Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael ( SwoDaPoet ) Weems
Hi Michael ( SwoDaPoet ), thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
So 6 months post graduation from college an incident occurred at my home that altered the career path & trajectory of my life. The situation is one that’s very layered so I won’t go into specific details but it definitely sent me in a downwards spiral as I battled with depression for a few years following. To go from beating the odds and becoming a first generation grad, to becoming a statistic was not supposed to be in my pipeline to success. I was lost, had a degree I could no longer use, and a reputation and legal situation that wasn’t reflective at all of the person that I am. But to the world I felt blackballed & it only heightened as the pandemic occurred. Although as time went on, the slowness of the world actually gave me time to breathe, and actually catch buck up into society. Ironically what sparked that most where my frequent trips to Atlanta during the pandemic as it was pretty much the only city functioning as if things were normal lol but I fell in love with the vibrancies of black representations in all career fields, to see so many black ppl owning luxury things and having sucessful business and careers definitely motivated me and inspired me to want to one day move here. At the end of my lease in VA I ended up moving back close to home in PG/DC area to stay with my bro Zig for a while because I had got a fine dining serving job at Barcelona Wine Bar on 14th street in DC. I was happy because it was the first time I had worked since the incident and in DC you can make really good money as a server. I didn’t have a car but at least from bro crib it only took a hour to get to & from work between bus & train. I was sleeping on a mattress in bro living room with two bins of clothes just trying to regroup & find myself again. But the blessing in this is that my bro Zig who goes by Zig215Philly is an amazing musical artist & was gaining a lot of traffic on social media for his remix freestyles. And one day he came to me and ask for just some help with directing and recording a freestyle video. It ended up turning out pretty well and did pretty good & from there that’s when I had a spark to dive back more into my creative and artistry side. I joined a performing arts organization in college as a Poet at VSU called P.A.N.I.C 2000 & that’s actually how me and bro met as they paired us together in the second round of auditions. So I’ve always had a passion for creating, but it’s not something I ever considered really exploring as a career until the laws of society limited my options on what I can and cannot be. The stay in DC was short as ZIgs lease was up & we kind of had a conversation of what the next move would be and we both agreed on ATL. The plan was to come down and push his career as he had some notable people in the industry tapping in. This is where probably the most important person responsible for pushing me to use my gifts was my brother Juice but most ppl in Atlanta know him as PlayWorldVisions. I started applying what I did with Zig when I would go to video shoots with Juice for other artist and people started to take notice to that. One thing I will always appreciate about bro is he never wanted me to be a background character in his own show. He was always pushing me to come up with my own identity. So from there I started a 1v1 podcast called black prosperity that is centered around the multiple facets of what black success is & looks like. It’s designed to give the audience & especially the youth representation. Black kids can become anything that they have access to. When you limit their options, you limit their growth. On my platform I’ve had the pleasure in interviewing actors, musicians, real estate agents, PhD candidates, engineers, activist, accountants, & entrepreneurs. My goal is to be a pillar in the community that I serve. Atlanta has been so good to me, so it’s only right the work that I put in reflects that in a positive way.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Definitely hasn’t been smooth, but what’s a road worth traveling if there isn’t some bumps along the way. I took a leap on faith and figured it out on the fly, I didnt really have a concrete plan for my journey but I knew how to hustle so I just bet on myself because God wouldn’t bring me this far for nothing. The toughest part for me was not having a space of my own while I figured things out. I hate asking for things and never want to feel like a burden. Though, I’m grateful that my circle of friends from past and present never made me feel anything less for needing help, which is why I’m even here speaking with you guys today.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I would say most people knew me at first for my poetry, but in the creative world I’m know for my network and ability to be able to connect the dots. Whether it’s me creative directing visual concepts for artist, connecting people to resources, or helping people with branding & marketing to maximize their appeal and reach their target audience, I am your go-to guy. Being the host of Black Prosperity is also a pride and joy of mine. I take pride in providing an interview podcast platform that doesn’t consist of negative stereotypes and focuses more so on the positive representation of black people and the elevation of our community. What sets me apart is my authenticity, I never tried to fit in I’ve always just been myself and I think that’s always worked in my favor. People want to work & connect with me because they understand I have their very best interest at heart. I don’t move with greed, it’s about providing services that have value, and there is no greater than value than being authentically you.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I love that there’s literally always something to do and it’s a diverse melting pot. If you can’t make friends out here you’re probably the problem haha.
What I like the least is probably the food selection, it’s pretty average at most. You have to really get acquainted to find the true gems haha.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Swodapoet_
