On Friday, Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. the Black Student Association (BSA) organized the first annual BSA Poetry Slam in the Student Union Café. Longwood students competed against one another with original poetry to determine the first place winner who would continue onto the Lancer Poetry Slam on Feb. 23 to perform alongside nationally acclaimed poets.
President of BSA Roberta Collier said, "Last semester, the Black Student Association along with Lancer Productions and B.A.S.I.C. gospel choir hosted the Lancer Poetry Slam, and we showcased four famous poets. And we solicited for students to come along, but only one student came, and his name was Erikk Shupp, and he did his personal poem. But no other student wanted to come and perform at the event."
Collier explained, "We felt as if this year as a prelude to the Lancer Poetry Slam, it might be better if we did a BSA Poetry Slam to find poets, so we would have more student poets at the event."
Students were able to become a part of the event by signing up at Dorrill Dining Hall or by contacting BSA through email or in person.
"My hope for the event was basically for people to come out, do their original works with no pressure and to just enjoy themselves and have fun with everything," added Collier.
James Bland, the host of the event, explained that the purpose of the event was to provide a more "competitive type setting."
A member of BSA spoke to the audience on the history of slam poetry and what constitutes slam poetry. "Spoken word is literary art where poetry, lyrics and stories are spoken, rather than sung."
The member added that slam poetry requires no music. She added, "The reason behind this was so that the audience would focus more so on what the artist had to say, rather than the beat of the music."
"Today, spoken word artists are just as diverse as the emotions that are expressed in their work," the member said.
The judges for the event included Dr. Theresa Clark, department chair and associate professor, Brittany Pendleton, alumnus, and Sitesha Randolph, a grad student and graduate assistant of Longwood University.
Randolph commented that what makes good slam poetry is the "ability to speak clearly [and] engage the audience."
Pendleton added that "the ability to talk about a variety of issues" was also very important.
Collier said, "The contestants were judged from a scale of one to 10 on their quality of writing, and then on a scale of one to five for their entertainment value of the poem, their poem delivery, their stage presence, audience participation and overall enjoyment of the judge."
By the end of the night, the top three winners included Christa Brown in third place for her poem, "Bliss," Chloé Joseph in second place for her poem, "Momma Teach Me the World," and Samantha Drake in first place for her poem, "Code Switching."
Drake spoke after the event, saying, "I've always been really interested in slam poetry. I've been doing a lot of poetry these past couple years, and part of the fun is to experiment with sound over content. And a lot of my favorite poets are speaking poets like Taylor Mali."
Drake stated that her poem was based upon a conversation she had with her sister where her sister had told her, "You don't sound like me anymore." Having grown up in West Virginia, Drake assumed a more Northern accent while studying at Longwood University, losing the "Midwestern dialect" typical of the area she had originally grown up in.
"I was kind of hurt because I do kind of assume a standard dialect when I'm in college. I think everybody does," she said, causing her to be inspired to experiment with dialect in her poem.
While discussing BSA's various events occurring during Black History Month, Collier said, "My hope is that not only the black people come out, but everybody comes out to these events because we do work hard as a community to host events, not just during February, but throughout the whole school year, but hopefully – at least during Black History Month – we can get a little more recognition for our organizations in general, which will help with membership."
Be sure to look forward to the Lancer Poetry Slam on Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. in Jarman Auditorium. The event is hosted by the Hispanic Heritage Club, the Student Diversity and Inclusion Council, the Black Student Association, Lancer Productions and B.A.S.I.C. gospel choir. Performing in a round robin format, the Lancer Poetry Slam will also feature four nationally acclaimed poets, being Shihan the Poet, Gemini, Cuban and E-Baby.
Additionally, to find more information on the various events BSA is hosting this month, look for flyers on campus or go online to www.longwood.edu/assets/mcaffairs/Black_History_Month_Flyer.pdf.
