Some of NEIU’s best wordsmiths gathered in Alumni Hall on Oct. 21 and illuminated the room with poetry, both personal and powerful.
Clyde McLeod, event coordinator and member of the Black Heritage Committee, introduced the first speaker, NEIU student Jason Ferguson, as a “serious poet.” Ferguson recited three original poems, speaking frankly about the violent death of his mother and losing the loving grandmother who raised him to cancer. His other poems were about faith and the unfair treatment of African Americans. McLeod himself stepped up next, rhapsodizing about surprising beauty in a poem aptly named “Beauty.” His smooth bass voice also confessed to being a foolish lover in a second poem and urged African Americans men to stand up and take responsibility in his final spoken work. The next poet, Aaronetta O’Daniel, declared herself freed from persecution and proudly proclaimed herself a “woman of color, Brown Sugar” in a tight rhyming scheme.
Distinguished alumni and founder of the NEIU Black Heritage Gospel Choir, Marylene Whitehead, spoke about “Crosshair Sarah” and the media ignoring violence and injustice in the African-American community. In a second poem, she stressed a need for the cruelties, restrictions and denials of the past to be remembered. Whitehead finished by questioning the inferiority myth that African Americans had labored under for centuries.
In an interesting change of style, Alex Brown resurrected the often-maligned art of mime and spoke of his struggles not with his voice but through his hands and body. Using evocative, exquisite physical expression he mimed the emotions and ideas being sung in the accompanied music.
Lakeesha Harris, Editor-in-Chief of .:Seeds:. Literary Arts Journal of NEIU, struck a chord about the tragedy of so many young African American men going to jail in “Song of an Upright Bogged-Down Mother.” She emphasized society’s responsibility for the lack of opportunities for these young men and lamented the plight of black mothers who could “offer only [themselves] to black boys growing into black men.” In Harris’ poem “Acknowledgment” she humorously pointed out the disparity between expectations put on African American girls and boys.
NEIU Independent Newspaper’s own Janean Watkins brought a syncopated rhythm and a lot of energy to the stage with her rap “Lyrical Explosion.” Watkins continued with a second rap, a melody-accented lyrical rhyme named”Mellifluous. ” Accompanied by the audience clapping along, she sang and rapped about her personal history and spiritual growth as a Black woman in Chicago.
Ferguson took the stage again, speaking about marriage and tenderness being vital to the whole process in his poem, “I Do.” A female rap artist named Coco Malibu performed a piece about relationship failure and keeping hope alive. NEIU student Vincent McKnuckles thanked the crowd for coming before launching into a piece that described “rhythm [as] his logic.” The NEIU Hip-Hop Organization’s own Believer (Kris Mika) spoke about the history of hip-hop, mourning the glorification of negative stereotypes that hip-hop started out to avoid. NEIU student Jason Garcia freestyled an unplanned verse he described as “Flowin’ the Stream.” O’Daniels returned to the stage to close the event with her touching poem “Choice,” about the choices children don’t realize they have and adults still wish they did have. This was only the second annual Floetry-Poetry event but with talent like this around NEIU, there are sure to be many more.
CAPTIONS FOR FLOETRY PICTURES:
floetryall.jpg – Left to right, Janean Watkins, Marylene Whitehead, Kris Mika, Aaronetta O’Daniels, Alex Brown, Coco Malibu, Jason Garcia, Clyde Mcleod, Alice Pennamon, Vincent McKnuckles.
floetryFerguson.jpg – Jason Ferguson speaks about the women in his life.
FloetryBrown.jpg – Alex Brown raises his hands toward heaven during his performance.
floetrywhiteman.jpg – Marylene Whitehead reciting Crosshair Sarah to an eager crowd.