Slam Ignorance

Recently at a Poetry Slam, I approached a competing poet from Slam Richmond who we just defeated and he made the following comment to me:

“Our poems didn’t do so well tonight because this venue [Poe Museum] wasn’t a ‘Black’ one; we performed the same poetry at the Canal Club and it got a great response.”

Those of you who know me know that I am not an individual that lets ignorance slip, so I feel it is important that I address this comment and make a few things clear.

Slam Nahuatl only has one white member. The remaining members consist of two African Americans and a Latino. In comparison to Slam Richmond, we are just as racially diverse and more internationally diverse. As a result, I think that this individual’s comment needs further examination because it is clear that the reason Slam Nahuatl won had nothing to do with race, i.e. if race where a factor it would have equally impacted Nahuatl.

To understand this indvidual’s flaw in thought, let’s examine the audience that frequents the Canal Club. Although the audience at this venue might be a ‘Black’ one (whatever that means), that is not the main identifier as many educated, classy African American people would argue. The audience at the Canal Club fits the description of an individual that “shakes his or her ass to music that is demeaning and degrading to women and to the Black race, spends $100 of their salary at the bar instead of buying diapers for their baby, and lacks knowledge of self.” Ignorance does not equate to being black. I repeat, ignorance does not equate to being black. There are just as many ignorant white people in the Canal Club on any given Friday or Saturday night.

As a math major, the above evidence leads me to deduce the following: this individual subconsciously admitted that Slam Richmond’s poetry does not appeal to an educated audience (white or black) that has an elevated state of consciousness. I do not personally believe this, but this individual who coaches their team obviously does. There were, in fact, Black people at the Poe Museum and it was pretty clear from the response of the audience that these individuals preferred Nahuatl’s poetry.

From my personal observation, Slam Nahuatl won for the following three reasons:
1. we read books and political journals,
2. our topics extend beyond the ordinary or presented the ordinary in a creative fashion,
3. we perform as a team

It is a known fact that to grow as a writer you must first read. If you were to dissect Nahuatl’s writing it references such great writers as Hafiz, something Danny Sherrard, the PSi Individual Champion, did well with a piece he used to win individuals with last year. Nahuatl also incorporates what it reads in a creative way, i.e. In “A Manual on Remembering that I am Beautiful” the subject of our poem uses the “Gift” by Hafiz to create a manual on remembering his divinity. Nahuatl’s work also references political issues, appealing to an audience who reacts to this because they also read.
Nahuatl took very common topics, i.e. anger towards President Bush, and incorporated elements of theatrical creativity having one member represent thought, another represent voice and yet another, movement – coming together to make one individual. If this individual from Slam Richmond wants to blame “somebody” for loosing, blame Nahuatl’s creativity, not race.
Nahuatl works as a team. All group pieces were written, edited, and theatrically produced by all members of the team. This cohesion shows.

As everyone knows, winning a slam doesn’t mean anything. It’s just the opinion of who happens to be there on that particular night. However, if you’re going to play the game, try and play it right. And if you loose, do it humbly. Congratulate your opponent rather than blaming race. Three of the Slam Richmond poet’s left the Poe Museum with their tails in-between their legs without congratulating the other team. Why? I don’t know – they had nothing to be ashamed of. In presenting, they did something 99% do not have the courage to do and I commend them for that. Personally, I believe that Slam Richmond could very well beat Nahuatl at nationals (not because they are better or work harder, but merely because they don’t like my face). I have no control over that, however, I can control what I do and I guarantee that if they win or loose, I will be humble in my defeat or victory. I will not make an ignorant comment that offends the black race in order to feel better about myself. In the end of the day, people say the Poetry is what counts, not the points, but they don’t really mean it. A silly competition brings out ignorant statements such as the one mentioned in this blog. As poets, we must use our pens and our voices to combat such a thing and that’s exactly what I am trying to do in posting this.

And, personally, I welcome the idea of having next year’s annual Richmond competition at the Canal Club.