Christmas lights string along the top of the ceiling at the Grind, a coffee shop on campus. Students are mingling while eating muffins, scones and other pastries up for grabs. Light pop music plays in the background and excitement and jitters are in the air as poets are preparing to recite their spoken word poems in front of an intimate crowd of 30 students.
This is the Office of Multicultural Affairs’ Herstory Open Mic Night, which is an event that is celebrating female poets.
“We wanted to have an event where women could share their experiences,” Tristen Johnson, Assistant Director of OMAPB, says in the very beginning. And that is exactly what happens.
One by one, 13 female poets from all backgrounds of life come on up to the front of the room and speak their truths. Laughs are shared, tears are shed, and every soul in the room is captivated by the talent coming forward. Xia, Akyanna, Adriana, Gio, Kianna, Tristen, Mila, Quinn, Flore, Ari, Lexi, Sam, Nia. These are the names of 13 brave and immensely talented women who shared their talent tonight.
A vast amount of topics are presented in their poems. Sexual harassment, comparing ourselves to others, self-love, eating disorders, stereotypes/labels, domestic violence, faith, toxic relationships, being in the LGBTQ+ community, being in the African-American community, mental illness, gender roles, and immigration are all spoken about.
Her Campus’ very own, Xia Serpenta, participated!
“Being my first performance, I was really worried that my poem wasn’t good enough or didn’t sound professional enough. But everyone was so supportive and everyone else’s poems were so good. There’s no right way to write or perform and I’m ready to do it again,” says Xia.
HCXOXO,
Kelli