“We want students to fellowship together and showcase their talents,” said Quincy Goodnie, the vice president of the B.S.A (Black Student Association) about the annual BSA Poetry Competition on Feb. 6. The competition brought out Longwood’s up-and-coming writers as well as reciters to the Student Union Stage. Goodnie, who planned and hosted the event, said that the event helps students to see each other in a different light.
The event was well attended by students from different backgrounds and all were open to speak. Students who had registered before the event to speak went first, reciting poems that they had either written or simply performed, that although they didn’t write, still meant something to them. Freshman Caleb Rose, a first-year Special Education major performed three poems from the slam poet, and teacher, Taylor Mali. As a Special Education major, Mali’s poems about students, teachers and the classroom life struck a cord with him. Rose’s first poem of the night, “What Teachers Make,” was especially poignant because it showcased that making money wasn’t as important as making a difference.
Rose was not the only student to perform a pre-written poem that spoke to their perspective. Whitley Coco, a member of the BSA, performed a poem entitled “Black Girl,” by poet Kai Davis, a Temple University student whose poetry has been featured on CNN. Coco was originally not registered to perform, nor did she expect to. Nevertheless, Coco conquered her nerves and recited the poem off the cuff, without any practice or preparation. Coco said she’d been memorizing the poem for a month because she related to it so well.
“Sometimes I wonder if there’s something wrong with my skin or with my hair,” Coco said. The poem uplifts her with lines like “She be the darkness we crave / When we can’t stand to look at ourselves / She be the night that carries our dreams.” To Coco the poem tells her that she is enough. Throughout the night, others present poems that were just as deep and meaningful to them. Although the words weren’t their own, the feelings between the performers and the poets were the same.
The winners of the competition were two Longwood students that wrote their own poems. JaSonyia Birdy, a junior Secondary Education major, received runner up, and freshman Elementary Education major Katy Miles took home first place. Miles has been writing poetry for two years and keeps two notebooks filled with her poems. Miles’ performance was unique because she was the only traditional style slam poet. Typically, slam poetry is spoken quickly with hard emotional impact, which Miles says she prefers to preform.
JaSonyia Birdy, the runner up, has been performing since the eigth grade when she did the program Poetry Out Loud and went all the way to the national level. Her poems tackled tough subjects like cheating, drug abuse and death. The poems were personal and before each one she gave the story of who the poem was for. Birdy’s poems stood out from the other poets because despite writing all of her poems, she didn’t write about herself, but for other people.
“Sometimes I feel like other people just need a voice,” Birdy said, “I speak up for other people because sometimes people don’t have the courage to speak for themselves.” Birdy’s poem about her uncle’s struggle with drug abuse called “I Changed My Mind” moved the audience by being written from her uncle’s perspective. Throughout the night the audience snapped and encouraged speakers regardless of who wrote the poems. Katy Miles felt the support especially, saying that they became a community. “It’s a difference sense of community,” Miles said, “its something you normally wouldn’t have.”
