KAMAL IMANI

Kamal Imani was born Terrence Karlton Oats on September 17th, 1966 in Harlem NY . At the age of 3 after his parents divorced his mother moved to the Bronx , NY with his 2 younger sisters. He was recruited by the Junior Black Spades gang at the age of 7 and started witnessing situations that he didn’t desire or expect. He later moved to Teaneck NJ at the age of 9 with the assistance of his Grandmother Mrs. Mary C. Webb AKA “Sugarpie” and his Grandfather Henry C. Webb AKA “Pop” whom many would mistaken for Gladys Knight and Redd Foxx.
Watching his mother struggle working overtime for Ma Bell/AT&T and being a latch key kid, Kamal developed a sense of responsibility and protectiveness. He also developed a early sense of entrepreneurship and hustle. After school he would help ladies take their packages home for a few dollars.
One of his favorite quotes is “Everybody wants me to be what they want me to be, I’m not happy when I try to fake it” by Lionel Ritchie of the Commodores from the song “Easy like Sunday Morning”. This is due to Kamal’s many pressured influences. At 11 years old his grandmother worked for the NAACP and when asked by her and his aunt what he wanted to be when he grew up he said “either in communications, broadcasting or an astronomer” His grandmother said “you should want to be the first black president” which bothered him, but he remained determined to pursue communications and also developed a love for poetry and hip hop (his Grandmother gave him African American poetry anthologies to read).
His stepfather Shaka Zulu was and is a Harlem based Garveyite and was very strong with his instilling of his Pan African ideology. Kamal’s father was and is a Jehovah’s Witness and constantly attempted to pull him into that religion. His mother and grandmothers sides of the family went to both Baptist and Methodist churchs.

At the age of 16 Kamal’s 2 female cousins from the Bronx gave him the Autobiography of Malcolm X. His best friends taught him about the 5% Nation of Islam teachings and Kamal started hearing Minister Farrakhan on WWRL AM radio in NYC. This started him reading hundreds of books on spirituality, religion and African history. This is at a time when hip hop was new and on the rise and where Kamal use to write poems to please the young girls, now he was putting it to music.
He was invited to perform at high schools and house parties with his various hip hop crews. He later started promoting talent showcases at various Masonic lodges and making a good deal of money for a teenager. He learned a lot from those days and host several open mics to this day. He is also a radio host of the “Revolutionary Art Show” on Vocalized Ink Radio.

During hip hop’s Golden or Conscious age, Kamal was spitting fiery and conscious lyrics with a message. When he noticed the industry moving towards gangster music and he noticed that Russell Simmons was bringing a new wave of poetry back, he decided to let his message be heard through the poetry venue. In just 4 years he has emerged as a well known, loved and respected poet.

Kamal has been happily married for 12 years to his Bajan (From Barbados) wife and has a 2 year old son. His strong sense of responsibility for his family has caused him to approach the entertainment business with professionalism. He refuses to be viewed as anything but a top notch professional and rising star. He is a graduate of Teaneck High School , Bergen Community College , and Computer Career Training Center and is currently going for his Bachelors online via New York Institute of Technology with the goal of teaching in the inner city. Kamal is doing all of this while holding down a fulltime job at the Penguin Book Publishing Group where he is a Title Release Coordinator.

One of the open mics that Kamal host is at the Technology Resource/Khepera Center in Englewood NJ which houses the home offices and bases for infamous African historians Drs. Leonard and Rosalind Jeffries, Rev. Herbert and Dawn Daughtry, B.W.A.R.E (Black Women Against Racism Empowered) in which he is an advisor and lecturer for, African Medicine Women, Circle of Colors, African Drummers and Martial Arts Circle, The NOI Study Group and Mary K Cosmetics. He constantly participates with fundraising, marketing and networking efforts in his interactions with all of these groups.
He has poems such as “Lynch the N Word” which is primarily aimed at the youth and is being used by classes in the Paterson NJ school system as an educational tool. Also “You a Armchair Revolutionary” which encourages all of us to walk the walk and not just talk the talk. He helps keep the sister’s heads up with his dedication
“Ms. Melanin."

Kamal also has a new wedding maxi single which can be found at http://www.myspace.com/kamalthepoet as well as his CD “The Mic is Calling Me” which can be found at http://www.myspace.com/kamalsupreme