Staceyann Chin Poetry Reading

When I attended the Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC) in Washington D.C. I learned a great deal not only about who I was but also how I wanted to express my individuality. I realized that life really is too short to go through it pretending to put on a mask and pretend that everything is normal. First of all, what is normal? I guarantee you that your "normal" is my strange as my "normal" is to you. Secondly, I learned that poetry and more specifically spoken word, is a great way to put yourself out there and express your voice. On my trip to D.C. I saw one of the greatest, most outspoken poets I have ever heard, her name was Staceyann Chin. Chin grew up in Jamaica and I already knew that she would have a special connection just because of the experiences she had been through. Chin performed a variety of poems, none of which I could find online but I found a YouTube video of one, which we watched in class. This video can be found here. 

From a spoken word, point of view. Chin presents herself really well. She uses words like "slut", "bitch", and "fuck" throughout her poetry. Although these words are very vulgar, they do their job. They're in your face. I don't feel entirely comfortable using these quiet yet (if ever) just because I don't feel like I'd need them in poetry, or at least as often as she relies on them. Chin focuses a lot on specific issues such as being lesbian, from Jamaica, and dark-skinned woman but just by tackling these problems she tackles a much larger set of them; Homophobia, to a certain degree class-ism, racism and sexism. All of these are huge cultural identifiers and therefore it is important to talk about them. In her poem "Feminist or a Womanist" Chin goes a step further by addressing religion. She calls conventional Jesus ("blonde, blue eyed") and brings him into what some might consider "reality". She point out the fact that Jesus was a "Middle Eastern rasta man"  which already causes some racial tensions, especially if you were a white person who strongly believes in the image of Jesus being white as well. Chin's poetry is very direct and confronting and this is definitely the direction I want to take with my own poetry, so I'm excited to start working on this. I may not necessarily agree with everything she says, but she says it with such strong character that its hard to refute it.

SDLC-Inspired poetry (Spoken Word)

You and Me

What do you see

When you see me?

Do you see what I see?

Can you see what I see?

See, the things is…

It’s not what we see

But what we choose to see

For you see me

And what you see is white.

That in and of itself brings to you

A pre

conceieved

notion of 

who 

I 

am

But…

I am not what you see.

I am rich in heritage beyond your belief.

This new vision of me brings you a relief.

“Oh, it’s one of those”

“I don’t mean it that way.. It’s cool, I’ve got a black friend.”

Well mean what you say

Say what you see

And most of all…

SEE ME