This spoken word poem by Darryll Suliaman Amoako aka ‘Suli Breaks’ deconstructs idealised notions of the ‘American Dream’ and addresses those people striving for success or the ‘pursuit of happiness’ at any cost. Reflecting upon the danger of spending to much time on unsatisfactory jobs and losing oneself the ‘rat race’ from ‘rags to riches’, the speaker outlines, that we should “Chase [our] dreams […] but don’t become a slave to a paycheck.”

Text and performance can serve for a teaching unit on the ‘American Dream’, poetry slams and planning one’s future. 

Poetry · United Kingdom