Obalaye Macharia is taking aim on youth: “I'm aiming at them because I want to make them know that tomorrow has something to offer. That it's something to hope about. I can show them that.”

        His weapon of choice? Spoems, a word he uses to describe poems meant to be spoken but not read. Some of them angry, some revolutionary, some sweet and gentle, his spoems are now collected on a two-CD set — Speak Easy, Speak Hard — due in early November.

        Obalaye (pronounced OH-ba-lie-ah), formerly of Over-the-Rhine, now of Bond Hill, will tell you he's an “ancient representative of the truth” but won't say how ancient. Probably 30something and more or less single, though he considers himself a “communalist, never single because I don't observe marriage the way other people do.”

        He goes only by his first name, one he picked it up in 1992 in a Nigerian village, and makes his living as a full-time poet.

        “Not a lavish living, but I survive through the art and with friends,” he says.

        The friends in question are the Artistic Order of 144k, a 12-member collaborative that produces music, poetry and drama to perform on the streets or at impromptu gatherings.

        “Really, I see myself as a street minister, delivering words inspired by God and my ancestors. I do this because the word needs to be heard,” Obalaye says.

        The word that needs to be heard is actually a bunch of words:

        • Racial healing because, he says, people are ready to heal and the word — or truth — can do it. “If you feel better about yourself and each other after listening to poetry, that's healing. No doctor in the world can do that.”

        • Community is another word that needs to be heard, he says, because we're all in this together and the word can nurture. “People throughout this community know how to get along, but they forget. The word reminds them.

        • An end to the economic disparity between races is another word that needs to be heard. Because, he says, the word can promote the kind of brotherhood that makes equality happen.

        “People are feeling down right now, especially with the things happening in Cincinnati. African-Americans are worried, and I'm thinking, I need the mike right now. We need to unite and to nurture, and we need to do it now,” Obalaye says.

        “I want to be the abolitionist, the one who frees the minds and souls of the community — white and black community. I've been to Florida, D.C., Philly, Chicago, and they're all nurturing. It's time for the people of Cincinnati to nurture each other too.”

        He's hoping his CDs, set to original music by local musician Joel Davis, push the nurturing into motion. Speak Easy, the first half of the set, is softer stuff — no profanity, no strong language, lots of praise, love and what Obalaye calls “positivity,” with a message that tells the listener to praise the spirit, love yourself and enjoy the beauty surrounding you.

        Speak Hard is, well, hard stuff — a call to action, rage, strong language, problems and solutions, all telling the listener to be free, acknowledge your spirituality and the good within yourself and, his favorite theme, know yourself.

        “These CDs are my babies, my wife, my heart, my soul. We, I mean me and 144k, live that poetry. We perform brotherhood, sisterhood, understanding, overstanding, where you can be if you take art and life seriously.

        “And I do. Performing this poetry is a way of life for me because the arts are a priority in my life. If I had my way, they'd be all over the city, on every corner and in every school because I know you can't have a real education without art.”

        Now he's taking aim on youth again: “You can hire as many police as you want in this city, and you can make them work as many hours as you want, but until you nurture youth with art, with the word, there won't be any healing.”

        Come January, he and fellow 144k members will practice what they preach: They'll launch what Obalaye calls the I-10 Tour, a road trip beginning in Florida and going all the way to California.

        “We'll hit the road and sleep in the car (a large van), but we'll also perform on roadsides all the way across the country. We'll meet people and spread the word, then do the same thing in the North when summer comes.

        “I'd love to have someone come along and make a documentary of it, but that costs more money than we have.”

        Oh yeah, money. Right now he's, uh, disagreeing with fellow artists about the price of Speak Easy, Speak Hard. He wants to give it away but knows that's not possible, so he settled on $20.

        “They all keep telling me to charge more because it's two CDs and a lot went into producing it. But I want people to hear it, and if they can't afford it, they can't hear it. Anyway, I believe the word will support me more than money will.

        “My job is to perform, read, study, speak and serve the community. I understand business, and I understand needing to charge for the CD, but there are more important things.”

        Such as?

        “Serious young artists being able to share their voices in schools and community centers. Convincing people they should be open to emotional and spiritual growth. Hope. Healing the community through art.

        “If I have to go out to every street corner and shout it, it's going to happen. It will.”

        Order Obalaye's Speak Easy, Speak Hard (One Soul Records; $20) through the group's Web site — www.global144k.com — or by calling 227-9519. Look for it in stores after the Nov. 13 CD release party.

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