The Virginia Commonwealth University’s award-winning slam poetry team Good Clear Sound performed at the Chapel on Friday as part of Black Culture Week.
The foursome — a subset of the group — performed a series of slam poems on childhood experiences, gender identity and romance. Some focused on their the black experience in America and spoke about the group’s feelings regarding stereotyping, discrimination and gentrification.
The event connected well with other events earlier in the week, College third-year Alexandria Rodgers, one of about 50 members of Friday evening’s audience, said.
“It’s important to see that there is this opportunity for black artists to speak up and express themselves,” Rodgers said.
Marvin Hodges, one of the performers and a VCU senior, said he enjoys coming to the University to perform. He started writing poetry last year and feels it is a powerful way to connect with others and understand their experiences.
“It helps people heal when they hear a story that’s happened to you,” Hodges said. “[It] tells people that the way they think, the way they feel is OK.”
The University’s long history, coupled with a culture that marginalizes black people, makes the school an ideal place to showcase their work, Hodges said.
“I think people are afraid to speak about what really matters to them,” Hodges said. But “if we don’t talk about it, how do we expect to really move forward?”
The Good Clear Sound performance marked the last of a series of events put on by the Black Student Alliance in the week leading up to Halloween.
Other highlights of the week included a discussion lead by filmmaker and University alumna Akosua Adoma Owusu on her cinematic work and a presentation by University of Pennsylvania Professor Adolph Reed about race and class in America.
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