FAQs
What do editor's have to say about Shaggy Flores?
Can I see some of his poetry, a sample?
What is this "Nuyorican Dreams" I keep hearing about?
What do editor's have to say about Shaggy Flores?
"Jaime ‘Shaggy’ Flores is an up and coming cultural worker in the best tradition of the Frederick Douglass dictate: agitate, agitate, agitate, organize, organize, organize, educate, educate, educate. You can see it in this, his first volume of work. The allusions clearly call out the influences guiding his perspective: Arawakan imagery, African rooted Santeros, Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, Pedro Albizu Campos, Julia de Burgos, Juan Antonio Corretjer, Black Panthers and Young Lords — the searcher clearly defining his place in the world, a longing to be whole."
Louis Reyes Rivera
(Shamal Books)
Jaime Flores is better known as SHAGGY THE MODERN DAY GRIOT, NUYORICAN, MASSARICAN, BILINGUAL/SPANGLISH SPEAKING, REVOLUTIONARY, AFROTAINO, SANTERO POET, from the Dark Souls Collective. A recent graduate of the University of Massachusetts with a degree on the African Diaspora. Mr. Flores follows in the tradition of Arturo Schomburg and Louis Reyes Rivera.
Shaggy is a regular fixture on the Western Mass., CT., NY and DC scenes having performed with such poetry luminaries as Louis Reyes Rivera, Sandra Maria Esteves, Tony Medina, The Last Poets, Carl Hancock Rux, Steven Bonafide Rojas, Edward James Olmos, Felipe Luciano and many others. He is the founder of the annual "Voices for the Voiceless" poetry concert which occurs in the five college Umass-Amherst area. This concert brings together prestigious Black and Latino poets from across the country. Shaggy is also the founder of the "Urban Arts Project" and the Dark Souls Arts Collective, which serve as Networks for African Diaspora artists. Considered by many to be one of only a few gifted new generation "Nuyorican" poets. He was a member of the 2000 National Hartford Slam team.
Shaggy believes in using poetry as a means to uplift and educate people. His work can be found in the issue of "Urban" the Latino magazine which is dedicated to Tito Puente, the fall issue of the Hunter College "Centro" journal dedicated to next generation Nuyorican poets, and in the upcoming book by Puerto Rican artist Juan Sanchez titled "Ricanstruction". His book "Sancocho" deals with issues of stereotypes, cultural preservation, racism, and personal growth. Shaggy can also be heard on the spoken word CD "Nuyorican Dreams" distributed through his own Dark Souls Press.
Can
I see some of his poetry, a sample?
"Playing God"
Excerpt from copyrighted "Sancocho"
by Shaggy Flores
I
agree
with DNA cloning
only if
Science
can bring back
the souls
of those who died
hanging
from trees...
What is this "Nuyorican Dreams" I keep hearing about?
Nuyorican Dreams is a live spoken word CD which features poets from the Dark Souls Collective and guests who performed at the third annual Voices for the Voiceless poetry concert in Amherst, Massachusetts. This CD features: Maurice "Soulfighter" Taylor, Crystal Senter, Louis Reyes Rivera, Winston "The Mad Poet" Cobb, Luis Chalvisan, Monique Jarvis, Steven "Bonafide" Rojas and Shaggy Flores. CD's can be purchased at readings or through one of the poets on the album. This CD was put together by the DARK SOULS PRESS.
Dark Souls Press is an independent publishing which publishes work by African Diaspora writers. The goal of DSP is to provide a company that offers the highest caliber of writers without comprimising the artform.
Shaggy Flores regularly competes in the Slam community believing that the poet should serve as cultural worker. His poem dedicated to Tito Puente can be found in the newest issue of the CENTRO journal from Hunter College.