Slam Inequality

So on Friday night, the feminist club at my school (Herstory!) hosted a slam poetry event to raise money for the Somaly Mam Foundation, an organization featured in the documentary Half the Sky that fights sex trafficking and empowers survivors.

Of course, you immediately have the problem of having to convince cynical high schoolers that slam poetry is a fun thing to go see on a Friday night. People who know what slam poetry is know that it's fun, but everyone else just kind of hears the word "poetry" and dozes off.

The flyer that we put up around the school, made
 by a sophomore who is far better at design than I.

All the members of the group (and especially the officers and the seniors) worked really hard to make the night a success. Getting the main act, a professional slam poet from Brandeis University named Jamele Adams, was less of a worry than getting enough people to come that we could pay him.

So we recruited some opening acts, to turn it from a good show into a great show. We got my friend Ethan to open with some slam poetry of his own and the a cappella group of the high school, Pitch, Please, to make a contribution. And let me just tell you: they may be amateurs but they are incredibly talented.

Then on the week leading up to the show, we sold tickets at lunch and talked about it excitedly to all of our teachers and friends. My English teacher offered extra credit for attending (which makes sense because it's slam poetry) but so did my math teacher. And according to her I had to sign people's tickets for them to get the extra point. Specifically me because  I "can't be bribed". Signing all those tickets on Friday made me feel so powerful.

Can I just stress that these are homemade?

And of course, THE FOOD. All of it was homemade. I can't imagine how hard some people must have worked on the baked goods, because they were delicious. I think I bought at least twelve dollars worth of concessions. When we started setting up the lemon bars were still warm, so how could I not?  Quality baked goods sell much faster, plus the fact that they were homemade meant that the club didn't spend any money on concessions aside from buying some soda and water bottles.

So the show itself was amazing. It started off with Ethan, that courageous soul, performing a poem that he had written himself that was a letter to his six-pack. It was really brilliant. I can't find a full video, and I'm not sure if this will be visible on the blog, but this is the best I can do:

Back in freshman year, I didn't even like Ethan that much and I knew that he would be awesome at slam poetry. Maybe I'm biased, but I was totally right.

If the video doesn't work, this is Ethan.

Ethan's first poem was a message to his six-pack in which he rather hilariously attacked gender norms and the idealization of secondary sex characteristics.
"And I firmly believe that whether you are a man or a woman no lines and curves on your front side should dictate how beautiful you are." (quote best taken with visuals)
His second poem, from my perspective, went after privilege and told people that it was their job to help those that had been trampled. I wish I could find a video because he made it all sound very compelling.

I had half an eye on Jamele Adams, who was sitting in the front row, through all of Ethan's performance. I'm pretty sure he was genuinely impressed. He laughed loudly at the funniest parts and applauded all by himself at a few of Ethan's best points in the second poem.

Then it was time for Adams himself to perform. One of the things that impressed me most about him (besides his socks) was that he didn't make the show about him but about everybody in the auditorium. He started off by making Ethan come back onstage and get a proper standing ovation. Then he had us dance to Alicia Keyes, walking around with the microphone to let people sing their hearts out at the chorus.  He noticed when people had talent and encouraged them to perform and us to recognize it. A sophomore performed his own rap, a freshman made a brief speech, one of my friends sang her favorite song, everyone wrote a poem about domestic violence and a few people read theirs to the whole audience. Adams' poetry was amazing and intense, but one of the most powerful things that he did was make us all feel like we were connected and responsible for each other.

The a cappella group performed right after intermission, before Jamele Adams started again.

Part of Pitch, Please singing "Some Nights" 

They sang "Some Nights" by Fun, which is a song that my brother and I happen to be obsessed with right now. I took this video on my phone, so the audio can be a bit jarring. Still, it gives you an idea of how insanely talented the group is.

The night was an enormous success. I talked to (and signed the tickets of) a lot of people who had come for the extra credit, but ended up loving the show just in its own right. Everything went smoothly, the acts were well received (more standing ovations than at Mr. SHS! Jamele Adams knows how to get a crowd excited), and we raised so much money. $943.48.
$943.48.
$943.48 that will be going to help end sex trafficking and we got to enjoy a great show.

This is the first year that Herstory has existed at our school, so it makes me really happy that it's taking off like this. The seniors who decided to found the club last year have done an amazing job at maintaining interest, finding good causes, and organizing events. Here's hoping that next year, when I'm a senior, we can do Slam Inequality again and get even higher participation and raise even more money.

Depressingly enough, I'm sick for the second Monday in a row and am therefore missing Herstory for the second week in a row. :-/ Damn you, immune system. Perhaps I should share this blog with the club. It might be nice for them to know where their photographs are going.