This Week's Poetry Spotlight
- Oct 2, 2017
- 2 min read
Emi Mahmoud - "Why I Haven't Told You Yet" address the cluelessness of love, and the pressure placed on women to be near perfect, and the roles placed on you from birth.
Sha'Condria "iCON" Sibley - "Born Funny" address the stigma of mental health, and the coping mechanisms used to deal with it.
In recent years, Slam Poetry has faced a shift from self expression to political.
And don't get me wrong I love political, or "woke" slam poetry, but there's nothing wrong with putting the spotlight on two women who have been known to do both.
See Emi Mahound - Individual World Poetry Slam 2015 and Sha'Condria "iCON" Sibley- "Stand Up, On Your Knees."
These women have been known to be trailblazers in the world of slam poetry.
Emi Mahound is from Darfur, Africa, studies at Yale University, and is a Leonore AnneBerg Scholar and Global Health Fellow.
Mahound was a public speaker of the Darfur Alert Coalition and presented poetry across the country to raise, aid, and address the genocide in Darfur.
Sha'Condria "iCON" Sibley is a nationally- acclaimed championship spoken word poet, actress and teaching artist.
She was a founding member of Team Slam New Orleans, which is known as a "dynasty" in the slam poetry world.
Sibley goes by iCON, because she "stands for and represents for those who are oftentimes marginalized and whose voices are silenced in today’s society. (iCON)"
Maybe I'm a little bias, because of my love for strong black female poets, but I believe these two women are the prime example of well rounded slam poets.
These women show that you don't always need take a political stance, or express inherit problems that come with being women, or better yet black women to be a trailblazers.
Sometimes all you need to be is willing to open and expose your heart.
Listen to the audio version of this blog!
“ICon.” Sha'Condria Sibley - Bio, www.icontheartist.com/bio.
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