Shook the Spot

Autum, who lives in Mount Vernon with her father, Batin Ashante, is in the center of a firestorm after performing a controversial recitation at a Black History Month event at Peekskill's middle and high schools. She read an original poem, entitled "White Nationalism Put U In Bondage," that describes Christopher Columbus and Charles Darwin as "pirates" and "vampires" for robbing black people of their culture, identity and wealth.

In the piece, Autum, writes: "Black lands taken from your hands, by vampires with no remorse. They took the gold, the wisdom and all of the storytellers. They took the black women, with the black man weak. Made to watch as they changed the paradigm of our village."

Before her Feb. 28 performances at the schools, which lasted about 20 minutes, students say Autum asked white students to remain seated while black students stood and recited the The Black Children's Pledge, an oath of responsibility and black pride made popular by the Black Panther Party during the 1960s. She then went on to recite the white nationalism poem.

Her father had said previously she had been banned from performing at Peekskill schools, but late last night a school official said that was not the case. The school will implement a screening process for future performers, said Melvin Bolden, a music teacher and Peekskill councilman.

Peekskill district officials declined to comment yesterday, but parents said after the program the district sent out a recorded message to all parents apologizing for the performance.

"When you throw a brick in a pack of dogs, the only one that yells out is the one that got hit," Ashante, 40, a member of the Nation of Islam, said quoting the slain civil rights leader Malcolm X. "When you hit them with truth, brother, you're naturally going to get this reaction."

Calling district officials "racist crackers," he said his daughter is not prejudiced and was only trying to promote unity among black youths by teaching them about their history.

"It was not about being disrespectful to anyone," said Ashante, who brought attention to the conflict by notifying news outlets. "It was the truth. There was not one line in the poem that was out of turn."

Autum, a poet and aspiring actress who has performed on Showtime At The Apollo and HBO's Def Poetry Jam, was invited to perform at the middle school and high school by Bolden, who is also the producer of her upcoming poetry album, Ashante said.

"I'm confused about why they're making a big fuss about it," Autum, who is home-schooled by a private instructor, said. "It wasn't really for white people. It was for black people. Stop killing your brothers and sisters. We're black people and we need black love."

But that's not how it came across to many students and teachers. Marcellus Cunningham, a freshman who attended the Peekskill High School assembly, said he was offended by the poem because he is bi-racial.

"She should have never said that in the first place," said Cunningham, 14, who is black and Cherokee Indian. "She's giving the wrong idea what to think of other people."

Michele Cunningham, Marcellus's mother, said the subject matter wasn't offensive, but the event should have presented opposing viewpoints.

"It has to be done in a certain context," said Michele Cunningham, 42, who owns a clothing store in Peekskill. "If it's just one point of view, that's all they are hearing."

Autum said she wrote the poem after watching "The Disasters Darwinism Brought to Humanity," a documentary that claims Charles Darwin's theory of evolution is false and links it to the development of fascism, communism and racism in the 19th century.

"I think it's terrible, but it's what they do. So I shouldn't be surprised about it," she said, referring to some of the white people discussed in the film. "All they do is just steal, rob and murder...that's the only thing they were raised to do."

"Even the ones that try to fix up with us, they're still devils," she said. "I feel they're devils and they should be gone. We should be away from them and still be in Africa."

"She's only 7. You have to start thinking where is she getting that information from," the elder Cunningham said.

The older Ashante, who is also a poet, said his daughter's strong language is her own and denies that he wrote the poems for her or is teaching her hatred. He said he introduced her to black history and poetry, but that much of her writing is influenced by current events, including what some see as the poor treatment of blacks and poor after Hurricane Katrina.

"My daughter is not racist," he said. "She's too little to be one. She knows her history. She knows the truth."