From the minds and poetry notebooks of students to the microphone at various open-mic poetry readings, many students are finding a venue to express their voices using the rhythmic language of the spoken-word art form on campus.
Every Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Mocha Room, located in the Smith-Brown Memorial Union, students can ventilate their innermost feelings and unload emotional baggage in a room full of their poetic peers at the weekly reading.
“It doesn’t matter how well of a poet you are, the mic is open to anyone,” said Antonette A. Roche, a second year law student from Port Allen, La. “Poetry is unconditional.”
The reading, which has been going on for ten years at Southern University, is hosted by Antoine “G.H.O.S.T.” Mitchell, a senior fine arts major from Norwood.
Explaining his purpose for keeping the weekly event going, Mitchell said “The purpose is to give students a chance to express themselves through a vocal art form in a place where their peers will listen and not judge them.”
Through the years, a host of poets from SU have graced the Mocha Room microphone. Such artists as “Donnie Brascoe”, “P.I.M.P.,” Romona Webb and several others have come through the weekly poetry readings during their stint as students and have gone on to make names for themselves on the Baton Rouge poetry scene.
Mitchell, whose stage name “G.H.O.S.T.” is an acronym for “God Holds Our Souls Together,” is an active poet who uses his talent and the readings to spread a message of awareness and pride among his fellow students.
“My goal is to get those that are afraid to approach the microphone and inspire them to write,” he said.
“I want to teach those that want to listen and learn about things we face as not only black people, but black students. I want to spread black love.”
Fans of the spoken word and visual art form will be treated to a variety of other events in the realm of poetry this semester. One of those programs will be an art show put on by Mitchell entitled “A Profile of Black Women” on Oct. 18th in John B. Cade Library.
“It will be artwork and spoken word dedicated to black women, giving them praise,” Mitchell said.
With the successful turnouts of the Wednesday night Mocha Room readings, Mitchell sees a growing appreciation for not only spoken word poetry, but for the wealth of talent at the school as a whole. “I want to show people at Southern is more than Greeks and sports,” he said. “Southern has lots of talented individuals, and it’s time we show the world that we are art and we are poetry.”
POETRY READINGS
Every Wednesday @ 7 p.m.
Student Union
Mocha Room
