Arnold "Poet" Jackson
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Poet, played by muMs da Schemer, is one of the Homeboys on Oz. Imprisoned for armed robbery and attempted murder, he has a talent for poetry and often performs several Poems but also has a huge heroin addiction which pulls him under. He gets paroled early with the help of Kareem Said and Tim McManus but his freedom is short lived as he soon kills a drug dealer who came after him to collect the drug money he owed. When back in prison, he is a full fledged Homeboy often acting as the second in command to whomever is in charge.
Amongst the Homeboys, Poet is one of the gangs' laziest and most incompetent members as he relies on other gang members and inmates to solve problems of his. This is seen through Poet making little to no effort to sell drugs, his use of Busmalis to pin other inmates on the drugging of Augustus Hill, and through Poet only acting violent towards other inmates with the assistance of Homeboys like Kenny Wangler, Junior Pierce, or Reggie Rawls. Nevertheless, Poet remains as the gang's second in command throughout the series' duration despite his incompetence to adequately lead the gang members.
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[edit] Season 1
Poet has a limited role in this season, reciting poems for the other prisoners on more than one occasion. He is talented and his poems often reflect problems and decisions which affect African American males and their families. Other inmates, of all races, listen attentively to Poet's recitals and respect him for his talent.
[edit] Season 2
Let back into Emerald City as one of the Homeboys, Poet is enrolled in the GED program in Oz. Tim McManus the unit manager of Em City believes Poet is very talented and gets Kareem Said to help publish Poet's work. Poet does very well in the GED program finishing at the top of the class even though he is made fun of frequently by Kenny Wangler. As a result, Poet is paroled early and sells several of his poems as a known author now. However, Poet is still a heroin addict and spends all his profits on drugs. Out of money, the drug dealers come after him to collect a debt and he murders one of them in self defense. However, since Poet had illegal possession of a weapon and shot the dealer six times while on parole, he is in violation and sent back to Oz. When back, McManus and Said are both disappointed and the Aryan Brotherhood congratulates Poet for messing up and getting sent back to Oz. While back inside as punishment, he must work in the morgue and is only accepted by Kenny Wangler and Junior Pierce.
[edit] Season 3
Not writing any more poetry for the time being, he now is referred to as his birth name of Arnold. New inmate Malcolm Coyle jokingly asks if Junior Pierce is named Willis as a point that Poet needs a better name. Following the orders of Kenny Wangler, their attempt to murder the currently mentally unstable Simon Adebisi is put on hold under orders from Antonio Nappa. Asking for Said's permission, he asks if he can write Poetry again. He is allowed to and turns the tables on Said by reciting a new poem about Said seeing a White Woman. Because the Muslims reject interracial relations, Said is dismissed as their leader because of Poet's exposure. Meanwhile when Wangler leaves temporarily, Adebisi makes a deal with current Italian head Chucky Pancamo to take Wangler's spot in the drug trade. With the help of the Latinos, Adebisi burns Poet and Pierce with hot soup putting them out of commission for a few weeks. When released from the infirmary, Poet and Pierce both have White spots all over their skin since the burn wounds burned off part of their flesh and caused a temporary change in complexion. Poet jokingly says "I might be able to get a cab now" since his skin for the time being appears whiter. In Unit B, they tell Wangler that Adebisi must die but it is put on hold when it is learned that Adebisi is going to get Tim McManus replaced by an African American unit manager.
[edit] Season 4 Part I
Poet, Wangler, and Pierce are transferred back into Em City after Adebisi makes a request to Warden Glynn. Inside they torment a new inmate named Guilliame Tarrant who is unfit for prison. Seeing this desparation, Adebisi puts a smuggled gun under his bed and Tarrant then murders Kenny Wangler and Junior Pierce. Poet is very upset that his best friends have died and Simon Adebisi then suggests that Poet join him to take down all the White inmates. Poet remains loyal and as a result, when an African American named Martin Querns is hired in Tim McManus' position, things look up for the Black inmates. Adebisi and his followers may do whatever they wish as long as there is no violence in Em City. Several transfers are made mainly of White and Latino inmates and COs being traded for Blacks. Poet also in the meantime is asked to supervise Desmond Mobay, a Jamaican inmate wanting into the drug trade whom Adebisi does not trust. For a while things are going good and Poet and Supreme Allah are named trustees after the Italian and Latino inmates leave Em City. Poet though becomes internally disgusted with what has happened in Em City through Adebisi being on a power trip (He is most disgusted by Adebisi's sexual behavior towards young Black inmates) and secretly assists Kareem Said in taking him down. Homeboy Leroy Tidd notices this and warns Adebisi who claims that they will lay low until Said actually proves what he is doing. Querns is fired and Adebisi dies when trying to kill Said, so Poet is now the default leader of the Homeboys.
