On Nov. 5, the African American Student Alliance (AASA) at KSU put together a sensational, artistic event to pay homage to the many black artists during the Harlem Renaissance. Held in the Social Science building, the place was jam-packed with KSU students who came out to see the educational event.
AASA kicked off the event by presenting audiences with a short film that featured students from KSU sharing their personal take on what poetic expression means. The statements given by those students in the video were enlightening and stressed that poetic expression is a way to express one’s self through artistic mediums such as music, dance, or poetry. The short film was informative and effectively set the tone for what people should expect throughout the event.
Various student artists from KSU came out to perform for audiences. The categories that majority of performers expressed their work through were dance, music, and spoken word.
For the category of dance, the group “AfriSA” performed an electrifying dance choreography and students Simon Phillips and Simone Stevens performed an intimate ballet duet. In music, student Chelsea Hill covered Vivian Green’s song “Emotional Rollercoaster”, while Nikki Lovett performed the 2006 R&B hit “I Am Not My Hair” by Indie Arie. Carl Duperval presented audiences with a song he wrote called “Good Cop, Bad Cop”, which he wrote during this past summer as “a reflection of police brutality in America”.
There were generous amounts of KSU students who participated in the category for spoken word, all of who delivered dynamic poems ranging from a comical standpoint to a serious note. Jaye Newton performed two poems for audiences, his most powerful being his poem “I Lost My Soulmate”. J’hara Everett took a humorous look at the importance of ex’s in relationships in her poem “Ex’s Matter”. Davonte Hughley delivered to audiences his uplifting poem called “Self Improvement”. Followed by Hughley’s performance, student Janae Law went on stage to informed audiences about KSU’s new spoken word club called “Word Up!”. However, no one could surpass Kenyatta Kinloch and his phenomenal poem “Barbecue”, to which he dedicated to Eric Garner.
The students who perform not only presented audiences with their talent, but also their bravery and passion for expressive art. It was required that viewers snap their fingers at the end of each performance instead of applauding, but it became increasingly hard for audiences not to give every artist a standing ovation. “The performances tonight were so amazing. I felt like I should have paid for general admission or something because it was that good!” stated Nakia Merrill, a junior here at KSU. Bryon Tunner, also a junior, discussed the importance of poetic expressions. “It is important that as human beings we express ourselves, whether it’s through music, dance, or poetry. There is something freeing and beautiful about expressing one’s self through various art forms like we saw tonight.”
AASA’s “Poetic Expressions” was truly an unforgettable event that will linger in the hearts and minds of those who attended.