After winning Sunday's Poetry Slam competition, two Ball State students will get the chance to perform their pieces for Stedman Graham at the I Read, I Rise Maya Angelou tribute Monday.
Nathaniel Thomas, president of the Ethnic Theater Alliance and Maya Woods, vice president of the Black Student Association, worked with the Office of Institutional Diversity to put together Sunday's event.
“[Woods] came to me wanting a poetry slam specifically during Black History Month so I got on board. It worked well with our ‘I Read…I Rise’ Campaign because we didn’t just want to have a tribute for Maya Angelou, we wanted to have a semester long campaign of her work,” said Thomas, a junior theater major.
Jajuan Philips, the youth winner, performed “Knock, Knock” by Daniel Beatty, a poem that tells the tale of a young black man growing up with a father in prison.
“My cousin made me a poem to recite at first, but I just wasn’t feeling it. So I started researching, and I found 'Knock Knock.' I thought it really fit the theme and was appropriate for the situation,” said Philips.
Albert Jennings, a junior public communications major and one of the adult winners, had never performed his poetry for an audience or judges before. Jennings performed an original piece, “See You Soon,” a poem to his future wife.
“I’ve been writing a long time, probably since elementary, middle school," Jennings said. "For so long, writing has been therapy for me. It’s helped me process things or grow. So for a long time writing was enough."
This particular poem came from a class assignment. His future wife is often subject matter of his poetry, said Jennings.
The second adult winner performed her original piece, “Inspiration of Music.” During her performance, Tambr Bullock, a freshman logistics and philosophy major, switched between speaking her poetry and singing a Lauryn Hill song.
“Poetry gives me a voice," Bullock said. "Whether people want to listen or not, they’re in the audience so I have a voice. It’s just amazing because it’s changing people’s minds or lives with my words."
The slam took place in Pruis Hall on Feb. 15, where nine contestants performed a poem of their choice for three judges. The subject matter of the poems were to be inspired by or based off the work of Maya Angelou.
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