Spoken word artist wins poetry slam

February 19, 2007 —

by Greg Lalonde

Diallo Chambers of Saginaw's YEP Organization moves the crowd with his original poem When We Were Colored expressing his message of self-love at the Expressions Poetry Slam.

Valentine's Day offered many opportunities for SVSU students this year, both on and off campus. And once again, the Expressions Poetry Society offered a rather unconventional alternative to the dinner-and-movie date of old.

Expressions, which brought the spoken word artist Future to campus last year, held their fourth annual Valentine's Day Massacre on Wednesday. The event featured an open mic session, a judged poetry slam, and a special guest appearance by spoken word artist Train. The evening of spoken word had a Valentine's Day theme, but focused primarily on honoring Black History Month. Most of the entries for the evening revolved around that theme.

The poetry slam section of the evening featured many local artists. Prizes were awarded to the top three performers for the evening: Dilallo, Truth, and Kalenga Pembamoto won first, second, and third place, respectively. A cash prize was given to the winners.

Dilallo and Truth, who prefer to be known by their stage names, are members of the Your Everyday Poet (YEP) organization. Pembamoto is a junior at SVSU, and has frequented other spoken word events on campus.

Train, the featured performer for the evening, is also a member of YEP, a Saginaw-wide spoken word group that frequents events around the city. The poet (who also prefers his stage name) is also a member of YEP, and was invited to share his hard-hitting, quick-paced verses with SVSU students.

Overall, Train was pleased with the evening, and happy that spoken word events were being showcased on SVSU's campus.

"Creative minds need attention," he said, "and we need to support our locals because they are our next stars."

He also expressed his wish for more participation in future events, and said that he and other YEP poets would gladly come back to SVSU if invited. Train won first place in last year's Expressions poetry slam.

Pembamoto, the third place winner of the poetry slam, was impressed with the feel of the evening, as well as with the talent.

"The Valentine's theme, with the low, soft candles of a poetry night really blended well together. There were also some really amazing poets who came out. Each one presented like a true expert in expression," she said.

Pembamoto was also impressed with Train's poetry. "His poems were very mesmerizing," she said, "and they really made me reflect on myself and the type of poet I would like to be."

The Valentine's Day Massacre is one of many spoken word events that have recently taken place on campus. One week before the Massacre, Cardinal Sins sponsored the Slamoramaglamajama poetry slam and Program Board presented the first event in their Coffeehouse Series, which included live music and an open mic session. All three of the events were well attended, which seems to indicate a growing interest in spoken word among SVSU students.