Take the Mic Poetry Slam Finals reveal poets’ issues with representation, acceptance
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The Underground was filled with music and a chattering audience. DJ Jill, a student DJ who has played at events like Bandersnatch, stood to the side of an empty stage playing bass-booming songs, and the crowd shared hugs and conversation as they slowly filled in. The excitement was building, and the noise matched it.
On April 13, the Office of Multicultural Affairs hosted the Take the Mic Poetry Slam Finals, which has been hosted at Syracuse University since 2009. The finals featured six poets, each reciting two poems each for a panel of judges, who scored the poets on a scale of 1-10.
The host of the night, Rudy Francisco, walked onto the stage and kept the crowd lively with jokes and proper phrases like “Let’s go” and “Amen.” He introduced the five judges, including Jillian Hanesworth, Buffalo’s first ever poet laureate. Francisco finished with a call and response from Verbal Blend.
“One mic,” Francisco said. “One voice,” the crowd responded.
Francisco ended his introduction by welcoming the first performer to the stage, and the room fell silent. Grace Tu-Sekine, a sophomore at SU, walked up. She started stomping her feet and then recited a poem on beat.
Tu-Sekine was the sacrificial poet, the first poet to perform and not a participant in the actual competition. However, she did set the tone for the night, which was full of stories of pain and loss but also self-discovery and perseverance.
After Tu-Sekine’s poem was scored by the judges, Francisco introduced the first poet to compete, SU sophomore MJ. Her poem touched on themes of abuse and religion.
“It was in surviving that I forgot how to feel, I thought,” she said. “But no, it was in these rights: baptism, first communion, confirmation.”
Powerful statements like these were prevalent throughout the poetry slam, as the participants delved into narratives about racism, love, identity and acceptance. Snaps, claps and shouts encouraged the poets as they revealed intimate and personal information about themselves through poems.
Next to the stage was Tyler Gentry, a freshman at SU, who recited a poem called “I Listened to Too Much Rap Music and Now I Think I’m Gangster.” In his poem, Gentry worked through both positive and negative stereotypes of Black men.
Following Gentry was Arianna Wilson, who recited a poem titled “Black Girls Must Die Exhausted.” Wilson spoke about the challenges and power of Black women in a poem that was exalted by both the audience and the judges, who awarded it with one 9.7 and three 10s.
Before each poet was announced, Francisco returned to the stage to do call and responses with the audience by asking them to repeat phrases like “Let’s Go!” after him.
The competition featured six poets who each recited two poems in front of a panel of judges. Anthony Bailey | Asst. Digital Editor
Following Wilson, Francisco introduced Ameya Vinod Mahalaxmikar, a graduate student at SU. Mahalaxmikar was the winner of the Take the Mic Poetry Slam Preliminary round on March 9. He returned to the stage with a poem entitled “A Eulogy to my Lover’s Love,” which dealt with passion, sexuality and the acceptance that some love can only hurt.
Mahalaxmikar preceded Kayla Turner, a junior at SU, who began her poem by singing a song. Her poem then followed a hypothetical: “If God had decided she did not want this Earth anymore, would she drown it again?”
She explored her own self doubt and difficulties through this and ended with a powerful conclusion.
“I wish I could carry the weight of water-battered bones under my young tongue. My eyes filled with remembering. It is heavy enough. It is heavy enough.”
Phoebe Sessler, a senior at SU, was the next to perform. Their poem was called “Hypnotize,” and it revealed her difficulties with dialysis and also seeing his brother deal with the challenges of the procedure.
To complete the final round, Toyin Oluyede, also a senior, came on stage and recited her poem “I’ve Died Three Times.” In her poem, Oluyede went through three significant moments in her life where she came close to dying and how each changed her perspective on herself. She spoke about difficulties with self-love and acceptance and how certain moments in a person’s life can affect this.
After the first round, Francisco returned to the stage to let the audience know what they were in for next — the second round was a “lightning round” in which each contestant was told to write a one-minute poem about a selected prompt, which was the environment. The contestants performed in the same order as the first round and touched on topics like pollution, racism and hope.
Following the lightning round, Hanesworth came to the stage and recited a poem entitled “Little Black Boy.” This poem detailed the difficulties young Black men face growing up in a country that frequently stereotypes them as unruly and dangerous.
“In case y’all hadn’t noticed, we’re still singing that same song,” Hanesworth said. “See, we’ve always been chosen when it was time for the killing, the way you choose a tomato that’s ripe for the picking. I thought targets were red, when did they become Black? I thought the abuse of power was dead, when did it come back?”
Thunderous applause sounded out for Hanesworth, and then Francisco recited some of his own poetry. His poetry spoke about his experience with depression and connecting with his father, as well as his love and worries about his daughter.
The winners were announced after Francisco finished and brought Cedric Bolton, the organizer of the event and coordinator of student engagement at the Office of Multicultural Affairs, onto the stage. Turner won third place, Mahalaxmikar won second and Wilson won first.
After the slam, Bolton spoke about the importance of students being open with themselves and being vulnerable.
“When students get the chance to express themselves and show their talent, it’s important. They’re talking about their truths, they’re talking about things they experience,” Bolton said. “So when you have students that have not had the opportunity to showcase themselves, something changes in their spirit. They have a certain kind of glow.”