It was refreshingly welcoming to see almost 20 young Barbadian men and women reach deep for the correct words to weave narratives about the current social, racial, economic and political environment during the PoeTree Barbados 1st Anniversary Show – A Celebration of Spoken Word at Solidarity House last Sunday.
At the end of it all, the multimedia messages under the themes of Blackness and Love in keeping with Black History and Valentine, respectively, hit home with the audience.
Organisers and founders of PoeTree Barbados La Shawna Griffith, also known as Melanin Drops, Akeem Chandler-Prescod aka Stonedwithcupid were also featured on the night.
“There is definitely a renaissance of younger poets that are thinking; trying to create these ways to express what is on their minds. They are also finding ways to [attract] mentors to help them to craft the pieces because they are well written,” noted spoken word advocate DJ Simmons who along with spoken word icon Adrian Green cemented the genre with the movement Iron Sharpen Iron back 2008.
“I think what we need to do is to get out of our bubble and tune in [to] what these [young people] are talking about and respond and help immediately . . . . We always glorify the negative but there
are a lot of positive things you people are doing” said DJ Simmons, who closed the show with a piece called Vibe Too Nice.
Seasoned poet Winston Farrel was presented with the Griot Award, Most Consistent went to Jeremiah “Prophet” Toussaint and the Most Improved was given to Timon Howard.
(JS)
