionary Minds

A Bachelor’s Wish List

Sick People: The Things We Rather Not Talk About

Had I Only Known (Romance Novel)

Upward Road (An Autobiography of a poet)

CDs on Spotify, ITunes and Apple music

My Cheating Days Are Through (Spotify playlist)

Humanity Speaks: Black Live Matter (Spoken words to music, pt 1 & 2)

Poetdadisi.com

Acknowledgment

Thank you, Mrs. Sandra Owens Walker, for your patience and understanding while editing my work. I would also like to extend my gratitude to Oleather Smith, Ardnyea (Morgan) Oladekojo, Baba Mbiyu Chui and Oluwatoyin Olaniregun for their suggestions during the completion of this book. One of my dreams is becoming a reality.

Book Review

This collection by Dadisi Mwende Netifnet is a sincerely written tribute to God, family, and friends and demonstrates his total commitment to Black liberation. In these poems he attributes the positive change in his life to the influence of the Shrines of the Black Madonna and honors those spiritual ancestors who have guided him to this new world of awareness and given him a new sense of direction. He recognizes the necessary part that romantic love plays in life and shows his respect for Black women.

The late Naomi Long Madgett

Poet Laureate

City of Detroit

"Dadisi, you have put pen to paper and allowed us to grow with you as you developed your talent and expressed your views and feelings as a Black man in America. As I read your poems and prose, I could feel what you felt and remember what it felt like for me as a child of the Civil Rights Era.

Thank you for caring enough to listen to God when he placed the words in your head and having the heart to write it down to be shared by others who need to know what faith can do for you. You are an inspiration to all who come into contact with you. I pray that you will never lose your zest for life…that you will keep writing… and that you will never, ever, get too busy to hear the voice of God."

Yours in the struggle

Dr. Evelyn Serwa Bethune

Granddaughter of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune

Insightful and innovative, Dadisi Mwende Netifnet is a powerful and moving writer.

Baruti Ambakiseye

The writer of Voices from a Deep Heart ll and The Castle

Introduction

It was March 28, 1978, Easter Sunday. I was eighteen years old when I joined the Shrine of the Black Madonna Church movement in Atlanta, Georgia. The Shrine National Headquarters is in Detroit, Michigan. Little did I know that the Church would change my life forever. I was a street hustler in my hometown of Charleston, South Carolina. Nothing in the world really mattered to me except Bogard Street, women, money and get ting high.

The Shrine of the Black Madonna Church