<I>Coded Language</I>
date: label: Date
content: 2004
name: label: Written by
content: Saul Williams, American, born 1972
notes: label: Description
content: A long piece of scrolled white paper containing a handwritten copy of Saul Williams' poem "Coded Language." The top half of the poem is written in both black and brown ink; the lower half just uses black ink. The handwriting is in all capital letters and features a distinctive 'E' made with just three parallel horizontal lines and no vertical line joining them. The poem begins, [Whereas, breakbeats have been the missing link connecting the diasporic / Community to its drum woven past / Whereas the quantized drum has allowed teh whirling musicians to / Calculate the ever changing distance between rock and stardom / Whereas the velocity of the spinning vinyl, cross-faded, spun back-wards, and / Re-released at the same given moment of recorded history, yet at a / Different moment in time's continuum has allowed history to catch up with / The present].
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Activism
label: Topic
content: Hip-hop (Music)
label: Topic
content: Language
label: Topic
content: Spoken word (Poetry)
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Memorabilia and Ephemera - Other
label: Exhibition
content: Cultural Expressions
label: On View
content: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 050
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Saul Williams
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2014.188.1
objectType: label: Type
content: scrolls (information artifacts)
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: © Saul Williams
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: ink on paper, plastic laminate
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (flat): 147 × 12 1/4 in. (373.4 × 31.1 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (rolled): 2 × 12 1/4 × 2 3/4 in. (5.1 × 31.1 × 7 cm)