[edit] Season 4 Part II
When a news crew comes to Oz, Poet makes statements that convince them that Oz is run corruptly. He does this while running the homeboys in a mediocre fashion. When inmate Burr Redding arrives, Poet loses his leadership position when Redding convinces him that he is not as good of a leader as Burr. Poet is Burr's main lieutenant and sets up an attempted murder on Supreme Allah who has been excommunicated from the Homeboys. Poet schedules a visit with Tug Daniels, the brother of the man Supreme is serving time for murdering and gives him a smuggled toothbrush shank to kill Allah. Allah lives though, Daniels is sentenced to prison for attempted murder and Warden Leo Glynn then sends Poet to the cage as punishment for assisting Daniels. As Daniels comes to Oz, he assists Poet and Redding in a plan to murder all the Italian and Latino inmates. The S.O.R.T. team however breaks them up because of a tip from Augustus Hill, as a result Redding has Hill ex-communicated from the Homeboys. Poet later pays off the COs to allow Redding to kill Tug Daniels who has been proven as a traitor assisting Supreme Allah. Hill approaches Poet with some information pertaining to Supreme's medical status. Supreme is allergic to eggs so in the cafeteria, they put several eggs in the food that Supreme eats and he dies immediately. Poet then tells Redding about this who allows Augustus back into the Homeboys for causing the death of Supreme Allah.
[edit] Season 5
Em City is reopened and Poet is amongst one of the Homeboys let back in. Things look up when the Italians are taken down in a side battle with the Aryans. Burr Redding calls a truce with Enrique Morales and the Latinos and agrees to work with them. Poet does not really like the Latinos and calls them spics behind their back. In the meantime, Burr Redding gets control of the kitchen and the Italians removed so the Homeboys are now looking better. A guide dog program for the visually impaired then comes to Oz and Poet states his dislike for dogs being around him. Augustus Hill in the mean time is feeling bad over recent events involving a dead mother and divorced wife. Feeling bad, he then asks Poet and the Homeboys for some drugs. Hill ODs and nearly dies however as he snorted a toxic amount of heroin and went into septic shock as a result. Angry, Redding searches for the men responsible for drugging Hill and Poet is his first accusation. Poet naturally lies telling Burr to look at his enemies the Italians and Latinos instead of his friends the Homeboys. Poet then uses Hill's drugging as an excuse to cause the death of an Italian inmate as a means of drawing suspicion away from himself. With the help of Latino inmate Carmen Guerra, Poet gets Busmalis, a witness with no vested interest to lie about the Italians drugging Hill. An Italian inmate who is falsely accused named Salvatore DeSanto then dies brain dead from LSD supplied by Burr Redding. Hill then tells McManus that DeSanto did not give him the drugs and Poet, afraid for his life gets Busmalis to say the Latinos supplied Hill. The Latinos and Homeboys are no longer allied after the accusation is brought up and as a result, Morales now hates the Black inmates. Meanwhile, Poet is paid by Dr. Tariq Faraj, the prison dentist to spread the word about a gum transplant that Aryan Brotherhood inmate James Robson receives. Amused by the fact that the gums are from a Black man, Poet and Ryan O'Reilly humiliate Robson in the cafeteria asking him first if he wants any "Chitlins and Gravy" a popular Black food with his lunch, then they announce that he got a pair of "ghetto gums" from the dentist. The Brotherhood is humiliated and kicks Robson out as a result of his "black blood". Desperate to get back in with the Aryans, Robson buys Heroin from Poet using it to numb the pain as he tries to self remove his gums. As Augustus leaves the hospital and Redding is released from the hole, Poet then begs Hill not to rat him out and Hill agrees since he is not a snitch. Hill dies after the Italians and Latinos reform their alliance as the result of an attempt on Burr Redding.
[edit] Season 6
The Homeboys are out of control attacking inmates at random since Burr Redding is too hurt to lead them. Poet and inmate Reggie Rawls amongst others are constantly robbing inmates and trying to sell drugs to get the Homeboys back on track. Redding then tells them they are going to leave the kitchen (something Poet loves to work in due to his belly size amongst other things) and work as telemarketers. Poet, Rawls, and Keninah Maxwell amongst others are reluctant to do so. On the phones, Poet insults a "racist bitch" for calling him a Spook over the phone and Redding fires him when he refuses to get back to work. The rest of the Homeboys follow Poet who is glad to be out of the telemarketing game. Unknown to Poet, Redding requests that the Italians stop any drug transaction the Homeboys attempt to pull. This goes enforced as one of Poet's connections is ran over 37 times by the Italians on orders of Chucky Pancamo. Poet then asks former Black Panther member Jahfree Neema to lead them who refuses since Blacks like the Homeboys make a bad name for the rest of them. Desperate for work, they work a higher paying job of Book Binders ran by Zahir Arif and the Muslims. New inmate Stanley Bukowski, a pothead is selling Marijuana brownies in the cafeteria. Poet and Rawls say they will support him, but the Italians discover this and kill Bukowski. Redding destroys the Book industry and forces the Homeboys to come back and work as telemarketers. As they come back Poet is forced to beg his way back in as a worker. Poet however saves the Homeboys when he develops a plan to steal credit card numbers for purposes of purchasing drugs. This is unknown to Redding and the Homeboys manage to make money in a way that they only know how by "Cyber Slinging."
