Friday Night Popcorn and Def Poetry Jam
by Kelly Pope
In a lot of ways, my husband and I are exact opposites. For example, he can dance, but I can’t. He prefers to watch the movie, and I don’t bother because everyone knows the book is better. He doesn’t like to read for pleasure (unlike me, of course, who finds nothing finer), but he does have a passion for poetry. Converging over this one genre, we have created a Friday night routine of finding comfortable clothes, popping some popcorn, and settling down in front of the computer to watch YouTube.
As unlikely as it seems, on YouTube, dedicated searches can find short clips of a literary genre known as slam poetry. Our favorite clips are usually bits and pieces of Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry Jam on HBO that have been added by fans or the artists themselves. Aired late at night and hosted by Mos Def, a successful hip-hop artist, Def Poetry Jam features new and unknown poets as well as famous guests like Alicia Keyes, Smokey Robinson, Kanye West, and Phylicia Rashad performing their work for a live audience. Russell Simmons, influential in the rap community and creator of Def Jam Records, started Def Poetry Jam because he “recogniz[ed] the power of urban poetry on modern culture.” It has now finished its sixth season on HBO.
Not surprisingly, I prefer the printed word. I love spending hours in a library feeling the pages and hunting for just the right book, but I have learned to appreciate slam poetry. Also known as spoken word poetry, slam poetry is written to be performed in front of an audience. Sometimes it is accompanied by music and is not much different than some rap music. It is active, loud, and forces the listener to be engaged. Slam poets attempt to express raw emotion through their work. There is anger but not hate, hope mixed with sadness, all evident by the poets’ actions, tone, and delivery.
Unlike other forms of poetry, slam poetry has few limitations. Each poet has his or her own style and topic that they prefer. Rives, for example, tends to disguise issues with humor. In his poem “Sign Language,” he describes slam poetry sessions with hearing impaired children. Rives says that some kids “only write about being deaf. Some make a joke. Some make a mention. Some avoid the topic altogether; not too different from the choices poets make here with gender and skin color.” His powerful delivery easily illustrates the universal nature of poetry.
Shihan finds inspiration from his family. “Father’s Day” is a touching reflection on the importance of his passion versus his love and devotion for his young children. Shihan tells the audience that he has to “sacrifice every time [he] step[s] up to the mike” to share his work because it takes him away from his family. Through tears he asks that they decide if the poem was worth it.
Other poets cannot ignore the politics of current events. Suheir Hammad, a Palestinian woman, shares a piece written shortly after the terrorist attacks in 2001. She wrestles with the idea of being Arab in New York during the attacks. Having two brothers in the United States Navy adds to the complexity of the situation as well as Hammad’s grief and worry. Her performance is as much about her words as it is the mix of anger, sadness, pride, and confusion that she feels. In the end, she resolves the ethnic question by declaring that “you are either for life or against it.”
Steve Coleman summarizes the objective and diversity of slam poetry well. One of his pieces, “I Wanna Hear a Poem,” stresses that it doesn’t matter who you are or what’s happening in the world, as long as poetry is written. The only thing that is important is that “the subject [in the poem] matters so much adjectives start holding pro-noun rallies.” Bringing together young and old, the unconventional with the commonplace, black, white, Arab, and Asian, spoken word poetry offers something for everyone. Maybe a place like YouTube, which has “Broadcast Yourself” as its motto, isn’t such a strange place to find it after all.
Kelly Pope is a senior who majors in history and minors in English. She is a member of Sigma Tau Delta and an editor of the Chameleon, Norwich’s literary annual. Upon graduation she will begin work as an archivist at the Smithsonian Institute’s Air and Space Museum.
